By: Timothy Owase

 The entertainment industry, particularly Film and Music, are currently the fastest growing in the world at a rate of about 14% per annum. Most countries are therefore presently focusing their investment in this lucrative industry. Countries where there is great mineral wealth, focus is mainly on the film industry due to its potential to contribute to foreign exchange earnings and creation of employment.

The film industry in Kenya has a very promising future. This is particularly so because of the country’s great scenic physical and environmental features, which makes it an ideal location for film-making. This explains why the film industry in Kenya has been identified as a key growth industry with great potential to spur economic growth through employment creation and investment. It also serves as a useful tool for tapping the artistic energies of creative Kenyans.

The current status of the film industry in Kenya indicates a nation possessing big comparative advantages in terms of the country’s unmatched filming locations and an abundance of professional filmmakers and artists. In addition, the country has a wealth of production services that can be sold to the local and international business community competitively.

The film Industry in Kenya has for long been identified as a key growth industry with great potential to spur economic growth. It is aimed to help in the realization of vision 2030 through tourist attraction, investment, cohesion and integration and employment creation. Currently the film industry is generating revenue and creating wealth through Film, documentaries and advertising commercials.

It is a national moral imperative to create platforms for ordinary Kenyans to be able to bear influence in the expression of their own stories. In this way, we, as an industry, can contribute to the advancement of our democratic ideals and create prosperity. This statement is fundamental to all players to accelerate the pace of economic growth and job creation within the cultural industries through film and to extend the scope of development and empowerment as outlined in the Kenya government’s vision 2030.

 Key priority areas

• To increase foreign and local direct investment into film production through encouragement of private public partnerships.

• To invest directly in infrastructure and facilitate industrial capital formation required to exhibit Kenyan film products.
• To improve access to a viable film industry in terms of ownership and consumption.

• To establish a regulatory and legal framework for the industry, that will provide the necessary certainty and stability required by the investor community.

The Kenya government does acknowledge that film is more than just an economic activity. It recognizes the social, ideological and cultural aspects film and the affirmation of a people’s culture. Film is an integral part of the overall social, cultural and economic development and therefore prosperity for this country.

It should be acknowledged, that film and television are key in asserting and projecting cultural presence and identity of a country.  Local productions tell stories in the language and idiom of a country and define places, people’s rich cultures and impact powerfully on people’s sense of belonging.

The key to the development of the film industry in Kenya is hinged on effective skills development, increased access to film theaters, nurturing prospects for people from disadvantaged communities and an open medium of film distribution.

Traditionally such opportunities have been concentrated in the urban centers. Even then, distribution outlets have traditionally not been keen on the locally produced films. But with the emergence of digital broadcasting and the shifting demands by audiences, broadcasters are buying into the idea as well as their willingness to support the industry; thus making the future very bright to the local film maker.

In Kenya, cultural industries and in particular film are not sufficiently exploited to their full commercial potential. Their contributions to local job creation and foreign exchange earnings are seen as being limited. Whilst recognized for the economic and commercial value it creates and the economic impact it has, it has not had the support required to achieve necessary societal impact. More often, this sector is to some extent neglected or not acknowledged as being a part of the manufacturing industry in the economy. Thus, the need to move away from the traditional view that film production should only be seen as a hobby rather than a profit making venture. This is quite contrary to other developed nations where the sector contributes a significant proportion of the gross national product. The film practitioners regard their profession as a business, and even feel threatened that being commercial may interfere with their artistic integrity.

Film industry has its future being an exporter of products to the rest world. There exist various opportunities that need to be explored so as to create a culture of sustainable resources management for the film industry to flourish.

For Kenyan films to flourish, it has to appeal first to audiences at home before we can hope to break into foreign markets, at the same time proper facilities have to be created. It is should be the intention of government to see a thriving film industry. A focus on facilitating investment and funding into film will be the true engine for job creation.

Government’s role is therefore going create an enabling environment that supports the development of a vibrant market for film, stimulate the emergence of locally based small business enterprises, and creation and support for distribution channels.  This will bring the markets closer to the community and communities being brought into the mainstream of the economy. The core to a true film industry ownership is film production tools, distribution and exhibition, copyright and other intellectual properties.

I encourage all players in the sector to embrace the emerging trends in technology as I strongly believe that innovations are likely to pose new opportunities and challenges to film industry value chain. Hence identify new avenues for distribution, emerging markets and ways in which to interact with the business environment.

The writer is a Chartered Marketer and a film industry professional and can be reached at timothy.owase@live.com

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