Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Implications of

Netflix’s Venture into Nollywood Seen From a Local
Audience Perspective

Osakue Stevenson Omoera | ORCID: 0000-0003-1086-7874

English and Communication Studies, Federal University Otuoke,
Otuoke, Nigeria
[email protected]; [email protected]

Silver Abhulimhen Ojieson

British International School, Lagos, Nigeria
[email protected]

Abstract

Within the last decade alone different distribution platforms have emerged in the
Nigerian movie industry. One of the most notable and potent among these is Netflix.
Employing Disruptive Innovation Theory (dit) as notional scaffolding, this article uses
key informant interviews (kii) and focus group discussions (fgd) to examine what
Netflix’s engagement in Nollywood means in terms of the viability of other distribution
outlets. It investigates the ‘good, the bad and the ugly’ sides of the Nollywood-Netflix
relationship from the Nigerian audience perspective to give an understanding that can
contribute to Nollywood’s healthy expansion. The study argues that the emergence
of Netflix leaves many Nollywood content creators (ncc s) begging for acceptance
when their content is adjudged inconsequential. This must be creatively challenged
and negotiated through ncc s and distributors using available technologies to improve
production values, set up and collaboratively operate multiple online distribution
platforms for the Nigerian audience’s satisfaction.

Keywords

Nollywood – Netflix – online distribution platforms – Nigerian audience – ncc s

– distributors

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/26659891-bja10020

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 129

The Nigerian film industry – Nollywood – has never been a stranger to the
adoption of new technologies for the production, distribution and consump-
tion of audiovisual content. As affirmed by the Nigerian British filmmaker Obi
Emelonye,

Nollywood has been at the cutting edge of new media since its inception.
Before the world woke up to the possibilities of video, Nollywood adopt-
ed the fuss-free production mode as its major matrix. When the world
was still coming to terms with the means to carry video content for per-
sonal use, Nollywood championed the vhs and dvd.
Personal interview on 2 August 2021

Indeed, in the early 1990s, one of the greatest turning points in the history of
the Nigerian film industry was the adoption of the video format which formed
the basis of a truly popular Nigerian cinema. And since then, the development
of Nollywood has been consistently driven by digitization (Liman and Ihidero,
2021: 299). The arrival of the streaming giant Netflix on the Nigerian film scene
is, however, in many ways disruptive, for better or for worse, yet at the same
time it may signal a return to that very situation of foreign dominance that
predated the videocassette revolution.
With a particular focus on the local Nigerian audience, this article will
assess the manifold consequences of Netflix’s interactions with Nollywood and
their entanglement of good, bad and ugly aspects. It will do so mainly from
the perspective of Disruptive Innovation Theory in addition to key informant
interviews and focus group discussions with six active Netflix subscribers/local
audience members, but also by situating the arrival of Netflix within the larger
history of Nollywood.

Netflix as a Disruptor on the Nigerian Film Scene

Disruptive Innovation Theory (dit) is a notion propounded by Clayton

Christensen in 1995. The theory basically describes how new entrants into a
market can disrupt established business practices (Feldman, 2014). According
to Christensen, disruptive innovation is the process in which a smaller com-
pany, usually with fewer resources, is able to challenge an established business
(often called an ‘incumbent’) by entering at the bottom of the market and con-
tinuing to gain a stronger hold. Christensen, McDonald, Altman, and Palmer
(2018) affirm that the concept of disruptive innovation has gained considera-
ble currency among pracademics despite widespread misunderstanding of its

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
130 omoera and ojieson

core principles. Expounding on the process of disruptive innovation, Bower

and Christensen (1995: 5) remark that:

The technological changes that damage established companies have two

important characteristics: first, they typically present a different package
of performance attributes – ones that at least are not valued by existing
customers. Second, the performance attributes that existing customers
do value improve at such a rapid rate that the new technology can later
invade those existing markets.

