Nollywood is the name attributed to Nigeria's movie industry. By definition it is Nigeria's movie industry by Nigerian production teams for the Nigerian people. Nollywood has over the years become a world phenomenon, as its movies are being sold in Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa as well as Jamaica, USA and the UK to name a few.

Now the name itself had caused a bit of a protest in the earlier days, as a lot of Nigerians felt it was imported and derived from Hollywood and Bollywood. (Not really a bad feat as these are the two heavy weights in the movie industry internationally) There was also that little issue of the name being coined by a foreigner, some didn't like it, but the good thing is that Nollywood as a name has moved far beyond these earlier hiccups, no-one actually thinks twice about the origin of the name today. It has become accepted that Nollywood applies to the Nigerian Movie Industry.

Today Nollywood ranks third in the movie industry after Hollywood (USA) and Bollywood(India). It has been able to hold its own despite so many deterrents, which to name a few include, expensive technical tools of the trade, inconsistent supply of electricity (which is taken for granted in almost every other country in the world), the horrible traffic-jam conditions which can lead to extreme lateness in production times (but the "show must go on"!)

Nollywood movies are made on shoestring budgets ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 a piece spanning 7 to 10 days. This is an incredibly short jam packed production time by all standards.

What makes the industry so unique is that it is a video driven industry, the movies in the early days were produced and put straight on VHS cassettes and then released/ distributed for sale to the public. Now with the new technological advancement in place they are usually on VCD's, the Nigerian refer to the movies as "home video".

Before Nollywood came into existence in the 1990's was there anything that preceeded it?

Of course there was. Nigeria is a very rich cultural entity, which has for decades produced very beautiful and even world acclaimed theatre productions, which is where this movie industry takes root.

Herbert Ogunde and Ola Balogun amongst of few others all made movies that were shown in the few theatres that existed during the 1970's and 1980's. These films include "Jaiyesimi", "Aiye" and "Taxi-Driver", these were all done in Yoruba (the language of the South Western States), the movies done in English prior to Nollywood include "Bisi Daughter of The River" and Prof. Wole Soyinka's "Blues For A Prodigal" amongst a few others.

The problem of funding, expensive equipment and piracy amongst others made sure that these early efforts did not take root and develop into the great industry as we see it today.

It seems that Nollywood as it is today came into being by accident, or better still as a natural development from a working formula. Confused? Let me explain. The theatre and television stations were the medium that was used by a lot of theatre artists. For some reason a comic actor, Mr.Okpuru Anyanwu, was finding it difficult to get his work shown on the TV stations in Anambra State of Nigeria, out of frustration, he shot his episodes on video and sold them on a weekly basis, to the Igbo speaking populace of the East. Anyanwu was actually onto something great here, as his video's became very popular and his growing audience eagerly waited with anticipation for the next video just as we can't wait for the next episode of our favourite soaps , dramas or comedies, be it "Dr Who", "Friends", "Ugly Betty" or "Desperate Housewives".

When Kenneth Nnebue saw the success of Anyanwu he took it a step futher and produced "Living In Bondage" which unlike Anyanwu's videos, was done in English. "Living In Bondage" went nationwide and was an instant hit. Others caught on to this model and as it caught fire Nollywood was born.

Nollywood actually refers to the movies made in English, which is the reason they have such an universal appeal in the first place. There are between 1000 to 2000 movies produced each year in Nigeria. A majority of these are in English but it is important to note that there are films made in the main Nigerian languages of Yoruba (which has a long standing history of television productions for decades), Igbo and Hausa (the Movie Industry of the North refering to its self as Kallywood, can't say that this has stuck for sure).

Nollywood grew from the rich traditional culture of Nigeria but has evolved and grown into a modern internationally recognised industry. It is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, provides jobs for thousands of Nigerians, who otherwise would have been unemployed and languishing.

Nollywood is now getting viewings at international festivals, which can only be a good thing. "Osofia In London" (2003) put Nollywood on the map in that respect.

Now Nollywood has its own Annual Awards, and there is now a studio in Taippa, Calabar (pictured above).

There are also the STARS of Nollywood, who mostly are talented individuals. In the old days the actors were the producer, playwirights etc, but now its more streamlined. The workers in this industry are graduates some even have a second degree Nigerians are talented, inovative and productive and the success of Nollywood has proved this. A few of the Nollywood Stars are featured bellow.