Former BBNaija housemate, Pere Egbi, turned actor and producer, has revealed that after investing N200 million in his film, The Silent Intruder, he personally earned a meager N8 million.
His claims follow a recent social media outburst by Femi Branch, lead actor of House of Ga’a, who highlighted the challenges filmmakers face with cinema promotions in Nigeria.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Pere corroborated Branch’s statements, shedding light on his personal ordeal with the cinema industry.
According to Egbi, his film suffered from poor screen times and inadequate promotion, which he believes stifled its box office performance. Despite spending over N150 million from his personal funds and borrowing an additional N11 million from a friend in London, the film grossed only N53 million in cinemas, leaving him with a net gain of just N8 million.
“This nonsense some cinemas do—hiding films, poor screen times—it happened to The Silent Intruder,” Pere wrote. “Imagine spending over 200 million naira (pre-production to post-production), and the film only made 53 million naira in cinemas. Out of that, I personally got just 8 million naira.”
Egbi expressed frustration that nearly 11 months after its release, The Silent Intruder has not been picked up by major streaming platforms like Netflix or Prime Video, even though films released alongside his have already secured deals. He emphasized the financial and emotional toll this experience has taken on him, stating that he had to leave Nigeria and return to America to work and repay the loan he took to finance the film.
“To the kind-hearted woman who lent me money, I had to go back to America to work just so I can pay her back,” he explained. Egbi further lamented the lack of support for independent filmmakers and vowed to take control of his narrative. If no progress is made by January 2025, he plans to release The Silent Intruder on YouTube, bypassing traditional distribution channels entirely.
“At this point, I don’t care about being blacklisted,” he declared.
What to know
Pere’s bold stance has reignited discussions about the struggles faced by Nigerian filmmakers, particularly in navigating the country’s cinema ecosystem. Many in the industry have accused cinemas of prioritizing foreign films over local productions and giving inadequate screen times to Nigerian films.
- This incident also points to broader concerns about the distribution challenges within Nollywood. Despite its rapid growth, many stakeholders argue that the industry lacks adequate structures to ensure equitable revenue sharing and fair treatment of films.
- For filmmakers like Pere Egbi, the current state of affairs calls for urgent reforms to prevent the stifling of creativity and ensure that investments in the industry yield returns.
As Egbi awaits progress on his film, his story has sparked conversations about the need for better support systems for filmmakers, especially in securing fair distribution deals and maximizing returns on investment.
