Nollywood is the second largest producer of film next to Bollywood and according to the rebasing it contributes about 1.4% of Nigeria’s £307bn GDP, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics has confirmed. This is a fact not taken note of in the previous years of Nollywood. Nollywood is a large employer of labour with a value chain ranging from film schools, cinemas, editing, sound, costume, etc. As piracy still blossoms with the problems of distribution, producers have sought alternate means with video on demand and streaming platforms such as dobox, Iroko and 9flix; the potential importance of Nollywood to our economy cannot be understated as Nigeria is likely to suffer from the global Crude Market decline.
Nollywood however, won’t be what is it without its massive audience worldwide. Decry the quality but one fact can’t be taken away, there is a growing diverse market. With the audience in mind, FimVillage decided to partner with 9flix TV to create a social community for Nollywood to connect.
This social community is for the growing Nollywood fan base to interact with one another and with their favourite celebrities. It was launched by a rising star, Ekom Otu, the 22-year-old product head at the African online TV site 9flix. In mid-September, he led the development of the Nigerian film site’s android app which has been witnessing consistent downloads on Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ww9flix
This online social community http://fimvillage.com has a traditional village setting with user rankings up to “Igwe” and Queen. It is a first of its kind innovation which carries useful information on celebrity news, movie role audition calls and a system of movie and celebrity ratings, a forum called the Town Hall. It also offers Nollywood games including Star Love, a very addictive fun game to rate your love for your favourite stars.
“The main purpose of FimVillage is to connect the large growing number of African movie lovers around the world. This is going to be the first African platform that will give its users the ability to not only rate a movie, but to also express their feelings by reviewing it and connecting with the actors, actresses and producers for their messages to serve as feedback,” says Ekom Otu. He also adds that “many Africans search all over the Internet to see if there is any information at all about audition for roles and the producers do not have a specific platform to post theirs either, to reach their potential casts. FimVillage will end this problem.”
We wait with bated breath.
About the author: Adelarin Eniola Awotedu is a storyteller from Lagos, Nigeria. An avid reader and traveller, she writes and produces content for the web, stage and screen with an interest in Technology. You can follow her on twitter @abiikeblogger
