- The creative sector in Nigeria is the second-largest employer after Agriculture, with a projected contribution of $100b to the economy by 2030.
- Filmmakers are establishing startups that leverage technology to develop specialized and scalable solutions for the industry.
- The Annual Film Mischief (TAFM) festival and FilmTech Conference spotlight local solutions using technology in the African film industry, aiming to empower talent and address infrastructure, education, finance, and distribution gaps.
A 2021 report revealed that the creative sector in Nigeria is the largest employer of labour after Agriculture. Industry experts also state that the creative sector at large is projected to contribute $100b in revenue to the Nigerian economy by 2030. Furthermore, in 2022, Nigerian cinemas grossed NGN 6.9 Billion, according to FilmHouse.
In response to this, filmmakers are establishing startups invoking technology to develop more specialized and scalable solutions for the industry.
A film festival called The Annual Film Mischief (TAFM) organized by the Film Rats Club was founded to curate a selection of high-quality, low-budget independent films with distinct narratives and styles.
The festival convened a groundbreaking FilmTech Conference on the 29th of April, 2023. The FilmTech Conference was a partnership with Creative Fridays, a platform that is focused on fostering collaborations within and across disciplines in the Creative Ecosystem in Africa. Creative Fridays are supported by Impact Hub Lagos, African Business Radio & GNetworks.
Ojie Imoloame, Executive Director at TAFM, spoke to Nairametrics to shed more light on the Filmtech Conference. Enjoy the conversation.
Nairametrics: What attracted you to the creative sector and why convene a FilmTech Conference?
Ojie Imoloame: I am passionate about the intersection of the Creative industry and Technology so when the opportunity to join the founding team of TAFM was presented to me, I ran at it. TAFM’22 was held in Lagos & Ibadan whilst TAFM’23 took place in Lagos, Abuja and Accra.
Our groundbreaking FilmTech Conference assembled key creators & innovators, startups, and other stakeholders in the FilmTech space to spotlight local solutions for local problems using technology in the African film industry. The objective was to engage in discussions and initiatives that pave the way for a globally competitive talent pool, empowering them to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution.
We decided to convene this conference in the first instance to promote the term “FilmTech” and let stakeholders know of its existence in Nigeria and Africa at large, and the opportunity it has. Typically, FinTech, EduTech, HealthTech, and AgriTech dominate the headlines and funding rounds but we want investors to also look at the overwhelming opportunity in the film and creative space overall using technology.
Nairametrics: What are the gaps that exist?
Ojie Imoloame: Infrastructure gaps, education and talent shortages, lack of affordable long-term finance, and inadequate local distribution channels. Technology can be used to provide scalable solutions to these problems.
Nairametrics: Who are the players in the Nigerian Filmtech space?
Ojie Imoloame: FilmRats, Albantsho, Filmmakers Mart, Castingplace Africa, Nollydata and Talent X have been established to solve these problems.
Nairametrics: What were the highlights of the FilmTech Conference?
Ojie Imoloame: Spotlighting innovative films such as “Ogun Ola: War Is Coming” by the Critics Company, “Traffic Me” by Owen Olowu and the Globally acclaimed “Burkina Babes” by Kagho Idhebor because of the innovative styles employed by the filmmakers.
We were lucky to assemble virtually all the FilmTech startups such as; Albantsho, Castingplace Africa, Filmmakers Mart, Nollydata, and Talent X for a deep dive conversation into startup building in this space.
Thirdly, we believe in the power of communities, thus we aimed to put filmmakers, innovators, tech and film enthusiasts etc under one roof to connect and share ideas and begin to think in a solutions mindset and embrace technology to solve problems in their spaces like the founders of Albantsho Nollydata and Filmmakers Mart who are also filmmakers.
Nairametrics: VFX and VR seem to be gaining traction in the film industry due to the influence of technology. Can you shed more light on it?
Ojie Imoloame: VFX is now a highly in-demand technical competence in the Global film industry. This demand is driven aggressively by big-budget tent poles from the major studios due to the high entertainment and larger-than-life value they contribute to the viewing experience.
We chose to spotlight leading VFX artists & filmmakers like Raymond J Yusuff of the Critics Company and Tosin Igho who are doing incredible work in this space. For instance, the Critics Company utilized a great amount of VFX in “Ogun Ola: War Is Coming”.
VR is another very infant but growing space and we chose to spotlight Kachi Benson’s acclaimed films such as ‘Noah’s Raft’ and ‘Daughters of Chibok’. It was so nice to see the audience experience these films via the VR headsets.
Nairametrics: How has tech impacted the movie industry overall?
Ojie Imoloame: The world is evolving into the 4th revolution and this revolution is digital. By 2025, 25% of the world’s economy will be a digital economy and by 2030, we will have 80 million tech talent in the world.
Nigeria is currently at 48% broadband penetration and has one of the youngest populations in the world who are incredibly digitally savvy.
The growth of the film and larger creator economy and ecosystem in Africa has been incredibly accelerated by technology since circa 2010. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and the like have been incredibly instrumental in exporting the exceptional talents of African creators to the world.
The entrance of Netflix, Prime Video, Showmax et al in 2015 took the film industry to the Global levels with titles like ‘Gangs Of Lagos’, ‘Blood Sisters’, and ‘Anikulapo’ cracking the Global top 10 charts.
Just like every other industry, technology is an enabler and accelerator of growth and development. Thus, I expect the same for the film industry. As more and more startups come in to solve problems, it will position the industry to unleash its true potential to the world. Hopefully, we can see a Unicorn or two soon.