promoting the commercial viability of nigerian films in the cinema

8/10/2019 Promoting the Commercial Viability of Nigerian Films in the Cinema

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By Kene Mkparu

Managing Director/Chief Executive,

Filmhouse Cinemas

Promoting the

Commercial Viability

of Nigerian Films

in the Cinemas


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A publication of the Nollywood Studies Centre

2014


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Table of Contents

1. Introduction .............................................................. 5

2. Understanding Cinema Operations ............................ 9

A. The Theatrical Distributor................................... 10

B. Film Booking and Dating ..................................... 11

i) The Season ...................................................... 14

ii) Societal Current Affairs ................................... 14

iii) Competition with Other Films ........................ 15

iv) Monday Bookings ........................................... 16

C. Marketing and marketing strategy ..................... 17

3. Some Considerations Towards Promoting

Commercial Viability ....................................................... 19

A. Defining the Filmmakers Purpose and Audience

19

i) Why Do Filmmakers Make Films? .................. 19

ii) Who Are the Cinema Goers? .......................... 20

B. What are people watching? ............................... 21

C. Genre .................................................................. 27

4. Final Points by Way of a Summary ......................... 29


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Table 1: Actual and projected numbers of cinemas in

Nigeria (20042020) ........................................................ 8

Figure 1: Sample of a Theatrical Release Calendar ........ 13

Figure 2 Global comparison forAvatar(2010) ............... 22

Figure 3 Gobal comparison for Clash of the Titans(2010)

........................................................................................ 23

Figure 4: Global comparison for Prince of Persia(2010) 24

Figure 5: Global comparison for Salt(2010) ................... 25

Figure 6: Global comparison forAvengers(2012) .......... 26


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1. Introduction

The history of film exhibition in Nigeria is a fairly long one

that stretches as far back as the 1900s. The interest of

Nigerians in theatrical exhibition only intensified

following the introduction of indigenous filmmaking in

1970s. According to Adeleke,

Between 1970s and the late 1980s, members ofthe public were eager to visit film houses to see

their favourite stage artists who had taken to

screen, and perhaps nostalgic drive to see the old

stage plays on celluloid encouraged some to

patronise the exhibition halls. (Adeleke, 2003, p.

52)1

However, thanks to the prevailing economic depression

and the consequent insecurity, activities at most of the

Nigerian cinema houses ground to a halt from the late

1980s and into the 1990s. The cinema halls themselves

were turned to other uses. The video film boom of the

1990s created even more of a distance from the cinemas.

This, of course, is not to say that the cinemas died out all

1Adeleke, D. A. (2003). Culture, Art and Film in An African

Society: An Evaluation. Nordic Journal of African

Studies, 12(1), 49-56.


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together. In quite a few places, notably in the north of

the country, the cinemas continued to function albeit at

a very low scale. There are about 42 of such cinemas

currently functioning in the north. But, it is necessary to

make a distinction between these and what one could

term modern cinemas with their upgraded facilities and

offerings.

Twenty plus years later, however, the economy has

improved, and events have come full swing. There is now

a renewed surge of interest in cinema halls. In terms of

modern cinemas, the Silverbird Group set the ball rolling

in 2004 with the establishment of its first cinema, a five

screen multiplex, in Lagos, It was joined three years later,

in 2007, by City Mall and the South African owned Nu

Metro. Subsequent years would witness the openings of

Ozone, Genesis Deluxe, iCinema and Filmhouse as well as

more cinemas in different cities by Silverbird. In spite of

the closing down of Nu Metro and iCinema (Port

Harcourt) in 2009 and 2012, respectively, there are

currently 15 cinemas, and it is expected that by the end

of 2013, there will be 20 cinemas with 90 screens. This

number is expected to rise to 30 cinemas and 135

screens by 2014, with a further expected jump by 2016

to reach 40 cinemas and 200 screens (see table 1). The

average seating size per cinema screen is 120 seats.

Given the size of the Nigerian populace, these numbers

may not appear to be significant, but they remain

important for the Nigerian filmmaker since they point to


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the possibilities that exist. It can be said that the future is

quite bright as regards the growth of the cinema. For

instance, beginning in 2013, Filmhouse plans to open 25

cinemas over the space of 6 years. Ster Kinekor, the

largest South African chain, is already showing interest in

the Nigeria territory, and there are various plans,

especially on the part of the Lagos State government, to

build a chain of community cinemas.


