I was watching TV the other day and i saw how the cast of "Twillight" the movie were being mobbed and worshipped in different countries across the globe and i was hoping that one day when Nigeria becomes a developed country that we don't start worshipping foreign icons but our own superstar actors instead. The thought that one day my kids would be crying because they are in the presence of some hollywood actor appalls me.

So i decided to ask the question how can we as Nigerians force nollywood to get better? do we boycott the movies or do we buy more movies so that they can have more money to be able to make bigger and quality pictures? I believe that the main thing affecting Nollywood movies besides bad scripts is lack of editing. There are so many unncessary scenes in some movies that have nothing to do with the main theme of the movie. For example you could watch a scene where a woman is sweeping the floor and singing at the same time for 5 WHOLE MINUTES (imagine that? ).
I also believe that one of the best ways for nollywood to get better is if they have movie society like an academy (or association) of nigerian movie directors or a screen actors guild [association]. This would make directors and actors sit down and discuss how to make the industry better.

The govt could also step in by dangling a carrot (in this case; cash) in front of them and tell them that whoever writes or makes a movie of certain cinematic standards created by a pool of renowned foreign critics (sorry, i just can't think of any acclaimed Nigerian movie critic right now) would be awarded lucrative grants by the govt., i believe that this would make our the industry more competitive and it would increase the quality of movies coming from Nollywood.

Dude you are just wasting your time our people no fit change!

The main problem here is that, they seem to recycle themselves, nothing new, its like reading the “Mills and Boon” novels, within a period of 12 months I went through almost 80 to 100 books all ended the same way, the usual suspects dies! The same about Nollywood as an industry, no one is prepared to push the boat out, push the boundaries, new ideas. It’s bad enough them churning out hundreds and hundreds of home movies every year, what “we” the viewers are waiting for is a BLOCKBUSTER from Nollywood. The actors and actresses act the same way, speak the same way, look the same way, I can’t remember her name, actually I don’t now know her name! but she acted in 2 different movies, one as a rich mans daughter, the other as a poor mans wife! The 2 roles require 2 different characters but hey as expected she spoke the same way, with the same attitude for both roles…. And people would say we shouldn’t criticise them! Nollywood is an industry that refuses to grow in quality, why? Typical Nigerian thinking “enough is good enough”

Look at TSOTSI won an Oscar award, grossed nearly $10m, this a South African movie, well thought of the script was well written and professionally shot, it’s a movie that had everything and was I proud that it won the best foreign language film at the Oscars… Wesley Snipes and other Hollywood stars realised that theirs an untapped gold mine within Nollywood or filming in Nigeria but it seems like that boat has sailed, agree there are loads of movies to be shot in Africa but using actors / actresses from Nollywood or Gollywood seems to be a distance memory unless if they have shown in the past that they could handle such role, but looking most Nollywood stars CV, though its long but not impressive. You imagine someone asks a Nollywood actor to act in a movie and his role is to act as a Jamaican, this means you would have to enter the world of a Jamaican behave like one and speak like one? No Chance…

"If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we always got."

They are all just profit minded so they don't care for innovation or other things.

Same problem with most other industries lack of organisation, infact most of the practitioners in Nollywood do not really understand the essence of movies!

Nollywood will change if we stop producing twenty films in a week and concentrating to make quality movies.

omar22:

The main problem here is that, they seem to recycle themselves, nothing new, its like reading the “Mills and Boon” novels, within a period of 12 months I went through almost 80 to 100 books all ended the same way, the usual suspects dies! The same about Nollywood as an industry, no one is prepared to push the boat out, push the boundaries, new ideas. It’s bad enough them churning out hundreds and hundreds of home movies every year, what “we” the viewers are waiting for is a BLOCKBUSTER from Nollywood. The actors and actresses act the same way, speak the same way, look the same way, I can’t remember her name, actually I don’t now know her name! but she acted in 2 different movies, one as a rich mans daughter, the other as a poor mans wife! The 2 roles require 2 different characters but hey as expected she spoke the same way, with the same attitude for both roles…. And people would say we shouldn’t criticise them! Nollywood is an industry that refuses to grow in quality, why? Typical Nigerian thinking “enough is good enough”

