CAMPBELL: Scene one a street in downtown Lagos. A harried film crew holds up traffic, the director calls action and a hired ambulance tries to race through frame. This is emergency film making. Theres no street closure, no crowd control and no time for another take. The producer L.O.C has just four weeks to get his hospital movie shot, cut and on the streets.
L.O.C: In the world we are the fastest moviemakers. We can make a movie in ten days. We can make some movies in one week. So we make almost more than five hundred films are coming out every year.
CAMPBELL: Its called Nollywood and while it rhymes with Hollywood, thats where the similarity ends. Nigeria specialises in low budget production line entertainment where theres usually not even money for sets or costumes. L.O.Cs film is being shot in a real hospital among real sick people. The movies are all shot on video and go straight to DVD.
L.O.C: We have cinemas here, but we dont have that time because most people financing these films want to shoot and get the film back into the market immediately. We copy it again immediately and shoot another one. They are more business people theyve got an investment so they dont have time to go into all those things.
CAMPBELL: But Hollywood moguls would be wise not to snigger at the product. Nollywood might be cheap, but its already being touted as the worlds third largest film industry. Africans are watching more of these home grown cheapies than imported Hollywood blockbusters and black audiences around the world are discovering the magic of Nollywood DVDs.
L.O.C: People should watch out for Hollywood. We have talent, we have good directors, good artists - we have all it takes to be there, so we are doing it. So the whole world is embracing our film. These days we go everywhere, go to American people, and receive phone calls from all over the world. People call me from America, from London, they want my film, they want this film. So I say people are actually watching these films all over the world.
CAMPBELL: The centre of Nollywood is Lagos, Nigerias frenetic, overcrowded and crime ridden commercial capital but most of its sixteen million or so residents living tough in slums and shanty towns, it can be a nightmarish place. But for people all over the country, its the city of dreams.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: I know I am going to be a star one day. I believe this year Im going to be a star, a real star in Jesus name.
CAMPBELL: Twenty year old Yemisi Egungbemi lives in a bed sit on the city edge, dreaming of glamour, fame and fortune. She spends most days honing her skills with actor friends.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: [Acting] Please Im hungry. Please help me. I need money. I need more
LADY ACTOR FRIEND: Thats wonderful. You look like an old woman, yeah!
CAMPBELL: So far shes only had bit roles in movies but theyve won her the first intoxicating glamour of recognition.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: My friends, even those living in another parts of Nigeria, some of them are calling me, telling me they saw me, saying oh, we saw you, we saw you. Yemisi, I just finished watching a film, and you were in it. Oh Yemisi, youre now a star. So it makes me happy, and it gives me more courage to act.
CAMPBELL: Yet just a decade ago there was hardly any film industry to dream of. In the lawless chaos of Lagos, local movies just werent being made. Nollywood has taken off over the past ten years largely because of the citys crime problems. People stopped going to cinemas at night for fear of thieves and muggers, preferring to watch cheap DVDs in the safety of their homes. Struggling film investors saw an opportunity and a boom industry was born.
Nowadays, open-air markets sell millions of Nollywood DVDs. Theyre cheap to make, cheap to buy and cheaper to rent.
AJ: Thats a video club, and there are so many of them in all parts of the country. What you have here is that Nigerians come here to rent some of these films. They pay possibly twenty or thirty naira.
CAMPBELL: Which is nothing.
AJ: So they can watch as many films as possible, as they can. [Walking down street] This is one of the greatest slum areas in the world.
CAMPBELL: AJ is a teacher and singer known affectionately as the Slum Poet. He lives in one of the citys roughest neighbourhoods, Ajegungle, where survival is a daily struggle and where a cheap rented DVD is one of lifes few dependable pleasures.
AJ: What Nigerians enjoy from it is the momentary laughter and elusive you know, enjoyment. For that particular moment, the Nigerians you know store away you know, the crisis confronting them.
