Nigeria has always succeeded in churning out creative minds, especially in the film industry known as Nollywood. According to a report by Price Water Coopers, the Nigerian film industry is globally recognised as the second largest film producer in the world. The Industry is a significant part of the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Sector, contributing 2.3% (N239 billion) to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021.
The Birth of Nollywood
Moreso, PWC reports that the creation of Nollywood started in the 1960s. It was when the first Nollywood movies were created by historical filmmakers such as Ola Balogun, Hubert Ogunde, Jab Adu, Moses Olayia, and Eddie Ugboma to mention a few. They are considered to be the first generation of Nigerian filmmakers. These pioneers started the Nigerian movie industry in a country full of citizens who looked up to Hollywood for their entertainment.
Pioneers of Nigerian Theatre
According to Britannica.com, Hubert Ogunde was a pioneer in the field of Nigerian folk opera.
He created the Ogunde Concert Party also known as the Ogunde Theatre in 1945. It was the first professional theatrical company in the nation. Because of his contribution to the creation of the Nigerian film industry, he is often hailed as the father of Nigerian theatre.
Ola Balogun’s contributions
Ola Balogun is another pioneer who contributed towards the creation of Nollywood. He is credited with directing a variety of films that cover a broad range of subjects. Balogun has directed films about politics, corruption, poverty, and music. Even though he is still in the film industry, his major passion now is not being behind the cameras but on stage singing. He ventured into the Nigerian music industry in 2001 and now travels around the world promoting Nigerian culture through his music.
Nollywood’s revenue generation
Despite this feat from a sector which hardly has the backing of the government, the Nigerian movie industry has left no stone unturned in terms of revenue generation both for the industry and the country, especially in the area of biopics.
As such top filmmakers in the country are tilting towards epic movies again with films like; Jagun Jagun produced by Femi Adebayo; and The House of Gaa, amongst several other movies. However, filmmakers are not doing enough in terms of producing biopics about Nigerians who have created legacies during their lifetime and possibly generate wealth for these legends.
The Importance of Biopics
At a time whereby young minds are inquisitive about their history but prefer to watch a movie instead of reading books, it is only wise to enlighten them through properly researched biopics that can come to the rescue via edutainment.
A biopic is a movie based on the life and times of a legend in any sphere of life. These piece of documentary usually serve as a source of income for the family and estate of the legend either living or dead as well as inform the upcoming generation.
For instance, Michael Jackson was working on a concert which was also filmed days ahead of his death on June 25, 2009 due to cardiac arrest. It was later released as a documentary and became the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Antoine Fuqua is now releasing a biopic on the King Of Pop, which is likely to address the child abuse allegations against him. Its budget has been released. Based on www.imdb’s report the project will cost about $150m.
Producers of the biopic, Lionsgate Studio, believe the biopic of the late pop star is shaping up to be their biggest release of all time according to one of the studio’s bosses.
Furthermore, an authorized biopic on the late American superstar singer, Witney Houston’s life was announced in early 2020. Produced on a $45 million budget, filming took place in Massachusetts and New Jersey from August to December 2021. The royalty of these deceased legends goes to their family. Hence they would be comfortable during their lifetime.
Challenges in producing Biopics
Sadly, the reverse is the case in Nigeria as filmmakers rarely direct their camera lens for biopics despite the fact there is a large number of veteran artists who have paved the for their younger colleagues despite the hurdles they had to cross because entertainers during the 1960s were seen by society as people with no future ambition.
Although there have been few biopics about some notable Nigerians who impacted the society – either for good or bad – like Finding Fela; Amina; Amaka’s Kin: The Women of Nollywood; 93 Days; Badamasi: Portrait of a General; Anini; Sango: The Legendary African King (1997), some movie enthusiasts believe there is more to be done in the sector to educate the young ones about the history of those who put the name of Nigeria on the world map.
Nollywood movies account for 39% (N2.8 billion) of the total box office revenue of N7.4 billion in 2024, marking a notable increase from the previous year. Leading the charge was “A Tribe Called Judah,” which has now grossed over N1 billion.
