IFEOMA ONONYE 
Laju Iren Films released its debut feature film, ‘Loving Amanda,’ two years ago, through a unique first-of-its-kind virtual cinema, making over 11 million in sales, making it the biggest virtual premiere of the year.
Two years later, the company went on to beat its own record, with the Biodun Stephen-directed-romantic-comedy, ‘Mistakenly Yours,’ making over 26 million in sales. This Christmas, Laju Iren Films is going three times harder.
“We are releasing three of our best movies in one virtual cinema this Christmas,” said the Executive Producer, Laju Iren, in a statement to newsmen recently. “This is a first for us in more ways than one,” said Iren, “it is the first time ‘Danfo’ and ‘The Rose,’ our young adult film will be released to our expectant audience.
We cannot wait for the world to see the magic put together by our crew, and our star-studded cast, featuring Adunni Ade, Sam Dede, Sunshine Rosman, Michael Dappa, Seun Ajayi, Akah Nnani as well as Adebowale “Debo” Adedayo, aka Mr. Macaroni.
“It is also the first time we are doing a worldwide release during the Christmas season, a feat with our audience is incredibly excited about. Our partners at Unilever, Malta Guinness, and Crust Africa also share greatly in this excitement as evidenced by their support for us from the very beginning of the project.”
In addition, Iren added that this would also be the first time the independent company is releasing three movies at once, adding that “it is three times the stories, three times the inspiration, and three times the drama that our viewers have come to know and love us for, all for the price of one.”
Speaking on pioneering the innovative virtual cinema system that is beginning to revolutionize Nollywood’s distribution system, the filmmaker said, “We cannot continue to wait for permission to tell our stories. Nollywood makes hundreds of films every month, many of which are quality films despite Nigerians’ tough economic terrain.
The major streaming platforms only take a handful of films per year, only a small percentage of these movies get the opportunity to be shown in physical cinemas, and the numbers for satellite television are not all that impressive.
Quite a number of filmmakers have found success via free-to-air platforms like YouTube, but when you do the maths, it is quite difficult for many filmmakers to make thriving figures from YouTube especially when a film has a relatively high budget. The industry has developed greatly in the area of storytelling, but in the business of distribution, we need more platforms that put more power in the hands of independent filmmakers and enable us to continue to tell even more stories. I believe the virtual cinema platform is one of such, as it enables us to reach the consumer directly.”
In addition to Danfo and the Rose, two other movies, Loving Amanda, starring Blossom Chukwujekwu and Teniola Aladese, and Mistakenly Yours, starring Stan Nze and Chinonso Arubayi among others will also be part of the virtual cinema release.
