Nollywood filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan has revealed that releasing his new movie, Citation, on Netflix was a smart decision due to the opportunities that came with it.
Speaking on Sunday, November 8, 2020, during a zoom conference, Afolayan explained that Netflix’s exclusive right to Citation exposed the movie to a larger audience.
According to the revered filmmaker, the global audience exposure that Citation has attracted means a lot to him.
His words: “Originally, when we started filming, it wasn’t commissioned by Netflix… And of course Netflix came along the line, and then started asking questions about the film; they wanted to know what we’ll like to do in the film.
“For me, a big screen would have been good because I really love big screens. So, I started working on the cinema release and was looking at August, but as they always say, man proposes, God disposes.
“We finished filming in February and then by March, the COVID-19 pandemic came. Even at that, we were still hoping that we will be able to edit, finish post-production on time and then still release, but by mid-year, we realised that look maybe we should talk to these guys who have been showing interest in the film. And that was when we took that decision.
“And to be honest, I didn’t regret my actions in any way. But we could have regretted it because there was a projection when we were filming. There was a sales projection; from the beginning we thought, okay if we could do the cinema, we would make these and then we explore other windows. Truth be told, putting it on Netflix has exposed it to bigger audiences all over the world. We could have been struggling and begging people to come to the cinemas and doing cinema tours just to convince Nigerians to even watch Nigerian film. But with the Netflix deal, that burden has been taken off. I am really excited that it is on Netflix globally.”
