The Nollywood film industry as we know it today started in the 1990s and veteran comedianAli Baba was around from the beginning so he knows PLENTY THINGS! Inside gist that many are not aware of. Today he decided spill & give a lesson in Nollywood 101 – How it all started…with criminal funding.
He took to his Facebook page to dispel the notion that the Federal government was responsible for the boom in the Nollywood home video industry. He revealed that Nollywood started with funding from Advance Fee Fraud (419) crime. No different from Hollywood which saw a lot of investment from mafia and drug lords in the 1950s/60s and 70s.
Read excerpts from his article after the cut..
Not many know that the real reason Nollywood grew and became what it is today, was because of advance fee fraud. Yes. 419. Yes go call police. What single HANDEDLY funded the initial boom of the home video was the proceeds from crime. Just like Organized crime and the mafia did for Hollywood. I will explain.
Remember I told you of how everyone waited to be on television soaps or be a part of a stage production or just hung around waiting for something to happen. There were many people with scripts and the only thing that held their dreams down was funds. The funds were not going to come from government or any individual. The only Bank that sponsored stage plays at the time was NIB (Nigerian international Bank) they always went all alone to sponsor or in conjunction with the USIS. That source of funding later was to dry up because certain people did not deliver. But that will be a story for another day. Anyway SHA, in the midst of all that not knowing where funds will come from, NNEKA, THE PRETTY SERPENT came out. Many more home videos were to follow. Guess who were the guys doling out money for the home videos?
These 419 guys had so much money, they built palaces as houses and malls as country home mansions. And how best could they show off the houses, cars, clothes, furniture and money? If you guessed, In home videos, you are absolutely correct. Now, don’t forget that these were proceeds from crime. The 419ers were not accountable to anyone. So, they were not looking for Return on Investment. All they wanted was for their friends who saw the video to know that that was one of their houses in different parts of the country. They also wanted their fleet of cars to be used by the actors and actresses. Some of whom also benefitted from their generosity. With such free funds flowing in, the actors who had been dormant woke up.
In fact the 419 funds triggered a whole lot of allied businesses. Make up, camera rentals, audio experts, generator rentals, VHS and pneumatic tape dealers, editors, producers, scriptwriters, screenplay writers, soundtrack makers, special effects, drivers, welfare, costumier, continuity, graphics,… Most of them funded by advance fee fraud proceeds.
UNDOUBTEDLY, the monies were proceeds from crime. The investors, or better put, financier, did not look forward to their monies coming back. SO, RETURN ON INVESTMENT WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION. They ONLY wanted to have everyone see their cars, clothes (often used by lead characters) and houses . And as time went on they demanded that they were thanked SPECIALLY immediately after TO GOD BE THE GLORY
It will be grossly unfair to history if I failed to mention that these 419ers were making things happen, pulling their weight in gold and even benefitted in kind from some movies they sponsored… As they were known to have married some of the actresses.
From then on, sponsors were falling over themselves to sponsor movies. Some of the 419 guys even appeared in the movies they sponsored. The actors and actresses started to command very interesting fees to act in home videos. Then gradually, they (419ers) started to dictate who appeared in their movies. As this was happening in the home video space, musical artistes were also benefiting from the proceeds as well as they were being invited to perform for very tidy sums.
The home video industry was agog. Things were happening. Lifestyles of actors changed. Better fees were charged, depending on how good your negotiation skills were. Many more 419 guys saw it as a PR arm of their business.
It’s important to note that with time, as expected, some producers, directors, actors and actresses at this time had gotten so popular, that they were beginning to dictate what happened in the market. The new cartel that had been formed, who were the financiers of the home video industry, now called the marketers, decided to seize back the controls of the growing industry. A case of who pays the piper dictates the tune. Some were banned and others whipped into line.
Years on, the heat started to be unbearable for the 419 king pins. Maga was not even paying as they used to, yet, the authorities, through the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) were hot of their tails. Many were picked to explain the source of their wealth. Some Lilly livered ones spilled and the people they mentioned were promptly picked. Their houses were seized, cars confiscated and accounts frozen.
Account officers in banks who were the people helping to launder the funds were picked up as well. It was very common back then, to see that the advance fee fraudsters, had married their account officers. So, when the bubble burst and the poo hit the fan, some of these account officers, now wives, were thinking of how to hide what they could, protect their children and families, still maintain the lifestyle, pay lawyers, get their 419 husbands bail every now and then, depending on when a new reported case fingered them.
Some wise 419ers, especially the educated ones, who had made good money, invested in some other businesses and cleaned up their businesses and tracks. Some not so smart ones, were selling off properties and cars and running out of Nigeria to Ghana or other neighbouring countries. Some unfortunate ones were swindled or blackmailed by the police to quietly forfeit their proceeds of crime. And others just went underground totally.
The consequence of these happenings was the dearth of the Home video business. Funds were hard to come by. Stars had been made and they needed to be paid to maintain the glamour and assumed high life style of the rich and famous. The seasoned professionals, who were shut out from the 419 windfall, and had not been benefiting from the free funds, had overtime, sourced funds from legitimate sources to shoot their own movies. These professionals, many of whom had come from thespian backgrounds, also had been making money from producing, directing, scripting and acting in the home video sectors and allied businesses. They now became the fall back for many 419 dependent actors and producers.
The funding of the home video industry was now a case of who can bring the needed funds. Many repented 419ers still had money, but were no more interested in showing off their houses, cars and wealth. They just wanted to stay clear of the home video business. But good enough for the young industry, the hunger for the movies had been created. The market was waiting for movies, and anyone who had a story and could assemble a cast put it out in the market. The marketers of the movies had made stupid money in the home video boom and now started funding movie productions.
Interestingly, many of the born again 419ers, joined politics and became power brokers. And knowing how NIGERIANS had taken to home videos, they started to use their offices to support the industry and expected to also benefit from the fame that the stakeholders enjoyed.
My conclusion. Owing to the fact that the initial funds that kicked off the home video business, were not expected back by the people (419ers) who funded the business, some of the actors and actresses, plus producer and directors, were more concerned about the creatives. They did not pay attention to the distribution of movies and how to roll over the proceeds from one movie into the next one. They were already now used to lau lau money. It became a problem when they got monies from individuals for a movie and years after, have not been able to recoup money spent on the movie, not to mention paying back. No one even dared to mention interest or profit.
From the above you will agree with me that Government had no role to play in the funding of the movie industry as we know it. It had always been through the efforts of stakeholders and the funds from the MAGA who paid.
Credit at this time must be given to professional players in the industry who in spite of those free funds, continued to legitimately source funds, produce quality home videos, though they did not pay as much as the free-fund movies did. They were the ones that kept Nollywood alive.
You can read the rest of the article HERE ...*as expository as this article may be,next year JAMBites maybe asked to read this for their exam! Take note and thank me later..
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