Real Reason Why It's Women That Are Running Nollywood - Deyemi Okanlawon

Hollywood and Nollywood are fighting two completely different battles when it comes to representation of women on screen, and representation of women in the industry. In Hollywood, it is the women who are fighting for equality in the industry. It turns out that in Nollywood today, it is the men who are fighting for equality.

During a sit-down discussion with the wonderful trio of Naz, Zulu, and Damola on the Inkblot Meet & Greet podcast, Nollywood top actor Deyemi Okanlawon opened up about why women are running the industry and why equality is needed for the men in the industry. It was an interesting conversation that at one point became a debate when the only woman in the panel, Zulu, had her own thoughts she had to share with the group. Here is how the interesting conversation went down.

**Before reading on, please make sure to like and follow my Facebook page (Jide Okonjo) so you don't miss out on any new and interesting lists, articles, and stories that I post every single day. I have a really fun page. If you like my page, you will have fun too. So what's stopping you? Like my page and let's have fun together!

Speaking about the lack of leading men on the Inkbloot Meet & Greet podcast, Deyemi Okanlawon said:

We don't have enough leading males, I don't think we do. But most importantly, we don't even have enough movies that require male leads. We don't, we actually don't. We have a market that caters mostly to women, and that is mostly controlled by women. If you look at the top 10 production companies in this country, except maybe two, (they're run by women). It is a matter of representation. Most of the writers I know are female.

Then Zulu responded to Deyemi saying:

The underrepresentation issue, it didn't start today. It comes back to the "no money in Nollywood" idea. Guys are the ones that have to take care of their families, etc. A lot of guys did not actually want to be in the space because they weren't getting paid enough. So it was women who flooded the space because (then it was believed that) Nollywood was for people who did not go to school, for the societal rejects. And so women have been able to take advantage of that. But you see now, you people (men) are now a little bit jealous of what's going on. You people are now coming in trying to be chefs as against cooks because there's now money coming in small small.

Deyemi responded back to Zulu saying:

I don't think anybody is trying to feel entitled to anything. I think what is happening is that some of the men are saying "Hold on, yes I can be supporting lead but where are the stories? Where are the stories that celebrate the men?" We want equality. Even when it comes to the platforms: the Amazons, the Irokos, the Africa Magic, it's women women women. And it's good, we love it, maybe that's even why the industry is growing and we appreciate it. However, we need more equality.

Very interesting conversation. What do you think? As a watcher of Nollywood movies and a voyeur of the industry, do you think that Nollywood needs more equality in favor of men? Or do you think that right now, it is good as is? Let me know your thoughts about this matter by leaving a comment either below or on my Jide Okonjo Facebook post.

That's All.

I hope you’ve had fun. Don’t forget to like my page (Jide Okonjo) if you don’t already for more stories like this, the fun never ends

To catch up on other content you might have missed, click here.

Until next time, have a wonderful rest of your day.