By Joan Odafe
Yinka Ade-Aluko, Chief Executive Officer of Doode Film Hub, says making films affordable and accessible, especially to grassroots audiences, is crucial to curbing piracy in Nigeria.

Ade-Aluko said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of his film premiere, ‘Sango Alaaye’, and the launch of two books, on Wednesday in Lagos.

NAN reports that the books are titled, ‘Secrets to Making Movies Right for Nollywood Cinema’ and ‘Nollywood and Its Borrowed Cinema’.

Ade-Aluko, who also marked his 50th birthday alongside the film screening and twin book launch, said Nigeria’s cinema structure must be redesigned to serve ordinary people rather than a fraction of the elite.

According to him, the current Nollywood cinema is a borrowed one, modelled after Hollywood and failing to reach a larger audience.

He noted that in spite of the country’s population of over 200 million, the highest grossed movie had below 400,000 admissions.

He said it was proof that the current model was not serving the people.

Ade-Aluko said the cost of cinema tickets with prices as much as N8,000 to N12,000 had isolated the masses and shrunk the market.

He said a sustainable future for the industry lies in a people-driven, community cinema model focusing on affordability, mass consumption, and job creation.

“The cinema of today in Nigeria is an elitist kind of cinema.

“One thing that is major for our own idea of a cinema is a cinema that will empower people, that will employ the underemployed industry,” he said.

Ade-Aluko recommended a model that included producing films on lower budgets; setting up cottage cinemas costing about N50 million to N100 million instead of mega complexes running into billions.

He further recommended adopting a mass-market ticket pricing as low as N1,000.

He said the running costs feared by mainstream operators would be offset when filmmakers target the real consumer base.

“Once you are into mass production, mass consumption, turnover will take care of that,” he said.

He said that his film, ‘Sango Alaaye’, a tentpole production, was made in partnership with several universities and arts councils, and was produced on a budget of around N10 million.

NAN reports that a tentpole film is a term used for a major movie released by a studio, acting as the financial anchor for the entire studio.

He said this was to demonstrate thatlow-budget productions could have high impacts.

According to him, he is creating an ecosystem where 70 per cent of production roles go to students and young creatives from academia and state arts councils, and 30 per cent to established industry talent when needed.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran