Amazon Prime Video Lands with Authentic, Homegrown Stories
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
Amazon Prime Video is fully loaded and operating in Nigeria. Customers will enjoy a great selection of entertainment, including global Amazon Original movies and TV series, popular Hollywood titles, exclusive Nollywood movies, and local Nigerian originals coming soon.
This follows a recent development by the global streaming service, confirming its increased investment in Nigeria with the announcement of two Local Amazon Originals for Nigerian customers; ‘Gangs of Lagos’ and ‘LOL: Last One Laughing Naija’. The two originals amplify its growing selection of Nollywood and African series and movies, bringing Prime Video customer’s access to their movies after theatrical release.
The new Nigerian Originals join Prime Video’s selection of global Amazon Original series like The Boys, The Terminal List, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and upcoming, highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as popular Amazon Original movies like Coming 2 America, The Tomorrow War, and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.
Already locally, box-office hit ‘King of Thieves’, ‘Superstar’, ‘Progressive Tailors Club’, ‘Bad Comments’, and ‘Badamasi’ (a classic biopic), are currently available to watch. “We know our customers want to see locally relevant faces, places, and stories alongside our global content on Prime Video, so we’re excited to be bringing Nigerian customers these brand-new Local Amazon Originals,” Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, told journalists at a breakfast meeting with Prime Video team.
The Prime Video head of Nigerian Originals (scripted and unscripted), explained that “The news signals our continued commitment to the Nigerian TV and Film industry, bringing the very best of authentic, homegrown stories to not only our customers in Nigeria, but also Prime Video members around the world.”
Prime Video has been collaborating with filmmakers and content creators in Nigeria regarding the production of original and licensed content to gain more market share amid a streaming war for African content.
The past couple of months have seen the service make strategic moves, such as closing theatrical outlet agreements and recruiting senior executives like Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu to develop original video content in Nigeria, Africa’s largest film industry.
The local productions built on recent film deals made by Prime Video, including an exclusive commissioning slate deal with Nemsia Films for three feature films, beginning with Breath of Life, launching next year.
Other exclusive licencing agreements include deals with leading Nigerian production firms Inkblot Studios and Anthill Studios, and Evoke Studios. This highlights the commitment by Prime Video to deliver local and authentic African films to a global audience of more than 200 million Prime members worldwide.
Following a successful rollout, Prime Video hosted Nigeria’s entertainment personalities and its consumers to a glamorous brand experience where they got acquainted with the platform, the titles, and what the fully loaded Prime Video experience in Nigeria looks like. The star-studded brand experience was well attended by A- list celebrities.
They were introduced to the immersive themed pods inspired by the diverse genres available on Prime Video such as drama, romance, action, adventure, comedy, series and more. Just as it did in Southeast Asia days back, the tech giant is attempting to boost its subscriber push in new markets like Africa by increasing its investment in local production; unveiling slates of localized originals and introducing discounted Amazon Prime membership offerings to customers.
Amazon Prime Video launched in Africa in 2016 as part of its global push across more than 200 countries worldwide, bringing some serious competition to Netflix’s global plan launched that same year. However, versions of the service available in the region have never featured the local-language interfaces, subtitling and original content offerings typical in more developed markets.
