Emerging actor and producer, Olushola Michaels, has admitted that indigenous actors are not appreciated as much as their English-speaking colleagues in Nigeria.
Insisting he has all it takes to make an impact in the movie industry, the Ogun State indigene disclosed that the English-speaking actors get most of the big endorsement deals and accolades.
He told The PUNCH, “Yoruba actors are not highly recognised in the industry; top priorities are often given to their English-speaking colleagues. I want to urge organisations and top government agencies to treat all actors equally, irrespective of the different languages.”
Also, Olushola said that young actors found it hard to grow in Nollywood because the older ones were not supportive.
He said, “When, as an up-and-coming filmmaker, you want to feature big names in your movie, instead of them to make it clear that they can’t work with a greenhorn, they will scare you away by charging large sums of money as fees. Since you cannot get top names in the industry, you will be left to shoot with upcoming stars.
“If your movie features one or two known faces, it will be appreciated better by marketers, online stores and the public. But if the movie features upcoming acts alone, it becomes hard to sell it to the public.”
Olushola, however, insisted that he had plans to shoot series of movies and work with movie directors like Afeez Owoh, Lancelot Imasuen and Desmond Elliot.
Currently studying film at Seriki Olopolo Movie Academy, which is owned by Owoh, Olushola has starred in movies like Moromo, My Husband My Enemy and Retribution.
