Nollywood is an ever growing industry and it has had its share of ups, downs and weird moments.
One of those weird moments was when Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Richard Mofe Damijo, Genevieve Nnaji, Emeka Ike, Ramsey Nouah, Nkem Owoh, Stella Damasus and Jim Iyke were banned from acting because of the huge fees they charged movie producers.
The problem came when these actors/actresses started asking to be paid a lot higher than their usual fees. They could ask for this because the movie marketers had begun to pay them a lot of money to make movies. More money than movie producers usually pay them.
So these actors/actresses (called the G8) wanted the producers to pay the same amount that the marketers pay them and the producers were not down for that.
“They felt shooting with the marketers guaranteed them steady jobs compared to independents like us, who they felt added no value to their career,” Charles Novia wrote in his book “Nollywood till November: Memoirs of a Nollywood Insider.”
But greed set in and the G8 folks were taking money for numerous films that they had no time to shoot. Marketers paid fees into actors’ accounts even before negotiations. As a result of this, most actors had a backlog of productions to deliver on.
“Indiscipline from the actor had a demoralizing effect on general production. Even the marketers who created these monsters were affected,” Novia said.
In a bid to curb this, the marketers decided to ban these actors from starring in a movie for one year. This decision shook the industry, infuriated loyal fans and birthed a new generation of actors.
Months after the ban, other talented actors took over DVD jackets. Actors like Nse Ikpe-Etim, Desmond Elliot, Majid Michel, Mike Ezuruonye, Uche Jombo and Mercy Johnson had ample opportunity to thrive and in turn, become household names. The ban of the A-list actors helped bring a new crop of Nollywood stars. Many of them are still relevant till today.
During the period of the ban, the likes of Genevieve, Jim Iyke and Omotola branched out into music and had very unsuccessful careers.
The G8 ban is definitely a key pop-culture moment in Nigeria.
One of those weird moments was when Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Richard Mofe Damijo, Genevieve Nnaji, Emeka Ike, Ramsey Nouah, Nkem Owoh, Stella Damasus and Jim Iyke were banned from acting because of the huge fees they charged movie producers.
The problem came when these actors/actresses started asking to be paid a lot higher than their usual fees. They could ask for this because the movie marketers had begun to pay them a lot of money to make movies. More money than movie producers usually pay them.
So these actors/actresses (called the G8) wanted the producers to pay the same amount that the marketers pay them and the producers were not down for that.
But greed set in and the G8 folks were taking money for numerous films that they had no time to shoot. Marketers paid fees into actors’ accounts even before negotiations. As a result of this, most actors had a backlog of productions to deliver on.
“Indiscipline from the actor had a demoralizing effect on general production. Even the marketers who created these monsters were affected,” Novia said.
In a bid to curb this, the marketers decided to ban these actors from starring in a movie for one year. This decision shook the industry, infuriated loyal fans and birthed a new generation of actors.
Months after the ban, other talented actors took over DVD jackets. Actors like Nse Ikpe-Etim, Desmond Elliot, Majid Michel, Mike Ezuruonye, Uche Jombo and Mercy Johnson had ample opportunity to thrive and in turn, become household names. The ban of the A-list actors helped bring a new crop of Nollywood stars. Many of them are still relevant till today.
During the period of the ban, the likes of Genevieve, Jim Iyke and Omotola branched out into music and had very unsuccessful careers.
The G8 ban is definitely a key pop-culture moment in Nigeria.
