Like Bigfoot. Like the rainbow-maned unicorn and the giraffe-necked Loch Ness monster. Like our own bushbaby, the Nigerian screenwriter is a mythical being of sorts.
There have been purported sightings of this writer-creature, the scribe of small and big screen pictures. Unreliable witnesses swear they’ve spotted him hunched over laptops, pounding out the text to the next TV, cinema, and streamer fare. But as with the beasts mentioned, spotted footprints, fossil remains, grainy photos, and fecal deposits are not unarguable proof of their existence. The Nigerian screenwriter, however, has one rock-solid claim to being extant: Nollywood. The industry and its many movies—someone had to have written them.
Plus, the names of these mythical creatures are published in the opening and closing credits of movies. So, yes, the Nigerian movie writer is no unicorn. They’re worse. For while they live and breathe and work, they are ignored.
Don’t take my word for it. Right now, right this second, leave this article and skip over to Instagram or your preferred social media. Go to the accounts of movie producers, actors, directors, et al. Scroll to posts advertising their new movies and read the accompanying captions listing cast and crew. How many times are the writers of those movies credited? Three out of ten? One? Still searching?
Okay, how about behind-the-scene clips and interviews? How about the press rounds for movies, especially the big ones bound for cinema and the streamers? How often do you see the writer spotlighted for her or his work? Sometimes? Rarely? Never?
Poor remuneration for script work had Nigerian screenwriters bellyaching for ages. That’s better now. Just a bit but significantly better than before. It is not uncommon today to know A-list Nigerian writers and even newbies who snag premium assignments—films with supersized budgets and expensive originals for streamers—earning seven-digit pay and even tens of thousands of dollars. And routinely too.
The inclusion of a screenwriter’s name in all publicity where other crew members are listed is a ridiculously modest demand.
Low-payment is still a prickly-thorn in the writer’s left butt-cheek because better-pay should be widespread. But Nollywood remains largely an indie-industry subject to the economic capacity of individuals funding films out-of-pocket. Still, it’s much better. But you know what’s as bad, or maybe worse, than low fees? The deprivation of visibility. It is obvious that a good number of Nigerian filmmakers have a lack of regard for writers.
And yet, a screenplay is the seed of any movie. It is the text from which actors are cast, a crew selected, locations found, a tone established, and narrative-meaning gleaned. It is the document that stirs emotions from soul-crushing sadness to heart-thumping excitement and mood-souring grimness to spirit-lifting triumph; it is the tract that thrills producers to invest and inspires actors to sign up. It is the manuscript that oftentimes aids financiers and investors to commit cash, kind, and sundry resources to move the vision from words on a page to filmed material. A script is one of the reasons why actors get famous, producers get rich, and films get made. Without a script, it’s hard—sometimes impossible—to plan and create a vision for the cast and crew.
True, screenwriters’ names lack the clout and bankability of actors. So, this call is simply asking that if you mention the 2nd A.D, caterer, and location driver among the people who worked on the film, why leave out the writer without whom you won’t have a film?
In Europe and Hollywood, there are four above-the-line roles in filmmaking: screenwriter, producer, director, and principal cast. These four roles shape the movie being made, determine its budget, and are contributory to its success. They’re also the highest paid. To buttress their significance, the Oscar’s “Big 5” awards are Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (split into Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay).
Screenwriters are important and deserving of honor. Even those in Nollywood.
Flowers, therefore, to producers who ensure their writers’ names are everywhere cast and crew members are mentioned. In a world where the exclusion of these crucial individuals is the norm, you deserve all the carnations, tulips, and hybrid tea-roses. I did a quick check of ten producer’s names to see those who consistently put writers’ names where other crew and cast were listed. In a piece about excluding names, I would be remiss not to name them: Charles ‘Play’ Okpaleke, Emem Isong, who started out as a screenwriter and apparently still honors the tribe, and Uduak Oguamanam, who clearly learned from Ms Isong.
The inclusion of a screenwriter’s name in all publicity where other crew members are listed is a ridiculously modest demand. And if filmmakers continue this exclusionary practice of naming everyone but the writer on social media (and elsewhere), screenwriters should enter the comment section, put fingers to keypad, and politely ask, “Abeg, who write this film? Where the writer name?”
Anthony Kehinde Joseph’s film credits include Afamefuna, Ijakumo, and The Bling Lagosians.
