诺莱坞：比好莱坞更高产的全球第二大电影工厂

    1992年，尼日利亚的电子产品销售员肯尼斯•尼布历时一个月，拍摄了一部预算仅有1.2万美元的电影《生存枷锁》。这部电影并未在影院上映，完全靠发行录影带获取收入。就是这样的一部小制作，却售出了100多万份拷贝，其中大多数是靠街头小贩卖出的。这部电影的成功，也标志着尼日利亚的电影产业“诺莱坞”（Nollywood）的诞生。

    到了2009年，以制作数量衡量，诺莱坞已经超过好莱坞，成为全球第二大电影工厂，仅次于印度的宝莱坞。尼日利亚政府在2014年首次发布的电影业数据显示，诺莱坞已经成长为一个市值达33亿美元的行业，单单2013年这一年，诺莱坞就出品了1844部电影。今年年初，诺莱坞制片人昆勒•阿弗雷安与Netflix公司就他出品的新片《10月1号》达成了独家发行协议。在此之前，Netflix已经发行了10部诺莱坞电影。此外，这家美国媒体公司还以1200万美元的价格购买了尼日利亚小说《无境之兽》的电影改编权，该片将由影星伊德瑞斯•艾尔巴领衔主演。

    尼日利亚是非洲最大的经济体，也是非洲人口最多的国家。许多观察人士认为，在视频点播平台和尼日利亚电影的引领下，非洲电影可能将获得越来越大的全球影响力。

    尼日利亚电影制片人、投资人伊万蒂•萨迪库指出：“诺莱坞电影在非洲及海外移民中的流行，显然表明了尼日利亚拥有走出去的能力。”

    不过她也指出，尼日利亚电影业“急需进行一次财务革新”。的确，诺莱坞电影的盗版，无论是在尼日利亚还是在整个非洲都是个大问题。尼日利亚的电影监管机构目前已经将与侵权有关的现有法律、执法行动和拘捕条件发布在了网络上，不过包括诺莱坞制片人昆勒•阿弗雷安在内的很多业内人士都觉得，这还远远不够。很多诺莱坞电影人呼吁制定更严格的版权法律，并发起了曝光侵权诸的活动，号召大家在网上发布盗版者的照片及其盗版的电影。

    此外，有批评人士指出，诺莱坞每年制作的电影虽然数量很多，但普遍缺乏水准，同时非洲演员还没有在国际上打出名堂。阿弗雷安指出：“实际上，国际电影行业的主流竞争者仍然不知道诺莱坞是怎么回事。光数量大是无济于事的，除非我们能凭借更好的内容创造更高的利润，让电影成为一个能够挣钱的产业。”

    尼日利亚国家统计局的数据也暴露出了诺莱坞最大的一块短板——收入的严重流失。在该行业30亿美元的估值中，只有不到1%来自正规票房收入和版税，其余都来自非法发行商的盗版光碟（以大约每部2美元的价格计算）。造成的结果是，制片人和投资人只能拿到应有收入的九牛一毛。

    非洲的数字内容创业公司和新进入非洲市场的视频点播服务商试图改变这种局面。在纽约Tiger Global和瑞典iROKO Partners等公司提供的2500万美元的支持下，全球的订阅者可以在网络上以1.5美元的月费订阅诺莱坞电影。iROKO平台的创始人杰森•恩乔库表示：“重点是要把这个行业数字化，围绕它建立正确的框架，以捕捉它固有的价值。”

    “收入已经在那儿了，只不过很分散。如果利益相关人可以投资诺莱坞并获得利润回报，那就会带来更大的预算和更优质的内容。”

    非洲电子娱乐行业的竞争也正在升温。2014年，Naspers集团旗下的南非卫星电视频道Africa Magic宣布，推出月费为8美元的“Africa Magic Go”视频点播套餐。不久后，肯尼亚创业公司Buni.tv也推出了月费为5美元的流媒体电影服务Buni+。另外，YouTube也成了非洲市场上的一个有力竞争者。受到Netflix等美国电影市场搅局者的启发，非洲的数字电影平台已经纷纷着手制作专有的影视作品。比如，iROKOTV公司目前正通过它的ROK工作室制作自己的影视节目。位于肯尼亚首都内罗比的Buni.tv也推出了一部名为《Ogas at the Top》的电视剧，你可以把它当成热门政治讽刺剧《XYZ秀》的尼日利亚版。尼日利亚媒体TechCabal今年4月份报道称，IROKOTV与Netflix之间已经达成了一项发行协议，但双方都没有向《财富》肯定或否定这一消息。

    流媒体视频点播首先需要的是可靠的网络服务，而在非洲国家，这或多或少仍是一个问题。不过IROKO公司已经让开发者创建了容量更小的诺莱坞电影文件，并提供了更多的直接下载选项。另一家尼日利亚创业公司SOLO通过提供入门级智能手机（售价约75美元左右）和它的View应用，使用户可以在该国的公共下载热点购买数字内容，以弥补了设备和宽带的缺陷。

    通过将收入和发行渠道正式化，视频点播平台将大大改善非洲电影的发展前景。但诺莱坞并不是唯一的受益者，美国的数字内容公司也可能从中获益。杰森•恩乔库表示：“如果我们能为非洲的创意内容解决生钱的问题，那么它就可以推广到任何创意内容上。”（财富中文网）

    本文作者Jake Bright是美国外交政策协会研究员，即将出版新书《下一个非洲：一个新兴大陆变成全球引擎》。

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    In 1992, in Nigeria, electronics salesman Kenneth Nnebue shot a straight-to-video movie in one month, on a budget of just $12,000. Living in Bondagesold more than a million copies, mostly by street vendors, and Nollywood – Nigeria’s movie industry – was born.

    By 2009, Nollywood had surpassed Hollywood as the world’s second largest movie industry by volume, right behind India’s Bollywood. And in 2014, the Nigerian government released data for the first time showing Nollywood is a $3.3 billion sector, with 1844 movies produced in 2013 alone. Earlier this year, Nollywood Producer KunleAfolyan reached an exclusive Netflix distribution arrangement for his latest film, October 1. This adds to the 10 Nollywood related titles already on Netflix and the U.S. media company’s recent $12 million movie rights purchase of Nigerian novel Beasts of No Nation, to star Idris Elba.

    And many observers believe that the global reach of African films could take off, led by video on demand (VOD) platforms and productions of Nigeria — the continent’s largest economy and most populous nation.

    “Nollywood’s popularity across Africa and the diaspora certainly demonstrates the capacity of the films to travel,” said Nigerian film producer and financier YewandeSadiku.

    But, she notes industry is “in desperate need of a financial makeover.” Indeed, pirating of Nollywood productions is a big problem in Nigeria and throughout Africa. Nigeria’s film regulatory agency now posts existing laws, enforcement actions, and arrest details for film copyright infringement online, but many in the industry, including Nollywood producer KunleAfolayan, say that’s not enough. They’ve pressed for stronger copyright laws and led a campaign to expose violators, including posting photos and films of alleged pirating operations.

    And critics note that while Nollywood has volume, it lacks production value, and African actors have yet to breakout globally. “The truth is key players in the global movie industry still have little idea what Nollywood is about,” said Nigerian producer KunleAfolayan. “The volume won’t matter until we can connect the art to the money with better content and profits.”

    Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics data also highlights Nollywood’s greatest shortcoming: severe revenue bleed. Of the industry’s $3 billion valuation less than 1 percent was tracked from official ticket sales and royalties. The rest came from pirated reproductions sold by unauthorized vendors for roughly $2 each. As a result, producers and financiers see only a fraction of the movie industry’s economic value.

    African digital content startups and the entry of subscription-based video on demand are trying to change this equation. With financial backing of $25 million from firms such as New York’s Tiger Global and Sweden’s ,iROKO Partners licenses and streams Nollywood content to global subscribers, who pay $1.50 a month. “The focus is to take this popular movie industry, digitize it, and put the right framework around it to capture the proper value,” founder Jason Njoku said of Nollywood and iROKO’s platform.

    “The revenue is already there, it’s just scattered. If stakeholders can invest in Nollywood and make back profits, it will lead to larger budgets and better quality content.”

    Competition in African digital entertainment is heating up. In 2014, Africa Magic, a Naspers owned South African satellite TV channel, announced its $8 a month Africa Magic Go VOD package. Then there’s Kenyan startup Buni.tv’s new Buni+, a $5 a month streaming movie service. Each has a heavy focus on consumers of Nigerian content. Meanwhile, YouTube is also becoming a competitor. Taking a cue from U.S. disruptors like Netflix, Africa’s digital film platforms are already creating proprietary programming. iROKOTV is now directing its own productions through its ROK Studios. So too is Nairobi based Buni.tv, which launched Ogas at The Top, a Nigerian version of its popular political satire XYZ Show. In April Nigerian media outlet TechCabal reported a distribution partnership between IROKOTV and Netflix. But, neither Njoku nor Netflix would confirm or deny any deal to Fortune.

    Reliable Internet–a baseline for streaming VOD–is still a problem in African countries, however. IROKO has set its developers to creating smaller Nollywood movie files and more direct download options. Another Nigerian startup, SOLO, is bridging the device and broadband gap by offering entry level smartphones (around $75) and its View App that allows customers to buy and rent digital content at download hotspots throughout the country.

    As Africa’s VOD platforms improve prospects for the continent’s films by formalizing revenue and distribution streams, Nollywood may not be the only industry to profit. U.S. digital content purveyors could benefit too. “If we can solve these monetization challenges for African creative content, it can apply to any creative content,” said Jason Njoku.

    Jake Bright is a Whitehead Fellow of The Foreign Policy Association and author of the upcoming book, The Next Africa: An Emerging Continent Becomes a Global Powerhouse.