‘We’re Going to Begin to License Actors’, Says AGN President in A Bid For Standardisation

Emeka Rollas, the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), spoke of upcoming reforms within Nigeria’s film industry to ensure fair compensation and better protections for actors, stating that actor licensing is key to creating a structured and regulated environment in Nigeria’s thriving film industry.

In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Rollas highlighted the need for standard contracts, residuals, and royalties—elements he argues are critical to safeguarding actors’ livelihoods.

“I’ll be speaking from the perspective of the Actors Guild of Nigeria,” Rollas stated. “We know that in Nigeria today, we have many big companies making films here, and nobody is talking about royalties or residuals paid to actors, which is the major source of an actor’s income.”

He pointed out that the absence of such structures leaves Nigerian actors vulnerable, particularly when “big names” fall ill and cannot access the financial support they need.

“You see big names when they fall sick, they don’t get any help because their financial remuneration from the work they do does not extend to royalties and residuals,” the AGN president noted.

“In the normal parlance of benefit, you must have to be financially up to date to get benefits,” Rollas stated. He stressed that the industry must evolve from being a loose association into a structured union that can effectively represent actors’ interests.

“We want to upgrade, we want to unionise,” Rollas emphasised. “It’s no longer about association. This is a union so that we can work as a labour union to confront these organisations who come to rip us off.

“From the structure we’re creating, tapping from the global practice, we’re going to begin to licence actors.”

Drawing comparisons to the international film industry, he revealed that major firms in the US largely ignored the recent writers’ strike because they had already established profitable content pipelines in Africa.

“They were busy picking all of this content for their platforms, so they didn’t bother much about the strike in America because they have somewhere they were already milking the people there,” he said, urging for a structural shift within Nollywood to prevent exploitation.

Also highlighted was the more structured film industry in South Africa, noting that while their film market is smaller, they have more defined protocols for contracts, stating that their structure is working for them.

The president of the AGN emphasised the increasing necessity for “standardisation, not further proliferation of associations” which only complicates the negotiation process. He concluded by stating that while future talks with producers and marketers are essential, the Guild must first establish a strong foundation before these discussions can proceed.

Nigeria’s film industry recently reached a significant milestone at the 2nd “Nollywood Meets Hollywood” festival held in Los Angeles. The event, which saw participation from SAG-AFTRA representatives, casting directors, and members of the Nigerian community in Hollywood, featured a crucial meeting led by the AGN president.

This meeting with SAG-AFTRA management aimed to reinforce cultural and cinematic connections and sought to create exclusive business opportunities within the film industry for all involved.

Frances Ibiefo

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