Quite a number of perks come with being a
movie star in this part of the world. They
include designer clothes,
luxury cars and posh apartments. Apart
from their penchant for such status symbols,
today’s Nollywood actors and actresses are
also seen as role models, especially to the
young and impressionable who dream of
becoming stars some day.
But, judging by the results of a recent
investigation conducted by Saturday Beats, it
appears all that glitters is not gold, after all.
Contrary to popular opinion, the life of the
average Yoruba movie star is that of
constant ‘suffering and smiling’.In spite of
the fabulous profiles and immense goodwill
enjoyed by some of these celebrated screen
gods and goddesses, the contents of their
bank accounts are really nothing to be
cheerful about.
Even the ‘alarming’ increase in the volume of
home video films produced in Yoruba
language ought to be sufficient to improve
the bank balances of such celebrities. To
make matters worse, many of them suffer
from a financial
disease known as ‘Withdrawal Symptom.’ In
fact, it is no longer news that a good
number are regular visitors to ATMs.
“As soon as money is paid into their bank
accounts, you will see them rushing to the
nearest ATM to withdraw almost all the
cash,” an amused banker told Saturday
Beats recently.Certainly it is difficult to
believe that no reasonably successful Yoruba
actor or actress
has ever been paid up to N500, 000 for a
lead role in any movie. Half a million seems a
fantastic sum by all indications. Instead, the
maximum fee payable to the best actor or
actress has remained between N150k and
N250k. Even many of the ‘veterans’ receive
as low as N10k to appear in a film feature.
While those that are constantly in demand
or have won awards in the industry, such as
the likes of Funke Akindele and Odunlade
Adekola,
earn a maximum of N250k per feature film,
the rest are left with peanuts. Interestingly,
an exception to this ‘golden rule’ is Omotola
Jalade-
Ekeinde. Saturday Beats investigation shows
that she earns between N250k and N400k.
Another ‘big earning’ actor is Adebayo
Salami, aka Oga Bello. It is said that he hardly
receives part payment from any producer.
Usually on location, he would demand his
fee of not more that N150,000 before going
into action.
The same is said about Omotola who does
not budge until she or her manager has
confirmed that a certain amount of money
has been deposited in her bank
account.However, the so-called big budget
film productions have never exceeded the
N3m mark despite the fact that a lot of
money goes into paying the crew and cast.
Money is also spent on
production equipment, lights, costumes,
makeups, transport, food,
accommodation,generating plant sets, and
other logistics/incidental expenses.
That is also why most of the cast and crew
are grateful when the filmmaker or
marketer, who bankrolls the production, is
able to hand them paltry sums of
money.“You can count on your fingers
the number of individuals involved in the
production who respectively got paid less
than N50,000,” a production hand says.
Also included in the budget are the editing
suite staff, copies of empty VCDs to be
dubbed,posters and film jackets to be
printed, marketing and distribution.
Now we know why most of the highly paid
or underpaid actors/ actresses are writing
their own movie scripts and directing or
producing their own movie projects, as well
as saturating the
market with volumes of half-baked home
videos every week.
Bukky Wright was the highest paid actress
in the Yoruba language genre before Funke
Akindele broke her N150,000 per featured
film record with
Jenifa. Omilade Babatunde, aka Baba Suwe,
used to be the highest paid aactor until the
much younger Odunlade Adekola, aka Cause
Trouble, began to
earn up to N250k per feature film. The other
notable figures? Well, they are trying hard to
catch up with Omotola, Funke and Odunlade.
Omotola, Adebayo Salami, Funke
Akindele,Bukky Wright and Odunlade
Adekola were unavailable for comment.
But prolific film producer, Kunle Afolayan,
said, “I really don’t know how much they
earn now because I’ve since moved on to
other major things.”
Top actress, Lizzy Anjorin, found it hard to
answer the question.
“Ha! That’s a tough question that I don’t
have a ready answer for. Fees vary from one
filmmaker to another. As for me, I bill per
script and I don’t appear in just about any
film.”
Saturday Beats sought the view of
scriptwriter/ actor/filmmaker, Femi Davies.
He responded, “You can’t really get any top
actor/actress that will proudly and honestly
tell you this is how much he or she earns
per film. But for my years in the industry, I
don’t know
anyone that collects half a million naira per
film he or she featured in that’s not a film
produced by him or her. Things can only get
better.”
The story is not different in the Igbo or the
Hausa language-speaking movie sector.