ROK Studios to Bring Awesome Nollywood Original TV series and Movies to Africaโs Biggest Platform
18 October 2016. ROK, the award-winning Nigerian film studio and entertainment brand, will launch across Africa on the DStv platform on 1 November 2016. The Lagos-based film studio, renowned for its original TV series and Nollywood movies, will join the DStv family, bringing exciting original content to 52 countries, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The new channel will launch with ROK Studiosโ exclusively-produced content, including Festac Town, Banks Chronicles and Bloodline. ROK will be available to DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact customers. Some of the ROK content will also be available on the DStv Catch-Up service.
Nigerian cinema, known colloquially as Nollywood, is the second largest film industry in the world, in terms of production output. In its short history, ROK has become one of the industryโs most prolific producers of new, original content, with arguably Africaโs most extensive Nollywood catalogue of 12 TV series and over 150 movies.
The new, exclusively Nollywood channel will be fully programmed, produced and developed in-house, by ROKโs Lagos-based team. Mary Njoku, award-winning Nollywood actress and film producer who has spent over 12 years at the heart of Nigerian filmmaking, will head the channel, which will also be supported by IROKO, the VC-backed African technology and entertainment broadcaster and content distributor.
Speaking on the launch, ROK CEO Mary Njoku says: โJoining the DStv family is the next step in ROKโs evolution as Nollywoodโs leading film production house and brand. Broadcasting our original content to millions of movie fans across the African continent, on a platform as far-reaching and illustrious as DStv, is an exhilarating prospect.
โWhat lies beneath every ROK production, the ROK brand, be it movies or TV series, is our fanatical love of African storytelling; we want to relate amazing African stories that our fans can recognise, be swept away by and be entertained with. We work with Nigeriaโs most exceptional talent, in front of and behind the camera, and we continue to push the boundaries in terms of production values. This has given us the edge, in our short history, and has helped us build a fanbase around the world. ROK on DStv allows us to bring ROK to every corner of the continent and connect viewers with content they loveโ.
โOne of the cornerstones of our customer promise is to deliver content that our customers love and enjoy, and that is why weโre excited to introduce ROK which will boost DStvโs local content offering and showcase even more African stories made in Africa, for us Africans,โ says the Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe. โThis will ensure that our offering keeps the art of storytelling alive on the continent which, will in turn help to grow Africaโs creative industries like Nollywood into vibrant, economic powerhouses.โ
Since its launch in 2013, ROK Studios has produced some of Nollywoodโs most talked about originals, including Festac Town, Single Ladies, Stalemate, Banks Chronicles and Bloodline. The channel launches with these blockbuster titles, and going forward, ROK viewers on DStv will be the first to watch new and exclusive homegrown ROK content, before it goes anywhere else.
Nollywood is the worldโs second largest film industry in terms of output, producing approximately 50 films a week and employs over one million people in Nigeria, and contributes 1.42 percent of Nigeriaโs GDP. Prominent themes in Nollywood films include family, religion, love and betrayal.
-ENDS-
For further information, images or interview requests with Mary Njoku, contact Jessica Hope – jessica@wimbart.com on [0044] 7814 714 992 or Maria Adediran – maria@wimbart.com of Wimbart.
Full press pack including high res images, ROK Studios clips, a sizzle reel and behind the scenes images is available here
About ROK Studios
ROK Studios launched in 2013. ROK Studios is a leading African film and television studio and production house based in Lagos, Nigeria. ROK specialize in the creation of content in partnership with the industryโs foremost creative talent. ROK has developed, produced and financed film and TV series for distribution platforms globally. ROK owns one of the largest content libraries in Nigeria, with blockbuster films and series, as well as an Animation Studio called ROK Animations Studios.
Follow ROK on social media
Instagram – ROK_DSTV
Facebook – ROK DSTV
Twitter – ROK_DSTV
About MultiChoice Nigeria
MultiChoice Nigeria is a leading video entertainment service provider with over twenty yearsโ digital television experience.ย For over two decades, MultiChoice has positively impacted the television production and creative industries while creating employment and empowering small businesses in related industries, from being the best provider of home video entertainment to launching on demand services โ including Box Office, Catch Up and DStv Now, which truly meet the evolving needs of Africaโs tech-savvy consumers.ย MultiChoice provides video entertainment content varying from blockbuster movies, the latest series, the worldโs greatest sport, up to the minute news, great childrenโs programmes, music and an array of specialist genres including language specific channels available on both the DStv and GOtv packages. Video Entertainment is available on a number of different subscription platforms
Leave a Reply