How Netflix is Scamming Nigeria - Jude Chukwuka Spills EVERYTHING In New Bombshell Exposé.

"It's another scam."

American streaming giant Netflilx made a monumental mark and caused a cultural reset when they decided to enter into the Nigerian market as Netflix Naija. Since then, they have acquired and distributed a slew of Nigerian movies and television shows. Blockbusters from Oloture to The Wedding Party to huge series such as Castle & Castle more.

Netflix coming to Nigeria has been a big deal and a lot of creators have expressed joy and hope in their entering of this space.

In fact, for their initial launching roll-out, they did a huge celebratory video that gathered a lot of African creators who came together, with Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji at the forefront to announce themselves unto the scene.

But now, questions are being raised. Has Netflix coming to Nigeria really done anything major for the country? Nigerian veteran actor, Jude Chukwuka doesn’t think so and in an extensive interview with The Cable Nigeria, the 55 year old actor spilled EVERYTHING about what he thinks of Netflix’s entrance into the industry. It’s quite an interesting read and I cannot wait to share it with you. Let’s go!

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In the interview with The Cable Lifestyle Nigeria, which I must say is a really good interview overall and you can check out for more about what Jude thinks about Nollywood, he was asked about what he thinks about Netflix’s entrance into the industry. His response was brutally honest. He talked about how creators are getting underpaid, how they’re not exposing Nigerian content to the world, and a whole lot more.

This is what he said:

Interviewer: On Netflix, I believe, for every opportunity, one often finds there’s a downside. What do you make of the firm’s recent incursion and increased presence in Nollywood?

Jude: If you ask me, that’s another scam. Will they give a Nigerian producer the same amount of money they give to an American producer to run films? And it’s not their fault. Our people have sold us cheap. When someone makes a film with close to N30 million and you’re telling them the best you can give is $35,000. I felt very insulted when I heard that story. So, it’s another scam. And know it, the Netflix they’re showing us here is Netflix Naija o! What they give us is for our environment. Is it easy for people to access them from outside of our environment? It’s very difficult. I told my brother in the US to check out a Nollywood movie and he said he had to go and search. It’s not on their front page like we see here. I told him to munch his front page and send it to me. There was a world of difference between what they’re showing us here and what Netflix was showing globally.

So, our Netflix is for us. It hasn’t added any real value. I say it and I want them to come at me. Oh, are you talking about Genevieve Nnaji? Her story is the enticer. How many people have had the kind of treatment they gave to her since Netflix started in Nigeria. They make Genevieve’s case a pointer but the movie industry is bigger than just that. Why would you point to the fact that you gave her X-Y-Z amount and say you’ve helped. People are coming in with quality productions and you’re saying you can’t give them more than X-Y-Z amount. It doesn’t make sense. We just need to begin to look inwards as to how we can grow rather than wait to leverage on these foreign firms.

Whoa!

I never knew that Netflix was only offering up to $35,000 for movies made for N30,000,000 ($77,629), that doesn’t even cover the cost of production for the movie. If what Jude is saying is true, because that is quite the allegation, then Netflix seriously needs to do better.

The Nigerian movie industry is still very young and has so much room for growth. If a conglomerate like Netflix is deciding to step in and cash out, then it is only fair that compensation for the talent is also reasonable. The other things he talks about in regards to Netflix looking different across nations, that's just the way Netflix is - it looks different depending on location. Still, I agree with Jude in saying that we need to begin looking inwards to grow because Nollywood has a lot of serious potential and if the outside nations can see that and want a piece of the pie, then why aren’t we as Nigerians paying more attention? It’s definitely something to think about.

That’s All.

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