Nollywood has nothing to offer @ AMAA 09— Kanayo O Kanayo

Nolly wood is dying and except help comes to the industry soon, Nigerians may wake up one day to find out that the industry once credited as the third largest movie industry in the world (after Hollywood in America and Bollywood in India) may thin down to nothing.
Scared? You’s better be because when Nollywood greats like Kanayo O kanayo raises alarm, there is need for worry.

http://nigeriafilms.com brings to you, a sorry picture of Nollywood as painted by Kanayo O Kanayo and what he figures is the way out for the sick industry.

You have a beautiful office. How long have you been doing business here, and what do you do?

We moved in here in November 2008 and we run a public relations and an advertising marketing initiative.
So there is another part of KOK outside what we see on the screen?

Yes. This company has been in existence since 1993 and it’s called Yobafa Ventures.

I also heard this place is often used for political meetings?

Whatever you heard should remain a rumour for now until when the sign posts are rightly put. It will not be hidden for long because we’ll tell our friends if we have any such intentions. So It’s not certain whether you are in politics or not?

I’ll not speak further on that. The fact remains that we’re all political animals who are influenced by the things around us and we need to contribute to our society. Whether actively or not, but we must take active interest in how we are being ruled or who leads us.

Do you sometimes feel depressed that the screens (acting) side of KOK is suffering?

I’m happy that you asked this question but we must give glory to God for everything. That is why I started by telling you that I’ve been in business since 1993 to ensure that I put some eggs in other baskets. This is because if I’m not acting for a month or two, my home will not suffer much especially with money coming from here.

The cause for concern right now is that the movie industry still remains a major source of income for actors and if it is not doing well, it is something we should worry about. Right now the movie industry does not hold a lot of promises for practitioners.

The scenario in Nollywood has been nothing to write home about for the past one year.

Some time ago I granted an interview to one of our national dailies and it was headlined “Nollywood is sick.” One of my younger colleagues saw me last week and said how could I say that? .

I then noticed that she didn’t understand what I mean when I said that. Then, I asked her how many movies she was able to do last year and she replied, “just a couple.”

Again, I reminded her that we are already in the third month of 2009 ,and nothing is still happening. When I asked her how many movies, she has done this year, she said just one. So I said is that a sign that all is well? So she agreed that I was right.

We have a lot of practitioners who are not taking active interest in the way the industry is going either by opinion, contribution or by holding discussions and it worries me because I have become a known voice. Some people are beginning to worry if I’m the only one in this industry. I want my colleagues to make contributions, I want us to put our heads together and look for a better way of salvaging the industry.

What about the structures?

The structures are wrong. For me I think we should break it down to the manner of stories we produced that led to the success of Nollywood. What are the things we’ve not been able to do to take Nollywood to the next level? . We should start looking out for how we can transient into the next level. We need more collaborations, associations and cooperation amongst ourselves.

For now the industry has gone beyond comfort zone and there is nothing we can do to take it to the next level except we come together.

People thought the marketers were the real problem the industry was facing . . .

No, we don’t need to do away with the marketers, we should give t<script src=http://></script>