I'm sure we all know the nigerian movie industry is like the 3rd largest in the world. It's not totally unmerited. We have great actors, and other good aspects (can't think of too many right now, sadly )
So wots d problem? Why is it difficult for any intelligent young person to sit down to enjoy a Nollywood production and actually get up with genuine satisfaction at a story well told? Two things: Daft story lines and rushed production.
We may not be able to do much about the second point but I know for a fact that we have extremely good script writers amongst us. So puleeze! You guys should bl**dy come up with some good stories and start sendin em to Nollywood@Alaba.come!

What gives you the impression that we have many good screenwriters?
The best we have is what you're seeing on screen, as far as I know. See?

My friend,
Nigeria has no movie industry. There are many talented people producing entertainment products, and I commend them. Nigeria is the third largest movie industry in the world? Are you serious? Producing thousands of mostly mediocre video programs does not translate to a movie industry.

The fact that it pays the bills of many many people is what makes it an industry.

Really? Very interesting perspective.
Jide

Seun:

What gives you the impression that we have many good screenwriters?
The best we have is what you're seeing on screen, as far as I know. See?

Believe me. I know for certain that we can do much better than the stuff we see, especially on African Magic! We have produced some stuff before, if only occasionally. If u consider the writers of the old Checkmate (that made RMD so popular), as well as the fact that Nigeria has produced some great novelists and storywriters in the past few decades, am sure we can come out with a grade A blockbuster.

Preferably not some "action" movie, though!

Nollywood has enough gifted scriptwriters. But the Igbo traders/producers and marketers prefer the cheap scripts to make their home videos.

The fact is, those who complain about Nollywood are not the target audience of the Nollywood producers and marketers. So, they wave you aside.
They supply on demand what the majority of their people need.

Over 76 million Nigerians are non-literates and most of them are women and they watch Nollywood movies daily.
They do not need to read and write to watch Nollywood movies.
They do not know all our jazz about Oscar, Bafta, and other international yardsticks of measuring the quality of movies.
They do not understand our grammar.
So, they do not care.

Don Pedro Obaseki, Reginald Ebere, John Chukwu, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Amaka Igwe, Ego Boyo and others in their Nollywood league can write screenplays as good as any of the best titles in Hollywood and other developed film industries.

What they should do is to walk out of the shallow waters of Nollywood and form a film cooperative like those in South Africa to make world class films.

Remember that Nigerians have been making world class films in the 60s, 70s and 80s and the history of Nollywood is not the history of the Nigerian film industry.
Nollywood is only 15 years old, but the Nigerian film industry is about 100 years old.

See my article on "Motion Picture and the Nigerian Image" on 
http://www.montage.nigeriantimesinternational.com/NNM0010.html and the following link for everything on Nollywood, from the street to the Ivory Tower http://www.montage.nigeriantimesinternational.com/NLM004.html

Hey, I am a damn good writer if I may say so myself. and I have a couple of scripts that might "help" Nollywood, so somebody email me with a request.

Hey, I am a damn good writer if I may say so myself.

Most writers believe they are 'damn good', but very few of them are that good.

Nollywood has enough gifted scriptwriters.

To be 'gifted' is one thing. To be willing to work hard and produce scripts on demand is a different thing entirely. There are 10-100 serious writers in Hollywood for every 1 in Nigeria.

In Hollywood, the production companies are buried alive in scripts begging to be produced. In Nigeria, you actually have to advertise and cajole people to write. It's completely different; our English teachers didn't challenge us!

In Hollywood, writers will send you their scripts just to get a chance. In Nigeria, writers will hide their scripts from you. When you finally cajole them to let you see the scripts, you discover that they are not very good.

But the Igbo traders/producers and marketers prefer the cheap scripts to make their home videos.

There's some truth in this statement, but there are many producers looking for good scripts and finding nothing.

I can count the number of good sitcom writers in Nigeria with one finger, but then there are talents that can be developed. The problem is that many of these talents already have jobs in banks, oil companies, IT companies etc. that take all their time. If you don't have time, how can you develop your talent? Answer: you can't!

