So I just read an interview with Stephanie Okereke on how she got laughed at at the Good Shepard audition when she said she has starred in well over 100 movies.
Quite funny, and I am surprised she has observed the laughter part with objectivity and probably did not feel insulted. Lets see, one of my favorite actors, Russell Crowe has been acting movies, not TV episodes since 1992, he has made 38 movies.
In Nollywood, our starts pride themselves on having made 70+ movies. As horrible as the movies are, they are still proud to say it.
If a star like Omotola makes $8,000 per movie, what is wrong with her making 1 movie in two months and making it a good movie? This goes to both the producers and actors. Because $8,000 is more than a masters degree holder makes a month in America. I know a Dr in the USA who makes $6000 a month. He lives very well. so Nigeria or Ghana? why can they not live well on $5000 a month? They run around making terrible below standard movies, two or three in a month.
oh….. they want to boast of driving gas guzzling SUVs. So they need to amass enough $8000 in one month. This is sheer ignorance. SUV? even Tandie Newton traded in her SUV for a hybrid. But back home, to be a fulfilled star you must drive an SUV. Please our stars, as you are rushing to buy your SUVs, remember the poor ozone and the number of people who have died in Iraq as Bush pretends to fight a world peace war when it is the black gold that is at stake.
Tie it in to my previous articles on fashion and accents. Superficiality. Grand delusions.
I know someone will comment that Hollywood stars make 15 million per movie. There is no way you can compare Hollywood stars to Nollywood stars. The industries themselves cannot be compared. Nigeria did not have independence when one of the best silent movies by Dziga Vertoz, ” the man with the movie camera” was made. 1929. We do not manufacture anything let alone CDs or DVDs, we do not develop softwares. When America is tired of a camera, then it becomes the in thing for us. So our stars should just leave Hollywood and its stars alone. Its like comparing water and oil. the only common factor is they are both liquid as in both worlds or persons appear on a TV screen as performers; and I use that term loosely, borrowed from the English dictionary only and not meant to be literal.
The best role a Nollywood star will get in Hollywood is a background role.
My candid opinion is that our stars need to stop chasing cheap fame and cheap glory by demanding for standards. As the standards grows, the finances will also grow.