While Netflix can hardly be considered a small company, and regardless of the
fact that all new technologies, including online film streaming know-how, take
time to be developed and adopted by the users (Talabi, 2017), Netflix argua-
bly does constitute a disruptive innovation in the sense described above. It
has damaged established distribution outlets, contributing significantly to a
dismantling of the hegemony held by marketers and cinema owners over the
distribution of Nigerian productions, and put in place a machinery that is met
with resistance among local distributors who have so far mounted a competi-
tive campaign against the streaming giant.
Regarding Netflix’s “different package of performance attributes” and to
which extent it is valued by “existing customers” – who in the context of the
present study are understood as the Nigerian audience – is what we will take
a closer look at in the following. At this point, however, it should be noted that
Netflix’s focus on quality content and higher production budgets has resulted
in better earnings for Nollywood content creators (ncc s) (Agina and Hediger,
2020). To many, it is a stamp of quasi-perfection in the Nigerian media ecosys-
tem once a Nollywood film is listed on Netflix. Overall, what Netflix’s arrival
as a platform has done is to inspire a serious competition, at all levels of the
Nigerian film scene – a competition that has stimulated local players/stake-
holders to step up, kick-starting attempts to invest in structures and open up
more channels for distribution, internationally as well as to Nollywood’s first
consumers, the Nigerian audience.
If this can be considered a mainly good aspect of the Netflix disruption in
Nigeria, it does have its drawbacks as well. In general, the fact that Western
societies are the main economic drivers of media technology and that global
media players are predominantly Western themselves may result in a projection
of Western culture onto local cultures such as Nigeria’s. But although Western
ideas are often adapted to suit local needs or even contested when they come
into contact with non-Western cultures (Featherstone, 1995; McChesney, 2015),
and, in the case of Netflix, Nigerian culture is also made available globally, it

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 131

should be noted that to the extent that globalization is seen as a democrati-

zation of the global media space where all cultures participate, they do so to
varying degrees. Netflix has the spending power and wherewithal to overrun
the Nollywood system into a globally viable culture.
As disruptive as Netflix’s arrival on the Nigerian film scene may be, it has not
completely displaced other avenues of film distribution, however. The original
structures of the videocassette revolution are still working. There are paral-
lel grassroots industries making films in various indigenous languages, which
are all tightly keyed to the economics of distribution on video discs through
informal markets, and indeed, some Nollywood filmmakers still play to such
orthodox ways of releasing their products as dvd s. Also, a good number of
filmmakers still fall back to theatrical distribution when they want to release
their movies, some later releasing them to Netflix once they have gained a
favorable box office record.1
It is also important to state that prior to Netflix, Nigerian content was
already distributed through an expanding broadcasting tv network (both sat-
ellite and digital terrestrial) as well as local/African streaming platforms – and
it still is. Some Nollywood films, considered ‘good enough’, had a life-span run
on DStv – part of the South African MultiChoice media conglomerate – and
its pay-per-view service, Box Office. In 2003, DStv launched Africa Magic – a
channel showcasing African culture, not least Nollywood, and later split into a
number of more specialised outlets: African Magic ‘Urban,’ ‘Showcase,’ ‘Epic,’
‘Family,’ ‘Hausa,’ ‘Yoruba,’ ‘Igbo,’ among others. And in 2011, the streaming plat-
form iROKOtv opened, providing access to more than 5,000 Nollywood films.
The Nigerian media environment was thus already engaged in profound
structural changes when Netflix first launched its streaming service in the
country in 2016. But due to its global reach and use of optimally dynamic
technologies, Netflix’s activities are indeed disruptive with regard to all these
pre-existing, or incumbent, distribution channels. Taking advantage of tech-
nology to fortify its business strategy, Netflix has provided access to good
Nigerian content at a level that has never been done before, which is why, as we
will delve further into ahead, a significant part of the local audience appears
to be gravitating towards the streaming giant. And in the guise of the colony

1 Movies such as Merry Men 1 (dir. Toka McBaror, 2018); Merry Men 11 (dir. Toka McBaror,
2019); Sugar Rush (Kayode Kasum, 2019); Living in Bondage: Breaking Free (dir. Ramsey
Nouah, 2019); Quam’s Money (dir. Kayode Kasum, 2020), among others, had a theatrical
release before being on Netflix, while movies like A Naija Christmas (dir. Kunle Afolayan,
2021), Chief Daddy 2 (dir. Mo Abudu, 2022) and a host of others were released directly on
Netflix.

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
132 omoera and ojieson

fighting back at the empire, several local streaming platforms are now strate-
gizing to control, even if in alliance with Netflix, exactly what the local and
diasporan audience gets to see.

