Nollywood Next Is Betting on a More Connected Black Film Industry

For years, the conversation around African cinema going “global” has tended to focus on the finish line: the streaming acquisition, the international premiere, the breakout title that suddenly seems to be everywhere.

But there is a whole lot of business that has to happen before that.

Who finances the film? Who owns the rights? How does a Nigerian producer find a co-production partner? When does a sales agent enter the picture? Does your film even need a sales agent?

Those are some of the questions behind Nollywood Next, a new industry platform piloting at TIFF: The Market in Toronto on September 14.

Co-presented by Nollywood Next and Nile Entertainment, with the support of TIFF: The Market, the inaugural programme takes place at the Global Africa Hub powered by CANEX Creations Inc. at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It brings together filmmakers, producers, distributors and financiers working across Nigeria, Canada, the UK and the wider Black diaspora.

The premise is fairly simple: Black creative talent is increasingly global. The infrastructure around it needs to catch up.

First, who’s buying the film?

The first conversation, “Securing the Bag: Sales & Distribution for Black Film & Television,” starts where plenty of conversations about filmmaking end: after the movie is finished.

Ladun Awobokun, Chief Content Officer at FilmOne Entertainment & Studios and Head of Content Acquisition at KAVA, joins Moses Babatope, CEO of Nile Media Entertainment Group; filmmaker and distributor Chee Keong Cheung, CEO of Action Xtreme and Head of Distribution at Sovereign; and Damola Layonu, founder of Snag Productions.

Together, they’ll get into the less glamorous, but rather important  questions: What makes a film sellable? What are its rights worth? How do distributors decide what to acquire? And…