By Kene Mkparu

Managing Director/Chief Executive,

Filmhouse Cinemas
Promoting the
Commercial Viability
of Nigerian Films
in the Cinemas
2




A publication of the Nollywood Studies Centre
2014
3

Table of Contents
1. Introduction .............................................................. 5
2. Understanding Cinema Operations ............................ 9
A. The Theatrical Distributor................................... 10
B. Film Booking and Dating ..................................... 11
i) The Season ...................................................... 14
ii) Societal Current Affairs ................................... 14
iii) Competition with Other Films ........................ 15
iv) Monday Bookings ........................................... 16
C. Marketing and marketing strategy ..................... 17
3. Some Considerations Towards Promoting
Commercial Viability ....................................................... 19
A. Defining the Filmmakers Purpose and Audience
19
i) Why Do Filmmakers Make Films? .................. 19
ii) Who Are the Cinema Goers? .......................... 20
B. What are people watching? ............................... 21
C. Genre .................................................................. 27
4. Final Points by Way of a Summary ......................... 29


4

Table 1: Actual and projected numbers of cinemas in
Nigeria (2004 2020) ........................................................ 8

Figure 1: Sample of a Theatrical Release Calendar ........ 13
Figure 2 Global comparison for Avatar (2010) ............... 22
Figure 3 Gobal comparison for Clash of the Titans (2010)
........................................................................................ 23
Figure 4: Global comparison for Prince of Persia (2010) 24
Figure 5: Global comparison for Salt (2010) ................... 25
Figure 6: Global comparison for Avengers (2012) .......... 26


5

1. Introduction
The history of film exhibition in Nigeria is a fairly long one
that stretches as far back as the 1900s. The interest of
Nigerians in theatrical exhibition only intensified
following the introduction of indigenous filmmaking in
1970s. According to Adeleke,
Between 1970s and the late 1980s, members of
the public were eager to visit film houses to see
their favourite stage artists who had taken to
screen, and perhaps nostalgic drive to see the old
stage plays on celluloid encouraged some to
patronise the exhibition halls. (Adeleke, 2003, p.
52)
1

However, thanks to the prevailing economic depression
and the consequent insecurity, activities at most of the
Nigerian cinema houses ground to a halt from the late
1980s and into the 1990s. The cinema halls themselves
were turned to other uses. The video film boom of the
1990s created even more of a distance from the cinemas.
This, of course, is not to say that the cinemas died out all

1
Adeleke, D. A. (2003). Culture, Art and Film in An African
Society: An Evaluation. Nordic Journal of African
Studies, 12(1), 49-56.

6

together. In quite a few places, notably in the north of
the country, the cinemas continued to function albeit at
a very low scale. There are about 42 of such cinemas
currently functioning in the north. But, it is necessary to
make a distinction between these and what one could
term modern cinemas with their upgraded facilities and
offerings.
Twenty plus years later, however, the economy has
improved, and events have come full swing. There is now
a renewed surge of interest in cinema halls. In terms of
modern cinemas, the Silverbird Group set the ball rolling
in 2004 with the establishment of its first cinema, a five
screen multiplex, in Lagos, It was joined three years later,
in 2007, by City Mall and the South African owned Nu
Metro. Subsequent years would witness the openings of
Ozone, Genesis Deluxe, iCinema and Filmhouse as well as
more cinemas in different cities by Silverbird. In spite of
the closing down of Nu Metro and iCinema (Port
Harcourt) in 2009 and 2012, respectively, there are
currently 15 cinemas, and it is expected that by the end
of 2013, there will be 20 cinemas with 90 screens. This
number is expected to rise to 30 cinemas and 135
screens by 2014, with a further expected jump by 2016
to reach 40 cinemas and 200 screens (see table 1). The
average seating size per cinema screen is 120 seats.
Given the size of the Nigerian populace, these numbers
may not appear to be significant, but they remain
important for the Nigerian filmmaker since they point to
7

the possibilities that exist. It can be said that the future is
quite bright as regards the growth of the cinema. For
instance, beginning in 2013, Filmhouse plans to open 25
cinemas over the space of 6 years. Ster Kinekor, the
largest South African chain, is already showing interest in
the Nigeria territory, and there are various plans,
especially on the part of the Lagos State government, to
build a chain of community cinemas.


