Omotola: I get Hollywood royalties but nothing from 30 years in Nollywood

Omotola: I get Hollywood royalties but nothing from 30 years in Nollywood

Veteran Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has renewed concerns about the payment structure in Nigeria’s film industry, revealing that she receives royalties and residual payments from Hollywood despite spending far less time working there, but has received no similar payments from her three-decade career in Nollywood.

Omotola said she has worked in Hollywood for about five years and continues to receive payments from her past projects, while her roughly 30 years in Nollywood have yielded no royalty payments.

“I’ve only worked in Hollywood for five years, yet I constantly receive envelopes containing my residuals and royalties. I’ve worked in Nollywood for 30 years and have never received a single envelope. Maybe they don’t know where I live,” the actress said.

Her remarks have reignited the debate over actors’ royalties, residual payments and contractual rights in Nollywood, particularly as Nigerian films increasingly generate revenue through cinemas, television, streaming platforms and international distribution.

Omotola had previously raised similar concerns in 2025, when she disclosed that she had featured in more than 310 Nollywood projects over three decades without receiving residuals.

At the time, she contrasted that experience with her Hollywood work, saying she had received monthly residual payments from two test projects completed during her relatively brief time in the American film industry.

She also shared images of payment envelopes from SAG-AFTRA, the American union representing film and television performers, to illustrate the system under which performers can receive continuing payments from qualifying uses of their work.

The actress used the comparison to call for greater structure within Nollywood’s compensation system, arguing that performers should be able to benefit financially when their work continues to generate value.

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Residual payments are generally payments made to performers when films or television productions are reused or distributed through qualifying channels, such as television broadcasts, reruns or streaming, depending on contractual and industry arrangements.

Royalties can also arise from agreements that give performers or other rights holders a continuing share of revenue generated from the use or exploitation of their work.

Omotola’s latest comments therefore highlight a distinction between a one-time acting fee and continuing financial participation in the commercial life of a production.

Her concerns have also brought renewed attention to the structures supporting Nollywood actors and filmmakers, including contracts, copyright, rights management, distribution and revenue tracking.

The issue comes at a time when Nollywood has expanded significantly beyond the traditional home-video and cinema markets.

Nigerian films are now distributed through international streaming services and other digital platforms, giving productions longer commercial lives and access to audiences around the world.

However, Omotola’s experience has also prompted questions about whether the industry’s financial and contractual systems have developed at the same pace as its global reach.

In 2025, the Chairman of the Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS), Mahmood Balogun, acknowledged the challenges surrounding residual collection in Nigeria while noting that the country was still developing the infrastructure required for effective royalty administration.

Balogun said AVRS had distributed royalties to members but explained that actors and other rights holders who are not members of relevant collecting structures may not receive such payments.

He also pointed to challenges involving copyright awareness, compliance and the collection of royalties from broadcasters, hotels and other commercial users of audiovisual content.

The debate has consequently moved beyond whether actors are paid enough for individual film appearances to the broader question of whether they can benefit from the continuing commercial use of their performances.

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Omotola’s lengthy career makes her intervention particularly significant. She has been one of the most recognisable faces of Nollywood since emerging as a major actress in the 1990s and has featured in hundreds of productions.

She has also transitioned into filmmaking and production, giving her experience on both sides of the industry’s financial structure.

Her recent film, Mother’s Love, provided another insight into the economics of Nigerian filmmaking.

The movie reportedly grossed more than N103 million during its cinema run, but Omotola disclosed that only about N22.28 million accrued to the producers after deductions including exhibitor and distributor shares, advertising and production-related costs, as well as various taxes.

She subsequently disclosed that the amount accruing to her production company from the film was donated to Slum2School Africa, fulfilling a pledge made by her production outfit.

The disclosure offered a glimpse into the gap between a film’s headline box-office figure and the amount ultimately available to producers after industry deductions.

Omotola’s royalty concerns highlight another side of that financial equation: what happens to performers and other creatives after their initial fees have been paid and their films continue to circulate.

The actress has previously indicated that she wants royalty clauses included in her Nollywood contracts, arguing that her work should continue to provide value for her and her family.

Her position reflects a wider push among some Nigerian creatives for stronger contractual protections and clearer mechanisms for tracking revenue generated by films after their initial release.

For an industry that now has a substantial international audience, the issue of Nollywood royalties is increasingly tied to questions of professionalism, transparency and sustainability.

The growth of streaming platforms has made the subject even more important because films can remain available to viewers for years, potentially generating revenue long after their cinema or television premieres.

Whether actors receive additional compensation in such circumstances depends on the contracts governing individual productions, ownership arrangements and applicable rights-management systems.

Omotola’s comments do not necessarily represent the experience of every Nollywood performer, but they have once again placed the industry’s royalty structure at the centre of public discussion.

Her message is ultimately a call for a more organised system in which actors and other creatives can benefit from the long-term commercial value of their work.

As Nollywood continues to expand internationally, the debate over royalties, residuals, actors’ rights and film revenue is likely to remain an important part of conversations about the future of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.

For Omotola, however, the disparity remains personal: after about five years of work in Hollywood, she says she continues to receive royalty and residual payments, while three decades and hundreds of projects in Nollywood have produced none.

Omotola: I get Hollywood royalties but nothing from 30 years in Nollywood