Nigerian Cinema in the Age of Digital Revolution

With the evolution of the internet, various film and entertainment companies can now more than ever in known human history reach out to their target audience via social media, internet advertising. Today, by investing only a quarter of the price they paid media agencies and other Ad Platforms they can develop an Intuitive Online Video Platform Using Microsoft Azure and Azure Media Services.

For a second, imagine a FilmOne Distribution, and the likes develop a new, intuitive online video platform. This platform could provide seamless delivery of content for consumers across geographies and languages, across Nigeria and Africa supported by a robust infrastructure including Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Let’s even say something as simple as an App called MyFilm App, which allows me to buy movie tickets in advance, pay for my popcorn and drink as well as select my seat at a discounted amount. This same app allows me to stream movies that have stopped showing at the Screens from anywhere and help me make more friends via the in-App community of Movie lovers. Allow me to daydream a bit more to think that I can watch soccer live and not worry about my DSTV or Netflix subscription anymore.

I think the Nigerian motion picture industry at large can save hundreds of millions of Naira every year using Microsoft Azure. A potential saving could be achieved through cloud-based functionality paired with security mechanisms that prevent the theft or accidental sharing of film pre-releases that so bother production houses.

There are ample examples around us that prove that modern technology has complemented the movie-making process in a massive way, thereby making it easier than ever for filmmakers to achieve their vision, and in the process drastically alter the ethics of the film business. It is safe to assume that this change will be for the good of Nollywood and the Cinema in general. And that it will continue to empower content creators by providing economic means to execute their vision.

Nigerian Cinema in the Age of Digital Revolution should begin to pay attention to the negative and positive impact of digital technology and the democratization of film making. Now that cameras are in the hand of millions of amateur and professionals, this digital revolution has made the art of film making more accessible. The use of tools like Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement would help organizations listen in on consumer sentiments which could drive insight for quick decision making.

Attention should be paid to a digital marketing strategy for the publicity and promotion of films. Engaging More Business Intelligence, (Microsoft Power BI) comes in handy here, To find out the changing cinema viewing or watching forms and also To study the impact of digital technology in Nigerian contemporary cinema.

And we pray for more co-production with global Video -On -Demand (VOD) platforms such as Netflix, AppleTV, and co. It’s been well reported that’s there’s an increasing focus on Africa as the next source of growth for global VOD platforms. Netflix’s growing acquisitions of Nollywood content is a testament to this, however, developing stories that can keep a huge user-base continuously engaged is an extremely difficult task. Nollywood, and African content generally, can go a long way towards plugging this anticipated content gap for the VODs. I believe this so much like I believe that from 2020 we would see More Funding Support for Nollywood Movie Production with budgets as high as half a billion Naira.