If you are a filmmaker in Nigeria, the days of tedious hunts for locations are over as Nigerian startup Filmlocations.com.ng has launched to connect filmmakers to suitable locations for their projects.
Filmlocations is an online marketplace that connect filmmakers to suitable locations for TV, commercial, movies, music video and photography projects
One of the tasking aspects of the film making process in Nigeria is the search for a suitable location in which a precious amount of time is also spent negotiating with property owners and sorting out paperwork. However, Filmlocations aims to make the job more efficient and less cumbersome.
“Our primary objective is to simplify the locating scouting process for filmmakers, so they can focus on what they know best – shooting great content – while allowing property owners to make some extra cash,” founder Akinwale Muse revealed.
The platform allows property owners of any sort to list their locations, with filmmakers then able to browse via a number of categories and get in touch with the owner to book the location if they wish.
Muse said the idea for Filmlocations.com.ng was conceived in the summer of 2016, when he had just finished a very intense TV commercial production for a client.
“It occurred to us that we spent most of the pre-production process searching for locations. That was when we realised that the location scouting process would be easier if there is an online database of properties available,” he said.
He said the opportunity is sizeable for the thus far self-funded startup in Nigeria, which is the second largest film market in the world and produces over 5,000 different types of film annually.
“Our analysis shows that an average of three locations is used for a typical movie, which implies that that over 15,000 locations are used for video production annually,” Muse said.
“Our primary market is Nigeria. We have no plan to expand into a new market in the near future, however our goal is to have 6,000 locations listed on our website within the next 24 months.”
