By David Royal

Niyi Akinmolayan, Nigerian filmmaker, director and media consultant best known for directing the highest-grossing Nigerian film of all time, The Wedding Party 2, which starred Banky Wellington, Adesua Etomi and Enyinna Nwigwe has called on filmmakers to incorporate Nollywood films into business.

The Filmmaker in a Twitter thread on Saturday lamented the lack of movie marketing firms in Nollywood.

He lamented that in 2022, Nollywood is 40% of the Nigerian box office yet the country does not have any marketing outfit dedicated to films.

He tweeted, “It’s 2022. Nollywood is 40% of the Nigerian box office. Yet we don’t have any marketing outfit dedicated to films.

“Most films in cinema have a marketing spend of no less than N15m. Some get as high as N30-N40m. Half of that money is wasted as producers don’t really know what works.

“You don’t have to build from scratch. If you are an already existing marketing firm, you can expand your business to accommodate Nollywood films.

“You have to study the industry well as films aren’t commodities like food. Lots of emotionally charged marketing. Audiences are crazy.

“The film distributors aren’t well equipped for this. But this is also an opportunity for a startup. How can you best position a film to be exciting for the audience?

“It’s true a good film will get help via word of mouth but a good film might lose its opening weekend opportunity cos no one knew it existed. Think about these things.

“I’m willing to work with a marketing company who takes on this challenge for my future films.

“I really just want to make films…and even though I’m really good at getting everyone excited about seeing my film, it takes too much time and energy I could be using for other stuff.”