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Table 1: Actual and projected numbers of cinemas in Nigeria (2004 2020)

YEAR END

Silverbird NuMetro

(South

African)

City Mall Ozone Genesis

Deluxe

iCinema Filmhouse TOTAL No. of

Screens

2004 1 - - - - - - 1 5

2007 1 2 1 - - - - 4 16

2009 3 closed 1 1 2 - - 7 32

2010 4 - 1 1 2 1 - 9 46

2011 5 - 1 1 3 1 - 11 52

2012 (to Aug) 5 - 1 1 3 closed - 10 50

2012 (to Dec) 6 - 1 1 4 - 2 12 65

2013 7 - 1 1 5 - 6 20 90

2014 30 135

2016 40 200

2020 55 275


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2. Understanding Cinema Operations

There have been various complaints from filmmakers,

particularly in the last two years, who say that they have

been poorly treated by the cinema owners. They have

complained about having had problems with one or the

other cinema; about the fact that their money was not

remitted to them in time; that the cinema did not

advertise or market their films as much as they expected;

that the film was pulled out from the cinema earlier than

was anticipated; or that they did not receive as much

money as they expected for their film from the cinema.

Some of these claims may or may not be valid, but

oftentimes the criticism of the cinema chains arise from a

misunderstanding about their mode of operation. It is

therefore important for filmmakers to appreciate the

way the cinema operates.

It is useful, in the first place, to understand the difference

between the use of the word cinema in terms of the

building where films are shown as opposed to the use of

the same term to refer to the film itself. The term is often

used in a global way to refer to various things,

filmmaking inclusive. The term, as used here, refers

solely to the place where films are shown. The word

'theatre' is also used synonymously with cinema in this

regard. It is also important to lay emphasis on the fact

that the cinema, in the context being defined here, must


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be distinguished from television, a school, a charity work

or a medium for diffusing governmental public oriented

messages. The relevance of making such a distinction will

be drawn out later.

A. The Theatrical Distributor

The theatrical distributor is an important figure in cinema

operations and can be described as the middleman

between the filmmaker and the exhibitor or cinema

owner. Although there are many organisations and

persons that could be called distributors in Nigeria, there

are very few of them that are actually theatrical

distributors. The better known ones are Blue Pictures,

Silverbird Distribution and Okhma Global Limited.

While it is true that the filmmaker can choose to self-

market his film, there are advantages to working with a

theatrical distributor. In the first place, the theatrical

distributor has more resources for the marketing and

promotion of ones film. A distributor that is prepared to

accept a film into his/her stable should also be prepared

to be involved in the promotion and advertising of thefilm. This aspect of the process is essential and should be

started months before the actual release of the film.

A second advantage is that the distributor is in a better

position not only to monitor the progress of a film in the

cinema but also to oversee the collection and sharing of


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revenue. In addition to this, the distributor has a better

knowledge of the good cinemas as well as the best play

dates for releasing ones films. All in all, it is highly

recommendable for the filmmaker to work with a

theatrical distributor because the distributor knows

exactly how the cinemas operate. A good distributor is

one that fights the cause of the filmmaker and the film as

far as the cinemas are concerned.

B. Film Booking and Dating

In the cinema, the choice of the right play dates is often a

determining factor in how well a film does in the box

office. Cinemas plan their calendars months in advance.

(See figure 2) Thus, anyone planning a theatrical release

must book with the cinemas well ahead of time. It isimportant in making such bookings to be aware of

possible dates or events that could either undermine or

promote the successful performance of ones film in the

cinema. For instance, whereas it makes good sense to

make the release of ones film coincide with a public

holiday, it may not be such a good idea if that public

holiday coincided with a carnival and other momentousevents that would make attendance at the cinema less

attractive for the viewing audience.

The calendar, to a large extent, is generated by the

distributors. Although the cinema houses can influence

dates, oftentimes the distributors have the dates and


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exhibitors work with their calendar. Consequently, when

the filmmaker approaches a distributor, before any deal

is struck, the distributor opens the calendar to fix a date.

However, and unfortunately, the frequency of release in

the Nigerian market is sometimes detrimental to the

success of the films themselves. Films are sometimes

released every week, and this means that a film is not

allowed to play long enough in the cinema in order to be

truly profitable.


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Figure 1: Sample of a Theatrical Release Calendar


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In considering film bookings and dating, the following

factors should also be taken into consideration:

i) The Season

It is important to understand the role that the season

plays in the successful outing or otherwise of ones films.

