Basketmouth
The comedian-turned-filmmaker alleges widespread corruption and its toll on the industry’s growth.
Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, has made strong allegations against Nollywood producers, accusing them of grossly mismanaging funds provided by global streaming platforms. Speaking in a recent interview with Arise TV, the comedian-turned-filmmaker claimed that some producers use only 10% of allocated budgets for actual movie production, diverting the majority to fund their personal lifestyles.
According to Basketmouth, this unethical practice led streaming platforms to bypass producers by paying actors directly. However, he alleged that producers countered this move by coercing actors to return half of their salaries.
“When the streaming platforms came in, they gave money to these producers, and I’ll tell you point blank: these producers would take the money—$1.5 million or whatever they give them—and use about 10% of that money to make the movie,” he said.
He further explained, “Even to the point where the streaming platforms stepped in and said, ‘You know what? We are going to be paying the actors directly,’ these guys would still go behind and tell the actors to pay half of that money back to them. You can verify the information anywhere.”
Basketmouth argued that such practices have significantly affected the quality of Nollywood productions. “When you do that and expect your movie to be 100%, it can’t. It’s impossible. But these guys? They’ll cut, buy houses, buy cars. And that’s why some of our epic movies look like stage plays,” he added.
His remarks come in the wake of filmmaker Kunle Afolayan’s revelation that Netflix has stopped commissioning Nigerian originals. Afolayan lamented that the decision would severely impact the income of producers who rely heavily on streaming deals.
The revelations have sparked widespread discussion on accountability and the need for reforms in Nollywood to ensure sustainable growth and maintain trust with global partners.
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