Why banks may never sponsor Nollywood movies again!

Story by VICTOR AKANDE

Nollywood stars AGAINST the backdrop of criticism that Corporate Nigeria is refusing to contribute to the growth of the industry through partnership on film projects, a bank MD, who prefers anonymity said recently that it is difficult to work with an industry which is lacking in structure. He said that although some Nollywood filmmakers are trying their best in the field, he described majority of the players as charlatans, who cannot put up an ordinary business proposal. He maintained that until the motion picture industry is structured properly, giving an example of the Motion Picture Practitioners Council (MOPPICON) bill that is yet to be passed into law, no financial institution would be willing to enter into a blind risk with the industry. The bank boss recalled that in 2007, a set of Nollywood filmmakers were sponsored by Ecobank on a project tagged Project Nollywoood, saying that the partnership did not yield the desired results. He added that apart from piracy which did not enable returns on investment, the social objective of the project was not realised. It would be recalled that the filmmakers, four in number, had promised that the initiative was just to make well researched, well interpreted, and technically sound movies, but to also go the extra mile of getting the movies across to the buyers. It, however, leaves many wondering why Ecobank itself did not find the deal palatable in the end, owing to the fact that it had boasted of its network of over 17 countries, where it hoped to distribute the movies. The deal was said to have cost the bank an initial rolling budget of N100 million.