Some of them stated that the compensation from Netflix was
not reflective of market rates, as the average licensing fees for Nollywood
came between $10,000 to $90,000, while Netflix planned to spend $500million on
films and series produced in Asia and Europe, according to a report by SaharaReporters
Nollywood experts also expressed concern over the continued
domination of the industry by Netflix.
Since its foray into Nigeria, the streaming giant has taken
a firm grip on the country's movie industry, with many movie producers now more
interested in having their projects on the platform than cinemas, the Verge
reports.
But experts say the trend is inimical to Nollywood's growth
if left unchecked.
Commenting on this, Moses Babatope, managing director of
FilmOne Entertainment, the country’s trendiest distribution operation said the
situation is caused by lack of enough funds for Nigerian filmmakers.
“There have been some worries about the production quality
of Nollywood films dropping, but rather than blame it on the ingress of
streaming platforms, I will focus more on the level of investments made in
production,” he said.
“How much production budget are these filmmakers working
with? I don’t believe any passionate filmmaker will willingly drop standards if
there is finance to work with.”
Aside the domination, there are also concerns over Netflix's
compensation rate for Nigerian movies and other African projects.
Netflix offers compensation that it claims is reflective of
market rates.
This comes down to average licensing fees of between $10,000
to $90,000, with most deals landing near the middle range according to
off-the-record conversations with producers.
But in comparison, Netflix plans to spend $500million on
films and series produced in South Korea this year alone, the same amount the
company announced it spent making and licensing content in the United Kingdom
in 2019.
At the heart of this disparity lies a critical discussion
about how African art is valued in mainstream spaces.
Speaking on this, Walter Taylaur, who has had two of his films
licensed on the platform, argues, “Their explanation would make better sense if
the films were being shown in Nigeria alone. But if you think the content is
good enough to be shown in worldwide markets, maybe pay worldwide rates.”