About this blog

This blog will go indepth to analyze the Nollywood industry and how the internet has influenced its spread. The Nollywood movie industry developed in 1990, and has been producing more movies than the U.S. and India since then. The Nollywood movies usually contain morals about life, like the ones heard in oral stories. They are characterized by the voodoos and evils in our society, and the exaggeration of everyday situations that make the best dramas for T.V.
Before the popularity of the internet, the Nollywood industry remained low scale. But the emergence and popularity of the internet has popularized it and has connected the indigens of Nigeria and fans of Nigerian movies to watch Nollywood movies via the internet.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Nollywood gurus online- PART 2

As a result of Nollywoodlove domineering the broadcast of Nigerian movies, they have partnered with Youtube and have ordered that movies posted illegally on Youtube be taken down. So lately, most movies not belonging to other Nollywood movies posters have been taken down, and more and more continue to be removed from Youtube. Other websites, apart from Youtube, either include a fee, like http://www.nollywoodmovies.tv/allsubscriptions, or they are free but include pop ups that make you wonder if they are legal, for example, http://videos.onlinenigeria.com/index.htm.
... Ok, so there is this guy called Pieter Hugo. He thinks, just like I do, that Nollywood movies aare so exaggerated. The story line and everything is stressed. He has pretty much mastered the Nollywood industry, and I consider him a guru. Here is his website http://www.pieterhugo.com/nollywood/ . He is an artist and some of his work on Nollywood are based on unusual looking people on the street, unusual incidents, and every other thing that would make you want to scream if you saw it laying on your street side. The image added is one of his works creating a sort ofmetaphor of how Nollywood movies are like.

P.S. Here's this inspiring TED video I saw online, it will notbe a waste of your time, I promise! http://www.ted.com/talks/franco_sacchi_on_nollywood.html

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Nollywood gurus online- PART 1

 Several websites have specialized in the publication of Nollywood movies online for "Flygerians" and Nollywood movie lovers to watch. Sites like Nollywoodlove publish these movies for free and legally. Here is what their "about me" section says:

"We love Nollywood movies and want to spread them around the web. For Free.
Whaaaaaaat? For Free?
Yes for free. We have a partnership with YouTube which enables us to run adverts alongside or inside the movies you are watching. This means we will be able to ensure a film is free for NollywoodLovers globally.
Do we buy movies legally? A little clarification. Firstly. Yes, yes and yes! we have invested tens of thousands of dollars buying the right to stream movies on YouTube and the internet. These are multi year contracts which go directly to the film production houses. This is very different and many times more expensive than what used to happen (buying a market copy and simply uploading and sharing), and is patently illegal.
Proof?
You can find further information about us at http://theiroko.com/
For information about how we license and protect Nollywood content onilne check out our our Corporate dudes website. http://theiroko.com "


                                                                                      Yes I did visit the website, and they seem pretty official. The business idea is partnering with Youtube, iTunes, Dailymotion, and amazon video, to broadcast Nollywood movies on the internet. They are actually financially improving Nollywood movie industry, and giving them popularity.   

Nollywood Actors and Actresses

This is a clip of the very prominent actors and actresses in Nollywood.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Rumors in the Nollywood Industry

Just imagine going on the internet just to find out that your son has HIV. How would you feel? In the Nollywoood industry, Jim Iyke is known as one of the big victims. Rumors of him are usually on the internet. Thye have ranged from him being arrested (this was just recently) while driving on the road to him fighting wih fellow partiers at parties. Jim Iyke was rumored to have contacted HIV from his Ex. His mother heard this news and she could not help but cry for long minutes while talking to him on the phone. One of the websites thathas the information is http://www.nigeriafilms.com/news/8846/14/recanter-jim-iykes-ex-lover-sally-contracts-hiv.html. Ini Edo, another actress, has been one of them too. Rumors about her on the internet have been geared towards ruining her marriage. One of the times, they claimed she was going to the set of a movie, but branched off to see some white man. And when she arrived at the scene, the director told her to go back home. Some of these websites that are really good at spreading rumors about Nollywood actors and actresses are modernghana.com and bellanaija.com.When rumors about Ini Edo came to a limit, her husband tracked the starter of the rumor and made him go back to the press to state that his rumors were all false about Ini Edo. As for Jim Iyke, he has a sensitive mother, who motivates him to deal with the situations with the press himself.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

An interview with a Nollywood fan (Who also watches Nollywood movies online)



I interviewed one of the biggest fans of Nollywood movies on Tuesday. Her name is Juliet and she is my cousin. She resides in London, and so she is one of the "Flygerians" who would like to connect to their homeland through watching Nollywood Movies.
ME: When did you begin to watch nollywood movies onli:ne?
JULIET: I began to watch Nollywood movie when I first went to Nigeria and to keep us entertained we would hire movies from the local shop. In 2003 
ME: What other websites do you go to watch them, other than youtube?
JULIET: Other than YouTube I can watch molly wood movies on onlinenigeria.com also Ghananation.com nigeriascreen.com etc.