The Chequered History of Film Distribution in Nigeria

In order to provide a better understanding of the background to Netflix’s ven-

ture into Nollywood as well as of some of its possible implications, a brief his-
torical overview will be in place. Since the exhibition of the first documentary
film in Lagos in 1903, film has been the least developed of all mass media in
Nigeria (Opubor and Nwuneli, 1979: 1), as neither the colonial government nor
successive Nigerian governments saw the need for a strong film industry. After
independence, Nigerian cinema struggled for indigenous attention and lost
touch with the audience. Until the boom afforded by the videocassette rev-
olution, cinema in Nigeria was in a comatose state, to the extent that “during
1972–1992, Lebanese and Indian films were the most popularly (sic!) distrib-
uted films, dominating the Nigerian market” (Correy, 2008: 137). Exhibition
was in the hands of foreigners, the American Motion Picture Export Company
(ampeca) in particular, which regulated the distribution and exhibition of
films in Nigeria to the detriment of local productions. As asserted by Guback
(1985):

In film, the imposition of the imperialist’s cultural material hinders locally-

made products from being exposed to public view, and this often leads to
withering of financial backing for them, especially in market-dominated
economies. When half the cinemas in a country are playing American
films, and many of the rest are showing French or Italian films, there is
simply that much less opportunity for local filmmakers to present their
own work. (5)

In this foreign-dominated environment, there was no opportunity for Nigerian

filmmakers to engage in collaborative efforts with cinema houses. Even when
tv became a viable channel for the reception of entertainment, local content
was not considered to be sufficiently profitable, wherefore the tv stations
instead relied on syndication at little or no cost to exhibitors. And when after
a long hiatus, Silverbird Cinemas (a Nigerian film company) reintroduced
theatrical screenings, it was an uphill task to show indigenous films locally,
due in part to a monopolistic hold. The Nollywood practitioner, film distrib-
utor and ceo of O’Cecil International Ltd. Cecil Ozobeme notes that “until

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 133

Stephanie Linus’ Through the Glass (2008) ‘paved the way’ with regard to local
productions showing at the cinemas, producers had no avenue to showcase
their productions” (personal interview conducted on 21 October 2021). The
unavailability of a formidable distribution system to transport viable indige-
nous content from production to exhibition or ‘consumption’ has, however,
remained a problem to which the coming of Netflix to the film scene in Nigeria
partly relates. But with Netflix, history risks repeating itself in the sense that
if proper regulatory amendments are not factored into the deal, it might be to
the detriment of the Nigerian film industry which is not protected by serious
government intervention. As observed by Obi Emelonye,

It is not surprising that Nollywood has embraced streaming as a means

of distribution. What is surprising, however, is the absence of an indige-
nous Nigerian voice in the streaming world. With the big global hitters
from the West dominating even the Nigerian streaming space, the cre-
ative autonomy and distribution independence upon which Nollywood
was built, risks being lost as the industry finds itself in the wilderness
where capitalism is the predator.
Personal interview conducted on 2 August 2021

As Netflix is a very potent means for the distribution of films, many Nigerian
filmmakers have now turned to this popular platform to reach out to Nigerians
at home and abroad with their films. It is, however, crucial for Nollywood
stakeholders to proactively engage to ensure that what proverbially sounded
the death knell for ancestral Nollywood does not rear its ugly head to once
again leave the film industry in Nigeria smoldering in the ashes.

Nollywood and the Transformation of its Audience

Unlike other African film industries, not least those in francophone West
Africa, Nollywood has depended completely on local funding, and it has grown
and functioned mainly in Nigeria’s huge informal sector. It has developed
without the support of the government or foreign investment (Obiaya, 2011:
143; Omoera, 2015: 259–260). In other words, since the videocassette revolu-
tion of the early 1990s, the hallmark of Nollywood has been its popularity, its
direct interaction with its audience, not only in Nigeria but across Africa and
the African diaspora, with no interference from external stakeholders. In the
period from 1992 to 2010, Nollywood produced roughly 14,000 direct-to-video
feature films; in 2007 alone, 2,700 films were released (Haynes, 2011: 72), and in

