From Cinemas To Clicks: Why Nollywood Stars Are Launching Own Channels

Over time, Nollywood audiences have shifted from waiting on cinema releases or paying for premium streaming services to conveniently watching blockbuster films for free or at low cost on YouTube and similar digital platforms.

With platforms like YouTube offering direct access to audiences and revenue, Nollywood stars are bypassing traditional gatekeepers. But what does this mean for the future of cinemas, streaming giants, and the industry at large?

With platforms like YouTube providing direct access to audiences and revenue, Nollywood stars are bypassing traditional gatekeepers, reshaping how Nigerian films are distributed and consumed. But what does this shift mean for cinemas, streaming giants, and the industry as a whole?

Omoni Oboli’s Love in Every Word and Bimbo Ademoye’s Broken Hallelujah exemplify this trend, amassing 25 million views in two months and 8.7 million views in just one month, respectively.

More than meeting the growing demand of digital viewers, Nollywood actors are transforming their roles , moving beyond acting to producing, distributing, and monetising their own content.

Stars like Ruth Kadiri, Mercy Johnson, Bolaji Ogunmola, Regina Daniels, Toyin Abraham, and Sonia Uche are leading the charge, turning YouTube from a niche platform into a thriving hub for Nigerian cinema.

In an interview, Nollywood actress Franca Igwe revealed that ace producer and actress Funke Akindele—fondly known as ‘Jenifa’—may soon start producing original content exclusively for YouTube, underscoring the platform’s rising importance in the industry.

Funke is like the Oga kpata kpata right now,” Igwe said. “She is really big because of her fan base, which is really aggressive when it comes to how they love her. So, just imagine when she starts posting on YouTube.”

Today, actors are no longer just in front of the camera—they are behind it, producing, uploading, and cashing in directly. What began as a creative workaround to industry bottlenecks has transformed into a full-scale migration to digital platforms.

But what sparked this quiet revolution? How did YouTube go from a backup plan to Nollywood’s new frontline?

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With platforms like YouTube providing direct access to audiences and revenue, Nollywood stars are bypassing traditional gatekeepers, reshaping how Nigerian films are distributed and consumed. But what does this shift mean for cinemas, streaming giants, and the industry as a whole?

Omoni Oboli’s Love in Every Word and Bimbo Ademoye’s Broken Hallelujah exemplify this trend, amassing 25 million views in two months and 8.7 million views in just one month, respectively.

More than meeting the growing demand of digital viewers, Nollywood actors are transforming their roles—moving beyond acting to producing, distributing, and monetising their own content.

Stars like Ruth Kadiri, Mercy Johnson, Bolaji Ogunmola, Regina Daniels, Toyin Abraham, and Sonia Uche are leading the charge, turning YouTube from a niche platform into a thriving hub for Nigerian cinema.

What Triggered The Mass Migration?

To answer this question, I dug into a significant YouTube crackdown in 2022.

The crackdown disrupted some Nigerian YouTube marketers and aggregators, such as Affine Max Productions, Share Vsta Productions, and Aforevo. These companies were buying film rights and selling them on YouTube on behalf of producers.

The executive producer of Affine Max productions, Mr Victor Tochukwu Edeh, recounted that before the 2022 crackdown, “Actors were actors, marketers were marketers, and producers were producers. We would get movies from Producers, pay them off or sign a contract deal to sell their films on our channels at a stipulated length of time and an agreed rate, either to be paid at intervals. Since building big channels was a bit stressful, no one paid attention because marketers were willing to take the risk and build the channels.”

He narrated that the business model ran smoothly since bigwigs who were largely into production, Uchenna Mbunabo (CEO of One and Two productions), Uche Nancy (CEO of Uche Nancy TV), and other producers, including actress Ruth Kadiri, had not yet owned or monetised YouTube channels of their own.

“We had several channels, each with millions of views and thousands of subscribers. So when YouTube’s radar caught our channels, we were flagged for reusing and sharing content across different channels,” Edeh narrated.

Successful Nollywood movie YouTubers owned an average of 10 to 20 channels then. Aforevo reportedly owned more but was heavily affected by YouTube policies before 2022. Share Vsta and Affine Max, who were at the epicentre of Nollywood movie marketing, were heavily impacted in 2022 and lost most of their channels.

When asked why YouTube always flags down Nollywood movie YouTubers, Edeh admitted that the fault lies mainly with the marketers.

He narrated that “the crackdown on Nigerian YouTube channels started before 2022. YouTube had always been strict, but 2022 affected us a lot.”

