Film Lab Africa, an initiative launched by the British Council, is designed to empower emerging filmmakers and TV producers in Nigeria. The program offers a comprehensive support framework to help participants effectively showcase their creative productions.
In an interview with Nollywire, Omope discussed the business side of filmmaking, stating that the film industry often views film as an individual pursuit rather than a business venture. doesn’t seem to understand film as a business venture but as an individual pursuit.
“I’ve always said that the number one problem in nollywood as far as I’m concerned is revenue. Nollywood has a revenue problem. And the reason we have a revenue problem even though people say we have a production problem is because we don’t treat ourselves as businesses. We treat ourselves as individuals and that is why money comes into Nigeria and they are giving money to the tech guys,” he said.
Comparing the film industry and the tech industry, he stressed that tech professionals present themselves as businesses more effectively than Nigerian filmmakers.
“The tech guys are getting all the money because they treat themselves as businesses. When a tech guy has an idea, the first thing is to set up a business; a business that houses that idea and then he takes that idea to see whether it has market fit and then he creates the product then try to scale the product and then they try to raise finance and then they are acting as a business but in Nigeria it is me as the producer, me as the director, me as me and then I make films until I cannot make films anymore and then I start to beg for people to give me money cos I’m sick. We have to move away from that,” he said.
Omope also spoke about what the Filmlab program offers, stating that it aims to educate filmmakers on the entrepreneurial aspects of filmmaking.
“So the Filmlab project is about creating entrepreneurship. We’re teaching you to create sustainable businesses and because its a brutish Council sponsored event, it means that it is Nigeria and Britain and so with the the BFI and the BAFTA we are looking for how we can encourage co production whereby filmmakers in Nigeria can partner with filmmakers in the UK to create films that will benefit the local audience as well as the international audience,” he concluded.
