In December 2021, Amazon Prime offered its licence to InkBlot Productions. This licence allows InkBlot to offer its movies to the global market for streaming. The licence is to last over a period of three years. During this period the studio has the option to produce new movies for the platform or display its already existing movies.
Earlier, Anthill studio also snagged a licence from Amazon Prime Video. InkBlot and Anthill have very impressive repertoires with both production outfits taking credit for a lot of commercially successful movies in Nollywood. This partnership with Amazon Prime is a win-win for both studios and on a larger scale, a win win for Amazon Prime on one end and Nollywood on the other.
While little is known of the specifics of the partnership, Amazon Prime Video has made no description of the kind of movies to be produced. A move that appears very encouraging to InkBlot and Anthill because with zero input from external sources, the producing parties can promote movies that depict our rich African heritage.
In fact, Ayanna Lonian, Amazon Prime Video’s head of worldwide major studio licensing strategy says, “If Nollywood filmmakers focus on telling compelling, authentic, hyper-local and universally accessible stories – that are grounded in the rich history, lived experiences and culture of Nigeria – I believe that those stories will travel and will engage audiences around the world.”
Nollywood has seen significant growth over the past few years. But, critiques have argued that western inference in her stories is becoming over the top. Some even say there are better actors today but poorly written stories. There are hopes however that through this partnership, the Nigerian studios in question will be able to bring the Nigerian culture back to life and on a global scale.
