Biodun Stephen urges filmmakers to stop announcing cinema earnings

Actress and filmmaker Biodun Stephen has urged her colleagues to stop publicly announcing their movies’ box office earnings, arguing that the practice puts unnecessary pressure on other filmmakers and creates a narrow definition of success.

Stephen made the call during an appearance on the Paul & Baaj: In Character podcast, where she described box office announcements as a distraction that could make filmmakers measure their achievements solely by the amount of money their movies generate.

“I think that we really should do away with the announcements,” she said.

“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,” she added.

According to the filmmaker, constantly publicising huge cinema earnings can make colleagues whose movies generate lower figures feel unsuccessful, even when their projects have artistic value.

Stephen argued that the industry should move away from using box office figures as the primary measure of a filmmaker’s success, stressing the need to recognise other aspects of filmmaking beyond commercial performance.