For the theatrical premiere of a film, the filmmaker must

learn to capitalise on important seasonal events school

holidays, Christmas and Easter holidays, etc. becausethese are the periods when the numbers of cinema goers

are likely to peak. One therefore needs to place the

season with ones film. The cinema calendars show public

holidays, or religious holidays such as Ramadan or Easter.

ii) Societal Current Affairs

Societal happenings could also be an important factor in

the success or failure of ones film at the cinema. This

factor, however, is oftentimes not within the control of

the filmmaker. For example, it was pure coincidence that

the film, Last Flight to Abuja, was released at about the

same time that a plane crash took place. That was a sad

event. But things like that sometimes positively help afilm. Films that connect with topical issues of society can

often benefit positively from such connections, but in

some cases it can work negatively against the film.


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iii) Competition with Other Films

The filmmaker must pay attention to the other films

planned for release at the same time at the same time as

his/hers. For instance, it would be a mistake to plan the

release of ones film to coincide with that of a

blockbuster film that is likely to draw away most of the

audience. It is good to remember that even though a lot

of people go to the cinema every weekend, they do so

having already budgeted on what they will spend their

leisure naira. So, if they decide to spend it on the

blockbuster film A this weekend, and at the cinema they

happen to see the poster for the Nigerian film B showing

the same time, they will merely decide to return the

following weekend for film B. However, for reasons that

will be mentioned in the following section, 80% of the

time that film would have already been yanked off the

screening list and will not be available the following

weekend. Rather than entering into competition with

other films in this way, filmmakers can capitalise on the

crowds that those films might attract to advertise the

showing of their new films at a subsequent date.

The highest selling Nigerian film in Nigerian cinemas, Ije

was able to do so well (N59.3 million from 6 cinemas)

because there were no other Nigerian films in the cinema

at the same time to compete with it. The highest earning

Nigerian films after that have all been in the range of N20


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million because they were all released at about the same

time, not giving each other space to recoup and do well.

iv) Monday Bookings

In cinema business, the week is calculated from Friday to

Thursday, so the cinema week starts on a Friday and

ends on a Thursday. However, the scheduling of films for

the week is done on Mondays. The box office figures

from the weekend are used to determine all the filmsthat will be scheduled for the different days of the week

ahead. Thus the opening weekend performance of a film

is crucial to Monday bookings. The weekend figures will

be the determiner as to whether the new film released

will be scheduled at all in the week ahead or whether

preference will be given to other films. If the weekend

figures for the new film have been low, it will be taken

out.

Herein lies the danger of competition. If one releases a

film at about the same time as the release of a

blockbuster, one must be aware of the risks. This is

related to the concept of the available leisure naira to

spend, mentioned above. The audience being targeted

for the films is the same one, and if there is competition

with, for instance, Hollywood blockbusters, the Nigerian

films are likely to do badly. So, it is best to try and find a

date when there will be the least competition.


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C. Marketing and marketing strategy

Marketing is a key contributor to the success of films in

the cinema. Marketing here involves publicity,

advertising and promotion. One of the biggest problems

for most Nigerian filmmakers is that they only begin the

marketing of their new films on the day the film is

released. This clearly is a problem because by the time

the marketing kicks in it is too late to affect the figures of

the opening weekend. And, come Monday, the cinema

house will have to make a decision for scheduling it in

the new week. Consequently, the film is likely to be

dropped from four shows to oneand at 10am or in the

afternoon. Thus, the film ends up not making money.

The advertising campaign should be started early.

According to the formula used by the established film

industries, the promotion of a film begins months before

its release and even while production is still on. There is a

need to understand that early marketing and publicity

help the film to register in people's mind, and they will

consequently plan towards when it eventually comes

out. It is advisable, if possible, to work with a PR agency.

Also, the stars of the film should be committed in their

contracts to taking part to publicity and pre-release

activities. The nature of such activities should be

concretely spelt out.


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3. Some Considerations Towards

Promoting Commercial Viability

Like every filmmaker knows, the planning stage in the

filmmaking process contributes greatly to the success of

the film. However, there are certain aspects of that

planning stage that it is easy to overlook, and these are

aspects that could make or break a film in the cinema.

These aspects involve the definition of the filmmaker's

purpose, the audience for the film and the genre that the

film should fit into.

