Renowned Nigerian comedian and filmmaker, Basketmouth, has made shocking allegations against Nollywood producers, accusing them of grossly mismanaging funds provided by global streaming platforms.
In a recent interview on Arise TV, Basketmouth claimed that many producers use only a fraction of the allocated budgets for movie production, diverting the rest to fund their personal lifestyles. He alleged that some producers use as little as 10% of the budget for film production.
“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,” Basketmouth said.
He further alleged that producers demand actors return half of their pay, despite streaming platforms’ efforts to bypass dishonest producers by paying actors directly.
Basketmouth argued that this fraudulent practice has severely impacted the quality of Nollywood films. “So, 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 when you see our movies, some of our epic movies look like stage plays,” he added.
Basketmouth’s allegations come amidst concerns about the financial management of Nollywood productions. His comments have sparked a necessary conversation about transparency and accountability in the Nigerian film industry.
