Actor and producer Pere Egbi has corroborated Femi Branch’s claims about the challenges faced by filmmakers in Nigerian cinemas.
Egbi shared his personal experience with his film, “The Silent Intruder,” which he claimed was unfairly treated by cinemas.
In an Instagram post, Egbi thanked Branch for speaking out on the issue and revealed that he had planned to wait until the end of January 2025 to take action.
Egbi claimed that he spent over N150 million of his personal funds on producing “The Silent Intruder” and borrowed an additional N11 million from a friend in London.
According to him, he spent over N200 million in total.
Despite this significant investment, he said the film only made N53 million in cinemas, when he personally earned just N8 million.
He expressed frustration that the film had not been picked up by streaming platforms like Netflix or Prime Video, despite being released almost 11 months ago.
Egbi stated that he had to leave Nigeria and return to America to work and pay back the loan he took to finance the film.
The actor and producer vowed to take matters by his own hands, threatening to release the film on YouTube himself if nothing changes by the end of January 2025.
He wrote on Instagram: “Dear Femi Branch, I came across your video, and I want to say thank you for speaking out on this issue. Every single thing you said is pure facts. Honestly, I was planning to wait until the end of January 2025 before making any moves, but at this point, I’m saying, “F*** it, let’s go!”
“This nonsense some cinemas do—hiding films, poor screen times—it happened to The Silent Intruder, my film. I spent over 150 million naira of my personal funds just on production, borrowed another 11 million naira from a friend in London, and still ended up being shown shege by cinemas. Imagine spending over 200 million naira (pre-production to post-production), and the film only made 53 million naira in cinemas. Out of that, I personally got just 8 million naira.
“It’s been almost 11 months since its release, and I’ve seen no Netflix or Prime Video deal. Meanwhile, films that premiered alongside mine are already streaming. Because of all this mess, I had to leave Nigeria and return to America to work, just so I can pay back the kind-hearted woman who lent me the money.
“At this point, I don’t care about being blacklisted. If nothing comes through by the end of January, I’ll release the film on YouTube myself. Enough is enough”.
