Nollywood producers may leave YouTube if… — Afolayan

Ace filmmaker Kunle Afolayan says Nollywood producers may leave YouTube as a distribution platform if the naira strengthens significantly against the United States dollar.

Afolayan said this in an interview with former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on the Nidacity Podcast, while discussing the increasing migration of Nollywood filmmakers to digital platforms.

According to him most filmmakers who have migrated to YouTube will abandon the platform if the exchange rate was to fall significantly.

He stated that the financial incentive was a major reason filmmakers are moving their productions to the platform.

The filmmaker said although YouTube offered filmmakers greater flexibility and accessibility, platforms such as Netflix and Prime Video provided better opportunities.

Afolayan said: “YouTube can never give you what Netflix and Prime will give you, right? Never. But it’s the most flexible. It’s for everyone. It’s like a starting point.

“If you don’t have the strength to negotiate or if you don’t have access to the big players, then you just make your film, open an account, and put it there.

“If people watch it, you make your money.”

Afolayan said filmmakers currently earning substantial revenue from high viewership on YouTube could lose interest in the platform if the naira strengthened significantly against the dollar.

He added: “But look, the reason why people now will say, ‘I’ve hit a million views, I get $10,000,’ is because of the exchange rate. If dollar drops, everybody will run away from YouTube.

“So the attraction right now is the exchange rate because that’s what’s making it more profitable than it possibly is. So, if dollar comes to, say, N200 to $1, people will leave.”

Afolayan also described YouTube as a suitable starting point for filmmakers who lacked the resources or bargaining power to secure deals with major streaming platforms.

The filmmaker said such producers could independently upload their films to YouTube and earn revenue based on viewership, making the platform accessible to a wider range of filmmakers.