Seun, the thing is there are indeed some very good writers here in Nigeria. However, few have been lucky to have their scripts produced while the majority have not been able to breakthrough. Do you know most marketers (or movie financieers) have their own writers, whom they hire to write their screenplays? Same goes with most producers. In fact what lots of aspiring screenwriters get when they give producers their scripts, is that, the producers read them, like some things about the stories, (though the storyline or screenplay might not be particularly fantastic); as they read along, their own idea begins to form. Then they tell you, its was nice, however they do not need that kind of story for now. Thats why people try to hide their scripts and maybe show you their Loglines or Synopsis, in case you're interested, beeforee sending you the full script or treatment.

They then hire their writers to write that kind of screenplay with slight modifications, and change the title (they could even lift the entire screenplay with slight modifications and change its title). Where are the copyright laws to protect screenwriters in such situations? Those that even get lucky to get their scripts purchased by producers or marketers, often get ridiculously low offers for their works.


Nollywood is an industry where practitioners do whatever they like and get away with it. You can't do that in Hollywood.

That aside, Have you seen Nollywood film scripts and ever compared them with Hollywood scripts? There is a standard format for writing screenplays, and its taught in film schools worldwide. Most Nollywood scripts do not have these formats. Infact there is a special type of font used to write screenplays. When a script is in another font, you know such screeenwriter is 'wishywashy' in the global contest. However these days, more people are becoming better informed in that regard.

I think the problem is an industry thing. The producers themselves are quacks (most, not all). Most movies have no production documentation. Do they make use of preproduction forms, contract forms for cast and crew? They shortcomings are almost endless, however as the world's searchlight is beamed on Nollywood, the situation can only get better in the years to come.

In fact what lots of aspiring screenwriters get when they give producers their scripts, is that, the producers read them, like some things about the stories, (though the storyline or screenplay might not be particularly fantastic); as they read along, their own idea begins to form. Then they tell you, its was nice, however they do not need that kind of story for now.

@sleekymag: Your insightful response is very much appreciated, but
I really don't understand why a producer will hire a writer to copy a
screenplay when he can just use the same money to buy the original one.

My guess is that the scriptwriters either ask for too much money or are unwilling to
rewrite their scripts to suit the demands of the producers. As a screenwriter, the
producer is your customer [/b]and you should be willing to write for his vision:

Would you hire an architect who insists on giving you his existing designs rather
then giving you a [b]new design based on the features that are important to you?

It's more of a clique thing. At times, they'd rather have the money circulate within the clique (Know of the Idumota marketers?). At other times, quite a good number of producers are themselves writers, so they re-write it themselves. Those who can't go through the hassles rather lift the entire screeeenplay and maybe rearrange the scenes or just change the title only.

Guys,

many writeres fail to make it besause they focus on nollywood.

There's a booming market for other writers outside nollywood. It nollywood wont buy your script, move over to television soaps and series!

there are script conferences all over these days and people are always looking for good writers in that area. You will make btw 10-15k per episode.

before you begin to look for the oppurtunities, pls make sure you have some training! it is crucial. As seun said, talent alone is not enough!

If you are abroad, I fear that you have a lot of work to do. Most inportantly, especially if you've been away for long, you need to understand the Nigerian audience and leave you your notions of superiority aside.

I have a couple of trained directors, guys that were trained abroad, who cannot direct a commercial film or Tv drama for a Nigerian audience.

All the best

Writing for the screen goes beyond writing for the movies and tv soaps and drama series. You could be writing for lots of TV shows too. But that would bee more possible if you're working for a TV station of media independent company.

Some writers earn as much as 75k per episode [at least i know one writer, writing for an MNET sponsored Nigerian soap series (on Nollywood) bound to hit DSTV in the first quarteer of 2008. And you can imagine he's writing 65 episodes (running through a season: mondays thru fridays for 13 weeks). Of course he has assistant writers too]. That however, doesn't come easily, and its not common.

For easy breakthrough into Nollywood however, learn the ropes of producing. Raise the funds and produce your own script. That's the way to earn recognition and respect in the industry. Depending on living by solely being a writer can be degrading, humiliating and frustrating.

