“What you do need is some successes to spark a new idea. In the tech economy here in Kenya, M-Pesa was a success story which sparked Silicon Savannah. What we need is a few huge Kenyan movie hits that will spark the film industry in Kenya,” Margaret Whitman, the United States Ambassador to Kenya remarked during a recent reception in Nairobi.
This was part of the diplomat’s lengthy introduction to Nicholas Weinstock, an accomplished Hollywood writer and executive producer, who has just set up office in Nairobi.
This is a rare move by a Hollywood producer, setting up a physical space in Kenya with the intention of plunging into the Kenyan film business.
You can easily see why the US ambassador needed to make her preliminary remarks long; Weinstock has developed hundreds of films.
The Hollywood executive boasts of developing television series that have landed 26 nominations at the prestigious Emmy Awards, winning one for his role in the Severance TV series.
Weinstock’s Get Him To The Greek , an American comedy released in 2010 starring acclaimed billionaire rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, Elisabeth Moss and world famous vocalist Christina Aguilera, made $92 million at the box office.
Bridesmaids , a romcom released in 2011, generated $307 million. His latest project, Queenpins , currently sits at number two on streaming platform Netflix.
“Nicky and I met about a year ago and we connected over the idea of film, music and television in Nairobi. He said he would like to pioneer (project) something that could jumpstart the film industry in Nairobi, and I happen to be a student of start-ups. I started up eBay, Quibi, and what start-ups need to take off is a nudge and that’s why Nicky is in Kenya,” Ms Whitman said.
In a country where film has struggled to produce any meaningful returns, Weinstock, who is setting up his Inventions Studios in Westlands, sees an opportunity to turn the tide if things are done in the right way — in other words, the Hollywood way.
“We are already working on some really exciting projects with Kenyan scriptwriters as we speak,” Weinstock said when Saturday Nation pulled him aside at the reception for a quick interview.
According to a Kenya Film Commission survey conducted in June 2020, the country’s film industry generates approximately Sh12 billion in revenues annually. However the sector can grow to over Sh40 billion.
Weinstock thinks the figures could be even higher with the right plans in a country he has grown fond of over the last three decades.
“I have a unique connection to Kenya. When I left Harvard University at 20 years old to come to the University of Nairobi as an anthropology major, I studied Swahili and did some anthropology work with the Nandi community outside Kapsabet. I ended up doing a thesis about it and ended up falling in love with Kenya and over the years I have kept coming back,” Weinstock said.
What he sees is vibrancy in Kenya, something he feels if exploited well, then the narrative of low-budget productions and poor remuneration for cast and crew will change for good.
Detailing his blueprint for the Kenyan space, Weinstock said he will be heavily relying on his team’s international expertise and Hollywood connections to do things differently.
Nicholas Weinstock, film producer, founder and president of Invention Studios during a reception at the US Ambassador’s residence in Nairobi on February 13, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
“We will use our connections and position in Hollywood and actively produce works across the world to bring those projects that we will do here to the most powerful global platforms in the world entertainment industry,” Weinstock said as he began to unpack his blueprint.
“Someone would ask why would a mzungu travel 10,000 miles to devote so much time and resources to Kenyan creators? I actually think it’s the smartest thing that I and Hollywood could probably do now. Hollywood has gone to a dull dormant shell of its former self, with a lot of copycats and desperately needs reinvention.
“My awareness is that that reinvention will come by surprise, by working on new ideas such as Kenya. I have been lucky enough to work on projects in Hollywood that no one saw coming and no one was asking for, therefore startling people with bold originality. That surprise is what drives the success of those projects,” Weinstock said.
To offer context, Weinstock recalled some cases.
“I developed a movie called Bridesmaid, it was a ridiculous comedy of all female comedians who were willing to be all-raided, outrageous, empowered and ridiculous. Universal studios asked me to stop developing those movies about 11 times. Their point was, it’s all women and it’s called Bridesmaid, it’s a terrible idea they said. Well that movie went on to earn $307 million, becoming one of the most successful movies my company has ever done.
“Most recently, I developed a series, Severance, by a writer who had never done anything. The day I sold it to Apple TV+ just a few weeks ago, the writer had to leave the pitch meeting at Apple to drive food deliveries because that’s what he did for a living up to that point.
