2010: A Ray of Hope for the Entertainment Industry

Eunice Nze speaks with some stakeholders in the Nigerian entertainment industry and reports that things are looking up in the New Year.

The leadership tussle amongst members of Actors Guild of Nigeria was a major crisis in the entertainment industry last year. The group was disorganized for such a long time that many believed it would never survive. And, despite intensified efforts made during the year for government to support the call for the institution of a Film Fund, it latched onto the internal crisis to decline, claiming it could not grant funds to a disorganized industry.
Kidnappers added to the woes of the industry when they shifted attention to it. This affected the entire industry; from producers to marketers, actors and vendors.
Nollywood then boycotted the ION Film Festival on the premise that the organizers did not contact stakeholders. In a chat with the publicity secretary of Association of Movie Producers, Mrs Lucinda Abazie, she asserts that, “the IONF organizers came,   apologized in black and white and were given conditions which they accepted. They however did not meet up with our terms and so we decided not to attend the festival.”
On the incidents of kidnapping, she says: “It was not easy for these people during that period. Producers were given conditions which they could not take care of. Actors on their own part had to disguise to go to locations and to even attend occasions for fear of being kidnapped. Producers spent more money than usual to create the kind of location they wanted. Though the situation did not affect the price of films, it sure affected production.”
She also highlights the steps taken by the association to curb piracy in the industry. Apart from the campaign outlawing 100-in-1 CDs, the association has forged an alliance with the Nigerian Police to ensure that defaulters are brought to book.
According to her, “You cannot travel out of the country with large quantities of CDs, VCDs or DVDs without written permission from the producer.”  These measures will be pursued vigorously in the new year, with more adopted later on.
She also discloses that the internal challenges within the Actors’ Guild have been settled and the entire industry is gradually stabilizing. According to her, since nobody seems to be doing anything to curb the menace of kidnapping, actors may continue to live in fear in the new year, even though she highlights the AMP Film Festival, held in conjunction with Lagos State Government, as one of the gains of the period.
“The festival comes up every November and more sponsors are coming up for this year’s edition. We now have the support of NTA, Silverbird, Simba, Fanmilk, African Magic and several others,”, she proudly reveals.
The music sub-sector also experienced trying times but unlike its movie counterpart, there were more worthy landmarks.
In a chat with one of Nigeria’s foremost entertainment icons, Jimmy Adewale Amu, widely known as DJ Jimmy Jatt, he explains that although the meltdown affected all sectors of the economy, the impact on the entertainment world was not overwhelmingly devastating compared to the corporate world. He attributes this to the fact that people turn to entertainment to rid them temporarily of their problems.
He cites an example of his personal goals which were only 60% achieved. He points out that the past year saw consolidation in the music industry. Artistes collaborated to pull resources. “We have come to realize that we can’t afford to be selfish. As you move up, you need to pull others along. It is the way forward. It is common in the Western World and our people have come to accept it. This has gone a long way to improve the face of music in Nigeria and in Africa,” he says.
In 2009, stereotyped lyrics were so commonplace that they became a bore. Jimmy Jatt explains that this was so because people limited themselves to listening to only such music. “As a DJ, when I play in parties and I change a disk to one I feel has better lyrical content, people would complain and they ask for all the music with stereotype words. So who am I to refuse them?” he asks.
The DJ believes that piracy did not abate last year and hopes the situation gets better in 2010. While acknowledging that this is a global problem, he avers that the local situation is endemic because of the absence of well organized internal systems. “We have constantly been making efforts to get government to invest in music and musical talents but they’ve refused. We have to do the right things before everything will fall in place. In my own opinion, there can be no better image laundering than music, movies and every other form of entertainment. They understand the impact music has on people. If not, they wouldn’t be using music for campaigns.
“Even with the fact that we don’t have record labels here in Nigeria, the industry is still a force to reckon with. Until government stands up to the challenge and puts music in its place of pride, piracy will continue to linger,” he counsels.