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Table 1: Actual and projected numbers of cinemas in Nigeria (2004 2020)
YEAR END
Silverbird NuMetro
(South
African)
City Mall Ozone Genesis
Deluxe
iCinema Filmhouse TOTAL No. of
Screens
2004 1 - - - - - - 1 5
2007 1 2 1 - - - - 4 16
2009 3 closed 1 1 2 - - 7 32
2010 4 - 1 1 2 1 - 9 46
2011 5 - 1 1 3 1 - 11 52
2012 (to Aug) 5 - 1 1 3 closed - 10 50
2012 (to Dec) 6 - 1 1 4 - 2 12 65
2013 7 - 1 1 5 - 6 20 90
2014

30 135
2016

40 200
2020 55 275
9

2. Understanding Cinema Operations
There have been various complaints from filmmakers,
particularly in the last two years, who say that they have
been poorly treated by the cinema owners. They have
complained about having had problems with one or the
other cinema; about the fact that their money was not
remitted to them in time; that the cinema did not
advertise or market their films as much as they expected;
that the film was pulled out from the cinema earlier than
was anticipated; or that they did not receive as much
money as they expected for their film from the cinema.
Some of these claims may or may not be valid, but
oftentimes the criticism of the cinema chains arise from a
misunderstanding about their mode of operation. It is
therefore important for filmmakers to appreciate the
way the cinema operates.
It is useful, in the first place, to understand the difference
between the use of the word cinema in terms of the
building where films are shown as opposed to the use of
the same term to refer to the film itself. The term is often
used in a global way to refer to various things,
filmmaking inclusive. The term, as used here, refers
solely to the place where films are shown. The word
'theatre' is also used synonymously with cinema in this
regard. It is also important to lay emphasis on the fact
that the cinema, in the context being defined here, must
10

be distinguished from television, a school, a charity work
or a medium for diffusing governmental public oriented
messages. The relevance of making such a distinction will
be drawn out later.
A. The Theatrical Distributor
The theatrical distributor is an important figure in cinema
operations and can be described as the middleman
between the filmmaker and the exhibitor or cinema
owner. Although there are many organisations and
persons that could be called distributors in Nigeria, there
are very few of them that are actually theatrical
distributors. The better known ones are Blue Pictures,
Silverbird Distribution and Okhma Global Limited.
While it is true that the filmmaker can choose to self-
market his film, there are advantages to working with a
theatrical distributor. In the first place, the theatrical
distributor has more resources for the marketing and
promotion of ones film. A distributor that is prepared to
accept a film into his/her stable should also be prepared
to be involved in the promotion and advertising of the
film. This aspect of the process is essential and should be
started months before the actual release of the film.
A second advantage is that the distributor is in a better
position not only to monitor the progress of a film in the
cinema but also to oversee the collection and sharing of
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revenue. In addition to this, the distributor has a better
knowledge of the good cinemas as well as the best play
dates for releasing ones films. All in all, it is highly
recommendable for the filmmaker to work with a
theatrical distributor because the distributor knows
exactly how the cinemas operate. A good distributor is
one that fights the cause of the filmmaker and the film as
far as the cinemas are concerned.
B. Film Booking and Dating
In the cinema, the choice of the right play dates is often a
determining factor in how well a film does in the box
office. Cinemas plan their calendars months in advance.
(See figure 2) Thus, anyone planning a theatrical release
must book with the cinemas well ahead of time. It is
important in making such bookings to be aware of
possible dates or events that could either undermine or
promote the successful performance of ones film in the
cinema. For instance, whereas it makes good sense to
make the release of ones film coincide with a public
holiday, it may not be such a good idea if that public
holiday coincided with a carnival and other momentous
events that would make attendance at the cinema less
attractive for the viewing audience.
The calendar, to a large extent, is generated by the
distributors. Although the cinema houses can influence
dates, oftentimes the distributors have the dates and
12

exhibitors work with their calendar. Consequently, when
the filmmaker approaches a distributor, before any deal
is struck, the distributor opens the calendar to fix a date.
However, and unfortunately, the frequency of release in
the Nigerian market is sometimes detrimental to the
success of the films themselves. Films are sometimes
released every week, and this means that a film is not
allowed to play long enough in the cinema in order to be
truly profitable.

13


Figure 1: Sample of a Theatrical Release Calendar
14

In considering film bookings and dating, the following
factors should also be taken into consideration:
i) The Season
It is important to understand the role that the season
plays in the successful outing or otherwise of ones films.
For the theatrical premiere of a film, the filmmaker must
learn to capitalise on important seasonal events school
holidays, Christmas and Easter holidays, etc. because
these are the periods when the numbers of cinema goers
are likely to peak. One therefore needs to place the
season with ones film. The cinema calendars show public
holidays, or religious holidays such as Ramadan or Easter.
ii) Societal Current Affairs
Societal happenings could also be an important factor in
the success or failure of ones film at the cinema. This
factor, however, is oftentimes not within the control of
the filmmaker. For example, it was pure coincidence that
the film, Last Flight to Abuja, was released at about the
same time that a plane crash took place. That was a sad
event. But things like that sometimes positively help a
film. Films that connect with topical issues of society can
often benefit positively from such connections, but in
some cases it can work negatively against the film.