 

He recalled that the moment YouTube started monetisation, African creators, Nigerians in particular, started abusing it; they would use racy thumbnails, they would use provocative titles, add words like ‘sex’ and say ‘how the rich boy sleeps with me’, they published one movie across different channels with different titles to lure viewers, all of which were against Youtube policies.

“People started complaining that YouTube was corrupting people, especially minors. It became too much that YouTube was filled with many dirty things, so they had to close monetisation in 2018, which led to the death of one YouTuber.”

The Guardian reports that on April 3, 2018, a tragic shooting took place at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California.

The shooter was identified as 38-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam, an Iranian-American woman who wounded three individuals, one of whom was critically hurt, before taking her own life.

Aghdam’s father, Ismail Aghdam, suggested that her anger stemmed from YouTube’s decision to stop monetising her videos.

Nasim Najafi Aghdam was known online as a vegan activist who operated a website named NasimeSabz.com, which translates to “Green Breeze” in Persian. On her site, she expressed her views on Persian culture and veganism and shared extensive critiques of YouTube.

Edeh added that following this tragic homicide, YouTube decided to open up monetisation again, this time with stricter rules and content regulations for different ages, “but Nigerians always try to outsmart the system,” he said.

“We simply registered under a CMS (Content Management System),” he stated.

CMS is a platform used by media companies, multi-channel networks (MCNs), and other organisations to manage their YouTube channels, content, and rights. It helps content owners manage video ownership, monetisation, channel permissions, and analytics across multiple channels. The CMS also supports YouTube’s Content ID system, allowing content owners to claim, control, and monetise user-generated content using their copyrighted material.

Edeh explained, “These CMS helped us avoid certain risks that came with strikes and, of course, the YouTube strict rules. But even so, nothing was guaranteed.”

The Rise of Actor-Owned Channels

As many YouTubers struggled to regroup and rebuild their channels, more producers and actors seized the moment to launch their YouTube platforms. This risky gamble has become worthwhile and revolutionary, reshaping the landscape of Nollywood’s digital presence.

It takes a lot to grow a YouTube channel and monetise it. According to YouTube benchmarks, to fully monetise your channel and get a cut of ad revenue, you must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time across all your videos over the last 12 months, or 10 million short views over the previous 90 days.

YouTube also added a lower monetisation tier that gives creators access to fan funding and other features, but not a cut of ad revenue. To qualify, you need 500 subscribers, three public videos uploaded in the past 90 days, 3,000 hours of watch time across all your videos over the last 12 months, or 3 million short views over the previous 90 days.

Here is how creators earn from YouTube:

1. Cost Per Mille (CPM): This is the amount advertisers pay per 1,000 ad impressions. CPM rates vary based on the viewer’s country, video content, season, and niche. For instance, finance or tech channels earn higher CPMs than entertainment or vlogs.
2. Revenue Per Mille (RPM): This represents the actual earnings a creator receives per 1,000 views, after YouTube takes its cut (typically 45%). So, if a creator earns $2 for every 1,000 views, the RPM is $2.
3. Ad Types: Revenue also depends on the type of ads shown, such as:

Skippable ads

Non-skippable ads

Bumper ads

Display ads

YouTube Premium revenue (based on how long Premium users watch the content)

4. Viewer Engagement & Watch Time: The longer viewers watch and engage (likes, comments, shares), the better the algorithm favours the content, leading to more ad opportunities and higher revenue potential.

YouTube vs. Netflix/Prime Videos/Amazon: A Cost and Control Analysis

Actress Franca Igwe believes that the Cost of production is why Nollywood actors and producers opt for YouTube TV instead of Netflix classical productions.

“So Netflix is expecting you to spend 140 million on a particular movie. Then they pay you, let’s say, 250 million.

“But how many people and producers in Nigeria have 140 million? Do you understand? But YouTube now, YouTube is not strict when it comes to the amount of money.”

Big streaming platforms, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which were supporting Nollywood producers by funding their movies, significantly cut allocations in Nigeria last year.

Netflix announced last year that it invested over $23 million in the Nigerian film industry over the past seven years, supporting a total of 5,140 jobs in Nigeria and benefiting producers like Kemi Adetiba, Mo Abudu, Kunle Afolayan, and Femi Adebayo.

Amazon Prime Video also underwent a strategic shift at the beginning of the year, refocusing on European original content, downsizing its operations, and reducing funding for Africa and the Middle East.

Movie Producer, Tochukwu Edeh, on the other hand, believes that Actors discovered how much Producers made from them.

Producers dared to make their money themselves instead of relying on marketers.

“At some point, Producers began to see that it was actually possible to own and grow their own channels and that marketers were getting a lot of money out of them, so they decided to create their channels and make the money themselves without having to share.

