May 15, 2025 • 14 mins
Nollywood is bringing a touch of West Africa to the Cannes Film Festival. My Father’s Shadow is making history as the first Nigerian Film to be an Official Selection at the Festival - showing the rising prominence of Nollywood on the world stage. And investors are starting to take notice.
On today’s episode, Jennifer Zabasajja talks to our Nigeria Bureau Chief, Anthony Osae-Brown about the growing popularity of Nollywood, how Netflix and Amazon brought new investment to the industry and why asset managers are now starting to take notice.
For more stories from the region, subscribe to the Next Africa newsletter here
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The can Film Festival has begun in the south of France,
but the traditional launch pad for European cinema is seeing
something different for twenty twenty five. This year, a bit
of West Africa is coming to the Cote Dozersk. My
(00:30):
Father's Shadow is making history as the first Nigerian film
to be an official selection at the festival, showing the
rising prominence of Nollywood on the world stage and investors
are starting to take notice. I'm bursting with excitement about
the opportunities that I believe are going to come with
this younger generation that are producing some really awesome stuff.
(00:52):
On this week's Next Africa Podcast, we look at the
rise of Nollywood and the asset managers looking to invest
in the industry, betting on blockbuster returns for a new
wave of Nigerian cinema. I'm Jennifer Zabasaja and this is
the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story each week
(01:14):
from the continent driving the future of global growth with
the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining me to discuss
this this week is our Nigeria Bureau Chief, that is
Anthony os Brown. Anthony wrote a story on this that
is now available, but he's here with us to talk
through it. Maybe you can just start here and give
us a bit of a sense of how big Nigeria's
(01:37):
film industry is. What are we looking like when we
compare Nollywood to the bollywoods and the hollywoods.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, actually, when we compare Nollywood to Bollywood and Hollywood
is actually not in terms of value, but my in
terms of numbers. The Nigeria movie industry produce is and
outage of stone official figures more than two thousand movies
in a year, more than three four movies in a day.
(02:06):
So there's a lot of movies to produce, and I
think it's only second to Bollywood. It employs more than
a million people, possibly directly and more indirectly.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
It's estimated to be what's.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Close to maybe six point five billion dollars or thereabout,
So yeah, it's a huge industry.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Most most of the.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
People who operating that sector are self employed producers who
started producing movies on their own and gradually is beginning
to take shape. So it's quite a huge industry locally.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And it gains a lot of attention obviously online because
people are talking about different films and the cultural aspects
of it. Right, I think I've only seen one Nollywood film.
I must admit, Yeah, you're in the minority.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It's quite huge online, mostly Nigerians induspheal. I love it
because there is a means for them to connect to
their homeland, to culture, to let their children see what
it dislike to live in Nigeria and the cultural aspects
of Nigeria. But even locally it's huge. Years ago, most
people will watch Hollywood movies, but increasingly, if you put
(03:14):
a Hollywood movie and a Nollywood movie in Nigerian cly mass,
you'll get more people going towards the Nigerian movie than
the Hollywood movie. So increasingly is becoming dominant. Is quite
popular on YouTube, and it's quite popular across Africa most
African countries, and Nollywood dominates the TV screens. So yeah,
and the stars are quite popular across Africa.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Do you find yourself watching a few films here and
there in Hollywood films.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I have my favorite producers and once I see their movies,
I definitely want to watch. Maybe because of the quantity
of movies producing Nollywood, not all of them have the
quality that most people will want to watch, so they
are specific producers for me that once I see I
know the movies a bit, the quality is higher than
(04:02):
the normal Nollywood movies, so I will want to watch.