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
134 omoera and ojieson

2009, Nigeria surpassed the United States of America as the second largest film
industry in the world, just behind India (Labouba, 2012: 8).
This impressive accomplishment was achieved by taking advantage of
the benefits of the digitization of audiovisual equipment (cameras, editing
software, dvd s, etc.). The advancement in film technology has not only ren-
dered the material lighter, handier, and more affordable, but also considera-
bly reduced the costs and duration of the filmmaking process. According to
Ogunleye (2008: 2–3), “the African video film has transcended ethnic and geo-
graphical boundaries. It evolved from the grassroots, utilizing traditional and
cultural materials. It is essentially a child of circumstances – spawned by the
resolve for artistic survival in the face of all odds.”
While several Nigerian films have reached the international market and
fared well2 – a tendency that stands to gain further traction through the advent
of Netflix – the question is whether Nollywood’s relationship to “the grass-
roots”, the Nigerian audience, can remain intact. To start with, the Nigerian
audience is no longer a mass audience; it is fragmented and individuated.
Gone are the days when ncc s or filmmakers would produce and distribute
films to the masses who in order to watch them had no option but to buy
them on first videocassettes, then vcd s and later dvd s. Today, the Nigerian
audience has a choice as to what film(s) to watch as well as the platform(s)
on which to watch them. They can decide to watch Nigerian films on Netflix,
iROKOtv, Ibakatv, igodo.tv, amongst others – “today, at the click of a button,
one can watch Nigerian films, popularly known as Nollywood films, on stream-
ing platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, and Amazon, among others”
(Cecil Ozobeme in personal interview conducted on 21 October 2021). The list
is practically endless. At the time of the films’ release, many of them can even
be watched in cinemas.
In reality, however, film exhibition centres outside Lagos, Port Harcourt,
Abuja, Ibadan, Benin City and other towns leave much to be desired when
it comes to accessing quality film contents. Overall, the distance of cinema
houses to residential areas is, to say the least, dismal, and when it comes to
Nigeria’s townships and rural areas, there are few ‘central places’ with oper-
ational cinema houses. In addition, most television stations that may be said
to be the most common arsenal for showing Nollywood films do not meet
the need for immediate consumption of recent film works, since a film in the

2 Nigeria could, for example, take its pride of place in the cinema halls worldwide as the
Nigerian film Ijé: The Journey (dir. Chineze Anyaene, 2010) contended (2nd place, in Nigeria)
with James Cameron’s Avatar which held the record for highest selling movie, globally
(www.google.com/HighestGrossing films/Hollywood box office) at the time of release.

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 135

first-rate category of production releases would first have to complete its cin-
ema runs and be syndicated as demands arise at a later date. Furthermore, the
price of Africa Magic Urban, Showcase and other elitist channels on DStv is so
exorbitant that the average Nigerian shies away from accessing them. The local
audience’s inability to access the best of visual contents at their convenience
is the chief reason why Netflix has been embraced by a large section of the
Nigerian population.
What Netflix has come to do is offer readily available quality entertain-
ment that should appeal to a cross-section of its subscribers. It is, however,
important to note that the per capita income in Nigeria is about $2,000 (2020),
and the national minimum wage a meagre $55 per month for a working adult
human. If this does not leave much room for a Netflix subscription fee, the
average Nigerian also lacks basic amenities such as power supply and good,
high-speed telecommunications networks, and paying for data is not within
the reach of the average person, let alone an avid film audience member, in
Nigeria. The problem of power supply, which is epileptic in nature, constrains
users of electronic devices and is a big challenge that limits access to Netflix
in Nigeria. Also, an ever slow and frustrating connectivity tends to leave those
who try to access online entertainment in a state of disenchanted fervor. As for
generators, only the financially very well-to-do can afford and consistently sus-
tain this ‘luxury.’ Investment in telecommunications service delivery, is, with-
out doubt, lacking in spread and speed.
But according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers 2017 report on Global
Entertainment and Media 2021–2025, Africa’s internet economy has the poten-
tial to grow into a $180 billion industry by 2025, subsequently increasing to $712
billion by 2050. It is estimated that by 2025, about 678 million people would be
connected to internet in sub-Saharan Africa (PwC, 2017). While Africa – and
Nigeria – are not quite there yet, the figures do spell a potentially very bright
future for ott-streaming services like Netflix.

