Veteran actor, Jide Kosoko, engaged the Managing Director of FilmOne Entertainment, Moses Babatope, in a game of wit recently, on what ought to be the percentages of stakeholders on films shown in cinemas in Nigeria.
The formula is broadly said to be 50-50 but Kosoko believes this is not enough for producers.
At the ‘Academic Conference’ of the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria, which was held in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, Kosoko wondered why cinema owners would not give more to producers since they (cinemas) were in a long-term business.
“You have a long time to recoup your money,” he stressed.
Babatope, however, said anything less than the 50 per cent the cinemas had been taking would not be realistic.
According to him, it is even a considerable arrangement based on an experience FilmOne had when it took a movie to the UK for showing.
He said the UK cinema took 75%.
He added, “Cinemas put a lot of money on infrastructure. Government should pour in finance. There is a lot of bottleneck on bank loans.”
He advised producers to take marketing seriously so that there could be voluminous sales, which would in turn benefit them.
“People who make ground-breaking sales don’t sleep. Promotion, to them, is like a department. Special work of art and presentation are involved. They do meet-and-greets, teasers and trailers. AY Films is a classical example. It has done five films without any loss. Look at the way he markets them. The fact is that you have to give people a reason to want to watch your film,” Babatope explained.
The conference with the theme, ‘Alternative Distribution, Solution to Poverty in Nollywood’, was moderated by actor and lawyer, Tunji Bamisigbin, with top scholar, writer and Prof. Bode Sowande, being among the resource persons.
Others were Dr Mrs Olufadekemi Adagbada and film judge and journalist, Dr Shaibu Husseini.
It attracted many film-makers such as Adebayo Salami, Lanre Hassan, Ebun Oloyede, Joke Muyiwa, Femi Adebayo, Yinka Quadri, Muyiwa Ademola, Damola Olatunji, Yemi Amodu and Abbey Lanre.
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, commended TAMPAN leadership, especially Bolaji Amusan, popularly called Baba Latin.
He said the NFC would sponsor the publication of the book that would bring together all the ideas generated at the conference.
