Intro
First post, so go easy on me. I wrote about this online, but this seemed like a unique location and belonged here for historical reasons.
Being a film buff I searched quite extensively for abandoned film studios and read a few articles about this online. With no concrete information, I took the 14 hour bus ride from Lagos and hoped for the best. I was not disappointed.
History
A free trade zone, amusement park, casino, resort and film studio was created in remote Nigeria in hopes of attracting investment. However due to government bureaucracy, a lack of further investment and the remote location it did not last long. They built it, and people did not come.
It was completed in 2007, but lasted only about 10 years before closing. Covering quite a large area, you can really see the big dreams that were involved in getting this project together. It's quite sad really as it is a beautiful area.
The studio was my main focus since it was a combination of Disney influenced fun park combined with an actual working movie studio.
The Explore
There was a monorail from the studio to the resort which barely looked used and the entire area was next to a man-made lake. Dinosaurs were there to greet me on arrival in front of the main office which still had an interesting 3D model of the park inside.
Past the main building, various statues were frozen in time, still waiting to greet guests. The main path led to a central auditorium for open air performances. The large dome you see in the middle was for screening films. The surrounding buildings seemed like they used to be working offices, but they were quite cleared out. Some game areas and other displays were in the buildings as well.
The main studios were surprisingly large and would have been quite acceptable by any modern average sized film studio. A lot of sets were still left inside. Sound sets and editing suites were in the very top levels. Everything was in great condition, it's really too bad this was not put to better use. The Nigerian sun will not be kind to it and this will probaly crumble quickly.
Photos
First post, so go easy on me. I wrote about this online, but this seemed like a unique location and belonged here for historical reasons.
Being a film buff I searched quite extensively for abandoned film studios and read a few articles about this online. With no concrete information, I took the 14 hour bus ride from Lagos and hoped for the best. I was not disappointed.
History
A free trade zone, amusement park, casino, resort and film studio was created in remote Nigeria in hopes of attracting investment. However due to government bureaucracy, a lack of further investment and the remote location it did not last long. They built it, and people did not come.
It was completed in 2007, but lasted only about 10 years before closing. Covering quite a large area, you can really see the big dreams that were involved in getting this project together. It's quite sad really as it is a beautiful area.
The studio was my main focus since it was a combination of Disney influenced fun park combined with an actual working movie studio.
The Explore
There was a monorail from the studio to the resort which barely looked used and the entire area was next to a man-made lake. Dinosaurs were there to greet me on arrival in front of the main office which still had an interesting 3D model of the park inside.
Past the main building, various statues were frozen in time, still waiting to greet guests. The main path led to a central auditorium for open air performances. The large dome you see in the middle was for screening films. The surrounding buildings seemed like they used to be working offices, but they were quite cleared out. Some game areas and other displays were in the buildings as well.
The main studios were surprisingly large and would have been quite acceptable by any modern average sized film studio. A lot of sets were still left inside. Sound sets and editing suites were in the very top levels. Everything was in great condition, it's really too bad this was not put to better use. The Nigerian sun will not be kind to it and this will probaly crumble quickly.
Photos
