The New Nollywood: Professionalization or Gentrification of Cultural Industry

Abstract

<jats:p> Nollywood is further gaining popularity due to its transformations, which bear resemblances to the processes of gentrification and professionalization. This is formalizing the industry as well as attracting professionals and instigating existing filmmakers to improve on their art. So far, filmmakers have continued to avail themselves for further trainings, aligning themselves with the emerging new and professionalizing Nollywood. This study is interested in finding out whether these changes within the industry are simply a professionalization process or a regeneration that can potentially gentrify the industry. Gentrification, an urban development term which captures the process that alters the structure of a district to suit middle- or upper-class taste, is burdened with the baggage of displacement and so attracts negativity. This study adopts gentrification as a metaphor. Thus, it captures a process where a once-not-so-aesthetic item available exclusively to the general masses becomes fanciful as a result of middle- or upper-class engagement. This study contextualizes the concepts of gentrification and professionalization to put in perspective class separation, formalization of Nollywood, emergence of the new Nollywood, and other transformations reshaping Nollywood and bringing about sectoring within the industry. This study concludes that Nollywood is currently gentrifying as well as professionalizing. Its gradual progression from its old, traditional form into a new quality and aesthetics conscious nature results from availability of resources for production and distribution, and an interaction with corporate bodies and between new film professionals and existing industry players who avail themselves for further trainings. </jats:p>

Perception and Acceptance of Nollywood as Nigeria’s Cultural Ambassador among University Students

“…In summary, Ezepue (2020) concludes that the professionalisation of practice within the Nigerian film industry justified the metaphorical gentrification of Nollywood, transforming it from a once-not-soappealing sector into a highly sought-after by all social classes.…”

Nollywood: Let’s Go to the Movies!

“…According to [6], Nollywood is gaining popularity due to its transformations, which bear resemblances to the processes of gentrification and professionalization. This is formalizing the industry as well as attracting professionals and instigating existing filmmakers to improve on their art.…”

October 1: Metaphorizing Nigeria’s Collective Trauma of Colonization

“…The author captures existing sentiments that Nollywood is a work in progress, but believes that this work will only be productive if filmmakers professionalize their art. Other authors like Jedlowski (2013), Haynes (2014), Igwe (2018), Ezepue (2020), among others, have gone ahead to discuss transformations within the industry and among the filmmakers as well as their films. These authors indicate that a new crop of filmmakers are beginning to reshape the industry, leading to the new Nollywood economic model which has created more controversies among industry players than conversations among industry scholars (Ekwuazi, 2020; Haynes, 2014).…”