Funding in Nollywood is not something that we actually talk about enough. People give Nollywood producers so much slack without factoring into their criticism just how much money it takes to actually put together a decent movie. Things you don’t even think you’ll have to pay for, you pay for. And then working in Nigeria, it comes with it’s own unique brand of headaches and hurdles you will have to overcome.
One woman who knows well about this is Nigerian actress and film producer, Toyin Abraham. Toyin is currently doing the media rounds for her new movie ‘Ijakumo’ which will be hitting cinemas soon, and during her run, she’s been very open about the financial implications of this film as well as the financial rewards she’s been getting. Here’s what Toyin had to say about the money she’s been spending and the money she’s been making in Nollywood.
Speaking about the financial implications of her new movie ‘Ijakumo’ and how much one has to spend on movies, Toyin Abraham said:
You see, number 1 thing [in movie making business] is funds. If you have funds. The person that wrote my story is like the biggest, or one of the biggest scriptwriter. I can afford to pay him. I have a good story. I can give you a story, give him the same story, and if you write the story, it might not be the same. But if you can pay for that service, yes, the story will come out well. Okay, I’m to shoot a church scene. In the church, the guy has like one of the biggest crowds and I need over one thousand, five hundred people. Okay, you now see the church, you see only ten people because I cannot pay. I paid almost six million naira just for crowd [for Ijakumo]. Yes, after feeding them. So most importantly I think funds. I know yes, some people when you look at their storyline [it may not be good] but I think when you have intellectuals, when you can pay people for their talent, for their brain. Most importantly. Yes, I know there are some people that will have funds and even when you look at the movie, you yourself you will know that ah the story is not it. But the costume, the locations, are nice. You will see that there is something that will attract you to the movie even if the storyline of the movie you don’t like it.
Speaking about the financial rewards and making money from film, Toyin Abraham said:
I started making money in entertainment maybe 5 years ago when I started working with FilmOne. That was when I started making money. I can even remember, my first movie, when Mr. Moses called me and told me they’ve paid the money into your account. I saw my account, that was the first time, I saw forty something million. I’m not joking. I could not sleep. I called my god mom that see, these film people it’s like they will come and kill me and collect the money [laughs]. That was the first time making such money and it’s my money. I started making money like five years ago but I’m a go-getter. I love this job, it’s passion for me, and I want to do more and more.
Wow! This film business of a thing, it cannot be easy. Especially because after all this money spent, there are still so many Nigerians that will not go to cinema to support the movie making it harder for them to fund their next project. I cut cap for every Nollywood producer and I for one will be going to check out ‘Ijakumo’ when it hits theatres.
