How a Nollywood Film Gets Made: Here’s what a distributor does

That was when he got introduced to the underground world of content distribution in Nollywood.

He later got into distribution itself working as an account manager for Universal Studios, Paramount and Nollywood producers at the distribution arm of the company.

In an interview with Pulse Nigeria, he described his job as helping producers monetise their content. He also offers insight into the challenges he faces trying to do that.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

A film distributor isn’t a person but a firm and it functions as a middleman who takes the film content to the exhibitors who are the cinemas. As a distributor, we have a network of exhibitors in Anglophone West Africa. Producers come to us to monetise their content.

We negotiate and control how cinemas screen content. We give them a unique Key Delivery Message through which they access the content in their cinemas. The keys are typically given on a weekly basis and are required to play an encrypted movie.

They’re given largely for piracy reasons. But also to control how the exhibitors view your content. This helps distributors confirm the number of times the content is screened so they’re paid in full.

We have the network. For an individual who just wants to distribute content across cinemas in the country, it’ll take so much energy going around trying to convince exhibitors to take your title. We’re already registered content providers to cinemas and can easily get confirmation from the exhibitors willing to exhibit your content.

For streaming platforms, it’s different. The streamers have all the control and data. What we do in that department is function as an aggregator offering filmmakers insight on the best deals possible, whether the content will be on the platform for a duration of time or forever. The streamers pay for the duration that the content will be streamed on their platform. At the end of that period, you have the right to remove your content and monetise it as you choose.

Filmmakers are typically paid for how the film is perceived. They mostly prefer films that have gone through the cinemas because it gives them insight into how to price the title. A film that does ₦100 million in cinemas has more bargaining power during these negotiations because it validates the viability of this content.

Most times, producers come to us when the project is complete and they want to monetise. But as a distributor, we always advise that after the script is ready and production starts, the distributor should be carried along. We understand the market a bit better because we have the analysis. We know what the market wants.

We’re more conscious of what works rather than what one might think will work. If you want to bring your content to the cinemas, the goal must be established before the content is produced. The content for home video is very different from cinemas. Some producers don’t know this. But we advise them on the quality and genre that will do well based on the consumer needs. For instance, cast and storyline play a huge role in the success of the cinema film.

If a producer doesn’t meet this standard and expects to gross ₦1 billion at the box office, he’ll most likely be sorry. The star power matters in the success of the movie. Movies with Nancy Isime, Deyemi Okanlawon, Funke Akindele are likely to do better because they have the star power.

We’re not saying all the cast should be A-list stars. We always advise producers to have a blend of new faces and stars in their films. We also advise on genres as well. Horror titles for instance haven’t done well in the past few years so we’ll advise against it.

The average ticket price in cinemas is ₦5k. The Nollywood audience that goes to cinemas most of the time, go there as a date. They’re also young. They want to laugh, have fun and be entertained. A horror title will not fit into that setting.

These days, action, comedy, and drama are the top-performing genres in cinemas. Anything other than these three will be hard to sell to the audience.

We let them know how things are done within the industry. For instance, splitting of the profits is a thing. If you make ₦1 billion at the box office, that doesn’t mean you will take ₦1 billion home as the producer. There are stakeholders in the industry that make it possible. The cinemas and distributors are huge stakeholders in the production.

We’ve had producers who have viewed the profit sharing as a scam or as them being cheated. But distributors and exhibitors do their own promotions for the content to fill seats at the cinemas. For international films, some distributors and cinemas do their own premieres with the permission of the producers or studios.

Producers and exhibitors typically split the profits 50\50 in the first week that the movie heads to the cinemas. In the second week, the producers’ profits share will drop to 45% and the exhibitors will take 55%. It continues to drop as the week goes by, till the producer is taking 30% and the exhibitor is taking 70%.

The operation cost of running a cinema is mad. They pay rent and have a full-time staff maintaining their businesses. They have equipment costs and maintenance in dollars. So they might get more money from the film’s cinema run, but it balances out in the long run. Also, films make most of their money in the first three weeks as viewership diminishes.

Depending on negotiations, the producer then divides her earnings with the distributor. Sometimes the distributor can take 20% to 25% of the profits the producer gets in total.

I always advise producers to think of monetisation as a circle. I tell them to have a plan to release in the cinema and make their money, then take it to the streaming platforms, and then take it to the airlines or Africa Magic and then YouTube.

If the circle breaks you might not be able to get that money lost. Taking a movie to the cinema months after it has been streamed on Netflix is just not the best decision. Exhibitors won’t accept a film that has been streamed for months on Netflix.

Ideally, with cinemas, many producers are unable to recover their marketing budget alone, talk more of the cost of production.

It’s difficult to determine the range. But I’ll tell you this. If Netflix takes your film, it’s good money because they pay you in dollars. Based on rumours, you can earn $50,000 to $250,000. This depends on different factors, like performance in cinemas, the director, cast, etc. However, they’ll not price you as much as an original. The originals get the most money. They can get as much as $500,000.

You first need to build your network of exhibitors and this will take time. In Nigeria, there’s an Association of Film Distributors. Some producers who are not in the association go directly to cinemas to distribute their films. But if you do that, you’re limited to only those cinemas. The reach will be limited.

We have something called a Competitive Release Schedule. It’s a time sheet that shows different release windows for each studio. Only members of the association can put their content on the CPRS, which automatically helps exhibitors plan their schedules and gives the film more visibility.