The Only Way to Shape up the Ethiopian Movie Industry
The Ethiopian movie industry is growing significantly generating more than a hundred movies a year. Comparing this figure with a decade ago, it has come a long way attracting more investors and skilled producers into the field of cinematography. However, the marketing outlet for the industry is yet to develop especially with the rapidly changing technology world. Traditionally, producers also do the marketing due to lack of proper structured outlet, which makes it harder for movies to reach broader audience. In addition to that, emergence of the internet has changed the way data is transferred, while the movie marketing outlet in Ethiopia is outdated and progressing at a slower pace. The ultimate solution to solving the outlet puzzle is reducing the cost incurred on the user by opening up to multiple distribution channels such as the internet, DVDs, TV channels, movie rentals and movie theaters.
It’s undeniable that movie is an art and requires skilled artists to produce. Similarly, business and marketing is a field that requires special set of skills that require discipline when it comes to getting involved emotionally to the produce. Although the business person should be passionate about the product and believes in its viability, the final deciding factor is numbers and statistics. The business and art segment of the whole process should be separated with a red line in order to build a sustainable marketing outlet. If the artist who produced the movie gets involved in the marketing outlet, there will be false perception which alters the appropriate business decision, because always a movie is flawless in the eyes of the owner. On the other hand, business people evaluate user ratings, geographical and demographic marketing segments, and most importantly, they listen to the customer’s real interaction unbiased by attachment with the produce, which makes them the perfect people for the job.
Strictly evaluating the Ethiopian movie industry marketing outlet from the business perspective, it is not ready to incur cost on the user equivalent to Hollywood. Tracing the route of the current marketing channel, movies are released exclusively in the cinema. After some time, depending on the performance of the movie, it is removed from the cinema in 6 months to 2 years. Some movies get deals from DVD distributors while others keep it hopping that some distributor will call them in the future. Sadly, there are hundreds of movies removed from the cinema but no one knows where they can be accessed. When innovative technologies such as online marketing try to join the channel, DVD distributors threaten movie owners in Ethiopia saying they will nullify the contract if multiple outlets join the circle. When such monopolistic business model develops in the industry, people become invited to acquire the contents at their convenience even if it cuts the original owners out of the equation. Later, the DVD distributors who acquire the very few produces charge equivalent to Hollywood movies and they publish DVDs that don’t cover at least 1 percent of the potential market. This hurts the movie industry because it will be a product enjoyed by the few and even the ones who can afford will not be motivated to spend money in the world where lots of alternative entertainment options are available for free.
It’s sometimes common to hear distributors complaining on the license fees they pay for the movie owners but one thing they should realize is allowing others to join the market through innovative means reduces the price producers charge. If only few movies get the chance to enter the market at a higher price targeting limited distributors who can afford them, the market will be eventually flooded by the larger supply of movies which will drop the price significantly worse than creating multiple distribution channels from the start. This will be dangerous and it will kick many hopeful investors and skilled artists out of the business. For example, a famous Ethiopian TV show was streamed on many websites until the producers decided to monopolize and make their earning only through pay per view from one website who is affiliated with them. They sent mass email to top Ethiopian websites with good traffic to remove the contents. When asked if they want to charge those websites a fee instead of taking them out of the equation, the answer given was “This is the business model we want to follow.†Afterwards, although they managed to get the contents removed from some websites, majority of them were still doing business as usual. Their decision was embarrassing in the eyes of public opinion that butchered them on many Ethiopian blog websites. After a few months of aimless effort, they reversed everything back to square one. This case is duplicated exactly on the movie industry. Instead of stepping up and dividing the license to multiple outlets to reduce the cost and help them gain more, producers charge high fee and give it to a very few distributors. Unfortunately, competition will be created by other abandoned distribution outlets without the will of the producers which will kick many high price affording distributors out of the equation.