15

iii) Competition with Other Films
The filmmaker must pay attention to the other films
planned for release at the same time at the same time as
his/hers. For instance, it would be a mistake to plan the
release of ones film to coincide with that of a
blockbuster film that is likely to draw away most of the
audience. It is good to remember that even though a lot
of people go to the cinema every weekend, they do so
having already budgeted on what they will spend their
leisure naira. So, if they decide to spend it on the
blockbuster film A this weekend, and at the cinema they
happen to see the poster for the Nigerian film B showing
the same time, they will merely decide to return the
following weekend for film B. However, for reasons that
will be mentioned in the following section, 80% of the
time that film would have already been yanked off the
screening list and will not be available the following
weekend. Rather than entering into competition with
other films in this way, filmmakers can capitalise on the
crowds that those films might attract to advertise the
showing of their new films at a subsequent date.
The highest selling Nigerian film in Nigerian cinemas, Ije
was able to do so well (N59.3 million from 6 cinemas)
because there were no other Nigerian films in the cinema
at the same time to compete with it. The highest earning
Nigerian films after that have all been in the range of N20
16

million because they were all released at about the same
time, not giving each other space to recoup and do well.
iv) Monday Bookings
In cinema business, the week is calculated from Friday to
Thursday, so the cinema week starts on a Friday and
ends on a Thursday. However, the scheduling of films for
the week is done on Mondays. The box office figures
from the weekend are used to determine all the films
that will be scheduled for the different days of the week
ahead. Thus the opening weekend performance of a film
is crucial to Monday bookings. The weekend figures will
be the determiner as to whether the new film released
will be scheduled at all in the week ahead or whether
preference will be given to other films. If the weekend
figures for the new film have been low, it will be taken
out.
Herein lies the danger of competition. If one releases a
film at about the same time as the release of a
blockbuster, one must be aware of the risks. This is
related to the concept of the available leisure naira to
spend, mentioned above. The audience being targeted
for the films is the same one, and if there is competition
with, for instance, Hollywood blockbusters, the Nigerian
films are likely to do badly. So, it is best to try and find a
date when there will be the least competition.
17

C. Marketing and marketing strategy
Marketing is a key contributor to the success of films in
the cinema. Marketing here involves publicity,
advertising and promotion. One of the biggest problems
for most Nigerian filmmakers is that they only begin the
marketing of their new films on the day the film is
released. This clearly is a problem because by the time
the marketing kicks in it is too late to affect the figures of
the opening weekend. And, come Monday, the cinema
house will have to make a decision for scheduling it in
the new week. Consequently, the film is likely to be
dropped from four shows to one and at 10am or in the
afternoon. Thus, the film ends up not making money.
The advertising campaign should be started early.
According to the formula used by the established film
industries, the promotion of a film begins months before
its release and even while production is still on. There is a
need to understand that early marketing and publicity
help the film to register in people's mind, and they will
consequently plan towards when it eventually comes
out. It is advisable, if possible, to work with a PR agency.
Also, the stars of the film should be committed in their
contracts to taking part to publicity and pre-release
activities. The nature of such activities should be
concretely spelt out.
19

3. Some Considerations Towards
Promoting Commercial Viability
Like every filmmaker knows, the planning stage in the
filmmaking process contributes greatly to the success of
the film. However, there are certain aspects of that
planning stage that it is easy to overlook, and these are
aspects that could make or break a film in the cinema.
These aspects involve the definition of the filmmaker's
purpose, the audience for the film and the genre that the
film should fit into.
A. Defining the Filmmakers Purpose
and Audience
One of the causes of failure of films in the cinema arises
from the filmmakers inability to adequately define either
his/her purpose for the film or the audience. In this
regard, it is important to ask two questions: Why do
filmmakers make films? Who are the cinema goers?
i) Why Do Filmmakers Make Films?
Each filmmaker will probably give a different answer to
this question, and one cannot presume to generalise on
what the motivations are. But oftentimes, there is a
confusion between wanting to create a message driven
film, an artistic film or a box office hit. Of course, this is
20