[Singing]: One sure day theyre going to pay back
CAMPBELL: AJ has mixed feelings about the success of Nollywood. His overtly political songs tell of the sadness of Nigeria. The corruption of its elite that keeps the people in dire poverty.
AJ: [Singing] Im talking about all the rulers and the government
CAMPBELL: Theyre themes that Nollywood rarely touches on.
AJ: The story line I dont want to use the word poor, but they are easily predictable. The majority of them are mundane, and they even attempt when you continue to re-emphasise something that is already known to people, there is a way, a manner that is also you know, destructive to the mind.
CAMPBELL: This hospital drama is typical of the story lines. A handsome doctor who happens to be a prince, falls in love with a beautiful nurse who turns out to be a princess. But Hajim Williams, one of Nollywoods most seasoned directors says the stories speak directly to Nigerian people.
HAJIM WILLIAM: We dont live individualistic lives so thats why our stories are not like individual heroism, no its like a communal thing. So we do have stories, we do have stories. We tell family stories.
CAMPBELL: Anyone who wants to join the Nollywood family comes here to the Actors Guild.
[Praying]: Our Lord and Father we thank you for today. We bless you for bringing us here. [Group says Amen]
CAMPBELL: Its the daily meeting point for hundreds of would-be stars showing their talents to producers. The Guild keeps a close eye on how producers treat the actors. None more so than this man, Nollywoods big daddy.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: I am Chief Remy Chukwuemeka of Nigeria - the Executive Chairman, Commander in Chief of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter. I am the leader, as in the administration, as well as a bona fide actor in Nigeria.
CAMPBELL: The Guild has the power to close down any film and Chief Remy says hes put and end to exploitative practices.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: These are some members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria. Any person who needs their services will come here and pick up any artist he or she wants, instead of them loitering about the streets.
CAMPBELL: Hes also managed to land quite a few starring roles for himself.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: I make so much money from acting than the office work where I am the leader of the Guild. Well I can say its a call of duty that falls on me. If you are unanimously elected by your people which means they notify a sense of administrative abilities in you, that distinguishes you from other set of human beings.
CAMPBELL: Today he is taking part in a ceremony that symbolises Nollywoods coming of age, the first ever African Academy Awards.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: We are growing, and in the shortest time we are going to overtake the world renown or recognised Hollywood, by the way we are going. We are going to make a greater mark.
CAMPBELL: Held in the Nigerian city of Yenagoa, its open to all African films but the fans have flocked here to see Nollywoods finest.
FEMALE NIGERIAN FAN: My favourite artistes are Ketenshal and Stephanie. I so much enjoy their acting, they act to my satisfaction. I like them and I would like to embrace them.
CAMPBELL: Within moments of them arriving, theyre beating the fans off with a stick literally.
MALE NIGERIAN FAN: Yes its exciting. You know, seeing a lot of African stars tonight its like, a lot of us are over-excited now.
CAMPBELL: Nollywood clearly has a long way to go to catch up with America but theres a remarkable confidence here that the industry can take on the world. Even the star Hollywood guest, Danny Glover here to present the best picture award, found himself being invited to join the new wave.
Would you consider being in a Nollywood movie?
DANNY GLOVER: Yeah I would consider being in a Nollywood movie. I didnt get that Nollywood. I see, I get it now, a Nollywood movie.
NIGERIAN MAN: Yeah thats what we are.
DANNY GLOVER: Yes thats what you are.
NIGERIAN MAN: I told you.
CAMPBELL: The awards turned out to be a big night for Nollywood. Shining amid the firmament of African stars. No matter how rough and ready the films might be now, there is a joyful determination for the industry to triumph. Even critics whod like to see it get more serious, are confident of seeing a happy ending.
AJ: You cannot but celebrate and be proud of the fact that Nigerians, in spite of the difficulties they are going through are gathering a little effort to ensure that they live above the water. And interestingly, the majority of Nigerians are not disappointed. They are also encouraging them by fully patronising these films day in day out.
