Platform Procures Health Insurance Package For Aging Nollywood Actors

Africa and Nigerian virtual cinema platform, Circuits, has procured comprehensive health insurance policy for aging Nollywood actors, especially, those who has crosses the age of 70.

The package tagged ‘Film Veterans’ Dignity Fund,’

the firm said, currently has three actors on it for now and that the beneficiary has been enjoying monthly payments since August, 2025,, disclosing that, these beneficiaries will be paid for life, while there are plans to add more aging actors to this platform.

This, it said, serves as the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Circuits, aimed at giving back to the industry its operating in as well as tackles old age poverty that usually affects most old actors in the nation’s entertainment industry.

Speaking at a roundtable with journalists in Lagos at the weekend, the chief Operating officer of Circuits, Mrs Imade Bibowei-Osuobeni said, the pension-style support for three industry pioneers, Chief Pete Edochie, Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow) and Chief Lere Paimo, signals a structural shift in how African cinema accounts for those who built its cultural and commercial value but grew old without institutional protection.

To her, “this is not charity, it is an economic responsibility. The men and women who built Nollywood’s cultural wealth deserve lifetime dignity, not abandonment. We designed the Film Veterans’ Dignity Fund to correct a long-standing economic injustice in the creative industry.”

Bibowei-Osuobeni described the Fund as the first private-sector, recurring welfare mechanism in Nollywood’s history, specifically for veterans about 70 years with a life time approach- not one off.

“For years, the industry depended on informal structures. Contracts were weak, royalties were inconsistent, and piracy wiped out incomes,” Bibowei-Osuobeni said. “We believe the new economy must honour the old creators and create a sustainable economic pathway for the new.”

She added that, the fund will scale in phases, with more veterans joining in the coming months as partnerships deepen. No Nollywood trailblazer should grow old in financial distress, she said.

Bibowei-Osuobeni said, Circuits’ broader strategy is to position African cinema as a platform for economic growth, job creation and global market expansion.

She described Circuits as “Africa’s first true pan-african virtual cinema scheduled, pay-per-view, and designed to protect intellectual property while expanding revenue channels for filmmakers. With content library from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia etc, we have shown that we are a truly Pan-African company”

“Films premiere on the platform at specific times, mirroring the experience of physical cinema attendance.

“When you buy a film on Circuits, you are paying for a scheduled seat, not random access,” she said. “That ensures creators receive real-time, measurable income, ” she pointed out.

The COO noted that, the platform’s limited-release model, in which films remain available only for a set period, has increased scarcity value and improved yield for producers. But the greatest financial battle, she stressed, remains piracy.

“In one day, we can record 10,000 infringements, and we take down more than 9,900 almost within minutes. In under a year, we removed over one million illegal channels and URLs. Without this fight, creators cannot earn what they truly deserve, and the economy cannot grow, ” she disclosed.

Circuits’ state-focused creative development programme is another economic pillar.

Ekiti State was the first to commit $15 million to the Ekiti State Creative Impact Fund, which will train residents, produce state-owned content and drive new Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“15 other states are in the pipeline and are at different levels of conversation” Bibowei-Osuobeni said. “This is not another government project, this is a commercially anchored system that builds jobs, strengthens state finances and gives young people paid digital skills, ” she noted.

She said the rollout begins in January, with projections that thousands of young people across participating states will enter creative and technical employment pipelines.

In December, Circuits will debut its most ambitious distribution experiment, working with its theatrical distribution partner, Blue Pictures: a community cinema model for Agesinkole: King of Thieves (Part 2).

The platform also secured rights to reintroduce the blockbuster after the part one sold hundreds of thousands of tickets in the cinemas when it released.

“We are taking cinema to communities across the South-West halls, event centres, town squares at N3,000 outside Lagos and N4,000 within Lagos,” she explained.

“We want families at the grassroots to experience Nigerian film at a price they can afford. This is an economic inclusion model.”