Nigerian comedian and filmmaker Basketmouth has accused Nollywood producers of grossly mismanaging funds provided by global streaming platforms, a practice he says is damaging the quality of Nigerian films.
In a recent interview, Basketmouth alleged that many producers allocate only a small fraction of the budgets received for actual movie production, diverting the rest for personal gain.
When the streaming platforms came in, they gave money to these producers — 1.5 million or whatever they were given — and they used about 10% of that money to make the movie
he said.
The comedian revealed that the streaming platforms eventually adopted a new strategy of paying actors directly to curb this issue. However, he claimed that some producers still exploit the system by pressuring actors to return part of their pay.
Even when the streaming platforms decided to pay the actors directly, these producers went behind and told the actors to pay half of the money back to them. You can verify this anywhere
Basketmouth added.
He expressed dismay at how such financial malpractice reflects in the quality of Nollywood films, stating that productions often fail to meet the expectations set by their budgets.
When you take money meant for production and use it for other things like buying houses or cars, you can’t expect the movie to be 100%. That’s why some of our epic movies end up looking like stage plays.
Basketmouth’s remarks have sparked renewed discussions about accountability in Nollywood, with many calling for stricter measures to ensure transparency in the use of production funds.
