How to Organically Grow the Kenyan Film Industry: A GLL Case Study

It is public knowledge that the Kenyan Film Industry faces a myriad of challenges. One filmmaker even went to the extent of saying that we don’t yet have an industry as of yet; What we have is more of a film scene. Perhaps that is why we are yet to have a hood name like the woods (Holly-, Nolly-, Bolly-). Be that as it may, we cannot fail to acknowledge the overwhelming talent, creativity and effort that different creatives in the country have contributed to making the industry move forward. Quite honestly, we are the frontier film industry in East and Central Africa. In this commentary, I will use the movie A Grand Little Lie (GLL) which can be accessed from Philittv.com (@ Ksh 200 only) to shed more light on the problems, current solutions and what more I think can be done.

1. Problems facing the Kenyan Film Industry
2. How GLL Addressed some of these challenges
3. What more can be done (Personal Recommendations)
4. Conclusion

Problems facing the Kenyan Film Industry

A problem shared is a problem halved and yet to share the problem you have to understand it. Some of the challenges that the Kenyan film industry faces include:

1. High cost of production — costs include transport, shooting, cast and crew fees in production and pre-production as well as editing, marketing & distribution costs in post-production
2. Lack of financing — Local financial support from individuals and corporates for film production has been low over the years; Foreign support might be more forthcoming but it frequently has demands that need the story to be remodelled to fit a certain perspective hence altering the original narrative
3. Lack of an Efficient Distribution channel — Kenyan cinemas rarely show Kenyan made films. It is only in recent years that a few cinemas in the major cities have tried to support the local industry.
4. Little support from local consumers — Local consumers prefer foreign content from Hollywood and Nollywood as opposed to locally made content; This could be a matter of quality, or pricing or even just access
5. Lack of a marketing strategy — Most filmmakers don’t have a clear target market for the film by the time they are done with production and thus fail to market their film efficiently which leads to low sales

How GLL Addressed some of these challenges

A Grand Little Lie (better known as GLL) is a film scripted by Abel Mutua and directed by Phillip Karanja from Phil-it Productions. I believe it to be a pioneer piece of art in the market because of more than a few aspects of its production and marketing strategy.

GLL sprouted from one of the tales Abel Mutua tells his fans (known as Wakurugenzi) on his YouTube channel. As Phil, the director, admits, the film was shot in just 8 days! In addition to this, the last scene wasn’t even out until the day before they started filming.

“Script-writers will be the death of directors and producers,” Phil said in an interview by Yvonne Mwikali which was also attended by Abel Mutua and Michael Munyoki, the lead actor.

The following are some of the ways that GLL and Phil-it productions have creatively addresses the problems faced by the film industry in Kenya:

1. High cost of production — The production team used what they had at hand and called in favours so as to shoot the film in the shortest time possible. They leveraged already created networks and relationships to make sure the film is shot within budget
2. Lack of financing — The film was low budget, for as the director explained, they did not have a budget for marketing. Knowing that marketing is a very important part of film production, Phil-it productions took a very creative low-cost albeit dramatic approach to it. They took it to the streets, literally!
3. Little support from local consumers — GLL leveraged the immense support from Abel Mutua’s Wakurugenzi as well as very creative approaches to marketing that were tailor made for the typical Kenyan
4. Lack of a marketing strategy — As mentioned above, GLL did not have a marketing budget but that did not stop them from marketing the Kenyan way. They held billboards that advertise their film out into the streets. The billboards made ridiculous claims about what the film can do for you, which ranged from increasing sexual stamina for males to making husbands return home early. Another route that they took was showing the film in one cinema and thus converting those early adopters into their ambassadors for their other creative distribution channels. They also had a red carpet premiere.
5. Lack of an Efficient Distribution channel — Apart from the first cinema and red carpet premieres, the film is being sold at Philittv.com for Ksh 200 (less than USD $ 2). Once you pay, via m-pesa or credit/debit card, you’ll receive the watch link on your email. You can only access it from one device and therefore, one has to be careful. One can, however, access it an infinite number of times upon receiving the link. Compared to a cinema citing or a traditional CD/DVD model, this is much more affordable. Director Phil admitted that with only 50, 000 purchases he will be able to recoup his investment, pay the cast and crew and have a budget (inclusive of marketing) for the next film so make sure you check out the trailer and if you like it then buy it.