Nollywood in the Netflix Era

Already, many Nollywood filmmakers prefer to premier their movies on

Netflix. For instance, having released the first instalment of the Nollywood
trailblazer King of Boys (dir. Kemi Adetiba, 2018) (Figure 1) in cinemas across
the country, Adetiba moved ahead to release the part 2 of the movie on Netflix.
The case is no different with Mo Abudu who, having released Chief Daddy (dir.
Mo Abudu, 2018) in various Nigerian cinemas in 2018, went ahead to release
part 2 on Netflix. Other contemporary Nigerian films such as Namaste Wahala

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
136 omoera and ojieson

figure 1 Sola Sobowale in King of Boys (2018, dir. Kemi Adetiba). This scene depicts Eniola
(Sola Sobowale) as head of a conglomerate of Lagos criminal gangs. Frame grab.

(dir. Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, 2021), Amina (dir. Izu Ojukwu, 2021), (Figure 2)
among others, attracted much attention after having been released on Netflix.
Okiche (2021) avers that as a result of the demands of the Nigerian audience,
hungry for access to recent quality films, many Nollywood filmmakers have
now found a home in Netflix.
One advantage of Netflix over local cinemas, tv programmes and other
streaming platforms is that it appears to cater to elitist as well as proletarian
viewing ecosystems. According to Peddie Okao, filmmaker, distributor and
ceo of Prolens Movies Nigeria Ltd.,

figure 2 Amina (2021, dir. Izu Ojukwu). Amina and her warriors battle against Igala warriors.
Frame grab.

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 137

The dominance of Netflix is actually in its ability to fund high quality

grossing content that attracts subscribers. Netflix carefully commissions
or evaluates already made movies based on an audience factor. Netflix
also addresses its preferences primarily to the elitist classes of audience
in Nigeria who can afford their services directly or indirectly. The indirect
option has to do with ancillary items like devices, data, etc. For Netflix,
its business model is not primarily built on proletarians whose economic
value is predicated on labour power. Proletariats constitute their second-
ary audience. Some may argue that the young and technology-conscious
youth may not be considered elites, but they also do not fall within the
wage-earning class, they are financed by their elitist parents. Netflix un-
derstands this dynamics.
Personal interview conducted on 3 August 2021

This is consistent with the outcome of our focus group discussions which
emphasized that there are different packages an audience member can sub-
scribe to on Netflix. A majority of the particpants in our focus group dis-
cussions belong to the working class, who, by Nigerian standards, may be
considered elitist. According to them, they mainly use their smartphones to
access Netflix (see also Ebekue, 2018), but also access it via flat screen televi-
sion sets, especially during weekends to bond with their family members. This
way, they are able to optimally use their monthly subscriptions in spite of the
challenges of power outages and network issues so pervasive in the Nigerian
media ecosystem.
One difference between regular viewership and what is available on Netflix
is that their content is generally worth the spending because of the quality of
films that are shown. Observably in the past, DStv fell under this middle-class
subscription template with its several bouquets meeting family and individ-
ual preferences. DStv Box Office and such special rentals in its compact and
cheap rates distinguished, to a great extent, demands and supply of peculiar
tastes. Before Netflix’s inroads into Nollywood, DStv catered to what may be
called ‘pocket economy’ with its distinct preferences and subscription fees. In
other words, DStv services allowed both the creams and the lowly in Nigeria
to access entertainment packages, taking into consideration their financial
power and viewing interests. Platforms such as iROKOtv with its three chan-
nels on DStv and its compartmentalization of several films to a distinct audi-
ence just like Africa Magic Urban, Showcase, Family, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa
and the like has made accessibility already defined for ease of choice, class
and commercial demarcations. Like DStv Mobile, Netflix, as a subscription
platform, makes it easy for the sophisticated and upwardly mobile to access

