Can Nigeria Gospel Films Meet Up With Hollywood Standards?
By Kunle Adepoju
Welcome all great minds here to the year 2024! Thank you for being with MEFA throughout 2023. We wish you a deserving achievement in 2024.
Today, we are discussing the topic, Why gospel film is not blowing minds like secular films. Why our films are not marching the Nollywood standard, not to talk of Hollywood’s.
I received some reactions on Kunle Adepoju facebook wall some days ago on this, of which were not actually what God was speaking to my mind on this. I then asked myself some questions; Could it be that: We lack funds?, We lack knowledge?, We lack expertise?, We lack Strategy? Or interested audience? Or even great stories to tell? But to all these my mind is saying No, not that I don’t consider people’s opinion but that there is something the Holy Spirit is speaking to my mind.
First, let us ask ourselves, is it true we really lack fund? to me , No. Today, we have seen movie projects in our midst which cost as much as 25/30million naira. As for knowledge, when starting the ministry of film production, it was with intensive workshops, seminars, conferences, academy, training and production development centers which are still on and updated till today. Our people are really thirsty and seeking knowledge.
As for expertise, we have great hands who are hot cakes on the other side when they cross over, all because they don’t just have the technical know-how, they are also Anointed and full of great human virtue.
As for strategy, there are great ideas that are yet to be implemented, that if when shared and implemented will birth a net breaking impact around here. For example, someone once said, if a Gospel film is mentioned by Pastor E. A. Adeboye on the altar at the holy ghost Congress just for one minute, imagine how far the reach of the film will be.
As for audience, the church is the largest audience ever in Nigeria of today. There is no gathering like the church of recent. And if the church is our only audience(which is actually not), this is enough to give our films a face. But it is unfortunate that many churches and church homes prefer the other movies to ours. Why? Church, let me ask you, what exactly are we not doing right? And as for story, hmmm! I have read great and fantastic stories in the gospel circle. No doubt there are great stories here in the gospel film sector, so much that the secular prefers to tell our story in their own way.
In all these, I must tell you that the only problem we have that bring down the top ranking of our movies is the way we see our film project. Film is a dream, it’s a vision crafted into story ideas. And any dream in always bigger than the dreamer but when the dreamer wants the dream to come to reality at the level of the himself then the dream cannot break boundaries.
Let us stop treating our film project by the level of our financial capacity. That film project is a vision, a dream that must come to pass, don’t bring it down to your level, take a bold step to go up to the level of that story idea. If it will take you to collaborate to get the dream into reality please strategize to make it happen.
The biggest dream of God is to make man and this tasked him from the very first man created to this very present time that Jesus has to be sent to redeemed us.
My advise to you this new year is that, don’t bring that story idea down to your level. You are not at the level that can match up with the standard you looked at up there, but that your film story is. The only way to meet up is to catch up with the vision you saw in the story idea. Thanks for reading this long piece, God bless you.