Look at TSOTSI won an Oscar award, grossed nearly $10m, this a South African movie, well thought of the script was well written and professionally shot, it’s a movie that had everything and was I proud that it won the best foreign language film at the Oscars… Wesley Snipes and other Hollywood stars realised that theirs an untapped gold mine within Nollywood or filming in Nigeria but it seems like that boat has sailed, agree there are loads of movies to be shot in Africa but using actors / actresses from Nollywood or Gollywood seems to be a distance memory unless if they have shown in the past that they could handle such role, but looking most Nollywood stars CV, though its long but not impressive. You imagine someone asks a Nollywood actor to act in a movie and his role is to act as a Jamaican, this means you would have to enter the world of a Jamaican behave like one and speak like one? No Chance…

"If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we always got."

you just said it all.  Nigerian mentality once they start making money from any venture no need for improvement.  Even in goods production, instead the quality will be deteriorating .

I agree with you Nezan, if we can focus on writing a good story and practise for about a year, instead of 2 months. I believe people will be able to support them better.

There are so many actors with great potentials, but at times when you see them in movies, one is highly dissapointed.

Nollywood does have an actors guild.
well there is one in Enugu which is the center for most nollywood movies. (well the ones done by igbos)
i watched a documentary about nollywood some months back and they talked about the actors guild, including directors and producers ect. . .
those are the same guilds that banned genny and ini and some other nollywood actors for some time.
the same guild that bans certain movies as well.

Nezan:

Nollywood will change if we stop producing twenty films in a week and concentrating to make quality movies.

i agree.
nollywood would be better if they took their time to make quality movies.
i wanna see some horror movies (i would love to see genny act in a horror movie). nollywood's idea of a horror movie is some cheap movie involving juju or ghosts or something.
more ACTION movies as well. less with the sappy romance and lame drama movies.
even some suspense would be good too.
im really tired of these 20 movies a week thing. maybe 5 movies a week?
idk but there is money to be made and time is money and a lot of producers take out from their own pockets, thats why they can care less about quality.

Write better stories, Write better stories, Write better stories. This cannot be over emphasized.
work on our Casting and give the job/role to the best actor, not giving Said Balogun a role that fits Jim Iyke or making Genevieve a secondary school student.
Organize FREE AND FAIR talent hunt so that we can discover new talents. I am tired of seeing Jim Iyke in every movie.
Fight piracy so that there will be adequate ROI for investors which will make others interested in the movie business.
Set up film institute like the  New York Film Academy  so that we can train professionals. 99% of the people in Nollywood don't have any form of education in movie making/business. Most of them just crashed into it.From the director downwards.Thats why most of our films are mediocre.
Organize CREDIBLE awards that will reward those who deserve it. Something like the Hip Hop world or Sound City Awards.
Set up a better distribution frame work for both sales and rentals.
Set up a COMPETENT census board. The one we have now is run on the basis of man-know-man. Shiorr
Create a professional website (www.nollywood.com) that will project Nollywood in a better light to the rest of the world.The one we have now is trash.What kind of website has Google adverts on it homepage?
Change the name from Nollywood to something more Nigerian.
Ban all this 200-in-one American/Indian pirated films. The are not doing our local industry any good.

Just my 2cents.

Nollywood will change if we stop producing twenty films in a week and concentrating to make quality movies.

