WHO IS A FILMMAKER IN NOLLYWOOD?

I wrote this in reponse to something I read on a blog about "NOLLYWOOD'S BEST SCREENWRITERS". You can read it here: http://thescriptfactory2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/nollywoods-best-screen-writers.html?spref=fb

Nice article. Good interviews. But I thought it focused mostly on people who write, direct, and produce their OWN films. What about the screenwriter whose job is to write the script? To forge the building blocks of the movie itself?

I figure the article should be retiltled "NOLLYWOOD FILMMAKERS I ADMIRE" and here's why: No one is just a screenwriter in Nollywood! No, we like to do it all (write, direct, produce, act, sing, edit, distribute, etc.) just like the neighborhood electrician is also the carpenter, plumber, mechanic, and recharge card vendor! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there are those that are called in for the sole purpose of developing the script based on their expertise and years of experience learning and perfecting the craft of screenwriting that no one else can duplicate 100%. These are the screenwriters.

Yes, we'd all like to be categorized as filmmakers (screenwriters direct too in a sense because the script serves as a guide to the director, editor, sound guy, etc.) but we don't get celebrated as much simply because we live behind the scenes. In Nollywood, I find that one can't be behind the scenes to truly get the recognition they deserve -- it's an economic reality that Nollywood screenwriters aren't balling out of control with mansions in Lekki or trips to exotic lands based off the sale of a script, not like our Western counterparts anyway -- so the more ample title of filmmaker comes into play. The filmmaker title looks, feels, and sounds palatable and well-rounded professionally.

I’d like to read an interview about the screenwriter who brings to life something that wasn’t there a minute a go – something wonderful, thought-provoking and engaging to entertainment and possibly enlighten. I’d like to read about the screenwriter who spent long hours, or days, toiling away in the dark (waaaaaay past their bedtime) to create a thing of beauty that can be transformed into a film, tv series, documentary, or other visual medium to be viewed and shared by all! It’s truly an art form. So as artists, the screenwriter should be celebrated as such! They are out there, RIGHT NOW, staring at the laptop screen, alone, possibly lean and hungry, trying to break through the infamous wall that is the middle of Act 2! We know who they are, and they have no aspirations of being behind the camera or spending time in the editing room or coming up with which music to put on the end credits! Nope, just the script!

There is no real specialization in Nollywood, but rather a perceived one where we say we can do it all. But I’ve met filmmakers who couldn’t write a script to save their lives, tone-deaf they didn’t understand the intricacies of sound mixing or editing, or simply direct traffic let alone a Nollywood movie! So let’s get real – ARE YOU REALLY A FILMMAKER? Can you take all aspects of filmmaking and churn out something entertaining and memorable that’s seen as visual art? Can you make a movie all by yourself? Write, act, direct, edit, produce, and score?

It’s possible. It’s being done somewhere right now! But in Nollywood?

Every film industry in the world plays host to independent filmmakers, and that’s what we are breeding today in Nollywood – INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS! I like that title… it sounds less pretentious than just “FILMMAKER”.

Point is: let’s all do our best within our chosen fields of expertise  to raise the standards of Nollywood in general. Filmmaking is a collaborative venture and a sum of many moving parts. My dad keeps telling me that no man is an island, and rightly so. If we were all filmmakers, there’d only be one name on the beginning & end credit list. Also, on the DVD box!

Yeah, good luck seeing THAT film with a cast of ONE – THE FILMMAKER!

Questions? Comments? Insults? Let's hear 'em...

Emil @ Rated E

July 6 2012