Movie producers, directors pirate their own movies for quick money – Tonto Dikeh

Actress Tonto Dikeh has made a shocking revelation about Nollywood movie producers as she says some pirate their own movies.

Speaking in an interview with Plus TV, the actress said piracy was affecting the industry badly. She noted that the rationale behind the decision by some stakeholders to pirate their own movies is to make quick money.

She said: “It is so deep that the truth is, it is these same producers, directors, marketers that are now the ones pirating their own movies. There was a time I overheard a conversation between producers saying instead of ‘me losing out, let me go and pirate my movies myself so I can cash out myself if I don’t make enough from the original copies’”.

She continued: “See, the pirates on the streets, we sell the access to them from the inside, so if we are fighting corruption, we need to fight it from the inside first. If we can stop this from inside, the ones outside too will stop. The ones doing it to themselves need to stop. You can’t be fighting what you are instigating”

Some months ago, veteran actress Idowu Philips, added her voice to the call on government to put in more efforts to combat the deadly cankerworm of piracy, which is stifling the growth of the creative industry.

“The government should help the industry to eradicate piracy; there was a time a producer was even mobbed when he went to fight some pirates in Alaba,” she said.

“Piracy has eaten deep into the industry, I am grateful to God because I have other sources of income like anchoring weddings and being a brand ambassador. I started anchoring weddings after one of my sisters-in-law insisted that I anchor her child’s wedding fifteen years ago.”