My phone rang at about 10am that Saturday morning, January 24, 2004. It was Segun Arinze, Nigeria's current Best Actor of the year courtesy of the REEL AWARDS. "Charlie, have you seen Nick's article on THISDAY today? He asked.

Of course I had seen it, even earlier: the day before on the Internet. Nick Moran's article entitled "Nollywood or Bust", published in the UK on "The Guardian UK", incensed me to say least. Arinze was volcanic. "I could punch that fellow in the face" he fumed "He's running us down". Don't I know it, man! Who the hell is Nick Moran and what gives him the right to condescendingly castigate our movie industry after spending three weeks in Nigeria last year November? Maybe, I should start from the beginning as I know it.

Sometime in early October 2003, I was in my office in Surulere, putting finishing touches to my new movie "MISSING ANGEL", when my mobile phone rang. It was a long-distance call from London. The caller identified herself as Brenda Goldblatt from BBC Three and complimented me on my last movie, "I WILL DIE FOR YOU", which she loved very much. I was pleased and thanked her for her verdict. She pushed a proposal to me - the BBC Three, a satellite TV station, in the UK, wanted to embark on a "Crazy" project in which a British film director would come to Nigeria and work with a Nigerian producer to shoot a Nigerian movie.

All the BBC wanted was to shoot the making of that movie, which is a visual diary of the British director's work in Nigeria. An alarm rang in my head.

Why would BBC bring a British director to Nigeria to direct a Nigerian movie? Why don't they just come over and film the making of a Nigerian movie by a Nigerian director as German TV did in 2002 when they stayed with Kabat Eseosa Egbon for one month as he directed his movie "THE PROMISE". Brenda said it's a novel idea and BBC wanted their director to be the fulcrum of the documentary. In actual fact, they had two projects which would run simultaneously - the film which the British director would direct, produced by a Nigerian, and the making of that film which was what BBC Three wanted to air in January 2004. She asked if I was coming to London for the Afro-Hollywood awards and offered to meet me in London. Unfortunately, I could not travel because of visa problems.

Mid-November, Brenda came to my office with Alicia, another BBC producer. They just arrived in Lagos and told me they were working with Tunji Bamishigbin and Yemi Sodimu on the project. Apparently, they met in London and agreed to work together with Tunji producing the Nigerian movie for BBC Three. Brenda said Nick Moran was being expected and asked if I had watched "LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS" a British gangster hit. I said I had and she said Nick played the lead in the movie and he will be directing the movie. They showed me a treatment of the proposed script, which I immediately condemned as being too foreign. It would not sell in Nigeria. If they wanted to go ahead with the script, they had to get a good Nigerian scriptwriter to "Nigerianise" the script. We don't accept Western plots here as such; they must be real and true to our people.

Impressed, Brenda asked if I could work with them. If by chance they dropped Tunji and Yemi. Why? Because they wanted a Nigerian producer who would co-finance the movie with his money. I said "Come on, you are from BBC! Nobody will believe you came here with no money for a production". They gave an excuse of limited funds. I gave them my terms; I would finance the project only if they did the following:

1. Get a Nigerian director involved

2. Promise not to portray Nigeria and our movie Industry in bad light. They promised to come back.

Three weeks later. I was on location shooting my movie "THE BRIDESMAID" with RMD and Stella Damasus Aboderin and on my invitation the BBC Three crew came with their camera and Nick Moran to take shots of the making of my movie. Nick talked to RMD and I, took pictures and generally had an insightful experience. I learned that Tunji and Yemi had pulled out from their production and Jeta Amata was the new producer. I was invited to their set three days later.

I went to the set and saw how Nick struggled to direct the Nigerian cast. He confided in me that in Hollywood and Britain, all the director does is to sit down in his chair and give orders to cast and crew. But in Nigeria, the director does everything. I told him that our industry evolved out of its own peculiarities and more-often-than-not, directors in Nigeria find themselves as Jacks-of-all- trades. He said it was a new experience for him. I watched him work under the hot sun and noticed his frustrations.

A few days later, the BBC crew left for London. Seeing Nick's article last week made me angry. I immediately e-mailed Brenda and expressed my opinion that the article was racist. Brenda called an hour later and spent forty minutes convincing me that the article was "wickedly" edited by a sub-editor in the Guardian UK.

She read out a concluding piece of the article by Nick in which he tried to sum up his feelings positively about Nollywood and how he believes a new Nigeria will emerge with the likes of Nollywood directors like us.

She admitted that the article caused a lot of controversy in the UK, but then; she said Nick is a controversial person.

There are a few things to understand about Nollywood. First our movie industry is the largest home video industry in the world. What we have done is a novel feat. We have succeeded in making direct to video films and our people have embraced it wholly. Articles in The New York Times, Washington Post and The French diplomatic magazine, Le Monde, attest to this. Second, comparison with Hollywood or Bollywood is out of the question. We have a unique structure, which evolved by itself, and the sheer determination of the stakeholders in Nollywood attests to the fact that our homegrown plots and stories are hugely appreciated by our people.

So, who needs the sarcasm of Nick Moran when we have the fastest growing film industry in the world (yes, its true!)? Largely ignored by our own government (except in areas of obnoxious laws a la Censorship Board). Nollywood is a sub cultural phenomenon. It will never die. It can only get better.

Charles Novia is a Film Producer/Director