Veteran Nollywood actor Kanayo O. Kanayo has stated that the emergence of YouTube played a crucial role in freeing the Nigerian film industry from what he described as years of intimidation and suppression by dominant movie marketers.
Speaking during a recent episode of The Honest Bunch podcast, the actor reflected on a difficult period in Nollywood when marketers allegedly wielded enormous influence and used it to control actors and stifle opposition.
He recalled that the marketers operated as a powerful bloc within the industry, often making decisions without due process.
According to Kanayo, there was a year when as many as 10 to 12 actors were suspended without any form of fair hearing. “They just came together as a union and suspended actors unilaterally,” he said, noting that the sanctions were frequently backed by unclear accusations such as “unholy conduct.”
He explained that many of these marketers also served as executive producers and were intent on keeping actors from gaining independence or building their own brands. “They placed a bar on anything that would allow actors to rise or market their own fame,” he said.
Kanayo also disclosed that actors who attempted to become marketers were slapped with a ₦500,000 fine, which he described as a deliberate attempt to keep them financially powerless. “At that time, the budget for an entire movie was about ₦800,000. So where would an actor see ₦500,000 just to promote a film?” he asked.
He added that the restrictive system left many actors struggling both financially and creatively, until the rise of YouTube and other digital platforms shifted control away from the marketers and gave filmmakers and actors new freedom.
