Posted by Chinenye on Tue 12th May, 2026 - tori.ng
Nollywood actress and filmmaker Bolaji Ogunmola has spoken out about the rising cost and financial risks involved in producing films for YouTube, saying the platform was never originally designed for full-scale movie distribution.
(Bolaji Ogunmola. photo by independent news nigeria)
Nollywood actress and filmmaker Bolaji Ogunmola has spoken candidly about the difficulties of producing films for YouTube, arguing that the platform was never built with movies in mind.
In a recent interview with Jay On-Air, Ogunmola described making films for a YouTube audience as both costly and financially risky.
She explained that actor fees are substantial, with some commanding between N4 million and N5 million for just four days of work, while even lower-end rates can run between N1 million and N2 million.
She added that audiences often assume producers rake in significant profits from films with millions of views, when the financial reality is frequently far more modest.
Ogunmola called on Nigerians to be more constructive in how they criticize YouTube filmmakers, stressing that even the least celebrated film on the platform requires significant investment to produce.
She also made a broader observation about Nigeria's film distribution landscape, noting that Nigeria is uniquely positioned as the only country producing movies specifically for YouTube a situation she attributed to the country's underdeveloped distribution infrastructure.