Lagos Film And Media City Will Boost Nollywood

 Yemi Olakitan,

Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry is blessed with abundant human resources, seen in the array of extraordinary actors, writers, producers etc. who can craft African experiences with elegance, and draft scenes and scripts that tell a thousand stories of Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and traditions.

It has a projected annual growth rate of 8.6%, and the industry accounts for ₦ 853.9 billion ($7.2 billion), or 1.42% of the Nigerian GDP. More than one million people are employed by Nollywood, either directly or adjacent to the industry. Next to agriculture, it is Nigeria’s largest job market, according to reports.

However, some things are missing; the infrastructure to tell those stories so that it can compete with international markets; found in Hollywood, USA and India Bollywood.

Speaking with Veteran film producer Obafemi Lasode, he emphasized that the Nigerian film industry has a multibillion-dollar potential but the lack of the required infrastructure had continued to hinder it.

This is about to change with the intervention of the Lagos state Governor, Babajide Sawo-Olu, who has vowed to provide the infrastructure and technology that the sector needs to move to the next levels through the Lagos Film and Media City.

Storyland Studios, a design and production studio with offices in the US and Europe, was selected by the Lagos State Government to do the master plan and design of the film city and entertainment industry campus, a first-of-its-kind film industry hub in Lagos, Nigeria.

The project sponsor, according to reports, is Del York International Group in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

This project aims to position the state as a focal point for the entertainment industry–primarily film–and its peripheral industries, where both new and traditional media will be produced and celebrated for generations to come.

The facility is envisioned as a sanctuary of leisure, entertainment, and learning. A place where film and all types of creative industry professionals can live, work, and learn in a serene and conducive environment with best-in-class facilities intermingled with amenities and infrastructure that support a modern sustainable city.

Mr Femi Lasode who spoke with the New Telegraph praised the Lagos state Governor for his sagacity and foresight. Lasode said he had been working on such a city for the past two decades. According to him, the project will revolutionize the film industry in Nigeria.

 ‘‘What a filmmaker requires is a place to shoot movies without undue interference or distractions. I remember when we were shooting the Sango movies, we travelled to several locations in the country including the northern part of Nigeria and spent millions to build sets, only to live them behind. As we were driving out of the locations, I was looking at my sets. We had to leave them behind, though it costs us a lot of money to build. We couldn’t take them with us. While we gained a great movie, with the money spent, that set could have been re-used for many other movies, if we had done it at a film city but we didn’t have a film city when Sango was shot.’’

‘‘This is why the Lagos Film and Media City is such an important project for Nollywood’’

The film city’s campus is located in Lagos’ Epe area, in Ejirin City. The 100-hectare, the mixed-use campus will have the capacity to support anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 daily visitors. Both production, post-production, and editing facilities and services will be housed on campus, open to both local and international filmmakers. There will also be educational facilities, including a Creative Academy for film students.

Mr Femi Lasode said that we must note that the Lagos Film and Media city will promote tourism.

‘‘The Nigerian filmmakers have the capacity. I had a script for years called the ‘‘Amazon of Africa,’’ long before the Americans produced Black Panther and the recent Woman King. This multi-billion Dollar movie, Woman King had the same storyline as mine. It’s a historical movie, a war film between Dahomey and Oyo Empire but did that really happen?’’

‘‘Our story is more historically accurate because it talks about what really happened. The war was between Dahomey and the Egba people of Abeokuta. The amazon women warriors were from Dahomey and were expected to be celibate and courageous. My point is we are the ones who can tell our stories more accurately to the world, but without the required infrastructure, the outside world will beat us to It.?

‘‘Nigeria is sitting on a multibillion-dollar industry that must be tapped. ‘‘That is the reason I say, the Lagos Film and Media City at Epe is a step in the right direction’’

In another discussion with Mr James Olorunosebi, Vice President of Creative Majesty, a film production company in Lagos, he said the Film City will fill a vacuum that has held the industry back for years in terms of infrastructure and technology. ‘‘It will also create more jobs for the sector. The world will come to us when we know that we have the infrastructure to make movies that can compete favourably in the marketplace. This will bring millions of dollars into the country and further develop Lagos economy and by extension, Nigeria. I believe that this is an opportunity for stakeholders in the Nigerian film industry to take the industry to the next level. I am truly excited about it.’’ He said.

Veteran actress, Mrs Joke Silva described typical movie sets in which power generators are placed somewhere far away from the location during a movie shot, in order to prevent unwanted noise from interfering with the recording, as some of the challenges of movie production in Nigeria. She opined that there are some infrastructural deficits that only the state and federal governments can provide for the industry. ''An enabling environment will stimulate our creativity in such a way that we can produce world-acclaimed movies.'' 

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has been outstanding in many things. The proposed Lagos Film City, which Del-York International and its American partner, Storyland Studios with Linus Idahosa pulling the strings is surely one of them.