Nollywood, Nigeria's booming film industry, has grown in recent years into a mighty movie-making machine, capturing audiences with its universal themes and strong narratives of urban culture.

The mega industry, one of Nigeria's biggest employers, has been notorious for churning out more than 1,000 typically low-budget films a year, fusing a wide array of stories ranging from romance and drama to comedy and witchcraft.

It is currently the third-largest producer of feature films in world, ranking behind only Hollywood in the U.S. and India's Bollywood revenue.

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And lately, instead of relying on shoe-string budgets, many Nollywood movies are attracting funding of a few million dollars, benefiting from the films' growing popularity.

But while the industry gets bigger, insiders say Nollywood has remained true to its recipe for success -- its connection with the audience.

Nigerian director Lancelot Imasuen, who is currently working on a $2 million film called "Invasion 1987," says Nollywood movies are made for Nigerians and the rest of the continent.

"People get in touch with [Nollywood's] direct realism," says Imasuen. "People are getting more and more interested, more and more involved in our productions because they can feel the pains, they can feel the excitement, it's so real to them."

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Imasuen, a pioneering filmmaker with more than 10 years of experience, says that Nollywood's themes strike a familiar chord with the audience making them feel part of the stories.

And that, he says, is the industry's big advantage compared to the competition posed by Hollywood productions.

"For us in Africa, we just get entertained by American films," says Imasuen "When I'm watching Spiderman or Batman and all that, its just for spectacle. I'm just having fun because I know its not realistic for the guy just to fly here and there -- there is nothing that relates to us as individuals."

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Known in Nollywood's circles as "The Governor," Imausen is one of the most sought after names in Nigerian filmmaking -- he once directed 29 movies in just one year, 27 of which were big hits.

"That's my job, that's the never say die spirit of the Nigerian man," he explains.

"If you can't get it this way, you have to do it this way and so I tried to do right. And for me that was a great challenge and when you're good at what you're doing, there is a tendency that people call you to do more," adds Imausen.

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"And before you know it, you don't have time to even lie on your bed for 30 days or 365 days of the year."

In fact, it is the hard work and dedication of people like Imausen that have helped Nollywood to grow and become a thriving industry in the last two decades

"If you spend any time in Nigeria, it is difficult to come across a person who hasn't heard of Nollywood," says Jason Njoku, founder of iROKO Partners, an internet company that distributes Nollywood films to online viewers across the world.