Nigerian comedian and actor Bright Okpocha, popularly known as Basketmouth, has sparked controversy with his recent comments about the Nigerian film industry and its ties to global streaming giant Netflix.
The remarks come amid widespread concern following Netflix’s unexpected withdrawal from the Nigerian market in November 2024. The shutdown has left the Nollywood industry and its supporters in a precarious position, as it reportedly ended the significant funding and support the streaming platform had been providing to bolster Nigeria’s film industry. This development has raised questions about the future of Nollywood’s international reach and its sustainability without Netflix’s backing.
This decision has also led to the cancellation of several Nigerian original projects, leaving producers and filmmakers grappling with the fallout of losing a major avenue for global distribution and funding.
In a recent interview with Arise TV, Basketmouth, who had recently released his blockbuster movie, ‘A Ghetto Love Story’, openly discussed major challenges facing the industry, calling out celebrities like Kunle Afolayan, Bolanle Austen-Peters, Femi Adebayo, Odunlade Adekola and other movie producers while explaining Netflix’s possible reduction in investments in Nigeria.
According to the comedian, Netflix provided $1.5 million to movie producers for various projects, but the funds were mismanaged. He claimed that filmmakers spent only 10% of the money on the actual movies and used the rest to purchase houses and cars.
In his words, “When streaming platforms entered Nigeria, they gave money to producers to make movies. However, most of them would use about 10% to produce the movie and use the rest to buy houses and cars. I won’t mention names, but they know themselves. I am not saying all of them but most of them. They are about 70% and more. To the point that the streaming platforms want to deal with the actors direct. These people will still go behind and tell actors to pay half back to them. You can verify this.”
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