Popular Nollywood movie producer, Kunle Afolayan, has said that the movie industry needs grants from the government to help It grow.
Afolayan, who spoke at the 2024 Zuma Film Festival organised by the Nigerian Film Corporation and the Federal Capital Territory Administration, said that getting such bits of help from the government will allow them to focus on creating content.
He lamented that since the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, no government has looked in their way in terms of providing grants.
“I mentioned yesterday that the last time a grant was given by the Federal Government was during Goodluck Jonathan’s period project Nollywood Act. And a lot of people benefited from that, some use it to do what they promised to do.
“But some people, of course, use it to marry more wives, buy cars, and all of that.
“But again, we need this kind of gesture, we are filmmakers, we are actually supposed to sit back and just create.
“But because there were gaps and holes and you know, lapses in the industry, some of us have taken it upon ourselves to do more beyond just creating,” Afolayan said.
He also lamented that for three years, his movie filming and production have been powered by a generator which he said is not sustainable and called on the government to come to their aid with an alternative.
“For three years, we’ve been running on a generator, and it is not sustainable and that is why we can’t even open fully.
“I would like to plead to the federal government. All we are asking is incentives or some kind of support towards alternative green energy or solar or whatever that can help us run and it’s going to be of benefit to everyone,” he said.
Afolayan also at the event said that an international movie streaming platform has exited the country in November, describing it as a blow as well as heartbreaking.
“Coming to Netflix, I’ve tried to really avoid this because you know, it’s very, it’s really heartbreaking, you know. And it’s a big blow on us because, you know, in my head, I’ve been thinking, how can we come from earning in dollars like millions? And then you are now thinking, where will I put my film?”
He then called on his colleagues to come together and find a way to create their own distribution platform to avoid the Netflix kind of situation in the future.
“On the last note, we need to create our own distribution platform. I’m very glad and happy with what people are doing on YouTube. As a matter of fact, most of the actors and talents are being forced to become their own distributors.
“So, everybody is now creating like YouTube channels but what if tomorrow YouTube comes and brings some policies that will affect our projection and all of that like Netflix,” Afolayan added.
Even though there is no official statement from Netflix confirming that it has exited the Nigerian market, Afolayan and other panellists at the event suggested that the movie streaming platforms called Nigerian creators it was working with a couple of weeks back and informed them that the company is pulling out of business with them.