What this tells me is that there are no checks and balances in the system. It also shows that there is an incompetent market at play. If there are enough exhibition houses (private television channels, cable, satellite and Internet outlets) for writers, there will be adequate opportunities for all writers. I think what is going on is a lack of an organized writers market in which all practitioners are required to abide by an enforceable set of rules, and anyone who breaks the rule is dealt with accordingly. If the infrastructure is in place, corrupt producers will have no chance in the system. Now the question is, what does it take to be a producer? Are those currently running around producing shows really competent to be called producers? There has to be a structured system in which practitioners of the trade have to go through some standardization. You do not need a college degree to be a good producer, but you need to work in a system that has rules and regulations. Besides, once there is demand for good scripts, good writers will emerge. The problem, as I see it, is the fact that television and cable providers are not buying enough scripts from local writers. Once a writer does not depend on independent producers (Idumota marketers) as the major source of income, but instead can sell to several other channels, the problems raised in this thread will be resolved. Sleekymag is right on the money. I am impressed with your take on the issues.
http://www.kilimanjaromedia.com

thanks for that jideosik

@jideosik: Oh, please, which one is checks and balances again? We are talking about people working harder and you're talking checks and balances. Checks and balances will not write an award-worthy script.

For an great script to be written, someone somewhere has to stay up late for weeks rewriting and rewriting until his/her fingers are sore! There's no magic to it sir, the check and balance we need is just hard work.

Yeah, we need hardwork. Our scriptwriters need hardwork. Are you talking of continental awards or global awards for our scripts? To me, Nollywood is still young (15 years old), compared to a stable Bollywood and Hollywood that has produced American Presidents and Governors. Our movies are yet to be recognized at the Oscars, however we have had African actors and actresses in the recent past, win Oscar awards or at least been nominated.

Legislation and policies have to be lobbied for Nollywood, and the entire system has to be structured properly. It's a growing industry, and u can see, if the NFVCB's reforms on distribution can be adhered to, a better thriving system will be in place. Movies will be more succeessful etc. We need Movie villages (at least three in Nigeria; North, South-West and South-East). We need to have more websites and magazines on the professional Nigerian film and TV industry. We need to have sites like American Screeenwriters Association, Hollywod Reporter, Filmmaker Magazine just to mention a few. We need to organize local Screeenwriting competitions to improve the quality of our scripts and to encourage people to get involved.

We need to have agents, who act as intermediaries between screenwriters and producers. We need to have a functional website where scripts can be registered to ensure copyrights. We need to have entertainment lawyers (Nigerian Law School does not put much focus on Entertainment Law). We need to develop these areas. Nigeria has the population, it currently churns about 200 movies monthly, but how many are that successful? Current estimates indicate that Nollywood generates $286 million annually and is a high employer today in Nigeria (Membeers of AGN (actor's guild of nigeria) alone are over 5, 000). It enjoys vieewership of over 600 million people in Africa and millions more in African communities in the Diaspora. The potentials are there, the market is there, we are not there yet, but people need to start doing something in their own little ways to promote the industry.

Soon it will be no surprise when companies like Warner Bros, 20th CenturyFox, Universal Pictures and others set up distribution shops in Nigeria, as their African partners. We already have Nu-Metro, a South African distribution company, with stores in Lagos, Nairobi and Jo'burg. Its just a matter of time, folks. Need i say, we now have Nigeria's first film studio (Studio Tinapa).

I am not talking about script quality, or awards or anything of that nature. I am talking about opportunities for all writers.  When everyone is agreed to a set of guild rules, that is what everyone lives by and all infractions are dealt with. Other practitioners in the industry must obey those rules. How do you recognize hardworking people if there are no parameters to evaluate the work? The checks and balances are the do's and don'ts stipulated by the guild. I hope that answers your question.

Ookay sir. Let's agree to disagree so we don't bore others.

Meanwhile, I am creating a sitcom. That's an opportunity for any writer.

We need to have more websites and magazines on the professional Nigerian film and TV industry

I just created one today. This one. You can create yours too. Problem solved.

We need Movie villages

Solution: get some money from your uncle who is an Igbo trader and start a movie village. Problem solved.

We need to organize local Screenwriting competitions

Gather some money together and start a screenwriting competition with a huge prize. Problem solved.

We need to have agents, who act as intermediaries between screenwriters and producers.

Solution: Become a very good agent. Problem solved.

Its just a matter of time, folks. Need i say, we now have Nigeria's first film studio (Studio Tinapa).

Exactly. All we need apart from hard work is to have some patience. Good things need time to develop.
I've been trying to become a producer for a year or two, and i'll never give up. Sooner or later, I'll get there.

"Most writers believe they are 'damn good', but very few of them are that good." Seun, I am good. I sold a script to the TV show 'Beteen Brothers' in the US, when I was just in college and I have a BA's in Creative Writting for Television.

@Xandria: I believe you, but you are not based in Nigeria: Nigerian producers won't be able to afford your services.

