Former BBNaija housemate, Pere Egbi, turned actor and producer, has revealed that after investing N200 million in his movie, The Silent Intruder, he personally earned a meager N8 million.
His claims observe a latest social media outburst by Femi Department, lead actor of Home of Ga’a, who highlighted the challenges filmmakers face with cinema promotions in Nigeria.
In a heartfelt Instagram publish, Pere corroborated Department’s statements, shedding gentle on his private ordeal with the cinema trade.
In response to Egbi, his movie suffered from poor display instances and insufficient promotion, which he believes stifled its field workplace efficiency. Regardless of spending over N150 million from his private funds and borrowing a further N11 million from a pal in London, the movie grossed solely N53 million in cinemas, leaving him with a internet acquire of simply N8 million.
“This nonsense some cinemas do—hiding movies, poor display instances—it occurred to The Silent Intruder,” Pere wrote. “Think about spending over 200 million naira (pre-production to post-production), and the movie solely made 53 million naira in cinemas. Out of that, I personally obtained simply 8 million naira.”
Egbi expressed frustration that almost 11 months after its launch, The Silent Intruder has not been picked up by main streaming platforms like Netflix or Prime Video, though movies launched alongside his have already secured offers. He emphasised the {financial} and emotional toll this expertise has taken on him, stating that he needed to depart Nigeria and return to America to work and repay the mortgage he took to finance the movie.
“To the kind-hearted girl who lent me cash, I had to return to America to work simply so I will pay her again,” he defined. Egbi additional lamented the dearth of assist for unbiased filmmakers and vowed to take management of his narrative. If no progress is made by January 2025, he plans to launch The Silent Intruder on YouTube, bypassing conventional distribution channels totally.
“At this level, I don’t care about being blacklisted,” he declared.
Pere’s daring stance has reignited discussions concerning the struggles confronted by Nigerian filmmakers, notably in navigating the nation’s cinema ecosystem. Many within the trade have accused cinemas of prioritizing international movies over native productions and giving insufficient display instances to Nigerian movies.
As Egbi awaits progress on his movie, his story has sparked conversations concerning the want for higher assist programs for filmmakers, particularly in securing truthful distribution offers and maximizing returns on funding.