According to a report by FilmOne Entertainment, a leading West African movie distribution company, Hollywood titles continued to dominate the Nigerian box office, accounting for 61% of the revenue, amounting to N4.4 billion. Bollywood films, in contrast, contributed a modest 1.16%, totalling N0.09 billion.
This growth signifies a positive trend for Nollywood, which saw its share of the market increase from 30% in 2022, while Hollywood’s share decreased from 69%, with N6.9 billion in box office revenue.
During a chat with BusinessDay, Chukwuemeka Ufoh a film enthusiast, shared a story about him and his son. Ufoh stated that it is a sad development in the filmmaking sector as they are charged not only to entertain but also to educate people.
He said, “I was taking my son to school recently and as usual I was playing my favourite song by Oliver De Coque as well as Onyeka Onwenu, all of a sudden he asked why I always play their songs. I tried my best to educate him about those legends but I feel I confused him the more I explained so we had to change the topic of our conversation. If there were biopics about these superstars I would have made the explanation to my son more understandable. You know kids of nowadays prefer watching documentaries or biopics to reading.”
While speaking on the telephone with Tunde Kelani, a veteran filmmaker and the brain behind the movie, Ayinla, a project that portrays the life and times of the late singer, Ayinla Omowura, the cinematographer noted that he also seized the opportunity to use the film to showcase the rich heritage the city of Abeokuta has.
He said, “My movie Ayinla is not only to share the story of the late singer but to also showcase the rich culture of my people. I believe that doing biopics is good and can be quite lucrative but some producers shy away from such products because the audience might not be interested in the personality involve in the movie. So in order not to waste money and effort they do other kinds of films.”
Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen a multiple-award Nigerian film director and movie producer popularly known as De’ Guvnor who has also made some biopics stated that the reason why biopics are not popular in Nollywood. In a chat with BusinessDay, he stated that although he has been in the filmmaking industry for 29 years, due to lack of data he cannot project the market size of the Nigerian film industry.
He said, “ I cannot categorically state the market size of Nollywood but we can see it is clear that we are progressing because I made a film for a Nollywood actress, Ruth Kadiri, she runs Ruth Kadiri 247 on YouTube and I was surprised that in less than two days, she made a million views.
I was so dazed because in about three hours she made about 90,000 views based on the project. The name of the project is titled, Fight for Me. I went to the comment section and saw people from other African nations share their opinions about the project.”
The filmmaker further explained, “It is unbelievable when you think of the places Nollywood has spread to. Put that vis-a-vis the market value, you can understand that our movie industry is not a joke anymore. Those who have been able to meet the market potential now smile at the bank every month. That is one aspect.
“We have also seen numbers based on the report of our sister, Funke Akindele whose movie grossed about N1bn at the box office and other people are doing well from Nollywood. I have just remade my blockbuster movie, Issakaba Returns, which remains one of Nigeria’s most popular movies. I just remade the movie and I put in over N300m for the budget.
“For the market size of the Nigerian film industry, I think it is quite huge now. For instance, I just watched The House of Ga’ah; from the production itself, you would know that it was not a joke. You would realise that money was spent on the project. It does not mean that people are not losing money but it tells us that the future is looking bright especially when you take cognisance of where we are coming from.”
The veteran filmmaker while giving his two cents about the sub-sector of Nollywood, biopics, noted some challenges about why the sub-sector has been under-exploited. According to Imasuen, there is the issue of funding, economic versatility, deep research, authentic storytelling as well as how to sell the story.
Speaking on the challenges Nigerian filmmakers face especially in Lagos which is regarded as the commercial hub for entertainment, Imasuen said, “In Nollywood, we have faced environmental, governmental, and street urchins’ challenges. Let us take Lagos for instance because we do not have the right infrastructures, we do not have film villages, every day a camera comes out to the street of Lagos we are harassed and extorted by these ‘area boys’ and it goes unchecked.
They come to you and say, “Give us our money”. They are so bold to the extent that if they see you the next day they would come again. This means that every day, you see the lives of filmmakers endangered. This industry has been able to evolve on its own to this level. I am sure that if the right things are put in place, especially the right laws, I am sure that Nollywood would do better than the stage it is at.”