What more can be done

In modest terms, what GLL has done is a great step in the right direction. We, however, need to develop more efficient and sustainable ways to fund, produce and market our films. In the short term and for a small number of films, the GLL way works just fine but for dozens and hundreds of films, new cracks emerge:

1. Pricing — USD $ 2 is quite affordable but that’s only when compared to the in person cinema experience. If you consider the digital model that Netflix adopts, 5 such movies would be worth greater than a month’s worth of subscription fees which is the equivalent of unlimited movies, tv shows, documentaries and much more. One might argue that at least you’ll own the right to watch it forever but if you really think it through, how many of us re-watch our movies? Besides, there’s something hard to explain about the in person cinema experience.
2. Marketing — More efficient ways, including regulation, need to be kept in place. Think forward to when we have 20 GLL films, will we still go out to the streets to market them? Think of the noise pollution and confusion this would cost
3. Funding — One might think that at least we can work with overdraft in the creative industry if it’s on a large scale, right? Well, wrong. Not many individuals and corporates who can afford the investment are willing to take the risk (Which in itself is quite high since most investments in the film industry are not recouped)

In light of the above conditions once we have extrapolated the situation to the future, I have some personal recommendations on how the industry can be modelled so as to be more efficient and self-sustaining:

1. Development of a centralized platform where one can get Kenyan content. I frequently struggle on where I can find Kenyan films without paying a subscription fee that I might never fully utilize. A centralized platform could solve issues of accessibility and could even contribute to the reduction in price of the film. We could explore the buy/rent/subscribe models and see where each gets us.
2. Development of a crowdfunding platform where the public can invest in a film idea and get part ownership of the film or as debt financing for interest. One could choose to support films that push certain themes such as peace, women empowerment, anti-discrimination and many more. Shared ownership with the public will gather up support from the masses that invested in terms of Marketing and even legitimacy so as to avoid the film from being banned the way I am Samuel was. Film producers could market their films on this marketplace using the names of famous casts and crew who have already signed up for their project. This will more than likely solve the problem of a lack of financing. I am not sure how much GLL cost but 40 sticks, which is now on Netflix, cost around Ksh 11 million, which is just a little over USD 100, 000. If one raises just USD 100, 000 then they could use the raised amount as collateral and borrow from a traditional financial institution such as a bank, and give them a share of the film if the loan is too big. In this way, the film could guarantee itself.
3. Development of more studios, talent agencies and structures that support all players in the industry. This will surely lead to an increase to the amount of content that we are putting out and this will surely attract both local and international interest, for the more films we make the more we learn from them and the better we can make future ones.
4. Increased government support in terms of regulation and subsidies. Kenya is one of the countries on the continent where the government has actually shown great interest and support for the film industry but even more is needed. The KFC (Kenya Film Commission) chairman Timothy Owase has spoken of filming treaties between Kenya and other countries, establishment of a film fund and much more. We can only hope that these plans come to fruition.
5. Development of a Lean Film Production methodology (Yup! Just made that up) for films just like the way we do with Lean Start-ups. We could, for example, only include the beats of Save the Cat that are relevant the particular genre concerned. We could also stock up scripts and other resources and personnel in a decentralized manner so that when the opportunity presents itself shooting can be done in a matter of days (Maybe even less than the 8 days that GLL took). This could start with film adaptations of books for our literature, too, is not getting its fair share of the limelight

In conclusion

Kenya has a budding new industry in film, with the potential of generating up to Ksh 40 billion in revenues annually. We have very talented, creative, hardworking and committed people working towards making the industry profitable, self-sustaining and easily accessible. The next time you have both the time and the cash to spare, check out one of the Kenyan films you are yet to watch. This will go a long way in supporting local filmmakers.