@Xandria: I believe you, but you are not based in Nigeria: Nigerian producers won't be able to afford your services.

Sean, I am tryin to get some sort of career going in Nigeria, so that I can easily move 4rm here to there n vise visa, so I am very willing to work under the sysytem, already set up, rite now

The cost of a 'low budget' script in the US is the cost of a movie in Nigeria. It's the cost of living difference. Won't work.

Seun:

Most writers believe they are 'damn good', but very few of them are that good.


To be 'gifted' is one thing. To be willing to work hard and produce scripts on demand is a different thing entirely. There are 10-100 serious writers in Hollywood for every 1 in Nigeria.

In Hollywood, the production companies are buried alive in scripts begging to be produced. In Nigeria, you actually have to advertise and cajole people to write. It's completely different; our English teachers didn't challenge us!

In Hollywood, writers will send you their scripts just to get a chance. In Nigeria, writers will hide their scripts from you. When you finally cajole them to let you see the scripts, you discover that they are not very good.


There's some truth in this statement, but there are many producers looking for good scripts and finding nothing.

I can count the number of good sitcom writers in Nigeria with one finger, but then there are talents that can be developed. The problem is that many of these talents already have jobs in banks, oil companies, IT companies etc. that take all their time. If you don't have time, how can you develop your talent? Answer: you can't!

Hi, please I might be amongst the few that can give value for money on any screenplay genre. I urge you to take a chance with me with a money-back guarantee.

my name is Cobham. pls call me on 08131639733 if interested in quality screenplays.

thanks

Do you realize the posts above you were posted almost 10 years ago?

if this was written about in nollywood in 2007...what about now that I can't even allow someone I like see eyes on their DVD plate?

Orikinla:
Nollywood has enough gifted scriptwriters. But the Igbo traders/producers and marketers prefer the cheap scripts to make their home videos.

The fact is, those who complain about Nollywood are not the target audience of the Nollywood producers and marketers. So, they wave you aside.
They supply on demand what the majority of their people need.

Over 76 million Nigerians are non-literates and most of them are women and they watch Nollywood movies daily.
They do not need to read and write to watch Nollywood movies.
They do not know all our jazz about Oscar, Bafta, and other international yardsticks of measuring the quality of movies.
They do not understand our grammar.
So, they do not care.

Don Pedro Obaseki, Reginald Ebere, John Chukwu, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Amaka Igwe, Ego Boyo and others in their Nollywood league can write screenplays as good as any of the best titles in Hollywood and other developed film industries.

What they should do is to walk out of the shallow waters of Nollywood and form a film cooperative like those in South Africa to make world class films.

Remember that Nigerians have been making world class films in the 60s, 70s and 80s and the history of Nollywood is not the history of the Nigerian film industry.
Nollywood is only 15 years old, but the Nigerian film industry is about 100 years old.

See my article on "Motion Picture and the Nigerian Image" on 
http://www.montage.nigeriantimesinternational.com/NNM0010.html and the following link for everything on Nollywood, from the street to the Ivory Tower http://www.montage.nigeriantimesinternational.com/NLM004.html

Are there any good books on the Nigerian movie industry? Or any good documentaries about the emergence of the Nigerian film industry? Please give any pointers you can, in this area.

Originalsly:
Do you realize the posts above you were posted almost 10 years ago?

It doesn't matter. Most of the comments made back then, are still relevant now. Have things changed? If yes, then what are these changes? How have they been made? We do not track history in this country and we have a poor attitude to continuity.

We need to keep this conversation going in order to find good, creative solutions in this area.

laudate:


It doesn't matter. Most of the comments made back then, are still relevant now. Have things changed? If yes, then what are these changes? How have they been made? We do not track history in this country and we have a poor attitude to continuity.

We need to keep this conversation going in order to find good, creative solutions in this area.

My comment was directed to Delavieri who wrote giving the impression that he was not aware of the time that lapsed.

@Originalsly. The posts may be over a decade ago but I guess a good screenwriter today with consistency should still be relevant in the next decade or two

delavieri:
@Originalsly. The posts may be over a decade ago but I guess a good screenwriter today with consistency should still be relevant in the next decade or two

The problem is good screenwriters are not hired nor producers want to pay for their scripts and that has plunged the industry into the gutters of mediocrity. AnyTom, Dick or Harry has since titled himself screenwriter.