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Industry (5)

QR CODE/MOBILE MARKETING

Posted by ResQ Records/PiKture Time Films on August 25, 2011 at 11:56am

The music business has been and is undergoing crazy changes that is shaking up all the major and small players in the industry. The problem is not the evolution of a different way of manipulating and consuming media but the failure of the player to foresee and yield to these changes.

 

In studying entrepreneurship last semester, I came across the concept of "creative destruction" which for example had eliminated the elevator man and made extinct the typewriter. On the other hand, the same concept has improved the functionality of the cellular phones and mobile devices, which has become the "now" gadget of the 21st century and beyond. If these devices get smarter, they will start to walk.

 

Before I ramble off topic, I want to implore us not to be like some in the music industry and  ignore the mobile device revolution. Their enhanced functionality/usability has made these devices indispensable to us and their sheer convenience has made them more indispensable to our potential consumer,their new personal companion and 24/7 personal assistant, decision-maker and shopper.

 

As of today, in light of the confusion in the music industry and the advancement in communication technology, it may be wise to adopt the QR code/mobile marketing early. You don't have to be a sorcerer to  see the future as it is coded in black and white.

 

Bob Dylan said it right,"The times, they are a changing." We either embrace it or like the some in the music industry, face exinction, FOREVER.

 

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Jonathan at Silverbird at 30: N200m lifeline for entertainment industry

Posted by NollywoodMohits on November 6, 2010 at 1:30pm

Jonathan at Silverbird at 30: N200m lifeline for entertainment industry


For the first time in the history of Nigeria, a direct investment intervention has been made by the Federal Government into the entertainment industry.

Announcing this lifeline yesterday at the Eko Hotel and Suites venue of the Silverbird Group 3oth anniversary, President Goodluck Jonathan disclosed that N200 million has been set aside by the finance ministry for direct investment into the Nigerian entertainment industry...

Jonathan acknowledged that the Nigerian entertainment industry currently makes an annual turn over of over 250 million Dollars. He said his administration was determined to change the era when the entertainment was viewed as an informal sector and practitioners in the creative industry were exploited.

The president stated that he has directed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Finance Minister to be at the event so that they could participate in the process that would lead to a structured intervention by government to create jobs and give hope to the people in the creative industry.

Through a programme called Growth and Empowerment Pact, the president said government would encourage public private partnership in the tourism, entertainment industry to strengthen the ability of the entertainment industry to promote high growth.

Jonathan’s speech followed a passionate plea from Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce asking for a presidential support for the entertainment industry.

The event was spiced with musical performances by Nigerian artistes including the Sharpe Band which did a rendition tracing 25 years of Nigerian music, D’Banj and Sound Sultan. An American Band, Party on the Moon, got a standing ovation for rendering many popular songs by American artistes.

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Nollywood now second largest movie industry in the world

Posted by NollywoodMohits on October 6, 2010 at 4:30am
Inspired by Bollywood musicals and Brazilian soap operas, the Nigerian film industry is now the second largest in the world

Die-hard fans have known for some time that the Nigerian film industry is truly unique, but even they may be surprised to discover just how big – and lucrative – it has become..

A new festival, Nollywood Now, takes place in London from 6-12 October and is the first major event to celebrate the second largest film industry in the world. Its chief aim is to draw wider attention to the success and popularity the films enjoy across Europe, and particularly the UK.

Nollywood makes about 2,400 films per year, putting it ahead of the US, but behind India, according to a Unesco report last year. Nigerian film-makers tend to operate in a fast and furious manner; shoots rarely last longer than two weeks, cheap digital equipment is almost always used and the average budget is about $15,000 (£9,664). The finished products often bypass cinemas altogether and are instead sold directly to the “man on the street” for about $1.50 (£1). Most films shift between 25,000 and 50,000 copies globally – although a blockbuster can easily sell up to 200,000.

So, what exactly is it about the films that resonates so much with their audience? For all of their populist appeal, Nigerian films are very rooted in local concerns, according to Nollywood Now’s creative director, Phoenix Fry: “Many of the films have looked at how traditional beliefs co-exist with Islam and Christianity, Nigeria‘s main religions,” he says. “There are some superb sequences using quite simple video effects to transform aunties into demons, or show evil animal spirits being driven out from the possessed.”

This view is shared by Nigerian director and producer, Ade Adepegba, whose feature film Water Has No Enemy, explores corruption in his native country: “Nigerians are the largest group of Africans living in the UK, and the majority of them live in London,” he says. “Nigerian films still hold their strongest appeal to first generation immigrants who feel a deep attachment to their homeland. So, at the moment nostalgia is the main reason for the appeal of Nollywood.”
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Preparing for a Sure Business Plan

Posted by Mikky Webs on November 20, 2009 at 5:52am
Click here to read the main articleThis will certainly interest you if you are writing a business projection/proposal.Before getting into business one should ask a warm up questions like:1. What is the type of business?2. How will I be classified?3. What is the purpose of this plan?4. Who are our target audience?5. How can we use the plan to advance?6. What market need are we satisfying?7. How is my approach better than existing products and services?8. My time table to get my offering to the marketplace.Click here to read the main articleTIPSBe sure of these tips if you are writing a business projection/proposal.1. Approach to be market driven rather than products driven.Investors are only interested on how the product will be received in the market.2. Quality is the competition.3. Present your distribution plan to the targeted audience.4. Exploit you company uniqueness. (Like traded secret)5. Emphasis to be on management strength.6. Present attractive projections – be realistic in you market data.7. Show possible funding source because banks interest always lies on stability, security, cash flow coverage & fund return8. Close with a bang – drive home your points that you are offering a good deal.“Until you are able to say where your money goes you are not qualified to handle money”Click here to read the main articleA MUST HAVE FOR ENTREPRENEURS1. Intelligent, brilliant and has potentials2. Has a forward looking disposition towards the market prospects3. Believe God is more or his side than with anyone else4. Is faced by the twin evil of poor basic infrastructures, small or no capital.5. Is not attuned to borrowing to leverage.6. May or may not keep adequate recordsClick here to read the main articleSCHEMES FOR THE ENTERPRENEURSThe scheme are mostly credit orientated a few offer capacity building/ training and infrastructure development for entrepreneurs. Some are for export while some are in form of tax incentives owned by state, federal government Private Sector foreign agencies, non governmental organization; schemes for groups, individuals, firms etc. Micro Credit approaches are adopted in certain cases a general problem of poor access to the schemesClick here to read the main article
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Nollywood Babylon: Nigeria’s movie industry is winning global attention, but DVD piracy may bring it down