I'll definitely go out to watch them.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, and you mentioned the quality aspect of it, which
which brings to light the likes of Netflix and Amazon
that have also over time obviously become more and more
entrenched and aware of what is happening with Nollywood. What
have their investments meant for the industry.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
One of the uniqueness of Nollywood is the fact that
they produce very low cost movies. I don't think anywhere
in the world you can get the low cost movies
that Nollywood produces.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They can produce a.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Movie with even a thousand dollars, so that's five thouars,
usually very low figures, so the shooting is done just
as they can actually produce movies in two three days
compared to most of the parts of the world. So
that makes the quality of the movies they produce normally
not that good. But with Amazon prim and Netflix, they
(04:57):
came in and then they put money invested money initially
and that helped the producers do better qualitating movies, those
that already had an idea of what qualitting movie is
all about, and that improved the whole the standard in
the industry, and I think changed somehow the direction of
the industry. So yeah, I think Amazon Prime and Netflix
(05:19):
actually had a very and still have a very positive
influence on the industry because if you want to get
your movie on their platform, it has to be of
a certain quality.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
That's where it's interesting, especially based on your reporting, how
some filmmakers and streamers are changing the way that they
fund some of these films you mentioned a lot of
them can be made for you one thousand dollars here
and there. What's actually changed with the investment models and
do we know yet what the impact will be.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think sometime late last year Amazon Prime and the
Netflix decided that they won't commission movies again, and that
means not going to give a movie producers money to
go ahead and produce the movie. But if you produce
a good quality movie they like, they can buy it
from you. That provided an opportunity for asset managers to
(06:12):
come into that industry in the sense that if you
can get show that you have a contract with Netflix
or his own prime that they will take your movie
from you, then they will help you fund the movie.
So that has changed the mode of funding for the
industry in the sense that now movie producers know that
(06:33):
there's an end market for their product. Asset managers see
that there's going to be a buy in the Netflix
and an exam prime will pay for the right to
air the movie, to stream the movies in dollars, and
that also is a hedge against currency es. Locally, the
Nira has been very volatile, so if you get any
(06:53):
source of dog like income, it becomes very positive for
local players. So the asset managers are seeing it as
an opportunity to end dollars by selling a product that
has a good upside, because if the movie is very
good and inns more money, then they could also make
more money from it. So that change the model, and
(07:14):
so is making asset managers look at that industry and
putting money down for movies to be funded.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Of course, that has also improved.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The quality of movies that is being produced because they
won't fund a movie that will not do well, so
they set the standards. They make sure that the movie
is of the right quality that their Netflix and Amazon
Prime will be interested in taking it up and streaming.
So yeah, so that has changed sort of. The industry
is inspiring more people to push for quality movies that
(07:47):
will in streaming.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Rise and Anthony, stick with us. When we come back,
we're going to talk more about who's stepping in to
invest and why they're hoping for blockbuster returns. We'll be
right back. Welcome back. Today, we're talking about Nollywood as
the Nigerian film industry continues to make waves on the
(08:11):
international stage and also domestically. Anthony ose Brown, our Bloomberg
Nigeria Bureau chief, is joining us this week to dig
into this. So, Anthony, you were explaining a bit more
about how asset managers and new forms of capital are
being injected into Nollywood and the industry more broadly. I
(08:32):
wonder in your reporting and when you were speaking to
some of these asset managers, what did they tell you
that stuck out to you? Why are they so keen?
Is it because of the currency hedging? Is it because
they're themselves interested in Nollywood? I mean, what sort of
anecdotes did they give you.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I think one of the things that's talk outs is
the fact that they see these as a very viable
source of long tandard income industry. So they're doing both
depth and equity. On the equity side, they see that
there's no end to it because I think of it
their movies that were shot in nineteen sixties, nineteen seventies
(09:11):
that are still being shown today. So for them, once
you have the intellectual property rights sorted out, that means
a good movie how and where you have an equity interest,
could become an endless source of income because if it's
very good, maybe twenty years down the line, thirty years
down down the line, people will stay want to buy
(09:33):
the IP rights to either train it or to show
it somewhere, or to maybe make redoing, a remake, a sequel, whatever.
