Nigerian actor, Emeka Okoro, has said that the old Nollywood era is more profitable for actors than the Nollywood of today.
During a recent chat with BBC Igbo, the actor gave his two cent on the transition of the Nigerian movie industry.
Although a lot of technical and artistic improvements have been made in the industry over the years, however, Okoro noted that the pay actor’s now earn is very poor compared to the old days.
“I wouldn’t say Nollywood has worsened. Even a child born today grows to walk from crawling. Before now, the industry was largely controlled by businessmen in Idumota, Alaba, and Iweka,” he said in Igbo.
“We had productions back then and the pay was higher than we have it now. I wouldn’t lie to you. But now, we have more professionals than before. A lot of technical and artistic improvements have been made.
“The Nollywood we have today is better but not financially. It is only profitable if you have projects to work on frequently. Now, we have divisions in Nollywood and you only get to act once in a while. We’ve also gone online.
“What we achieved is impressive but one piece of advice I would chip in is that we consider an upward review of the monies paid to actors. We also need more channels through which movies come so more actors can also break-in.”
Speaking on the decentralised nature of Nigeria’s movie industry, the actor said that it has its good and bad sides.
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“Nollywood is nowhere near centralised. Whether you have permits or not, no one cares to know. Associations are not strong as they should be. The truth is that it’ll be advantageous if we’re united,” he said.
“But still, we all want to make ends meet without any hindrance or requirements that mandate you to belong to any guild before you can act or make movies. That decentralisation can be both a good thing and a bad attribute.
“From a professional viewpoint, it’s terrible. But when you consider it from a liberal standpoint, then it’s good.”
Emeka Okoro started his acting career in 1995 in the movie Dirty Deal. He is popularly known for playing criminal roles and hit man roles in movies alongside with Hanks Anuku, Gentle Jack, Emma Ehumadu, Jim Iyke and Saint Obi.
