Nollywood producer, Emem Isong, was recently on the TV show, Close Flow, which airs on NTA 2 Lagos. She took several questions about Nollywood during the show. Speaking on the show, she said: “Investors may be unwilling to invest so much in a Nigerian movie because the structures are not there. If you do not show them in black and white how they are going to make their money back, I wouldn’t blame any investor for not investing. ”
Speaking further, she said: “I know that a lot of producers are trying these days, despite the harsh and hostile environment in which we work, they are still trying to make movies that are going for festivals, and are winning awards out there. I still believe – I may be too optimistic, but I believe in the next 5 years or so, we will make movies that will stand at par with some of our international counterparts.”
Responding to one of the questions during the interview, she said: “Distribution drives content. The structure for distribution is not really there. How many cinemas do we have in the country right now? I think we have only about 15 screens, and if you make a movie, and you release it in 15 screens, how much can you possibly make? And then the issue of taxes – the producer as far as I am concerned is almost becoming an endangered species”
Responding to yet another question, she said: “We tell human stories and things that people can identify with. I believe that is the success of Nollywood, actually. People seeing themselves in some of these movies. ”