So once you put you get the right movie down,
there's an endless possibility to it. Then, besides the returns
that they are making in terms of the investing in it,
(09:54):
they are making returns of on the equity side, someone
in one of the key find founders, they're making returns
of thirty to forty percent return on equity, which is high.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
You can hardly make that in any other.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Investments locally, So that's that's a big attraction for them. Also,
and then of course the key part is they're hedging
the ability to hedge your returns because you're getting paid
in dollars. And if you're getting paid in dollars and
you're funding in Naira, they're funding the movies in nira
but getting paid in dollars, so there's an upside on
that contraint. And the currency has been weakening for the
(10:29):
last one year, so one two, two years, so that
for them, those are the key things that they're looking
at and makes knowledge were quite attractive for them to
put money in.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, it's sort of at net positive and even the
model that you're outlining there, it seems like that is
probably what a lot of the Hollywood studios we're thinking
forty fifty years ago when they were creating these films
that are still getting some of the returns as you
were mentioning there, because they're caught like favorites or something
like that. So the opportunity clearly is there, Anthony. It's
(11:02):
really fascinating. We started off talking today on the podcast
about My Father's Story, which is premiering at the can
Film Festival. This is very notable for people who have
been following the Nollywood industry more broadly, when we look
at a few years down the road, though, if we
do continue to see maybe a bit more discernment about
what's made and what's not, should we expect more presence
(11:26):
from Nollywood films in European and American cinemas. And I
say that because you know, we also talk to Moabudu
who has aspirations for that. Is that where we're headed?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, I think that's where we are headed.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I think we'll increasingly see Nollywood getting into the international
main movie scene because of the increasing quality of the
movies that I'm produce in with Netflix and Amazon Prime,
they are increasingly being seen by non Nigerians.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
If you check the go online and check the.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Statistics of who is watching Nollywood, you're increasingly seeing them
appearing in countries that are not known to have a
dominant Nigerian population or excizable Nigerian population. So increasingly it's
gaining mainstream attraction. So yeah, and then they are beginning
to because of the quality of movies, they are beginning
to be seen in the right places, so we're likely
(12:23):
to see them increasingly compete with the global players. And
then because they also want to gain international attention. They're
beginning to go into collaborations and then that's where they
asset managers come into because the asset managers want the
movies to be globally competitive. They're also encouraging producers to
go into partnerships with established stars in other parts of
(12:47):
the world, so they're looking at bringing. They're increasingly trying
to get Nollywood African Nollywood stars into Nollywood movies even
ahead of where they are trying to partner with Bollywood
stars also in a bit to widen the appeal of
Nollywood movies. So we're gregal going to see these collaborations
and these movements where you'll see that Nollywood increasingly goes
(13:10):
into mainstream globally and people start seeing Nollywood that's just
the way they purpublic see Hollywood Bollywood. But it's going
to take some time, but I don't think that's too far.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Away that we're likely to see that happening very soon.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yah, Anthony, can you give me a Nollywood film that
I should watch?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
The Black Book? Go watch it.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
The Black Book is quite interesting. The Gangs of Legos
that's on Amazon Prime, I think it's also very interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I think those are good move and Nollywood movies.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I'm going to go for it. I love a good film,
so it's nice to see this industry sort of taking off. Anthony,
thank you so much for your reporting. It was really
great to speak with you. We'll make sure to share
your story in the show notes. Thanks Anthony. This program
was produced by A. Bradley and tiwa Adebayo. Don't forget
to follow and review this show wherever you usually get
(14:05):
your podcasts. I'm Jennifer's Abasaga. Thanks as always for listening.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The can Film Festival has begun in the south of France,
but the traditional launch pad for European cinema is seeing
something different for twenty twenty five. This year, a bit
of West Africa is coming to the Cote Dozersk. My
(00:30):
Father's Shadow is making history as the first Nigerian film
to be an official selection at the festival, showing the
rising prominence of Nollywood on the world stage and investors
are starting to take notice. I'm bursting with excitement about
the opportunities that I believe are going to come with
this younger generation that are producing some really awesome stuff.
(00:52):
On this week's Next Africa Podcast, we look at the
rise of Nollywood and the asset managers looking to invest
in the industry, betting on blockbuster returns for a new
wave of Nigerian cinema. I'm Jennifer Zabasaja and this is
the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one story each week
(01:14):
from the continent driving the future of global growth with
the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining me to discuss
this this week is our Nigeria Bureau Chief, that is
Anthony os Brown. Anthony wrote a story on this that
is now available, but he's here with us to talk
through it. Maybe you can just start here and give
us a bit of a sense of how big Nigeria's
(01:37):
film industry is. What are we looking like when we
compare Nollywood to the bollywoods and the hollywoods.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, actually, when we compare Nollywood to Bollywood and Hollywood
is actually not in terms of value, but my in
terms of numbers. The Nigeria movie industry produce is and
outage of stone official figures more than two thousand movies
in a year, more than three four movies in a day.
(02:06):
So there's a lot of movies to produce, and I
think it's only second to Bollywood. It employs more than
a million people, possibly directly and more indirectly.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
It's estimated to be what's.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Close to maybe six point five billion dollars or thereabout,
So yeah, it's a huge industry.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Most most of the.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
People who operating that sector are self employed producers who
started producing movies on their own and gradually is beginning
to take shape. So it's quite a huge industry locally.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
And it gains a lot of attention obviously online because
people are talking about different films and the cultural aspects
of it. Right, I think I've only seen one Nollywood film.
