FG and Amazon Prime Video to partner on developing local movie industry

The Nigerian Government announced it is collaborating with Amazon Prime Video to train Nigerians on local content in the movie production industry and boost opportunities.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday in a meeting with officials of Amazon Prime Video towards builthe ding capacity of Nigerians for local content in movie production.

Other Nigerian agencies that attended the meeting include the Nigerian Film Corporation, National Broadcasting Commission, National Film and Video Censors Board and the Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (APCON).

What the Minister is saying

Mohammed said the point of the meeting was to begin talks with Amazon on capacity building for quality local content in the nations fast-growing movie industry and to empower youths through training on local content, for employment opportunities.

“We also discussed that, yes, we are a great film country, but we need more of capacity building; we need more of long-term investment on individuals,” he said.

• When quality content are produced and streamed, it would create wealth for upcoming artists who would be encouraged to create more films, thereby creating more jobs and revenue for government.

• Nigeria was expected to produce 50 films weekly but emphasis would be on quality and not quantity.

• `We look forward to the collaboration with Amazon, we do not want a situation whereby Amazon will just come here, take our content and go with it.

• “We want Amazon to also contribute to the growth of the industry in terms of capacity building and in terms of transferring technology to our people,” he said.

The minister added that Amazon would be launching its services in August.

Ayanna Lonian, Amazon Prime Videos Director and Head, Worldwide Major Studio Licensing Strategy, said the negotiations would touch on how to showcase the best content from Nigeria, adding that this “would be done alongside supporting development of capacity of the local film producers and upcoming artists.”

“Streaming services were relatively new in Nigeria, so the firm was entering long-term financing models for the overall benefit of the nations movie industry,” she added.

What you should know

• Recall that Nairametrics reported last month that American e-commerce giant, Amazon, is set to disrupt the Nigerian e-commerce market as it plans to launch in the country in April 2023. When it launches, Amazon will compete with Konga and Jumia, the two dominant players in the Nigerian e-commerce space.

• The company will be expanding to five countries across Africa, Europe, and South America, while maintaining its base in the United States. The five countries are Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

• Nollywood production house Nemsia Films also closed the first exclusive slate deal for three commissioned feature films with Amazon Prime Video.