Filmmaker Pascal Atuma said on Thursday that the production cost for Nollywood movies falls way short of the pre-production cost in Hollywood.
He made this remark on Channels Television’s breakfast programme The Morning Brief.
“The money we use for an entire Nollywood film is insufficient for pre-production in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, low-budget movies are classified from three million dollars whereas, in Nollywood, I don’t even think we’ve had a one million dollar budget,” he said.
Atama analysed the basic cost of the flight of the cast and crew.
He said, “We had to go through the Visa process and remember these big stars don’t fly in economy, it’s business class. If you add the business class tickets alone going from 7,000 to 8,000 dollars per ticket”.
The filmmaker spoke about the struggle for profitability in the media space. To him, the media has to keep in mind the business aspect to ensure it earns its yield.
“This is not just fun, it is business and we have to do business. What we do, some people call it film, others call it radio, but what we do is called show business. The show carries the business, the business carries the show,” Atuma said.
He further mentioned that the way to stay afloat even during the current economic hardship is to tell the right stories while maximising collaborations.
Speaking on his latest movie, “Imported Wives”, the filmmaker shared that his inspiration was birthed out of the culture shift and disagreement caused by marriages of Nigerians who relocate to the diaspora.
“It’s a story that is long overdue because there is a lot of catastrophe among Africans that went home and married wives and brought them overseas. Once they get to the airport there is a culture shift and what they term freedom.
“We used imported wives to serve as a mirror for families whose people come back home to marry their daughters, to use imported wives as a reference. It’s very important because of the Japa syndrome,” he explained.
Imported Wives is a movie that highlights the struggle of men who travel back to Nigeria to find wives to relocate abroad with their wives.
This movie stars actors like Omoni Oboli, Patience Ozokwor, Nancy Isime, Joseph Benjamin, Linda Osifo, and Ngozi Nwosu.
He advised people aspiring to delve into filmmaking to be patient, resilient and eager to learn.
“It’s not for everybody, it’s not for the soft-hearted. A lot of people will tell you that you can’t do it, it’s going to take a long time but if it’s what God has called you to do and if you have the passion and patience.
“You also have to be committed and dedicated to the craft, and be willing to serve, because if you don’t serve, you won’t learn,” he advised.