I must admit, Yeah, you're in the minority.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It's quite huge online, mostly Nigerians induspheal. I love it
because there is a means for them to connect to
their homeland, to culture, to let their children see what
it dislike to live in Nigeria and the cultural aspects
of Nigeria. But even locally it's huge. Years ago, most
people will watch Hollywood movies, but increasingly, if you put
(03:14):
a Hollywood movie and a Nollywood movie in Nigerian cly mass,
you'll get more people going towards the Nigerian movie than
the Hollywood movie. So increasingly is becoming dominant. Is quite
popular on YouTube, and it's quite popular across Africa most
African countries, and Nollywood dominates the TV screens. So yeah,
and the stars are quite popular across Africa.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Do you find yourself watching a few films here and
there in Hollywood films.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I have my favorite producers and once I see their movies,
I definitely want to watch. Maybe because of the quantity
of movies producing Nollywood, not all of them have the
quality that most people will want to watch, so they
are specific producers for me that once I see I
know the movies a bit, the quality is higher than
(04:02):
the normal Nollywood movies, so I will want to watch.
I'll definitely go out to watch them.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, and you mentioned the quality aspect of it, which
which brings to light the likes of Netflix and Amazon
that have also over time obviously become more and more
entrenched and aware of what is happening with Nollywood. What
have their investments meant for the industry.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
One of the uniqueness of Nollywood is the fact that
they produce very low cost movies. I don't think anywhere
in the world you can get the low cost movies
that Nollywood produces.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They can produce a.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Movie with even a thousand dollars, so that's five thouars,
usually very low figures, so the shooting is done just
as they can actually produce movies in two three days
compared to most of the parts of the world. So
that makes the quality of the movies they produce normally
not that good. But with Amazon prim and Netflix, they
(04:57):
came in and then they put money invested money initially
and that helped the producers do better qualitating movies, those
that already had an idea of what qualitting movie is
all about, and that improved the whole the standard in
the industry, and I think changed somehow the direction of
the industry. So yeah, I think Amazon Prime and Netflix
(05:19):
actually had a very and still have a very positive
influence on the industry because if you want to get
your movie on their platform, it has to be of
a certain quality.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
That's where it's interesting, especially based on your reporting, how
some filmmakers and streamers are changing the way that they
fund some of these films you mentioned a lot of
them can be made for you one thousand dollars here
and there. What's actually changed with the investment models and
do we know yet what the impact will be.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
I think sometime late last year Amazon Prime and the
Netflix decided that they won't commission movies again, and that
means not going to give a movie producers money to
go ahead and produce the movie. But if you produce
a good quality movie they like, they can buy it
from you. That provided an opportunity for asset managers to
(06:12):
come into that industry in the sense that if you
can get show that you have a contract with Netflix
or his own prime that they will take your movie
from you, then they will help you fund the movie.
So that has changed the mode of funding for the
industry in the sense that now movie producers know that
(06:33):
there's an end market for their product. Asset managers see
that there's going to be a buy in the Netflix
and an exam prime will pay for the right to
air the movie, to stream the movies in dollars, and
that also is a hedge against currency es. Locally, the
Nira has been very volatile, so if you get any
(06:53):
source of dog like income, it becomes very positive for
local players. So the asset managers are seeing it as
an opportunity to end dollars by selling a product that
has a good upside, because if the movie is very
good and inns more money, then they could also make
more money from it. So that change the model, and
(07:14):
so is making asset managers look at that industry and
putting money down for movies to be funded.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Of course, that has also improved.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The quality of movies that is being produced because they
won't fund a movie that will not do well, so
they set the standards. They make sure that the movie
is of the right quality that their Netflix and Amazon
Prime will be interested in taking it up and streaming.
So yeah, so that has changed sort of. The industry
is inspiring more people to push for quality movies that
(07:47):
will in streaming.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Rise and Anthony, stick with us. When we come back,
we're going to talk more about who's stepping in to
invest and why they're hoping for blockbuster returns. We'll be
right back. Welcome back. Today, we're talking about Nollywood as
the Nigerian film industry continues to make waves on the
(08:11):
international stage and also domestically. Anthony ose Brown, our Bloomberg
Nigeria Bureau chief, is joining us this week to dig
into this. So, Anthony, you were explaining a bit more
about how asset managers and new forms of capital are
being injected into Nollywood and the industry more broadly. I
(08:32):
wonder in your reporting and when you were speaking to
some of these asset managers, what did they tell you
that stuck out to you? Why are they so keen?