A. Defining the Filmmakers Purpose

and Audience

One of the causes of failure of films in the cinema arises

from the filmmakers inability to adequately define either

his/her purpose for the film or the audience. In this

regard, it is important to ask two questions: Why do

filmmakers make films? Who are the cinema goers?

i) Why Do Filmmakers Make Films?

Each filmmaker will probably give a different answer to

this question, and one cannot presume to generalise on

what the motivations are. But oftentimes, there is a

confusion between wanting to create a message driven

film, an artistic film or a box office hit. Of course, this is


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not to say that these three things are incompatible. But it

is important to clearly define what the various intentions

are in order to cater to each one adequately because

certain decisions concerning the film will be guided by

whatever the prevailing desire is. If ones desire is to

make money, then it is important not to lose sight of the

business angle of filmmaking. And in order to be a

commercially viable and a worthwhile business, the film

must contain the right ingredients that will make it sell. A

primary motivation for the filmmaker, in this regard,

must be to capture the attention of the audience such

that they will want to pay to watch the film. In other

words, the filmmaker must not lose sight of the need to

entertain the audience.

ii) Who Are the Cinema Goers?

This question is linked to the previous one. Filmmakers

need to understand the make up of the cinema going

audience. The primary cinema goers are aged 15 35.

The secondary ones, here in Nigeria, are 15 14. One

might argue that overseas 11 to 14 year olds go to the

cinema by themselves, but that is not the case in Nigeria

where concerns for safety prevail. So, children of that

age can go to the cinema only when there is an adult to

accompany them. Another secondary group is

constituted of the 36 to 50 year olds. Then there is the

tertiary group of those that are 50 years and above that

only come to the cinema on public holidays, festivals, etc.


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The filmmaker cannot afford to be oblivious of the needs

of those of the primary audience. The necessary question

is whether the guiding factor in making films should be

what the filmmaker wants to disseminate or what the

audience wants to watch.

B. What are people watching?

In making films, it is important to think about whether

the audience is watching those films. For this reason, it is

useful to carry out some audience analysis to find out

what people are watching. For the cinema owner, the

figures tell it all. A global comparison of box office

revenues shows that films do quite well in Nigerian

cinemas, and that these cinemas are significant in the

scheme of things. (Figures 2 to 6 show the revenues ofvarious films across different countries). In Nigerian

cinemas alone, some films have made from N50 million

to over N150 million (Salt, Prince of Persia, Avatar, Ije

etc). It is notable that in spite of the low number of

cinemas in the country, films are making money in the

cinema, and it is Nigerians that are watching them. Thus,

if one's film does not do well in the cinema, it cannot bebecause people are unwilling to spend money in the

cinema.


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Figure 2: Global comparison forAvatar(2010)


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Figure 3: Global comparison for Clash of the Titans(2010)


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Figure 4: Global comparison for Prince of Persia(2010)


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Figure 5: Global comparison for Salt(2010)


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Figure 6: Global comparison for Avengers(2012)


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overlook the importance of keeping the preferences of

the primary audience in mind.


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4. Final Points by Way of a Summary

1. The filmmaker should decide why he/she wants to

make a film: any reason is good, but there is a

need to have clearly defined reasons. If one

decides to go for a money making film, then it is

important to ensure that the film contains some

appeal for the targeted audience (this is especially

important if one wants to target a non-Nigerian

audience).

2. It pays to decide who the target audience is and to

find out why they are watching. It never pays to

take the audience for granted.

3. The filmmaker should identify other films similar

to the one being planned, and aimed at a similar

audience, and find out how such films have done

in the box office. One must be realistic about this;

it would be absurd to use a Hollywood blockbuster

film with worldwide reach and a budget of fifty

million dollars as a benchmark for a film that isaimed at a local audience and has a budget of a

hundred thousand dollars.

4. The filmmaker has to enter into a contract with a

theatrical distributor for the circulation of his/her

film.


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5. A film dating strategy should be agreed upon with

the distributor, and competition with other films

should be avoided where possible.

6. The filmmaker should have a concise marketing

plan and strategy and should start the process

early.

7. The film stars should be tied down, via a contract,

to publicity and pre-release activities. Ensure that

the contract with the film stars defines exactly

what the publicity and pre-release activities will

consist of; do not leave it vaguely expressed as just

'publicity'. The involvement of the actors in

publicity activities is important because the powerof the stars is phenomenal.

8. Get your publicity material to the cinema early

enough, and time the display of such material to

coincide with the release of other crowd-pulling

films.

promoting the commercial viability of nigerian films in the cinema

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