Posted by NollywoodMohits on May 24, 2009 at 6:53am
Producer Paul Julius is confident that the tens of thousands of dollars he has spent producing the soap opera “Tomorrow’s Tears” will be recouped, no matter the electricity shortages, lack of investors or grease-palmed government officials hampering his shooting schedule.Fighting to be heard over a steady stream of traffic and actors complaining about the lack of food, money and air conditioning, Mr. Julius explained the plot of his soap, which he hopes to sell to local TV stations. “I changed the subject from the normal stuff: blood, magic, stepmothers, etc.,” he said. “This is going to be about real-life issues.”Mr. Julius is an up-and-coming player in Nigeria’s film and television industry, known as Nollywood, which has grown from its infancy in the 1980s into the one of the world’s biggest movie industries, but is facing some real-life issues of its own.In 2006, nearly 900 movies, almost all straight-to-video, were shot in Nigeria, trailing only India and almost doubling Hollywood’s total for the same year, according to a Unesco report released this month. Currently around 40 movies are shot every month in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, not counting the dozens of television dramas that are also shot here. The industry generates an estimated $250 million a year, and is popular throughout Africa and immigrant enclaves in Europe and the U.S.But rampant piracy means substantial losses for producers and directors already operating on tight budgets. Understaffed and bribe-ready police means copyright enforcement is minimal. Inadequate roadways inhibit a small distribution network itching to grow. Constant electricity outages stall production schedules. These problems threaten to derail the industry.Nigeria’s messy and often corrupt oil industry drives much of what happens in this country. It is the biggest oil producer in Africa, and as much as 95% of the country’s export earnings come from oil. Nigeria has taken in roughly $400 billion in oil-generated revenue since 1970 but the standard of living for most Nigerians has actually decreased.Nonetheless, the country’s residents have an impressive appetite for movies. The most successful Nollywood movies are often melodramas like “Living in Bondage” and “Domitilla,” filled with adultery, bribery and elements of local mysticism.A comedy, however, may have given Nollywood its best chance at international exposure. “Usuofia in London,” about a Nigerian man who lands in the big city straight from his native village, may be the best-selling Nollywood movie to date, with an estimated 500,000 copies sold. Only a handful of Nigerian movies have made it to international film festivals, such as “The Rivals,” directed by Aquila Njamah, which was shown at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in 2007.Most Nigerian movies are produced fast and cheap, shot in a few weeks for $15,000 to $25,000, then roughly edited and handed off to marketers and eventually street-side vendors, or video clubs, as they are known locally. Financiers, usually friends or family members of the producer or director, want to see their investments recouped and care little for artistic exploration or high-quality technical effects.Directors are under pressure to keep each movie on schedule and under budget. Profits, when made, are small. Producers estimate that as much as 70% of their yearly revenue is lost to piracy. “I would say the biggest challenge facing the industry at the moment is lack of structure, and a high level of informality,” said Emeka Mba, the chairman of the National Film and Video Censors Board, the Nigerian movie industry’s main regulatory body.There is no formal distribution network for Nollywood producers. A finished movie in Lagos is burned onto around 15,000 DVDs with no copy protection and released into the market. If it’s a hit, demand swells. Vendors need more copies. But the producers often can’t keep up. So the movie is copied by pirates and thrown back into the market. The producer can only hope he made back his investment in time.“We’ve been crying to the government. If these things are not checked now, Nollywood will go into extinction,” said Cosmas Ndulue, 42, a producer and owner of one of only two indigenous DVD manufacturing companies in Nigeria.Industry officials and government agencies have started paying closer attention to piracy, but so far there hasn’t been much of an effect. A recent police raid on a well-known DVD-copying operation resulted in a brief confrontation between police and piracy-ring leaders. The pirates stood their ground and burned a police truck, then went back to work making knock-off Nollywood copies. The only repercussion for the offenders? A bill for the damage to the police vehicle.As piracy takes a larger and larger chunk of the profits, finding enough money to shoot a movie is becoming even more of a challenge. Chico Ejiro, a producer and director, has been struggling to find financing for his movies. A few years ago, during the shooting of his movie “Sisters on the Run,” he sold his car to keep the production afloat. This year he convinced a local bank to sponsor “100 Days in the Jungle,” a film about abduction and village lore, but it was a flop and Mr. Ejiro says the bank quickly soured on Nollywood.Mr. Julius, despite his production headaches, is optimistic about the future of Nollywood, as are most industry players. While watching two of his actors struggle to finish a scene on a busy Lagos street, Mr. Julius was looking forward to a complicated shoot that would involve a substantial police convoy, hundreds of extras, and foreign actors.“I need someone to play the British prime minister in the big scene we’re shooting this weekend,” Mr. Julius said, eyeing a reporter up and down. “Am I looking at him?”
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