Jimmy Jatt predicts that, “Based on the events of last year in the industry, more people will take charge of their own businesses, likewise me. We cannot continue to wait on government. Artistes are beginning to realize the monotony in their music, this year will see them improving on this. Many more artistes will also spring up this year because people are tired of the monotony of the old ones. Among other things to watch out for is Jatt Programme which will definitely gather more momentum this year.”
Another artiste, Harrisson Adetokunbo Moradeyo, who is based in the UK, agrees that the Nigerian government does not realize the power of entertainment. According to him, “entertainment is about the third biggest industry in the UK in terms of accruing revenue. The same goes for America and Germany. If government can just take their eyes off oil for one second and try to regulate the entertainment sector properly, they will generate more revenue than they expect.
“For example, in the UK, if you want to sell music, you must have a store and when you have a store, you must have a machine called scanner which scans sales and feeds the information to a central computer. On every CD sold, the government gets an agreed amount. In a country like Nigeria where we buy so much music, if a record sells like three million copies, it means government gets the agreed amount in three million places. The same goes for movies.
The comedy industry had its own share of crises. Few comedians were actively engaged.
A notable comedian, Koffi, gave an overview of how the industry fared in 2009. In his words, “the previous year was not a totally bad one but was not good enough.  A lot of comedians who were supposed to push their brands through stage shows could not do so because of the economic challenges. For example, my yearly comedy event, Burstin Loose, could not come up. Although I had deposited money for the event, I had to ask for a refund because when I looked at all the factors around me, it would be unfair to put up a show and ask people to pay N5, 000 just to come and watch me make them laugh. It simply means that one is not considering the yearnings and pains of your fans. So we had to cancel the event. The downturn definitely cut down our patronage and we all know that this is not good for business because the more patronage you get, the more money you make.”
Also last year saw comedians cutting costs. Comedians were not getting the usual two to three shows in a month. They survived with one, or at most two, events in a month. “We had to cut our coats according to our clothes. We are not blaming anybody. Of course, you would not expect a bank that has been sacking staff to organize a party and call a comedian to come and compere the occasion,” Koffi adds.
While commenting on the challenges faced by upcoming comedians last year, Koffi advises that, “If your main objective as an aspiring comedian is to make money, then you’re getting it all wrong. If it is indeed your talent and your calling, then you’ll forge ahead no matter what. You can’t say because you saw a mob lynching a pastor that you’ll rescind from becoming one. It only means that you’re not called to be a pastor in the first place. Ordinarily, the crises should strengthen and not discourage you. Those of us that are there, when we started, weren’t looking at the money; we were just trying to make a mark. The money only came later.”
He stresses that upcoming comedians also cannot claim to have run out of ideas because of the recession. The recession can only create room for more creativity because the hungrier you get, the more your creative juices flow. So anyone who cannot cope can as well leave for genuine ones to come. Koffi makes it clear that while the skills of a master of ceremony, compere, or moderator can be learnt, comedy is a gift that even the recession cannot take away.
The comedian cum artiste predicts that 2010 will be a bumper year for comedians. He intends to release the videos of his past events and foresees more comedians venturing into music.
“Every comedian has a plan for the year. I am certain that Julius Agwu’s Crack Ya Ribs will hold; AY Live might hold; Owen Gee’s new album is dropping this year; and, of course, the Crazy Comedy Show will hold. Even Helen Paul, Princess and Mandy will come up with something. The Don is not left out; he has a monthly show at Kofo Abayomi in VI, which will come on stronger this year. Jedi had something at the close of last year, but I am sure he will be up this year too.
In all, comedians have risen to the challenges posed by the recession and they are coming out more creative than ever. This simply means that there will never be a dull moment this year.
With all these on ground, observers reason that 2010 offers a ray of hope for entertainment practitioners, and those who can put their acts together will have something to smile about at the end of the day.