ME: Do you use google to search for nollywood movies?
JULIET: At times I use Google or I can use websites that friends give me or info from the tv and also ask.com. 

ME: Do you prefer watching them online? why?
JULIET: I do prefer to watch these movies online as some I can get for free while u have to pay for the actuall DVD. Also it's much handy when using a laptop u can just switch it on with any hassle

ME: Are you concerned about the actors paycheck because of these movies online?
JULIET: I'm not really concerned with the actors paychecks bcus they are professional actors who are just doing their hobby which is bringing them money. It's just like musicians and their songs being on iTunes, and other downloadable devices.

ME: Who is your favorite actor/actress?
JULIET: My fav actor will have to be Mike ezeronye. Only bcus i think he's hot and amazing. But professionally i love desmond elliott as he can act numerous roles and do it well. Actress would hav to be Stella demascus or Kate henshaw nuttal
ME: What benefits do you get from watching them online? Do these movies help you connect to your homeland?
JULIET: The movies definertly help me connect to my home as most movies shoot films that are current of events in Nigeria. For example kidnapping and also the film my Yori yori Which came out bcus of the song yori Yori.

ME: What other comments do you have about Nollywood movie industry?
JULIET: I personally feel that Nolly wood has grown rapidly over the past years. With more more use of technology. And also much more actors and actresses speaking much better and fluent English Which allows the movies to be sold woldwide. Also with the growth of younger actors it's pulling a younger gneration who are abviously the ones to buy the DVDs

My favorite actress?

Genevieve Nnaji.She is the most misunderstood actress in Nollywood. She paved the way for dark skinned actresses into the industry. People see her as a snobby person, but even though I don't know her, I can probably guess that she is not. I can relate to her so much, but I don't know why. I trust that her movies are the type that I like and she has never disappointed me in all of the movies I have watched with her in it. In this photo, she had an interview with Pinto, the CNN interviewer, about her new movie, The Mirror Boy. I have not seen this one online yet. I can't wait to see the movie.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

How did the internet make Nollywood movies popular?

First I will say the internet made a lot of things popular. Think of the many things you go online to do. Read online newspaper, go to online dictionaries, look for information through Google, etc. Google itself, and YouTube has made Nollywood movies very popular. The internet has become a significant aspect of our lives these days. It has also made us think more in globalization terms. "Flygerians", also known as Nigerians abroad feel more connected to their homeland, all thanks to the internet. Nollywood movies started as a small industry and has significantly grown in terms of the number of movies produced per month.As a flygerian, these movies have helped me significantly to connect to my homeland. These movies not only give us flygerians something to do during our leisure times, they also tell us about the current information of Nigeria even though we are not there. I usually find myself, while watching the movies, looking at the current fashion (oh, and trust me, Nigerian movie stars are big on fashion!), the roads, and the trends. Some Nollywood movies are usually about the trends going on in Nigeria. For example, when the flu became a trending topic, there was a movie concerning the flu. Now there is a big trend about blackberries, and a movie recently came out about it and it is called Blackberry Babes. These movies online have no price to it and Nollywood movie lovers can watch as many as they want.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

The spread of Nollywood movies through the Internet

Nollywood industry produces hundreds of movies in a month. As more get produced, more get posted on the internet. YouTube subscribers like nollywoodlove continue to publish these movies online. But my question is do these actors get paid at all? It makes me worried that these movies get published even without the consent of the movie producers. The last time I heard that nollywoodlove channel on YouTube began to take over the popularity of posting nollywood movies via the internet and they are legal. They are in the process of removing all illegal movies on YouTube so that their channel can be the icon for nollywood movies. But I do hope these actors are getting paid for their work and are not getting ripped off their hard earned money.
But at the end of the day, it is the consumers, just like my entrepreneurship professor puts it, who win at the end. All they want is to watch the movies for free. If there was anyone to be arrested for posting these nollywood movies illegally online, it certainly will not be the consumers.

My all time favorite movie. I watched it when I was a kid...lesson learned? Don't let any obstacle get in your way when trying to accomplish anything