L.O.C: In the world we are the fastest moviemakers. We can make a movie in ten days. We can make some movies in one week. So we make almost more than five hundred films are coming out every year.
CAMPBELL: Its called Nollywood and while it rhymes with Hollywood, thats where the similarity ends. Nigeria specialises in low budget production line entertainment where theres usually not even money for sets or costumes. L.O.Cs film is being shot in a real hospital among real sick people. The movies are all shot on video and go straight to DVD.
L.O.C: We have cinemas here, but we dont have that time because most people financing these films want to shoot and get the film back into the market immediately. We copy it again immediately and shoot another one. They are more business people theyve got an investment so they dont have time to go into all those things.
CAMPBELL: But Hollywood moguls would be wise not to snigger at the product. Nollywood might be cheap, but its already being touted as the worlds third largest film industry. Africans are watching more of these home grown cheapies than imported Hollywood blockbusters and black audiences around the world are discovering the magic of Nollywood DVDs.
L.O.C: People should watch out for Hollywood. We have talent, we have good directors, good artists - we have all it takes to be there, so we are doing it. So the whole world is embracing our film. These days we go everywhere, go to American people, and receive phone calls from all over the world. People call me from America, from London, they want my film, they want this film. So I say people are actually watching these films all over the world.
CAMPBELL: The centre of Nollywood is Lagos, Nigerias frenetic, overcrowded and crime ridden commercial capital but most of its sixteen million or so residents living tough in slums and shanty towns, it can be a nightmarish place. But for people all over the country, its the city of dreams.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: I know I am going to be a star one day. I believe this year Im going to be a star, a real star in Jesus name.
CAMPBELL: Twenty year old Yemisi Egungbemi lives in a bed sit on the city edge, dreaming of glamour, fame and fortune. She spends most days honing her skills with actor friends.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: [Acting] Please Im hungry. Please help me. I need money. I need more
LADY ACTOR FRIEND: Thats wonderful. You look like an old woman, yeah!
CAMPBELL: So far shes only had bit roles in movies but theyve won her the first intoxicating glamour of recognition.
YEMISI EGUNGBEMI: My friends, even those living in another parts of Nigeria, some of them are calling me, telling me they saw me, saying oh, we saw you, we saw you. Yemisi, I just finished watching a film, and you were in it. Oh Yemisi, youre now a star. So it makes me happy, and it gives me more courage to act.
CAMPBELL: Yet just a decade ago there was hardly any film industry to dream of. In the lawless chaos of Lagos, local movies just werent being made. Nollywood has taken off over the past ten years largely because of the citys crime problems. People stopped going to cinemas at night for fear of thieves and muggers, preferring to watch cheap DVDs in the safety of their homes. Struggling film investors saw an opportunity and a boom industry was born.
Nowadays, open-air markets sell millions of Nollywood DVDs. Theyre cheap to make, cheap to buy and cheaper to rent.
AJ: Thats a video club, and there are so many of them in all parts of the country. What you have here is that Nigerians come here to rent some of these films. They pay possibly twenty or thirty naira.
CAMPBELL: Which is nothing.
AJ: So they can watch as many films as possible, as they can. [Walking down street] This is one of the greatest slum areas in the world.
CAMPBELL: AJ is a teacher and singer known affectionately as the Slum Poet. He lives in one of the citys roughest neighbourhoods, Ajegungle, where survival is a daily struggle and where a cheap rented DVD is one of lifes few dependable pleasures.
AJ: What Nigerians enjoy from it is the momentary laughter and elusive you know, enjoyment. For that particular moment, the Nigerians you know store away you know, the crisis confronting them.
[Singing]: One sure day theyre going to pay back
CAMPBELL: AJ has mixed feelings about the success of Nollywood. His overtly political songs tell of the sadness of Nigeria. The corruption of its elite that keeps the people in dire poverty.
