Television & New Media 13(5) 431–446 © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1527476412443089 http://tvnm.sagepub.com 443089TVN 13 5 10.1177/15274764124 43089JedlowskiTelevision & New Media 1 University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Naples, Italy Corresponding Author: Alessandro Jedlowski, University of Naples “L’Orientale,” Dipartimento di Studi e Ricerche su Africa e Paesi Arabi, Piazza San Domenico 12-80134, Napoli, Italy Email: alessandro.jedlowski@gmail.com Small Screen Cinema: Informality and Remediation in Nollywood Alessandro Jedlowski 1 Abstract Analyzing the Nigerian video industry through the lens of new media theory, this article proposes a genealogy of the Nollywood media format to identify and define its specificities. The films that the industry produces are often referred to as cinema but, compared to the output of other film industries around the world, Nollywood produces something that can be located in between cinema and television. The informality of Nigerian videos’ production and distribution has in fact allowed for the articulation of complex processes of remediation, which have participated in creating an original product, something that I would like to call “small screen cinema.” This media format has had a determinant role in Nollywood’s popular success and its definition is thus important for a general understanding of the industry’s social, economic, and cultural relevance. Keywords Nollywood, informality, remediation, new media theory, cinema, television Within the landscape of African media, the birth and growth of the Nigerian video industry in the past twenty years has been one of the most exciting phenomena. Born in a situation of economic and political crisis, Nollywood 1 has managed to shape spe- cific production and distribution modes that have proven to be extremely successful in the local and regional context. Nigerian videos traveled and became popular through- out the African continent and within the African diaspora all over the world. As this article will emphasize, their success and transnational mobility have largely been the