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
138 omoera and ojieson

entertainment-on-the-go. The working class audience members whose sub-

scriptions may end up not utilized because of their busy schedules and traffic
hurdles in bustling cosmopolitan centres affords the opportunity to still watch
listed titles using a portable device attached to a power bank. This is to ensure
that, as the week ends, especially for the working class subscriber, a sizable
number of contents, series in particular, get ‘devoured’ once the subscription
timeline approaches. This kind of binging opportunity supposes that not a
penny is lost to unutilized subscription.
What’s more, if one considers the number of platforms offering audiovisual
content in Nigeria, Netflix stays updated because it has emerged as the most
current of them all. This is so because it produces its own films and acquires the
latest content. The focus group discussions revealed that the coming of Netflix
is a good development that has brought much joy to Nigerian film audiences,
saving them from buying new films as all it takes is to use the svod to access
assorted movies. In the opinion of the respondents, cinemas will soon come to
play second fiddle because once the theatrical run of a new title expires, there
is simply no second chance to watch it as newer titles would have occupied the
screens. Once a film has been screened, few cinemas will re-schedule it. In this
respect, Netflix offers a second chance to re-watch the latest titles and watch
them again, with family and friends at a later and perhaps more auspicious
occasion.
Also, the norm in Nigeria is that films are made for home-viewing instead
of at the cineplex, and the advent of a variety of avenues for the consump-
tion of entertainment programmes at home, DStv especially, further adds to
many audience members’ reluctance to leave the comfort of their homes and
visit a cinema. In this competition for the audience’s time and money, Netflix
remains the most competitive as it offers a wider bouquet of national and
global content than the other platforms.
It should, however, be noted that despite the popularity Netflix enjoys with
both Nollywood content creators and a large part of the Nigerian audience,
the streaming giant’s agenda is not geared towards the advancement of the
indigenous film industry. Netflix operates in Nigeria to make a profit. Hence its
neglect to erect concrete filmic structures in Nigeria and elsewhere where the
field is harvested, leaving indigenous producers at its mercy. Operating with
commissioned middlemen and shop-operated local distributors who scout for
and stock their shelf with top-notch titles, it becomes obvious that the dis-
tance between the streaming platform and the first-line Nigerian filmmakers is
not going to be bridged soon. Also, the indigenous, so-called “Netflix Originals”
can be seen as a kind of Trojan horse that puts pressure on local content pro-
ducers to make films according to the algorithm-based ‘Netflix Standard’. At

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 139

the end of the day, this may push Nollywood to adjust to a more global outlook
of its Nigerian narratives. While this may enhance the visibility of Nigerian
films on the global scene, it also raises a number of challenges for the future of
Nollywood and its specificity as well as for its connection to the realities and
imaginaries of the local Nigerian audience.

Conclusion

Nollywood has come a torturous way, and while it has succeeded in making a
name for itself and attaining global credibility, it has failed to exploit its mas-
sive market and harness the myriad opportunities to distribute its own produc-
tions to the local audiences and those in the diaspora. This neglect in bringing
all its titles to the attention of its consumers leaves it at the mercy of global
players such as Netflix whose interest is not the advancement of the indige-
nous film industry but to make a profit for the company itself.
While local content producers – or at least some of them – do stand to gain
from producing with Netflix, many more will seek to catch the eye of Netflix
by producing films that fit into their template, to the possible detriment of the
kinds of local content that made Nollywood’s reputation and success in the
first place. And what will be the consequences of the varying degrees of access
that Nigerians have to Netflix? For whereas its well produced content caters to
a well-to-do, film savvy audience, where does it leave those who cannot afford
its services?
Ostensibly, nothing much will change, unless ncc s and distributors, cinema
houses and other local channels of distribution succeed in thinking outside
the box. At present, Nigerian audiovisual marketers and Nollywood content
creators tend to not reinvest their profits in the industry. Nollywood should
be standing shoulder high in the rank of Chinese, Korean and Indian mov-
ies through investment in property developments in the form of studios and
multiplexes, but this is not the case. To some extent, there is a lack of synergy
between the three tiers of production, distribution and exhibition, a lack that
leaves the film industry in Nigeria open to the intrusion of external ‘aggressors’
and ‘hegemons’ who would have had no chance to dictate the pace at which
Nollywood should be run if the industry itself was stronger. Several errors in
judgment have been made by ‘drivers’ of the industry thus leaving it highly
polarized and politically motivated instead of the original artistic ‘bedrock’
upon which creative and cultural industries (cci s) are run. Unless the local
stakeholders – ncc s, cinemas and African streaming platforms – synergis-
tically shore up their technological capacities, the ‘shark’ called Netflix (and

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
140 omoera and ojieson

similar platforms) risks eating all the ‘fishes’ in the ‘big river’ of Nigeria’s enter-
tainment industry. If nothing is done within its guild systems, Nollywood will
continue to remain a fishing ground, not strong enough to produce and distrib-
ute its titles locally and internationally and, perhaps, increasingly distancing
itself from large parts of its original Nigerian – and African – audiences.