AJ: [Singing] Im talking about all the rulers and the government
CAMPBELL: Theyre themes that Nollywood rarely touches on.
AJ: The story line I dont want to use the word poor, but they are easily predictable. The majority of them are mundane, and they even attempt when you continue to re-emphasise something that is already known to people, there is a way, a manner that is also you know, destructive to the mind.
CAMPBELL: This hospital drama is typical of the story lines. A handsome doctor who happens to be a prince, falls in love with a beautiful nurse who turns out to be a princess. But Hajim Williams, one of Nollywoods most seasoned directors says the stories speak directly to Nigerian people.
HAJIM WILLIAM: We dont live individualistic lives so thats why our stories are not like individual heroism, no its like a communal thing. So we do have stories, we do have stories. We tell family stories.
CAMPBELL: Anyone who wants to join the Nollywood family comes here to the Actors Guild.
[Praying]: Our Lord and Father we thank you for today. We bless you for bringing us here. [Group says Amen]
CAMPBELL: Its the daily meeting point for hundreds of would-be stars showing their talents to producers. The Guild keeps a close eye on how producers treat the actors. None more so than this man, Nollywoods big daddy.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: I am Chief Remy Chukwuemeka of Nigeria - the Executive Chairman, Commander in Chief of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter. I am the leader, as in the administration, as well as a bona fide actor in Nigeria.
CAMPBELL: The Guild has the power to close down any film and Chief Remy says hes put and end to exploitative practices.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: These are some members of the Actors Guild of Nigeria. Any person who needs their services will come here and pick up any artist he or she wants, instead of them loitering about the streets.
CAMPBELL: Hes also managed to land quite a few starring roles for himself.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: I make so much money from acting than the office work where I am the leader of the Guild. Well I can say its a call of duty that falls on me. If you are unanimously elected by your people which means they notify a sense of administrative abilities in you, that distinguishes you from other set of human beings.
CAMPBELL: Today he is taking part in a ceremony that symbolises Nollywoods coming of age, the first ever African Academy Awards.
CHIEF REMY CHUKWUEMEKA: We are growing, and in the shortest time we are going to overtake the world renown or recognised Hollywood, by the way we are going. We are going to make a greater mark.
CAMPBELL: Held in the Nigerian city of Yenagoa, its open to all African films but the fans have flocked here to see Nollywoods finest.
FEMALE NIGERIAN FAN: My favourite artistes are Ketenshal and Stephanie. I so much enjoy their acting, they act to my satisfaction. I like them and I would like to embrace them.
CAMPBELL: Within moments of them arriving, theyre beating the fans off with a stick literally.
MALE NIGERIAN FAN: Yes its exciting. You know, seeing a lot of African stars tonight its like, a lot of us are over-excited now.
CAMPBELL: Nollywood clearly has a long way to go to catch up with America but theres a remarkable confidence here that the industry can take on the world. Even the star Hollywood guest, Danny Glover here to present the best picture award, found himself being invited to join the new wave.
Would you consider being in a Nollywood movie?
DANNY GLOVER: Yeah I would consider being in a Nollywood movie. I didnt get that Nollywood. I see, I get it now, a Nollywood movie.
NIGERIAN MAN: Yeah thats what we are.
DANNY GLOVER: Yes thats what you are.
NIGERIAN MAN: I told you.
CAMPBELL: The awards turned out to be a big night for Nollywood. Shining amid the firmament of African stars. No matter how rough and ready the films might be now, there is a joyful determination for the industry to triumph. Even critics whod like to see it get more serious, are confident of seeing a happy ending.
AJ: You cannot but celebrate and be proud of the fact that Nigerians, in spite of the difficulties they are going through are gathering a little effort to ensure that they live above the water. And interestingly, the majority of Nigerians are not disappointed. They are also encouraging them by fully patronising these films day in day out.