GIVE THE AUDIENCE WHAT THEY WANT - by Jefferson Nnadiekwe

If you are a filmmaker, I bet you would have heard the phrase 'give the audience what they want' on multiple occasions. It can be frustrating, especially in the Nollywood scene where producers/directors lord their superiority over writers and are dead set on their beliefs over what the audience wants. And while it's true that movie goers have certain tropes which they seem to have become accustomed to, I do not agree that creatives have to follow those tropes at all times - personally, I feel it's lazy and limiting filmmaking. One of the many beauties of filmmaking is experiencing diverse point of views of a particular ideology or completely different ideologies altogether. Therefore, I think it's sinful to deprive thousands, maybe even millions of people these experiences by churning out slightly altered versions of the same movie. I recall once at a seminar, a popular producer boldly told us : ' if you are not producing comedies or glam movies, then forget about it'. This singular experience was one of the most depressing of my journey in filmmaking. While I appreciate well done comedies, I am not drawn to writing them (at least not yet) and I am definitely not big on the idea of using glam to cover up shoddy plot, acting or production. So did this mean that I had no future in the film industry? Thankfully it didn't as there are people who appreciate my work for what it is. Plus my foray into ghostwriting has afforded me the opportunity to flex my creative muscle in various genres and creative media. I can hear someone murmur 'Hollywood does this too'. Yes, they do, but they also have a long list of evidence that they also take risk by birthing new ideas (Star wars, Avatar, Black Mirror, and these are just a few). But somehow we only draw inferences with the shortcomings of Hollywood and never their hunger to break new grounds. Hollywood isn't as obsessed as Nollywood is with 'giving the audience what they want'.  The big question now is what does the audience want? Is it a watered down theme or on the nose and preachy dialogue so they get the message? Or the needless infusion of cringe comedy so they can laugh and have a good time? Perhaps it might be the cheesy and poorly executed love dynamic between a man and woman (looking at you YouTube movies). On careful consideration, we find that giving the audience what they want is vague. Like I said earlier it's just an excuse to churn out mediocre works intended as cash grabs. Again, YouTube Nollywood, I see you. This write up would piss off a lot of Nigerian filmmakers if they see it, and I hope they do. But I'm not sorry. We've swam in the ocean of mediocrity for so long, the permanent stench of the water lingers on us. I was not drawn to filmmaking from childhood to get lost in the sea of mediocrity, I know what wonders films can do. I know the undiscovered emotions a good movie can evoke within a person, and I know first hand how well crafted and carefully thought stories can inspire. Moreover, the audience is due for something new. A couple of months ago, a teaser to the upcoming movie 'Finding Messiah' sent social media agog. It wasn't the regular stuff that the audience was used to, but the hype that has been built around it is mind-blowing. You cannot assume that a child would only eat beans and nothing else, when all you serve him is beans. It's common knowledge that a lot of people don't watch Nollywood movies in the cinemas. It is not because they are unpatriotic to their own stuff, it's because their excitement hasn't been aroused - a lot of them do not see the need to see something that has been done a thousand times. Create something good and exciting, create something fresh and watch how these same people wholeheartedly pay to see it. I absolutely believe there's a lot Nollywood can achieve if we stop boxing ourselves into an obviously crammed space in the name of giving the audience what they want. The most beautiful thing about art is that it should not be tamed.

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