After Nollywood Premieres what next?

I have been priviledged over the years to watch a lot of Nollywood premieres in the UK and I must commend the cast and crew of such movies for making efforts to produce and premiere such movies. That said, I am also aware that I am aware that it is costly from shooting of the movie to the actual premiere. A breakdown of a good movie would include paying the cast, the cinematographer, the producer, the director, in some cases paying for location, advertising for the premiere and actually paying  for the venue of the premiere. Lots of money is involved  in actually putting up a premiere that in most cases, sponsorship has to be obtained.

One would think that the funds spent would be recouped at the premieres but this is not the case. In spite of the fact that the premieres are priced with tickets costing between £15 and £40, most of these tickets about 60% to at least 75% are given out free to cast and their guests, to promoters, to sponsors, to people in the industry etc. The question then is how do the producers of the movie break through.

Nollywood as much as it is an industry is also a business. Everyone is in business to make profit. While I understand that a producer may have the funds and want to tell a particular story and may not be concerned about the costs, this is not the case in most cases. I am sorry to say, but most of our producers lack strategy and do not think beyond the premiere leaving them in debt and the Executive Producers running out of pocket.

Some of the premieres even though they are below par are premiered for various reasons. To some it is for fame, to some just to show they have arrived and although some are genuine, there is no follow up or back up plan after the premieres. Some of the movies die a natural death after the premieres, there are no marketing strategies for such movies and it is such a pity.

Even the Bible says that before one builds a house, he should count the costs. It is my view that before anyone dreams of even shooting a movie talk not of premiering it, they should think of the total cost and think of how the movie can be marketed and bring in some of the much needed revenue. It is a shame if a good movie just goes to rest after a premiere. There are people in the UK who can help market our movies at the right price and others can help advertise properly. Others can act as consultants but if things are done properly, our movies would not end up at premiere level.

My plea is that producers should think twice before jumping at a premiere!!

Babs Carew

Lead reviewer

Review of the London Premiere of St Mary

The movie was premiered on Friday 8^th August 2014 at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich.

St Mary showcases some of Nollywood’s best and versatile actors and actresses including Zack Orji, Ekpeyong Bassey-Inyang, Frank Dallas, Joseph Benjamin, Scott Roberts, Benita Nzeribe, Paul Obazele, Ibinabo Fiberesima, Toyin Alausa, Sefiya Dadiya,  and Caren Agwambo. The movie was written by Danijo Efe Young from an original story by Chike Brian. It was produced by Obi Anthony Osotule and directed by Matthias Obahiagbon.

The premiere was hosted by Panache Entertainment and present on the red carpet were the Executive Producer of the movie Darlington Agha, the Associate Producer Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, the director Matthias Obahiagbon, actor and production manager Frank Dallas, Zack Orji, Benita Nzeribe, Princess Peace Essien (CEO Panache Global Entertainment), Prince Tade Olusile, Anthony Monjaro, Ruke Amata, Toyin Moore, Pauline Long, Nelson Spyk,  Fatima Jabe Bio, Toksy Bello, captains of the UK Nollywood industry and members of the public.

Storyline:  The moviecentres on the negative implication of pornography, sex and human trafficking. It follows the story of Tejiri, who uncovers a massive web of conspiracy on human trafficking and crime on board  St. Mary, an oil vessel on voyage bound for Amsterdam. The well helmed movie also narrates the story of Nonye who gets lured by a Facebook confidant and friend into a seeming breakthrough in her singing career. Her excitement banishes caution and her world is thrown into a spiraling string of turmoil and disaster. She lands in a cabal’s dragnet stripping her away from the safety of family and imposing a terrifying adventure amidst her pleas for survival.

The movie also exposes the exploits of Don Daddy, an epitome of success whose massive business empire is built on extraction and sales of human organs. His tentacles spread out to the frontiers of establishment and he lives his fairy tale life in all the perks of comfort with a consortium of agents luring young girls with a promise of better life in Europe until he attracts the small framed daughter of Professor Ojukwu whose search pulls Don Daddy’s empire down. As the narrative progresses, the scars never heal, the pain disappear and the memories linger painfully. The story taxies off as a story of degradation, torture, pain and loss. It captures the travails of man’s innocence compromised in his aspirations.

In my view as a movie critic and reviewer, I commend the writer for telling such a storyline. The storyline actually reflects what happens in our society, but which people refuse to narrate when they are victims because of fear of repercussions. It is interesting that it is the high and mighty in the society for example an ex-governor that get involved in such atrocities. Such ills need to be wiped out from our society and efforts need to be made between governments of countries by sharing intelligence to find out the brains behind human trafficking and deal with the root of the problem. I would have like to see the movie end with some form of collaboration between the Nigerian and Netherlands governments to deal with the problem even if it was only by writing some lines at the end of the movie.

For the storyline therefore, I would be awarding 8.5 out of a possible 10

Picture Quality: Throughout the movie, there was a consistency with the picture quality. I have seen Nollywood movies with sharper pictures, but none the less the picture quality was good. I must commend those responsible for the pictures and i believe with a larger budget and better equipment, the pictures could have been even better. Not much to say, i award for the picture quality a score of 9 out of a possible 10

Sound: The sound started good although the music overshadowed the voice of the actors in some cases. There were also echoes in the sound in some of the scenes. The sound quality then went downhill and became atrocious to say the least. There was a lot of interference. It sounded as if the microphones were so close and there was nothing to prevent unnecessary noise. The sound was so bad in some cases we could not hear clearly what was being said.

It is a pity that for such a promising movie, the sound was that bad. It is with regret, but in performing my role as a Nollywood critic and reviewer that I award a 1 out of a possible 10 for sound.

Cast: As stated earlier, the movie showcased some big names in Nollywood and upcoming actors and actresses. I think the balance was right and the experience of the likes of Zack Orji, Keppy Ekpeyong and the likes of Joseph Benjamin made the movie look real. However, personally, i would not have cast the Captain for that role as he was neither here or there and did not do the role much justice. I think some of the girls although they were playing support roles overacted their parts and while I think the Kenyan lady in the movie played her role properly as one of the suppliers of girls, I think some of the other ladies more or less acted like they crammed their lines. Out of a possible 10, for the cast i would award a 7.

Overall performance: I am a stickler for excellence when it comes to Nollywood movies and I can be very picky at times. We are in an age of advanced technology and seeing the police doing surveillance with a mobile phone is not 21st century. I would have preferred not to show such a scene or at least pretend to use better technology.

I think on the balance of probabilities, the movie was a good one and the atmosphere was cordial, however in my view, before premiering a movie the director needs to watch the whole movie and do an assessment. A private viewing may also help see some of the issues like the sound that have been raised here.

In the current state of the movie, it would be hypocritical of me to recommend the movie mainly because of the sound. This can be corrected and once this has been done, I would gladly recommend the movie.

In totality, i would award this movie in its current state a 3 star out of a possible 5+ stars. However, this grading can improve if I watch the movie again and the sound issue has been corrected.

Watch the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEEV5_MBm7Y