Prospects for Nollywood
Speaking on prospects that the biopics sub-sector of the movie industry can garner, the filmmaker noted that with the right structure, biopics can become a multi-million dollar space for Nollywood.
“I agree that movie producers who want to indulge in biopics can make that Nollywood sub-section a multimillion-dollar money-making area of our industry. I do not know much about the earnings made by the biopic of Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. I don’t know how successful it was. I am particularly interested in making biopics and I have vowed that I would make at least three biopics.
He continued, “I have done one with the film, Invasion 1897. To be honest, Nigerians are still not embracive to historical movies. They are not embracive to it because facts and figures on the ground state that obviously. I think that is the fear that some filmmakers have. However, some must be produced if not posterity would not be fair to filmmakers.
For instance, I am doing a work on the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa. Something was done about the life of the cleric but I feel it was not elaborate enough about the life of the man.
“I am a great fan of biopics. I have watched biopics of great men like Mahatma Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, Ray Charles, Serena Williams. When I saw the biopic of the Williams’ family, I wept. I thought to myself that these are things that we can explore.”
While stressing his points on the reason that biopics are not popular in Nollywood, the movie maker stated some challenges that filmmakers face to produce a biopic. “I would give you the challenges we face to produce a biopic. First, we have a challenge with funding. These are stories that are out there and most people know about these stories so you cannot afford to mess it up.
In making it, people are also wary that I have this story but how do we make it interesting? As a filmmaker, people meet me and say they have a great story. When I see the stories it is not dramatic enough.
“The biopic story might be pathetic but is it sellable? For instance, there were some great people in history and their story was pathetic. You have to look for some circumstances that would make it watchable as a movie. Also, you are pushed to the corner. You are not free to expand it because you have to make it authentic. These are sometimes hurdles that you have to cross to make the biopic impactful and that would bring profit for the investors. I don’t know if Funmilayo Ransome Kuti’s biopic made a profit.
“Economic viability is a major factor. Nollywood is still evolving. I just finished a N200 million project in Edo.
“The actors in the movie all spoke in Edo language. The film is meant to project the Edo culture. It is historical but it is presented in the Edo language. You have seen the House Of Ga’a before Yoruba films were made for the Yoruba’s. The first film that made a serious profit was Living In Bondage. It was the first film that was able to break the barrier of ethnicity.
Right now, people do not care anymore about language barriers or ethnicity. For someone to put down over N200 million to make an Edo language-based film even though it is a minority language, you will realize that people do not care anymore. The aesthetic value of the film has taken preeminence over other considerations. It took us time to evolve to this point,” he stated.
With close to three decades in the Nigerian film industry, the movie maker proffered some solutions. According to Imasuen, if a filmmaker does a good biopic and the public embarrasses it, other movie makers would follow suit. He also mentioned that if the media speaks about this topic, people would be endeared to biopics as he believes it can be a multi-million dollar revenue generation for Nollywood.
He opined, “Nollywood has constantly been evolving. I am very confident that over time this would not be a question any more as regards biopics. Soon, people who are related to these great people would approach filmmakers and say they want the person’s life history to be told through biopics. Although there are biographies of great people, the youths prefer to watch movies.
I know that once a biopic breaks out successfully, others will follow suit. Anybody who has a great relative and understands that such relatives did something worthwhile would want their stories to be documented according to the series of events. This is because they would have realized that biopics are more long-lasting than books. I am launching three books next year to mark my 30th year as a filmmaker.
I aim to put it in a library so that one day someone might pick it up and decide to do a biopic about me. Our industry would soon start looking into pure biopics and there would not be the fear of wondering if people will like it.
“Toyin Abraham did a movie and it was a success and the instant people saw the rate of her success everybody began to follow suit. I know someone would attempt to do the biopic of a very popular person that would be dramatically sound and then it would open the floodgate but you should give it to Nollywood that we have been evolving gradually over time and there is no stopping.
I believe once this happens, Nollywood will create a multi-billion dollar sector through biopics. Like in Benin where I come from we are gearing up to make a massive historical film. I did the film, Adesua, and it was a biopic.