Is it because of the currency hedging? Is it because
they're themselves interested in Nollywood? I mean, what sort of
anecdotes did they give you.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
I think one of the things that's talk outs is
the fact that they see these as a very viable
source of long tandard income industry. So they're doing both
depth and equity. On the equity side, they see that
there's no end to it because I think of it
their movies that were shot in nineteen sixties, nineteen seventies
(09:11):
that are still being shown today. So for them, once
you have the intellectual property rights sorted out, that means
a good movie how and where you have an equity interest,
could become an endless source of income because if it's
very good, maybe twenty years down the line, thirty years
down down the line, people will stay want to buy
(09:33):
the IP rights to either train it or to show
it somewhere, or to maybe make redoing, a remake, a sequel, whatever.
So once you put you get the right movie down,
there's an endless possibility to it. Then, besides the returns
that they are making in terms of the investing in it,
(09:54):
they are making returns of on the equity side, someone
in one of the key find founders, they're making returns
of thirty to forty percent return on equity, which is high.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
You can hardly make that in any other.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Investments locally, So that's that's a big attraction for them. Also,
and then of course the key part is they're hedging
the ability to hedge your returns because you're getting paid
in dollars. And if you're getting paid in dollars and
you're funding in Naira, they're funding the movies in nira
but getting paid in dollars, so there's an upside on
that contraint. And the currency has been weakening for the
(10:29):
last one year, so one two, two years, so that
for them, those are the key things that they're looking
at and makes knowledge were quite attractive for them to
put money in.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, it's sort of at net positive and even the
model that you're outlining there, it seems like that is
probably what a lot of the Hollywood studios we're thinking
forty fifty years ago when they were creating these films
that are still getting some of the returns as you
were mentioning there, because they're caught like favorites or something
like that. So the opportunity clearly is there, Anthony. It's
(11:02):
really fascinating. We started off talking today on the podcast
about My Father's Story, which is premiering at the can
Film Festival. This is very notable for people who have
been following the Nollywood industry more broadly, when we look
at a few years down the road, though, if we
do continue to see maybe a bit more discernment about
what's made and what's not, should we expect more presence
(11:26):
from Nollywood films in European and American cinemas. And I
say that because you know, we also talk to Moabudu
who has aspirations for that. Is that where we're headed?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, I think that's where we are headed.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I think we'll increasingly see Nollywood getting into the international
main movie scene because of the increasing quality of the
movies that I'm produce in with Netflix and Amazon Prime,
they are increasingly being seen by non Nigerians.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
If you check the go online and check the.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Statistics of who is watching Nollywood, you're increasingly seeing them
appearing in countries that are not known to have a
dominant Nigerian population or excizable Nigerian population. So increasingly it's
gaining mainstream attraction. So yeah, and then they are beginning
to because of the quality of movies, they are beginning
to be seen in the right places, so we're likely
(12:23):
to see them increasingly compete with the global players. And
then because they also want to gain international attention. They're
beginning to go into collaborations and then that's where they
asset managers come into because the asset managers want the
movies to be globally competitive. They're also encouraging producers to
go into partnerships with established stars in other parts of
(12:47):
the world, so they're looking at bringing. They're increasingly trying
to get Nollywood African Nollywood stars into Nollywood movies even
ahead of where they are trying to partner with Bollywood
stars also in a bit to widen the appeal of
Nollywood movies. So we're gregal going to see these collaborations
and these movements where you'll see that Nollywood increasingly goes
(13:10):
into mainstream globally and people start seeing Nollywood that's just
the way they purpublic see Hollywood Bollywood. But it's going
to take some time, but I don't think that's too far.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Away that we're likely to see that happening very soon.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Yah, Anthony, can you give me a Nollywood film that
I should watch?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
The Black Book? Go watch it.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
The Black Book is quite interesting. The Gangs of Legos
that's on Amazon Prime, I think it's also very interesting.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I think those are good move and Nollywood movies.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I'm going to go for it. I love a good film,
so it's nice to see this industry sort of taking off. Anthony,
thank you so much for your reporting. It was really
great to speak with you. We'll make sure to share
your story in the show notes. Thanks Anthony. This program
was produced by A. Bradley and tiwa Adebayo. Don't forget
to follow and review this show wherever you usually get
(14:05):
your podcasts. I'm Jennifer's Abasaga. Thanks as always for listening.
Host
Jennifer Zabasajja
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!