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STEP 1: SELECT YOUR ACTORS:
Do this even before writing the script or determining the plot of the movie. The golden rule of Nollywood is: the more the number of popular actors you can cram into your movie, the better your sales will be. The actors don’t all have to play major roles. Most of them only need to appear on screen for five to ten seconds throughout the whole movie. You could get them to walk past in supermarkets or on the street or just walk right past the camera in the middle of a live shoot!

STEP 2: CHOOSE A TITLE FOR THE MOVIE:
Choose a title that clearly explains the plot of the movie. Nollywood audiences do not like vague titles. Examples of great movie titles are; THE MAD MAN, THE STUPID HUSBAND, THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL, I’M SEARCHING FOR A HUSBAND etc. HINT: you can use a phrase that is repeated by all the actors in the movie.

STEP 3: PRINT YOUR MOVIE POSTER:
This has been described as the most tasking part. It’s where real talent comes in as you are faced with different options from different schools of thought. One proposes that you tell the whole story on the poster. The easier it is for people to be able to predict the plot of the movie and the final outcome, from looking at the poster, the better the movie will do in the market. Another school of thought suggests cramming the faces of the fifteen or so actors you convinced to make appearances in the movie on the poster.
In addition to the options described above, the pictures on the poster can show them doing things they never did in the movie, e.g. Desmond Elliot holding a machine gun and sweating despite the fact he played a three-minute role as a doctor in the movie. You are also allowed to include one or two actors who didn’t actually appear in the movie. No one will ever know until they have seen the whole movie, and by then it’d be too late. Most would be successful movies fail at this stage…it is very demanding.

STEP 4: GET YOUR ACTORS TO START ACTING
Everyone will naturally gravitate towards his or her instinctive roles, and before long your movie will have acted itself out. Jim Iyke will always play the fine boy, bad boy, Pete Edochie, a billonaire red-capped chief, Aki and Paw Paw will always be street urchins living from prank to prank and Osuofia, can be whatever he wants to be. He always comes as a bonus as he never needs a script.

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