In FUTO, after the course on logic and philosophy, another course that was extremely valuable was the one on engineering management. The professor (Dr Onwuka) had an MBA and explained one secret while teaching a sub-area they called “Engineer Turns Manager”. Explaining engineering consulting, he dropped a vital hint: when you negotiate as a company, you look big, but when you go as a person, you are small.
Since that course, I have never approached any valuable business transaction as a person; I always go via a company. During NYSC when NYSC Plateau approached me to help on the structured office wiring of the Jos secretariat, I negotiated from Ultinet Systems, a business name I registered in Jos, while in NYSC camp. They saw a company, not Ndubuisi, and they paid good money which gave me my first car.
Why am I writing this? Ladin Cima, a very famous Kannywood actress, just revealed that she has been paid N5,000 ($10) or lower in her roles. According to Premium Times, she said to BBC: “I am in the Kannywood, but it will surprise you that all my time in the movie industry, I never earned beyond N5000 naira. It is always N5000 and below. I did not have enough to save and do anything tangible for myself all these years because of how poorly we get paid. Let me tell you, even before this interview, I was at a movie location, and after my recording, I was paid N2000 naira only.”
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Sure, some producers have responded that they paid her sometimes N40,000 (!!!). But at the end, someone needs to help people like Ladin and this is where I expect some NGOs and government agencies to lead.
A simple business name like “Ladin Cima Entertainment” and requesting that producers negotiate via that company which she controls will do magic. She will see herself as a staff of that her company. No human being will ask a company to provide a staff for a movie role for $10 but humans can ask people to appear for a role for $1 or free!
Meanwhile, some producers, including Ali Nuhu and Falalu Dorayi, debunked Ladi’s comments after the interview.
While speaking to BBC Hausa, Nuhu said he had paid actress Ladi N40,000 in all the films she ever appears from the stable of FKD, his company.
Another producer, Dorayi, said he paid the actress between N30,000 and N40,000 for appearing in his movies.
People, someone should help Ladin and others in this type of situation. The missing link here is knowledge.
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She said she never earned above N5000 for featuring in a movie, and the producers countered that she earned tens of thousands. How do we settle this matter now? Well, someone should ask either of the parties if those payments were made by cash or via bank transfers, if it’s by the former, then it’s hopeless to even look into the matter, you will get dizzy, without meaningful outcome.
Let me believe that both the actress and producers are still acting, when they leave the set they can tell us what actually happened.
Well, to create more jobs in the land, every performer must have agents, whether in sports, entertainment or politics (the latter is even more theatrical), that way, there won’t be need to regale us with embarrassing and depressing statements like the one quoted above.
A nation of comedians.
The issue is that the producers are making movies that will not generate enough revenue to pay ppl in Nmillions. The producers shd also make their movies marketable to higher networth sources. An organization pays employees from proceeds. The movies also may not have the right quality and grade/class to attract higher value patronage, sponsors and promoters.
So, the producer is the problem.
The article reminds me of a previous Tekedia article published in 2019, ”
Time to get out of the “Woods” – Marketing of Nigerian Media & Entertainment.”