By Cristian Bustos. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Amazon Prime Video – the streaming service by Amazon Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) – is turning to Nigeria for content by striking streaming deals with some of the country’s most successful studios. At present, the African nation is one of the hottest filmmaking industries on the planet.
Q4 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Deals
As reported by CNN, Amazon Prime Video has signed exclusive agreements to stream Nigerian series and films by some of the most representative local players such as Inkblot Productions and Anthill Studios.
The filmmaking industry in Nigeria —known as Nollywood— produces around 50 movies a week with a revenue of $1 billion a year. However, “quantity over quality” has become a constant, and the world’s biggest streamers are investing in the industry to change this.
Naz Onuzo, co-founder of Inkblot Studios, said: “The business model is changing in that, while we are also catering to a local market because we are local first, we are also looking at . . . the opportunities to build global IP [intellectual property].”
Amazon is looking at entering a market with huge streaming potential as internet penetration is increasing, the cost of data is low, and the smartphone is the most-used device for entertainment among 18-year-olds.
Targeting The Market
“Amazon’s deal with Inkblot in December 2021 was the first of its kind to be struck between the streaming giant, which has 200 million subscribers, and an African studio. The Anthill deal followed a month later,” CNN reports.
One of the perks of working with Amazon Prime is that it has a hands-off approach regarding studio productions.
Anthill’s Akinmolayan, of Anthill Studios, says, “They’re not telling you the kind of films to make. They have zero input on creativity —that’s very appealing to any filmmaker.”
With these deals, Amazon is aiming at diversifying its global offer and drawing audiences of Nigeria closer to the platform —people who, up to recent times, were not aware of the Prime Video services in the country.
Amazon is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders’ families.
Updated on
Sign up for ValueWalk’s free newsletter here.