“There is also another, an action movie coming out this summer starring a 94-year-old with a big stance in the movie. I remember five studios bidding more for the movie, again this was another writer who had never done anything, never heard off and also a 94-year-old woman I gave her first starring role after 70 years of her career.
“These cases are the opposite of what Hollywood tells you to do. Hollywood tells you to repeat the last successful thing that was done and milk it dry, but the truth is that surprising originality is actually the key to any game changing hit,” Weinstock said.
Deviating from his own works, Weinstock gave accounts of other surprise titles that took Hollywood by storm.
“In 2017, a Spanish series, Casa De Papel (Money Heist), which required subtitles, starring actors known nowhere else outside of Spain, caused an explosion. It turned into five seasons, two spin-off documentaries, a Korean version, a Germany version, and became an Emmy Award winning phenomenon. In 2021, a French language show, Lupin, was aired by Netflix and was watched by 80 million households in its first month,” Weinstock said.
He added: “Squid Game , an unexpected show from Korea that the producers had spent 10 years trying to get produced with no luck and no interest, but when it was finally released it became the most watched show in 34 countries around the world to become the most popular series on Netflix with 140 million household viewers. I hope you now see why I’m emphasising on this element of surprise in terms of Kenya”.
With the Africa market underrated by the outside world, Weinstock believes only a surprise element will turn the tide.
“No market I know is more underrated, unexpected and ignored than Africa, that’s what why I feel makes it the most perfect breeding ground for some unexpected hits.”
As for resources, Invention Studios has partnered with NISK Capital, an investment bank based in Nairobi.
“This film and television fund will cushion us from the need to go begging for funds from Hollywood, Amazon, Netflix, you name it, to develop these projects,” he said.
At the Invention Studios Nairobi office, there will be an executive who will be working hand in hand with local producers and actors and report to Weinstock at the head office in the US.
“We already have started working with the local talent, but we have started with those who have already had international experience. Then we have the grass root project for the Kenyan creators across the country and that’s an open call regardless of your experience. What we are doing is having an open submission process for a new project, people have to send their proposal for their project and a sample of their writing so that we know they are excellent writers.
“In our first round, we will choose 10 writers and directors to meet and explore their projects with and from those, we will choose five to fully develop them for international success, they will be Kenyan born, Kenyan owned originals. We will then use our connections to sell them to the Hollywood studios with the revenues going back to the creator in Kenya,” said Weinstock.
Even with the optimism of success that he oozes, he confesses it won’t be easy convincing Hollywood to pick a project from an unusual market.
“Absolutely not, it won’t be easy, it never has been easy. Every single project, I have had to argue for in Hollywood for financing and that’s why we are developing this project so that we don’t have to beg for funding. Instead, we take to them a finished independent product and bargain for them. But I can tell you this, I am arrogant enough to believe I will be successful selling some of these African projects to Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Apple TV+, Amazon etc. I will win that argument sometimes, I won’t win it every time,” he said.
“Hollywood develops 100 things, two of them work and end up paying for everything and so Hollywood keeps going. That’s the approach I want to take in Kenya. If you create one success out of Kenya and take the world by storm, make tonnes of money, Hollywood will be at our doors tomorrow,” he said.
However if there is one thing Weinstock can assure the film industry in Kenya, it is better remuneration for the projects his Invention Studios will be involved in.
According to seasoned film director and actress Nini Wacera, most Kenyan actors earn between Sh50,000 and Sh80,000 a month and around Sh200,000 if you happen to be a big star. This means there has been no increase of wages for actors for 24 years since she first made her debut on Wingu La Moto earning Sh170,000 per season.
“I think sometimes people producing stuff locally and places like Kenya take a low-cost approach to do things as cheaply as possible. It is a little bit like a sweat shop mentality, of how much product can we churn out at the lowest possible cost. That is very unfair to actors, crew and everyone involved.
“I want to give people an option, I want to bring these projects to an international platform where people tend to be paid better. I don’t think our best work as Invention Studios in Kenya is going to be at the cheapest local level,” said Weinstock.
