Box Office Announcements Are A Distraction — Biodun Stephen

Popular Nigerian producer and filmmaker Biodun Stephen has voiced her opposition to the public announcement of cinema earnings, stating that it creates unnecessary pressure and a distorted view of success.

She shared her thoughts during an appearance on the Paul & Baaj In Character podcast.

Stephen argued that the industry needs to move away from publicising box office numbers, noting that such figures act as a distraction.

According to her, it places immense pressure on others who mistakenly believe those numbers are the only true measure of success. She compared the trend to a marketplace scenario where people blindly rush into a business simply because they see someone else succeeding at it, failing to realise the unseen hard work required to make that product sell.

She further questioned the obsession with these numbers, asking if a filmmaker has even conquered Nigeria enough for people in Kano to recognise them as an actor.

Biodun Stephen maintained that box office earnings alone do not define a film's quality, longevity, or global potential.

She contrasted a highly successful commercial film that might actually be poor in quality with a really good, well made film with export potential that earns significantly less, asserting that judging success solely by such figures is a very shallow yardstick.

She said:
"I think that we really should do away with the announcements."

"I feel like this is a distraction, and it puts pressure on those other people who feel as if that is the determinant and that's how you determine my success."

"Somebody starts selling slippers and people are rushing to buy slippers, the next one is going to sell slippers because they think that slippers sell, meanwhile they don't understand what you have put in to ensure the slipper sells."

"It's great to hunger for more, but I always say, have you even conquered Nigeria that you can stand and say that if I go to Kano they know me as an actor?"

"The film go tough, but it can be a lot of crap, and then the film that is really good that can travel, that has export value, can do 40 million… the only yardstick for measuring success is this very shallow number."