Nollywood actress and filmmaker Funke Akindele has cried out over the high rate of piracy in Nollywood.
The box office Queen, who is gearing up to release her new movie, Everybody Loves Jenifa, in Cinemas on December 13th, urged Nigerians to say No to piracy. She stated that recording videos at the Cinemas is piracy and urged people to stop it as it is killing them.
Funke noted how she worked so hard on her new project, spent a lot of resources, and is still investing in the movie. She ended her post by urging people not to encourage piracy.
“SAY NO TO PIRACY!!!
Recording short videos at the cinemas is piracy!!!
Please stop it!!!
Piracy is killing us!!
I worked so hard, on this project. Please I’m pleading do not be caught promoting piracy!!!
A lot of resources were and are still being invested in the movie Everybodylovesjenifa. Again, do not be caught encouraging piracy. Thank you”.
Similarly, last month, Deyemi Okanlawon had spoken out against piracy as he appreciated a fan. The actor had shared a screenshot of a fan of his who was hoping to watch a pirated version of his latest movie, and another fan chided him for such behavior and promised to give 5 people free tickets to watch the movie.
Reacting to it, Deyemi noted how Nollywood producers, especially newbies like himself try to tell global-level stories, with no support from government or financial institutions, yet Nigerians have no idea how much damage and loss their participation in piracy causes them. Praising the fan, he stated his sweet gesture has made him have hope in Nigerians.
In October, actress Wumi Toriola, who made her first entrance to Cinema production, laid a heavy curse on those asking if her movie would be available on YouTube or Telegram. Some of her fans who couldn’t afford to watch her movie in Cinemas had questioned if it would be made available on YouTube and if they could have a Telegram link to watch the movie illegally, and she took to her Instagram Live to rain curses on them in her dialect.
Last year, Toyin Abraham took a huge step against piracy as she paraded 5 people trying to sell out her movie, Malaika, which was streaming in the cinemas. During a press conference, the mother of one revealed how she was hinted at the rampant piracy move, as she disclosed that she nearly went mad because she had spent over five hundred million naira on the movie project.