Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, has rapidly evolved from its humble beginnings in 1992 to become a global phenomenon. Producing more than 2,000 movies each year, Nollywood boasts an estimated annual revenue of $1.2 billion.

The origin of the term Nollywood dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Nollywood has since grown from Zeb Ejiro "Domitila Era" to Historic World Class Productions like The Herbert Macaulay Affair produced by Imoh Umoren. This remarkable success story is not just about numbers; it's about the people behind the scenes who have made it all possible.

Meet Imoh Umoren an Award Winning Nollywood Producer

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Tell Us About Yourself

My name is Imoh Umoren. I am an Indie Film Director and TV Producer. I also write a lot. My Mum is probably responsible for my desire to become a Film Director.

She was a University Professor who bullied me into reading books, I'm kidding, She made me read books to stay out of trouble.

My Father was incidentally a Librarian And A Pro-African Orator. They were exact opposites of each other. While my Mother was tall, dark and socialist leaning, My Father was short Fair and Pro-Capitalist. My Mum was firm and quiet and my Father was playful and loud. He will sing in the bathroom in his horrible voice and you could see my Mother rolling her eyes but essentially they taught me how to debate and listen. They would debate Politics and Philosophy endlessly. At 10 I had heard so much about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and the Bible that my head was filled with information, most of which I only understood when I grew up. So those were the seeds that made me into a storyteller. I initially wanted to write on traditional sitcoms as that is what I grew up on...Alas I make serious films now

COVID Experience: You Tweeted you had COVID, walk us through that experience and how it affected you?

It was a horrible moment for me. I thought I was dead; as my lungs were basically gone. I caught it on a Sitcom set I was directing and I was just about to start a new series for Ndani that I had spent month developing.

I even shot the pilot episode but I couldn't recover on time and it hurt me so much because I had always wanted to work with Ndani.

That show would have been massive. When I was in hospital the response from my "cousins" were so much that the Hospital director once asked me: "With all due respect, Who the fuck are you?" as I had so may gifts and food daily, I had no place to store it, Always had to send them off with my driver to share with his family. My family were also very present; My nephew spent the entire time in the hospital and my sister took weeks off work to help me out.

The staff at IDH were so marvelous, they saved my life literally. I saw many people die in my ward. It was a terrible time

What has business been like since Covid and Presently?

As soon as I recovered I got straight to work and made The Pretty Ones Are The Loneliest which we took to Cannes as part of Pavillon Afrique. It was a good experience for the producers and I because we met so many people and landed a distribution for our film. We have since been going strong but financially it set me back so much but I am now in recovery mode still trying to catch up

Over the years International Media has written stories about you and your son, what is it like being a single father and what's your thoughts on finding love or is there a person in your life already?

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Being a single father is not ideal, Kids need both Parents but here we are. You have to make it work. Of course I've found love, I'm a good looking man. We can't be down for long hahaha

Talking Nollywood; in your Opinion how viable is Nollywood Financially

Nollywood is very viable and yet you have to be very careful. I always recommend starting small and building up and be careful with all the numbers being thrown around as profit. It's rosy from the outside but when you get in it's not so much

Where do you see Nollywood Going in the Next 10 Years

We are really on the top already. And of all the film industries I want to say we have some of the best stories now, execution may be a slight problem but story wise we are the only industry that offers something new. the chaotic unpredictability of a Nollywood film varies drastically to the Hollywood template. Some people try to use that template but I promise you it's not necessarily the best

If you had the power to change something in Nollywood, What would it be?

Distributors making their own films is hurting the business. Maybe people are too scared of speaking about it but there's a conflict of interest there. A distributor has the data that a regular filmmaker doesn't have and can use that to their advantage so it's not a level playing field but then again Capitalism has never been about playing fair

What's your opinion about the new Nollywood Stars and The Veterans, Which best sells a Movie in the Present day?

Hype sells movies these days not necessarily substance and overcasting for ever minor roles. Again these are driven purely by profit and not by a need to create art. It can be justifiable to anybody that attempts to but doesn't necessarily represent what the true artform is about. I love the new Nollywood stars and their social media larger-than-life persona. They are really embracing the rockstar status

Do you have any Favorite Nollywood Star?

Kelechi Udegbe is my clear favorite for his sheer talent. Chimezie Imoh is also a proper performer and Martha Ehinome will last very long. I am speaking of talent alone here and not their personal lives which I am not privy to,

What should the world be expecting from Imoh Umoren

A science fiction movie soon

Some of the the Films Directed by Imoh Umoren

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Follow Imoh Umoren on X (Twitter)

Follow on X: @imohumoren

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