More Than N12 Billion Invested In Film Industry, Says NFVCB
 23rd NOV 2006

More than N12 billion has been invested in the Nigerian home video industry, Nollywood, since its inception in the early 90's, the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has said.

Its Director-General, Mr. Emeka Mba, said in Abuja on Tuesday that the analysis was conducted across the various segments of the industry, cutting across pre-production, production and marketing.

He said the industry analysis showed that about 2,000 films were licensed every year, making Nigeria the third largest film producing country in the world, after the American Hollywood and Indian Bollywood.

The local film industry started experimenting with videos in the early 90s with the production of an Igbo movie, "Living in Bondage", and the success of that movie has snow-balled into other productions.

Mba said he would rather the films were fewer and topical with quality story-lines instead of the present scenario where story lines, most times, drew the flak of viewers for lack of depth.

He said the censors board had already banned the unprofessional practice of dragging story lines into several parts in order to maximise profit.

On criticisms of some movie contents, Mba said the censors board had started sensitising movie producers to focus on promoting African values like womanhood, hard work, peaceful co-existence and love.

He said movies must start and end in one production, except where the story line demands a breaking of the sequence into two or more parts.

Mba said that it was possible for the local film industry to win the highly rated Oscar award, considering the depth of creativity, artistry and technical know-how in a short period.

He, however, said there was a need for "exceptional marketing" and "synergising" to achieve the feat in the nearest future.

Mba said most movies in the industry had been commercially focused, noting that some of the movies could be deliberately structured to promote development.

The NFVCB recently hosted actors in the industry in Abuja with a view to sharing views on best practices in the film industry and creating platforms for more co-operation between the public and private sector.

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