References

Agina, Añulika and Vinzenz Hediger (2020). Nollywood and Netflix’s Burgeoning
Relationship. The Nation, December 1. https://thenationonlineng.net/
nollywood-and-netflixs-burgeoning-relationship/.
Bower, Joseph L. and Clayton M. Christensen (1995). Disruptive Technologies: Catching
the Wave. Harvard Business Review, 73 (1), pp. 43–53.
Christensen, Clayton M., Rory McDonald, Elizabeth J. Altman, and Jonathan E.
Palmer (2018), Disruptive Innovation: An Intellectual History and Directions for
Future Research. Journal of Management Studies, 55 (7), pp. 1043–1074. doi: 10.1111/
joms.12349.
Correy, Michael (2008). Nollywood: A Socially Conscious Cinema?” Black Camera 22
(2), pp. 137–138.
Ebekue, Emmanuel (2018). The New Media as a Viable Alternative to Traditional Film
Marketing in Nigeria. Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities, 19 (2), pp. 88–111.
Emelonye, Obi (2021). Personal Interview, 2 August 2021. A Nigerian British Filmmaker.
Featherstone, Mike (1995). Undoing Culture: Globalization, Postmodernism and Identity.
London: Sage.
Feldman, Leonard C. (2014). What are the Pros and Cons of Working on Disruptive
Innovation? Retrieved from http://www.quora.com.
Focus Group Discussion (fgd) with Active Netflix Subscribers in Nigeria: Sola Balogun,
Victor Osae Ihidero, Chukwuma Anyanwu, Uwaoma C. Nwazue, Saviour Agoro, and
Ewere Esohe Osayande via WhatsApp from 28 February to 3 March, 2022.
Guback, Thomas (1985). American Films and the African Market. Critical Arts 3 (3),
pp. 1–14.
Haynes, Jonathan (2011). African Cinemas and Nollywood: Contradictions. Situations:
Project of the Radical Imagination, 1, pp. 67–90.
Labouba, Kelly M. (2012). Videostes vs. Cineastes: Sub-Saharan African Cinema and its
Schizophrenic Industry. Spectator, 32 (2), pp. 8–19.
Liman, Rasheeda and Victor O. Ihidero (2021). Nollywood at the Digital Crossroads:
New Possibilities in Distributing Nollywood Films for Big and Small Screens. In
Victor S. Dugga, ed., Regulating Nollywood in a Global Economy. Lafia: Faculty of

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt
nollywood in the age of netflix 141

Arts, Federal University of Lafia / National Film and Video Censors Board. Lafia,
pp. 295–308.
McChesney, Robert W. (2015). Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in
Dubious Times. New York: New Press.
Obiaya, Ikechukwu (2011). A Break with the Past: The Nigerian Video Film Industry in
the Context of Colonial Filmmaking. Film History, 23 (2), pp. 129–146.
Ogunleye, Foluke, ed. (2008). Africa through the Eye of the Video Camera. Manzini:
Academic Publishers, pp. 1–6.
Omoera, Osakue S. (2015). An Inquiry into Institutional Support for the Benin Video-
Film Culture in Nollywood. Venets: The Belogradchik Journal for Local History,
Cultural Heritage and Folk Studies, 6 (2), pp. 259–279.
Opubor, Alfred E. and Onuora E. Nwuneli, eds. (1979). The Development and Growth of
the film Industry in Nigeria. Lagos: ncac, pp. 1–22.
Ozobeme, Cecil (2021). Personal Interview, 21 October 2021. Nollywood practitioner,
film distributor and Chief Executive Officer of O’Cecil International Ltd.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (2017). Global entertainment and Media Outlook 2017–2021.
Retrieved from www.pwc.com/outlook.
Talabi, Felix O. (2017). Technological Determinism and its Implications for Africa
Media Consumers. Agogo: Journal of Humanities, 2, pp. 1–18.

Studies in World Cinema 2 (2022) 128–141

Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2022 09:32:22AM by [email protected]
via Eva Jørholt