Media entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer of EbonyLife Group, Mo Abudu, has dismissed allegations that a cabal exists in Nollywood working with cinema owners to deny certain films access to screening slots.
In recent weeks, some filmmakers and cinema-goers have taken to social media to allege that films are sometimes removed from scheduled screenings, replaced with other titles, or that cinema staff persuade audiences to switch movies after tickets have been sold.
Speaking on ARISE Television on Saturday, Abudu said cinema operations are driven strictly by business considerations and audience demand, not sentiment, favouritism or personal relationships.
While veteran actress, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, acknowledged during the discussion that such complaints have become widespread within the industry, Abudu firmly denied that the alleged practices occur at EbonyLife Cinemas, which she owns.
“I have heard these things, people have been saying this. Actors themselves have come out to say this has happened to them. And there are some fans too who corroborate these stories, confirming that some people convinced them to watch one movie apart from the movie they came to see,” Omotola said.
Responding, Abudu said, “I can’t speak for all the cinemas, but I can certainly speak for EbonyLife Cinemas. it’s not true. We run a professional business. Our return on investment depends very heavily on making sure that we have people sitting in every single cinema.”
She argued that it would make no commercial sense for cinemas to deliberately restrict screenings or discourage audiences from watching particular films.
“It is in our interest to ensure that every cinema is full. We have five cinemas in EbonyLife. We do about 30 screenings a day. That’s about 900 screenings in a month. There is plenty of space.”
Addressing complaints about peak-hour slots, she said audience demand does not always align with expectations. “Even if you say people prefer peak hours, and they get 50% of that, that’s still about 450 screenings in a month,” she said.
Abudu further explained that screening schedules are adjusted based on performance, noting that cinemas must balance creative considerations with operational costs such as electricity, air conditioning and staff salaries.
“When your film is in our cinema and it has no audience, and I am running air conditioning and paying staff, and you only have two or three people in a 100-seater cinema, by the next week we are going to have a conversation,” she said. “That time slot can no longer really work.”
She stressed that such decisions are not personal and apply equally to all producers, regardless of ownership or status. “There is no sentiment to anybody being in the cinema space,” Abudu added
To illustrate her point, she referenced a film produced by her daughter, Temidayo Abudu, which was removed from cinemas due to poor turnout, “My daughter had a film in the cinema last year. When it wasn’t performing, we had to move the film out. So there is no sentiment,” she said.
“This is about return on investment. It does not matter who owns the film. If I, Mo Abudu, make a film and we are not able to fill up the seats, it’s going to give way to the next film that can,” she added.
The comments come amid growing tension between filmmakers and cinema operators, particularly during December, Nigeria’s busiest cinema season.
During the period, Toyin Abraham alleged that cinemas falsely declared her film Oversabi Aunty sold out and assigned it unfavourable screening times.
Filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan also accused some cinemas of collecting ticket revenue without screening his film Colours of Fire, while actress Ini Edo described her experience as a first-time producer as exhausting, citing what she called “gatekeeping and intimidation.”
