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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the growing online platform community of filmmakers and spectators, exploring its implications for the future of the Nigerian film industry. How has the changing screen culture empowered independent content creators?

Paper long abstract:

The global decline in cinema attendance was a subject of considerable interest in film scholarship before the Covid-19 lockdown. Studies reveal that audiences worldwide quickly adapted to the convenience of the mobile platform for screening. The answer to the question of the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on screen culture seems obvious. However, what requires in-depth and careful study is the emerging screen dynamics produced by alternative screens. With the enforcement of lockdown due to Covid-19, Nigerian mainstream filmmakers sought alternatives with global screening platforms such as Netflix, while evangelical filmmakers opted for less complicated self-upload platforms such as YouTube for the release of their films. This article follows evangelical filmmakers and the increasing access gained on YouTube, partly credited to the Covid-19 lockdown. With particular attention to evangelical screen culture, the paper examines the growing online platform community of filmmakers and spectators and its implications for the future of the Nigerian film industry. How has the changing screen culture empowered or enabled the rise and flourishing of independent content creators? What sort of audience is emerging with the increased visibility of platforms? What power dynamics now exist between the audience and screen creators/filmmakers? How are evangelical filmmakers building social capital across platforms? This paper invites us to rethink exhibition spaces. What kind of audience is the YouTube platform breeding? Moreover, what sort of participatory culture exists on this platform? I argue that YouTube platforms allow for some levels of communal interactions and participatory culture absent in traditional cinema settings.