Nigerian film director, James abinibi has advised Nigerian filmmakers not to take their film to the cinemas.
He stated this on his Instagram page recently where he revealed that distributors are the major real winners in the cinemas, earning the bigger profit of the box office.
According to him, producers of Nollywood movies are only left with 35% of the cinema gross, which now factor in the cost of promotions, merchandise, and skits to push the film.
James Abinibi wrote, “Don’t take my word for it, but if you ask me, my advice is usually this: don’t take your film to the cinemas. Most filmmakers who do barely break even. Many pursue theatrical releases with the hope of making a killing at the box office, while others do it for the ego boost among peers. But na hot tears dey end am most times but steeze must be sustained.
“Let me break it down. You spend ₦150 million to make a film, and it grosses ₦300 million at the box office. Sounds impressive, right? Not so fast. Out of that ₦300 million, you, the producer, might take home just under ₦100 million. Now, factor in the cost of promotions, merchandise, skits, and all the dances you did to push the film. Exactly.
“The real winners in theatrical distribution are usually the distributors and also the outlet owners even though they have their overhead to worry about. As a producer, you’re left with about 35% of the cinema gross (unless the percentages have recently changed). This drastically reduces your bottom line and at this point, you’re left hoping that streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon will offer enough to help you recoup your losses and maybe earn a small profit.”
