諾萊塢：比好萊塢更高產的全球第二大電影工廠

????1992年，尼日利亞的電子產品銷售員肯尼斯?尼布歷時一個月，拍攝了一部預算僅有1.2萬美元的電影《生存枷鎖》。這部電影并未在影院上映，完全靠發行錄影帶獲取收入。就是這樣的一部小制作，卻售出了100多萬份拷貝，其中大多數是靠街頭小販賣出的。這部電影的成功，也標志著尼日利亞的電影產業“諾萊塢”（Nollywood）的誕生。

????到了2009年，以制作數量衡量，諾萊塢已經超過好萊塢，成為全球第二大電影工廠，僅次于印度的寶萊塢。尼日利亞政府在2014年首次發布的電影業數據顯示，諾萊塢已經成長為一個市值達33億美元的行業，單單2013年這一年，諾萊塢就出品了1844部電影。今年年初，諾萊塢制片人昆勒?阿弗雷安與Netflix公司就他出品的新片《10月1號》達成了獨家發行協議。在此之前，Netflix已經發行了10部諾萊塢電影。此外，這家美國媒體公司還以1200萬美元的價格購買了尼日利亞小說《無境之獸》的電影改編權，該片將由影星伊德瑞斯?艾爾巴領銜主演。

????尼日利亞是非洲最大的經濟體，也是非洲人口最多的國家。許多觀察人士認為，在視頻點播平臺和尼日利亞電影的引領下，非洲電影可能將獲得越來越大的全球影響力。

????尼日利亞電影制片人、投資人伊萬蒂?薩迪庫指出：“諾萊塢電影在非洲及海外移民中的流行，顯然表明了尼日利亞擁有走出去的能力。”

????不過她也指出，尼日利亞電影業“急需進行一次財務革新”。的確，諾萊塢電影的盜版，無論是在尼日利亞還是在整個非洲都是個大問題。尼日利亞的電影監管機構目前已經將與侵權有關的現有法律、執法行動和拘捕條件發布在了網絡上，不過包括諾萊塢制片人昆勒?阿弗雷安在內的很多業內人士都覺得，這還遠遠不夠。很多諾萊塢電影人呼吁制定更嚴格的版權法律，并發起了曝光侵權諸的活動，號召大家在網上發布盜版者的照片及其盜版的電影。

????此外，有批評人士指出，諾萊塢每年制作的電影雖然數量很多，但普遍缺乏水準，同時非洲演員還沒有在國際上打出名堂。阿弗雷安指出：“實際上，國際電影行業的主流競爭者仍然不知道諾萊塢是怎么回事。光數量大是無濟于事的，除非我們能憑借更好的內容創造更高的利潤，讓電影成為一個能夠掙錢的產業。”

????尼日利亞國家統計局的數據也暴露出了諾萊塢最大的一塊短板——收入的嚴重流失。在該行業30億美元的估值中，只有不到1%來自正規票房收入和版稅，其余都來自非法發行商的盜版光碟（以大約每部2美元的價格計算）。造成的結果是，制片人和投資人只能拿到應有收入的九牛一毛。

????非洲的數字內容創業公司和新進入非洲市場的視頻點播服務商試圖改變這種局面。在紐約Tiger Global和瑞典iROKO Partners等公司提供的2500萬美元的支持下，全球的訂閱者可以在網絡上以1.5美元的月費訂閱諾萊塢電影。iROKO平臺的創始人杰森?恩喬庫表示：“重點是要把這個行業數字化，圍繞它建立正確的框架，以捕捉它固有的價值。”

????“收入已經在那兒了，只不過很分散。如果利益相關人可以投資諾萊塢并獲得利潤回報，那就會帶來更大的預算和更優質的內容。”

????非洲電子娛樂行業的競爭也正在升溫。2014年，Naspers集團旗下的南非衛星電視頻道Africa Magic宣布，推出月費為8美元的“Africa Magic Go”視頻點播套餐。不久后，肯尼亞創業公司Buni.tv也推出了月費為5美元的流媒體電影服務Buni+。另外，YouTube也成了非洲市場上的一個有力競爭者。受到Netflix等美國電影市場攪局者的啟發，非洲的數字電影平臺已經紛紛著手制作專有的影視作品。比如，iROKOTV公司目前正通過它的ROK工作室制作自己的影視節目。位于肯尼亞首都內羅比的Buni.tv也推出了一部名為《Ogas at the Top》的電視劇，你可以把它當成熱門政治諷刺劇《XYZ秀》的尼日利亞版。尼日利亞媒體TechCabal今年4月份報道稱，IROKOTV與Netflix之間已經達成了一項發行協議，但雙方都沒有向《財富》肯定或否定這一消息。

????流媒體視頻點播首先需要的是可靠的網絡服務，而在非洲國家，這或多或少仍是一個問題。不過IROKO公司已經讓開發者創建了容量更小的諾萊塢電影文件，并提供了更多的直接下載選項。另一家尼日利亞創業公司SOLO通過提供入門級智能手機（售價約75美元左右）和它的View應用，使用戶可以在該國的公共下載熱點購買數字內容，以彌補了設備和寬帶的缺陷。

????通過將收入和發行渠道正式化，視頻點播平臺將大大改善非洲電影的發展前景。但諾萊塢并不是唯一的受益者，美國的數字內容公司也可能從中獲益。杰森?恩喬庫表示：“如果我們能為非洲的創意內容解決生錢的問題，那么它就可以推廣到任何創意內容上。”（財富中文網）

????本文作者Jake Bright是美國外交政策協會研究員，即將出版新書《下一個非洲：一個新興大陸變成全球引擎》。

????譯者：樸成奎

????審校：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.