Stella Damasus: Why Nollywood actors should be paid royalties

Stella Damasus has suggested that a percentage of proceeds from Nollywood movies should be paid to actors as royalties.

The ace actress gave her opinion during a recent interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica.

Damasus argued that actors are usually paid meager money for their movie roles.

She said to meet their financial obligations, they shoot multiple movies at a time with little rest in between, which can adversely affect their health

Damasus also sought that contracts include clauses stipulating that actors should receive a royalty from movies.

She said this would curb cases of Nollywood veterans pleading for financial assistance from the public in the twilight years of their careers.

“A lot of filmmakers make their films and pay the actors one-off,” she said.

“But they take the film to show in different places, sell it to different people who will dub it to different languages, sell it to different platforms, and then they keep the money.

“But the actors don’t get royalties like it’s obtainable in other places. Imagine doing thousands of episodes of a film that can show for years without you having claim to a dime in royalties.

“You shoot back to back because you are paid stipends, and you don’t have royalties. So you depend on what you are paid on set.

“Now you go from set to set and don’t have time for a proper medical checkup. You are dealing with your body in a way that you probably don’t understand, and when you are in your fifties or sixties, the health complications begin to show up.”

Damasus advised the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) to set up health insurance and emergency funds to help members during difficult times.

“The film industry should have something like healthy insurance,” she said.

“They can partner with hospitals and pay a stipulated amount monthly, even if it is for the initial consultation or tests that can be covered, for card-carrying members of the guild.”

Recently, there have been cases of Nollywood actors embarking on public fundraising to tackle medical emergencies.

These appeals have elicited mixed reactions from the public, with questions raised on how some of these actors used the proceeds they received from movies in their prime.