“Actors as well have decided to own their channels because they want to make their own money, being that YouTube pays well, they want to sell their faces and talents by themselves, without having to wait for any producer.”

Igwe also shares this sentiment, “Producers pay less. They might use you for a particular movie, and then, maybe, they’ll pay like 100k. When that movie is out, they get like maybe 100 million from the movie, as an actor, you’re done with your job, you know, in Nigeria, we don’t have royalties, right?”

The Pursuit Of Relevance :

YouTube pays very well, and it’s established that our actors are cashing out. However, away from the monetary motivation, Producer Edeh believes that another factor for the actors is their ability to sell themselves and remain relevant.

“They want to sell their faces and talents by themselves, without having to wait for any producer and also, it helps veterans stay relevant, some of these veterans may just phase out if they are not seen on screen regularly so, to still keep their relevance considering the daily influx of talents into the industry, they decided to have their channels.”

 

What It Means For New Actors:

Actress Franca Igwe affirmed that it bridges the gap between the length of time some actors have to wait before getting jobs, “Most actors are opening their channel because they need to be comfortable, they need to be able to afford what they want, they need to be able to afford life itself. Because if you’re waiting for producers sometimes to call you for a movie before you get paid, sometimes you wait for eternity because there are a lot of actors nowadays and almost everybody is excellent, the competition is very high.”

“Now, the reason why I love the shifts is because it has given us more room to express ourselves, right? For the audience, for people to also see us,” she added.

She, however, expressed a disturbing scenario, “There is no actor on earth who will tell you that he or she prefers to be in a YouTube film. I do not prefer to always be on YouTube and not be in any blockbuster movies.

“So there’s what we call YouTube face, Cinema face, and Netflix face.

“And when casting directors out there view you as someone who is a YouTube face, they feel like you’re not so good of an actor, and that’s why you’re on YouTube and not Netflix, because of the quality,”

Igwe believes it has created more room for new actors and actresses to gain ground and get into the industry. “More producers, more actors,” she said, “You just have to be good at what you do.”

“It has created more opportunities for upcoming and aspiring actors because the more channels there are, the more they seek actors. There are a lot of fishes in the river.”

She cited cases of Chidi Dike, Genevieve Ukatu, Clinton Joshua, Stephania Bassey, Eronini Osinachi and a few other new talents that have made remarkable entries into the industry through Ruth Kadiri’s YouTube channel.

 

What This Means For Nollywood

Producer Edeh said, “What I think the implication of this would be for the industry over time is that there would be a mass litter of plenty of movies without quality, because nobody is considering the quality of movies they make again; they just want to have plenty of content to sell, that’s all.”

Igwe, in agreement, also said, “YouTube is not strict, they don’t even care about the amount of money used to produce your films. I feel like even quality doesn’t matter there. And that’s another problem: you can upload anything, and you still get your views, your followers, and you still get your money.”

She also mentioned bias on the part of the producing actors, who would most likely prefer to give themselves the lead role in their movies without considering whether they are best suited to carry the role or not.

She, however, stated that as more Ace producers took to YouTube,  it may affect the grading system of the industry since good movies are now streamed on YouTube, not just Prime Video and Netflix anymore.

“This AMVCA, they did not recognise any YouTube films, they only recognised movies that are blockbusters. So you as an actor, in order to get awards like that, in order to get recognition, you don’t only need to be on YouTube.”

 

Conclusion

 

From escaping the grip of exploitative producers and marketers to reclaiming creative control, and from sidestepping the high costs and strict gatekeeping of platforms like Netflix, Nollywood actors and veterans are embracing YouTube as a viable, and often preferred, distribution and monetisation channel. This shift is powered by a mix of accessibility, autonomy, and a direct connection to loyal audiences.

However, as more actors successfully build fanbases and monetise their content, a broader question emerges: how will this digital migration shape Nollywood’s global standing, especially when compared with more structured industries like Hollywood and Bollywood?

There’s also a growing need to balance quantity with quality. As the volume of content increases, so must the industry’s commitment to raising production standards—ensuring Nollywood’s growth is not only visible, but sustainable and respected on the world stage.

From escaping the grip of exploitative producers and marketers, to taking control of their creative narratives, to mitigating production costs and rigid entry requirements on platforms like Netflix, the wave of Nollywood actors and veterans embracing YouTube as a primary distribution and monetisation platform is driven by several connected factors.

But as more actors build loyal audiences and master content monetisation, they may also need to pause to ask how this shift will position Nollywood on the global stage alongside more structured industries like Hollywood and Bollywood.

They may also need to check the quality of Nollywood movies that hit the airwaves against the quantity, which is a factor that marks a growing industry.