The world’s second most productive movie-making city needed a studio hub. 

 Storyland Studios have partnered with Del-York International Group to design and master plan Kebulania, the first studio city on the African continent that’s set to revolutionise the rapidly growing Nigerian film industry. The partnership aims to create a true film studio city that will become a premier destination for filmmaking and creativity throughout all of Africa.  

 Next to India’s Bollywood, Nigeria’s film industry is the second most productive movie industry in the world, with an annual gross revenue of over $1 billion and an output of roughly 2,500 films per year.  

Creating an epicentre of African storytelling. 

 Kebulania is planned as a mixed-use film city for creative people to live work and play. It includes a fully-resourced entertainment industry campus and film lot in the vein of iconic Hollywood studios, living community for creative people. Filmmakers, actors, writers, musicians, marketing professionals, and other industry personnel can live and work there, bringing their creative ideas to life in the process. Lagos residents and visitors can experience the shopping, dining, resort lodging and backlot theme park, and be inspired to pursue their own creative dreams.  

 Storyland’s team approached Kebulania through both commercial and creative lenses. Alongside the creative BlueSky, we ran an independent feasibility study, which added a rich layer of strategic development to our concepting process. Through that study, we considered the market and assessed factors such as addressable income, household income, and various use cases. For Kebulania, our use cases included individuals studying in the area, current residents, prospective residents, and visitors.  

 Together with the client, a need was identified for an on-site university to train aspiring film industry professionals, plus student accommodation to house them. Kebulania also needed retail, dining and entertainment (RDE) experiences for residents, film industry professionals and visitors alike. This powerful combination of asset classes forms a true filmmaking hub just outside of Lagos.  

 Our feasibility study allowed us to support the client as they sought investments from the government, as well as public and private sources. When presented together with the creative BlueSky, these components form a well-rounded, holistic vision of not only what Kebulania can become, but what it can contribute to Lagos, surrounding areas, and the African continent as a whole.  

Breaking ground on a groundbreaking destination. 

 As both an industry hub and tourist destination, Kebulania will house fully equipped, state-of-the-art sound stages, workshops, a film and creative arts academy, a museum commemorating the history of the film industry in Nigeria, residential housing, retail, dining, entertainment, a resort hotel, commercial real estate, and a backlot theme park. The combination of real backlots, accessible by tram, and amusement park-style rides will give everyday visitors an opportunity to see real movie-making locations that are regularly in use. 

 Del-York have signed an agreement with the Lagos, Nigeria state government formalising Kebulania, and phase 1 of the project has broken ground. 

 Once completed, Kebulania is estimated to attract both production clients and 5,000 to 10,000 daily visitors. The studio city will be positioned to generate significant revenue and economic activity for Lagos.