Ha!!! Twenty films a week, when it took The Matrix (The 2nd series) 8 months to complete

@Tcrack

I agree with you 100% but all types of industries in Nigeria hates changes and thats a proven fact, changing from Old to new looks like heading for the electric chair to Nigerians

fire all artist that is guilty of the following offences
1. Wig wearers, mercy johnson is their queen, i cringe everythime i note a wig on a lady, how unprofesional
2. Guys that try and bust it like they were born in the state, *cringes* they have to go
3. Guys that wears sun shade in the room even at the diny table when they are eating, say no more!
4. Gyals that wears cheap skate spag top, that can blink their eyes 100 times per second and twist their mouth to one side are just the one's trashing the set, they have to go.
5. Guys that have a JJC role fresh from yanke doesnt have to wear armless fubu, its highly embarassing
6. Nollykids (how adorable) but cut them when they smile and stare at the camera
7. Lastly, the deadly crime of nollywood, the bullet shooters, before you complete a two hour film you'd get shot twice at least, superstory need to stop recruiting yoruba artists into drama, its a one way ticket into the english films, bad english is unacceptable lol who saw saheed balogun's english movie? o sha n tabon ni
Lets just say nollywood = tro tro home videos, unproffesionalism in the highest order
and those igbo movie that has 0.2 megapixels where everyone looks orange/ pale should all be siezed, its sheer waste of money

By actually taking time to do it and paying actors based on how good they act.

Enough with the one moth movie creation.

Enough with easy made money. If actors were paid on their worth , then they'll make effort to actually act.

You need a blockbuster script to produce a blockbuster movie we all know that but who will sit down to write a wonderful script for 30k?
You want cheap good, you get less quality goods.
In Hollywood scriptwriters live big from the money they make from there job but here,
Have you ever taken time to look at the cast after watching a Nollywood  movie? The director is almost always the script writer. If he is not then be sure the scriptwriter is his friend or relative.
All i am saying is that scriptwriters are paid pea nuts so they don't give their all for a good script.

Hey I am not one but I have known this for a while.

Take stereotypes out of the equation.
Juju, revenge, wicked MIL, action. . . Lavish houses and all that aren't sets.

Doesn't have to wow audience. A good simple story, told in simple scenes. Doesn't have to be lavish or grandeur.
Then they can work their way forward. Yes, one must start somewhere, like ardent defenders of nollywood like to say.

you said it all, Bollywood movie first kept it simple before they started adding the shooting stuff into it,

good suggestions,but u know even if dey r ready govt n piracy is not helpin matters,no financial support from govt,awon omo ibo (alaba boys) are not helpin matas,greed has caught up with almost ever nigeria. anoda tin dat nollywood has 2 let go is an actress wearing high heel in her own house,with heavy lace n rings all over her fingers n heavy make up,dey must also let go of all milionaires must be dressed in agbadas n walkin stick,all rich men gained dia wealth illegitimatly n all good gals must wear cut and sew skirt n go 2 church every sunday and read bible,everybad gal must be dressed suggestivel chewing gum with heavy makeup n smoking,everyone dat is a thief must wear sunshades n heavy tatoos.they are so unneeded

Less tribalism and more professionalism.

iice:

Take stereotypes out of the equation.
Juju, revenge, wicked MIL, action. . . Lavish houses and all that aren't sets.

Doesn't have to wow audience. A good simple story, told in simple scenes. Doesn't have to be lavish or grandeur.
Then they can work their way forward. Yes, one must start somewhere, like ardent defenders of nollywood like to say.

The movie industry IS about stereotypes. until the wars in both iraq and afghanistan most people world wide would have banked on the US and coalition forces winning both wars. this is as a result of movies like Rambo et al rooted in our pysche. the problem isnt that stereotypes have to be removed. the problem is that these stereotypes have to be acted professionally. hollywood = stereotypes.

Nollywood is just like a mirror; reflecting the generality of the average Nigerian.

1. Pick actors based on TALENT and NOT on who BRIBES or SLEEPS with who

2. Stop producing 50 movies per day

posakosa:

1. Pick actors based on TALENT and NOT on who BRIBES or SLEEPS with who

2. Stop producing 50 movies per day

My point exactly

the fastest way is to limit an actor/actress to a maximum of 3 movies a year.

that way:

the artiste will be more selective about which scripts to accept. A situation where one actor does 20 movies a year is just absurd(thats an average of <3weeks to make a movie)

the movie makers can pull resources together for more daring projects

script writers will have more time to think(thats the main problem,cerebral activity is glaringly absent in most)


And then the government may help with building film villages for them,also i think they in nollybush need to employ more professionals in graphics (im sure their are many undergrads in niija who can make good montages/special effects etc).

