VARIOUS: Under the leadership of a young entrepreneur iROKOtv, dubbed 'the Netflix of Africa' distributes Nollywood films and music online, cutting out a notorious layer of pirates and discovering an international following for Nigerian productions

Record ID: 235643

  • Title: VARIOUS: Under the leadership of a young entrepreneur iROKOtv, dubbed 'the Netflix of Africa' distributes Nollywood films and music online, cutting out a notorious layer of pirates and discovering an international following for Nigerian productions
  • Date: 25th May 2012
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JASON NJOKU, CEO OF IROKOTV, SAYING: "Production values are probably not as high as what people would expect in the west, but it's not really about the production value it's about the stories. Why are people who have got access to everything in the west go on to a computer and watch a Nollywood movies? It's because they connect to it somehow and that's where the story comes in, that's where the cast comes in, that's where the actors and actresses come in." LAGOS, NIGERIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STREETS VARIOUS OF VIDEO STORE/ SALES REP ARRANGING DVDS FOR SALE VARIOUS OF DVDS
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Business,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVACHU6TA8AHI4IHQTLEBGZ20C9V
  • Story Text: Corporate Game, Friendly Scorpion and Blackberry Babes are just some of many Nigerian film titles you can find online through a distribution platform called iRokoTV.
    Dubbed the "Netflix of Africa", after the world's leading subscription service for tv and movies, iRokoTV provides films on demand through the internet to fans across the globe in a few clicks.
    Founder and CEO of iRokoTV, 31-year-old entrepreneur, Jason Njoku is a Nigerian born chemistry graduate from the University of Manchester in London.
    The idea came to him when he realised his family and friends in London had an insatiable appetite for Nollywood films but were always struggling to get the latest releases.
    "Being that I lived with mom again, I was going to auntie's and uncle's houses and friend's and families in the Nigerian community in London. And they were all watching this similar type of movies. I was just -- how have I missed this huge movement, huge phenomenon in Nigerian cinema and I am a media guy? So I task myself which is to find out more about the industry," Njoku said.
    Iroko TV, YouTube's biggest partner in Africa, launched in January, has recorded about 3000 titles and got 100,000 users within its first two months. The films are free for now: revenue is made from advertising, but subscribers will begin to pay for the service in June.
    Nollywood films might be tales of cannibalism, witchcraft and weeping girlfriends who put curses on their errant boyfriends, but Nigeria's 590 million US dollar home video industry is the second biggest in the world, after India's Bollywood and before America's Hollywood.
    Njoku said iRokoTV viewers span from Africa to the Diaspora, with the largest markets being in the United States, U.K., Canada, Germany and Italy, mostly because of the high broadband penetration.
    "Production values are probably not as high as what people would expect in the west, but it's not really about the production value it's about the stories. Why are people who have access to everything in the west go on to a computer and watch a Nollywood movies? It's because they connect to it somehow and that's where the story comes in, that's where the cost comes in, that's where the actors and actresses come in," he said.
    IRokoTV has offices in London and New York but it began here in Lagos in 2010 as iRoko Partners.
    Nollywood churns out about 50 low-budget films a week, Njoku says. To find the movies for distribution, he had to move back home and physically find the production houses, many of which did not have offices and were often a set up of one man and his cellphone.
    With time, producers got acquainted with the idea and now, they call him. Piracy is rampant -- producers loose out on millions in revenue from illegal sale of their copyright films and music.
    Njoku says with better internet penetration in Africa, where millions of fans still rely on DVDs, often bootleg ones, the market is set to grow tremendously in the next five years.
    "In London, we have more viewers in London than we do have in the whole of Nigeria. But when you think, how many Nigerians Africans are even in London compared to the 150 million or so in Nigeria? So once the broadband penetration improves then we expect to see a massive surge in sort of interest in Africa. So my prediction is by five years time we're talking about an African business as opposed to being a western one," he said.
    For the filmmakers, the outlook is also bright.
    Veteran award winning filmmaker, Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, often referred to as the "father of Nollywood", says iRokoTV is creating a new avenue for films to be seen and in turn, cutting out piracy and making sure film revenues go to the right people.
    However, he says the industry must remain cautious.
    "What iRoko is doing is going to help our industry but, the only challenge I foresee which I am not praying for it to happen, typical of Nigerian industries, there is always this ingenuity in us Africans, especially Nigerian to circumvent whatever someone has created and he thinks is full proof," he said.
    While some of Africa's expertly trained filmmakers disdain Nigeria's commercial approach, others believe it is filling a gap which will bring dividends in the long run.
    IRokoTV employs 100 people in three continents and recently got funding of 8 million US dollars through US based investment manager, Tiger Global.
    "... a great thing is that as long as our viewers love what we're doing, then we're going to be okay as a company," he said.
    Nigeria shot its first film, "Palaver" (Trouble), in 1904. Its home movie industry has been creating movies ever since.
    Several digital websites that offer movie downloads at a fee do exist but iRokoTV is being billed as having the potential to be the largest distributor of streaming black focus content.
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