SHOCKING EARNINGS OF YORUBA MOVIE STARS
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. We gathered that the
actors/actresses who in real life drive fancy cars, live in their own houses,
dress in the latest designer clothes, are the privileged ones who have been
able to sustain and maintain their celebrity/star status by engaging in private
business outside movies like car dealership, party/event planning, boutiques,
supermarkets, hair dressing saloons, voice-over on radio/TV adverts, comperes
at private and public functions, corporate brand endorsements.
Source: Punch
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