It is good that journalists from serious media houses like BusinessDay are beginning to look out for these things. Even in Nollywood, major media houses take an interest in entertainment. I guarantee you that when media houses start taking notes of these things people would be interested in shooting and watching biopics. It would even encourage investors to pump money into that sub-sector of Nollywood.”
Moreover, legendary actor and filmmaker, Prince Jide Kosoko while giving his two cent on the development said that there are various factors why most movie makers shy away from producing biopics.
According to the veteran thespian who has spent about 40 years in the Nigerian movie industry, he explained that a major hindrance is due to the non-regulation of the Nigerian film industry.
Kosoko said, “There are too many things involved. The first is the non-regulation of our industry. The regulatory bodies over the years have failed to position the industry over the years in such a way that even ordinary scripts can fetch you money from the bank without a collateral. People need to start thinking of documentaries and biopics and other such projects.
“Looking at most of the big stream companies we have in Nigeria today, they are more interested in historical narration. People want to know our history, that is, where we are coming from before we go to this stage because it would be useful to the upcoming ones so that they can learn.
The multiple-award-winning film star further stated, “Like I always tell people, what is worth doing is worth doing well. I agree that we need to start doing biopics of great Nigerians who have made an impact in the country. We need it but how sellable is it going to be because you cannot venture into it without being sure that it would yield profit for both the filmmaker and their investors?
“I know biopics would sell and it can become a cash cow for the Nigerian film industry but how much sales can you make when the artiste is still alive? Look at Fela Anikulapo Kuti, if he were alive and they did his biopic it might not go far. If someone just takes it up now and do it comprehensively well the person would make a lot of money. So, wanting to do a biopic for someone who is alive and you have to wait for such person’s demise is not a good business idea. Before you know it, the technology will advance again if you want to keep the product at home.”
Kosoko, who is a Lagos prince, hinted that filmmakers would prefer to do biopics about dead legends instead of living notable icons who have greatly made their impact in the country. He said, “They have shot some biopics about Fela before now but it did not move in the market because by the time they wanted to release the biopic, it was already a substandard product. In those days we shot on celluloid. Today, we are shooting digitally with the red camera and other things. The picture quality is better than that of the celluloid of those days.
I may not be correct but some people would not calculate that risk because they are unsure of recouping their money.
“The truth of the matter is that most filmmakers hardly think about doing biopics for legends that are alive. My point is that has there been any strong indication of things that can make it work commercially? That has to be properly looked into. Hopefully, intellectual thieves will not hijack other people’s ideas and will not bastardise the project. Not only pirates but those who are fond of copying another person’s work without giving the due credit. How are we sure that they will not descend low enough not to keep up with the standard?”
However, the actor opined that soon filmmakers would tilt towards shooting biopics which he believes would fetch a lot of money if properly done as ‘we have not even started to tell our story.’
“There was another time when my friends, Oga Bello, and Tunde Kelani, among others, produced films that brought in another revolution in the movie industry. But thereafter, the Igbos started producing epic movies. If you notice during that time AfricaMagic showcased them a lot. That was another revolution but look at the Yoruba epic movies coming out now. Everyone that sees them knows that the films are super.
“Before the Hausas or Igbos can catch up with such standards, it would take time because we just showing the audience the tip of the iceberg. We have not even started to tell our story. You must have heard of my family, King Kosoko of Lagos and what he faced at the hands of the British government during the colonial era and several other issues.
The way Lagos became a British colony and Nigeria as a whole. We have not touched any story. The issue between King Kosoko and Akintoye, are some stories. I was budgeting about N200 million to embark on these projects. Now, I cannot think of anything less than N600 to N700 million because if you had N200 million about four years ago, now everything has skyrocketed.
What I want to shoot with about N600 million, I can do it with just N50 million but I will not achieve what I want and the quality of the film would not be impressive. Also, I would have destroyed the story. We have a story to tell the world and that is what films like House of Ga’a, and Lisabi, are doing now. People want to know what heroes of the Yoruba nation accomplished and our reason for existence.
“I think to tap into biopics to make it a multi-million dollar sub-sector of the Nigerian film industry, filmmakers have to do a thorough research of their subject but most importantly, they have to study the commercial aspect of it. They should find angles that would make it sellable.”
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