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Nollywood veteran Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has revealed how fellow actress Ruth Kadiri played a pivotal role in motivating her to explore filmmaking on YouTube, marking a significant shift in her career.
Speaking on the Nollywood on Radio podcast, Omotola recounted that the inspiration came in 2023 during a vacation. “I came on vacation in 2023, and Ruth called me. She said, ‘Mama, do you know what’s going on? There’s a whole revolution with YouTube.’ She showed me numbers and everything,” she recalled.
Kadiri reportedly described YouTube as a “phenomenal” platform that provides creators complete control over their content. Omotola said, “She told me, ‘You can do what you want on YouTube, but I think you should get in on this. You would do very well.’ She didn’t let me rest.”
Eventually, Omotola gave in to Kadiri’s encouragement. “That girl gave me no peace of mind. So I called my producer and said, ‘Let’s just try something.’ We shot the first project in four days and used the fifth day for cleanup. I surprised myself. I was thankful to her for giving me the courage to try,” the actress added.
The success of Omotola’s first YouTube project inspired the creation of Mother’s Love, a feature film that later screened at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). “Mother’s Love came because I was under pressure. I just told my producer, ‘What if we did a feature film?’ and that was it. We started planning immediately and shot it in less than two weeks,” she explained.
Despite her enthusiasm, Omotola admitted she initially felt nervous about releasing the film. “It took long to release because I was scared people might laugh at me or say it wasn’t good enough,” she confessed.
Omotola’s move into YouTube filmmaking represents a new chapter for Nollywood, as more industry veterans embrace online platforms to gain creative freedom and reach global audiences. The shift also underscores the growing influence of digital media in the Nigerian film industry, signaling an exciting evolution in content creation for Nollywood filmmakers.
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