Nollywood trains young talent who want to work on a global scale as part of a cooperative effort between a Nigerian film production business and the Lagos State government.
Esther Abah, a Nigerian Nollywood young talent who is also a filmmaking student, is part of a new generation of Nigerian filmmakers.
“It’s been an amazing experience because I now view cinema from a different perspective.
“I actually understand what it’s all about, far better than I did before,” the filmmaking student added.
Nigeria’s domestic film industry, known as Nollywood, is huge and prolific, coming in second only to India’s Bollywood in terms of the number of films produced and far ahead of Hollywood.
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“We have talent in Lagos, in Nigeria, but to work on an international scale it changes a little bit. So, what the school does, it formats the way people work on an international standard. We also allow these guys to go through a full production cycle from script development to casting, to pre-production to production and post”, explained Theart Korsten, EbonyLife Creative Academy head of school.
Nigeria’s film industry made up 2.3 percent of the national GDP or $660 million last year.
The rise of streaming platforms is also creating demand for better films from beyond western studios.
“I think what Netflix and all these other platforms have done, is expose us to content beyond a particular region. So, you’re having contents from India, no, India was kind of known but you’re having some from South Korea. You’re having some from South America, you’re having some from Europe, some obscure country in Europe… and these are mainstream contemporary stuff”.
“So, it’s making a lot of Nigerians, now realize that their stories can actually be seen on a universal scale. At the same time they have to conform to certain relatable ethics, storytelling technics”, concluded Daniel Oriahi, head of the directing department.
For the Lagos State government, the investment was part of a drive to help the city’s creative industries.
Two more film schools will also be part of the programme.