not to say that these three things are incompatible. But it
is important to clearly define what the various intentions
are in order to cater to each one adequately because
certain decisions concerning the film will be guided by
whatever the prevailing desire is. If ones desire is to
make money, then it is important not to lose sight of the
business angle of filmmaking. And in order to be a
commercially viable and a worthwhile business, the film
must contain the right ingredients that will make it sell. A
primary motivation for the filmmaker, in this regard,
must be to capture the attention of the audience such
that they will want to pay to watch the film. In other
words, the filmmaker must not lose sight of the need to
entertain the audience.
ii) Who Are the Cinema Goers?
This question is linked to the previous one. Filmmakers
need to understand the make up of the cinema going
audience. The primary cinema goers are aged 15 35.
The secondary ones, here in Nigeria, are 15 14. One
might argue that overseas 11 to 14 year olds go to the
cinema by themselves, but that is not the case in Nigeria
where concerns for safety prevail. So, children of that
age can go to the cinema only when there is an adult to
accompany them. Another secondary group is
constituted of the 36 to 50 year olds. Then there is the
tertiary group of those that are 50 years and above that
only come to the cinema on public holidays, festivals, etc.
21

The filmmaker cannot afford to be oblivious of the needs
of those of the primary audience. The necessary question
is whether the guiding factor in making films should be
what the filmmaker wants to disseminate or what the
audience wants to watch.
B. What are people watching?
In making films, it is important to think about whether
the audience is watching those films. For this reason, it is
useful to carry out some audience analysis to find out
what people are watching. For the cinema owner, the
figures tell it all. A global comparison of box office
revenues shows that films do quite well in Nigerian
cinemas, and that these cinemas are significant in the
scheme of things. (Figures 2 to 6 show the revenues of
various films across different countries). In Nigerian
cinemas alone, some films have made from N50 million
to over N150 million (Salt, Prince of Persia, Avatar, Ije
etc). It is notable that in spite of the low number of
cinemas in the country, films are making money in the
cinema, and it is Nigerians that are watching them. Thus,
if one's film does not do well in the cinema, it cannot be
because people are unwilling to spend money in the
cinema.
22


Figure 2: Global comparison for Avatar (2010)
23


Figure 3: Global comparison for Clash of the Titans (2010)
24


Figure 4: Global comparison for Prince of Persia (2010)
25


Figure 5: Global comparison for Salt (2010)
26


Figure 6: Global comparison for Avengers (2012)
27

It is worthwhile pointing out that some Nigerian films
have made sums in the cinema within the range of N20
to N30 million (The Meeting, Tango with Me, Return of
Jenifa, Phone Swap, Anchor Baby). The point is that it is
possible for a Nigerian film to make such sums and more
at the cinema. We may have very few cinemas, but it is
still possible. But, of course, one must put all the right
structures in place.
C. Genre
In order for films to have a greater chance of commercial
viability, they should meet certain requirements. In the
first place, they should be entertaining, and they should
be fun. The action genre is a popular one, and it sells a
lot. Comedy is another genre that sells a lot. Other
genres include romantic comedy and science fiction.
Although this does not qualify as a genre, emphasis must
be given here to the use of known actors. Films that have
a known name are also likely to sell well because people
want to see the films that feature their favourite stars.
Known names give a film an extra boost and provide the
extra hook that will enhance the film's chances of selling.
The importance of star power should not be
underestimated. The experience in the cinema is that
before going in to watch a film the audience always want
to first find out who the main actors in the film are. Thus,
in choosing actors for a film, the filmmaker should not
28

overlook the importance of keeping the preferences of
the primary audience in mind.
29

4. Final Points by Way of a Summary
1. The filmmaker should decide why he/she wants to
make a film: any reason is good, but there is a
need to have clearly defined reasons. If one
decides to go for a money making film, then it is
important to ensure that the film contains some
appeal for the targeted audience (this is especially
important if one wants to target a non-Nigerian
audience).

2. It pays to decide who the target audience is and to
find out why they are watching. It never pays to
take the audience for granted.

3. The filmmaker should identify other films similar
to the one being planned, and aimed at a similar
audience, and find out how such films have done
in the box office. One must be realistic about this;
it would be absurd to use a Hollywood blockbuster
film with worldwide reach and a budget of fifty
million dollars as a benchmark for a film that is
aimed at a local audience and has a budget of a
hundred thousand dollars.

4. The filmmaker has to enter into a contract with a
theatrical distributor for the circulation of his/her
film.
30


5. A film dating strategy should be agreed upon with
the distributor, and competition with other films
should be avoided where possible.

6. The filmmaker should have a concise marketing
plan and strategy and should start the process
early.

7. The film stars should be tied down, via a contract,
to publicity and pre-release activities. Ensure that
the contract with the film stars defines exactly
what the publicity and pre-release activities will
consist of; do not leave it vaguely expressed as just
'publicity'. The involvement of the actors in
publicity activities is important because the power
of the stars is phenomenal.

8. Get your publicity material to the cinema early
enough, and time the display of such material to
coincide with the release of other crowd-pulling
films.