13 years ago, in September 2004, film marketers decided to ban eight actors from Nollywood.
Popularly called the G8, these actors were Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Richard Mofe Damijo, Genevieve Nnaji, Emeka Ike, Ramsey Nouah, Nkem Owoh, Stella Damasus and Jim Iyke.
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Ramsey Nouah is a baby boy(Instagram/Ramsey Nouah)
It all started in the early 2000s when most Nollywood actors started preferring market distributors to independent producers.
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"They
felt shooting with the marketers guaranteed them steady jobs compared
to independents like us, who they felt added no value to their career," Charles Novia wrote in his book "Nollywood till November: Memoirs of a Nollywood Insider."
Marketers
paid fees into actors' accounts even before negotiations. As a result
of this, most actors had a backlog of productions to deliver on.
"Indiscipline
from the actor had a demoralizing effect on general production. Even
the marketers who created these monsters were affected," Novia said.
In
a bid to curb this, the marketers decided to ban these actors from
starring in a movie for one year. This decision shook the industry,
infuriated loyal fans and birthed a new generation of actors.
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Genevieve Nnaji and Nkem Owoh dabbing(Instagram)
Months after the ban, other talented actors took over DVD jackets. Actors like Nse Ikpe-Etim, Desmond Elliot, Majid Michel, Mike Ezuruonye, Uche Jombo and Mercy Johnson had ample opportunity to thrive and in turn, become household names.
Following the ban, Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and Jim Iyke went on to become musicians.
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The
timing of this decision makes it difficult to ascertain if they always
had a passion for music or turned to it as a backup plan.
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Emeka Ike and Genevieve Nnaji in "Not Man Enough"
In a 2011 interview with Connect Nigeria, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde said the ban was part of a changes the industry had to go through.
"Most
of the people we had worked with were not professionals. They didn't
understand the chain of movie making. They thought "why would you be
asking me for that kind of money?" We fought it and today, actors are
well paid."
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Victoria Inyama and Jim Iyke in "Love from Above" (Instagram )
Are actors well paid these days? In 2016, filmmaker Mildred Okwo said that crew and cast are still earning less than they earned 10 years ago
"It's
relative. Several other factors like branding and talent determine your
pay. The ban played a positive role in the evolution of Nollywood. But
not so much on the pay," an undisclosed filmmaker said to Pulse Nigeria.
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Desmond Elliot, Ramsey Nouah, Genevieve Nnaji and RMD at the 2016 AMVCA(Instagram/Genevieve Nnaji)
13 years later, most of the banned actors have gone ahead to win awards, become producers and directors of successful movies.
To some, the ban was a necessary move. To others, it was a dim-witted decision.
Yet, a few others consider it an evolutionary process that has created an advanced Nollywood.
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