Government policies to fight piracy.


And yeah! i almost forgot,the govenment needs to massively educate people in nigeria, most people who hail the movies in my opinion are illiterates who love mediocrity

reindeer
you are right. the movie industry reflects the Nigerian society and until Nigeria becomes a developed and sophisticated Nation, we would continue to have mediocre and overwhelmingly simplistic movies. How many Nigerians can appreciate a masterpiece like "The Usual Suspects" or "There will be blood" ( a lot of Americans don't appreciate this one too ).

reindeer:

the fastest way is to limit an actor/actress to a maximum of 3 movies a year.

that way:

the artiste will be more selective about which scripts to accept. A situation where one actor does 20 movies a year is just absurd(thats an average of <3weeks to make a movie)

the movie makers can pull resources together for more daring projects

script writers will have more time to think(thats the main problem,cerebral activity is glaringly absent in most)


And then the government may help with building film villages for them,also i think they in nollybush need to employ more professionals in graphics (im sure their are many undergrads in niija who can make good montages/special effects etc).

Government policies to fight piracy.


And yeah! i almost forgot,the govenment needs to massively educate people in nigeria, most people who hail the movies in my opinion are illiterates who love mediocrity

i agree with you!!! maybe you can raise that to about 5 movies a year per actor/actress.
yeah they need to build more film locations. cause most movies are filmed randomely at a house they found somewhere and their main problem is always NEPA.
i saw the documentary a couple of months back and NEPA was delaying them from getting a certain scene done. (a movie with Richard Mofe and Shan George.)

Tcrack:

Write better stories, Write better stories, Write better stories. This cannot be over emphasized.
work on our Casting and give the job/role to the best actor, not giving Said Balogun a role that fits Jim Iyke or making Genevieve a secondary school student.
Organize FREE AND FAIR talent hunt so that we can discover new talents. I am tired of seeing Jim Iyke in every movie.
Fight piracy so that there will be adequate ROI for investors which will make others interested in the movie business.
Set up film institute like the  New York Film Academy  so that we can train professionals. 99% of the people in Nollywood don't have any form of education in movie making/business. Most of them just crashed into it.From the director downwards.Thats why most of our films are mediocre.
Organize CREDIBLE awards that will reward those who deserve it. Something like the Hip Hop world or Sound City Awards.
Set up a better distribution frame work for both sales and rentals.
Set up a COMPETENT census board. The one we have now is run on the basis of man-know-man. Shiorr
Create a professional website (www.nollywood.com) that will project Nollywood in a better light to the rest of the world.The one we have now is trash.What kind of website has Google adverts on it homepage?
Change the name from Nollywood to something more Nigerian.
Ban all this 200-in-one American/Indian pirated films. The are not doing our local industry any good.

Just my 2cents.

actually a lot of nollywood actors and actresses did somehow "bump" into nollywood but a lot of them (example: ini edo) majored in theater performing arts, or something like that, during university. something to do with the arts.
so some of them did have intentions on being somewhere in the movie industry.
they do have credible awards. "AMA" which i believe is the African Movie Awards, and i believe there is another award ceremony that is held annually.

-Put more twists & turns in    their stories - Nollywood movies are too damn predictable.

-Improve on their soundtracks  too

-Give the viewer more credit and be more subtle in their story telling

And lastly

Less plagiarizing of American Films - Anytime, I see a Nollywood film, I'm always like na so so film this people dey copy na. e.g I remember some years back I saw a Nigerian film (Staring Ibinabo Fiberisima) of some daring female armed robbers and the 1st thing that came to my mind was na that Jada pinkett, Queen Latifah film this people go copy na & truly the storyline was very similar.

I love that movie with Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifa, Vivica A. Fox.
you talking about that one, right? where they kept robbing banks? lol

Love that movie too . . . .set it off

YEAH!! it was on the tip of my tongue.
i knew it was something short like that.
love that movie, its so BAD ASS! lol