Nollywood actors can significantly boost their earnings beyond standard upfront fees by securing film profit-sharing agreements negotiated by professional talent managers, according to media entrepreneur and talent manager Toyosi Etim-Effiong.

Speaking to PUNCH Online on the sidelines of the Moonshot by TechCabal 2026 conference in Lagos on October 29, 2026, Etim-Effiong emphasized that structured back-end deals would allow artistes to share in a movie's commercial success.

The session, held at the National Theatre during the two-day tech and creative gathering, was themed ‘Africa’s creative economy: The numbers and the next bet’.

While noting that a few industry insiders are already implementing profit-sharing arrangements, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of That Good Media stressed that the practice is not yet widespread.

"It is a proper and a solid manager that will negotiate back-end deals for films, such that, okay, if a film makes over a billion naira in the market, I get X amount extra on top of what I’ve been paid," Etim-Effiong explained.

Drawing a parallel to the Nigerian music industry, she pointed out that royalty structures were not always the norm. Musicians only began receiving consistent royalties after industry pioneers took deliberate steps to build a globally standardized framework.

She argued that the film industry must follow a similar trajectory to professionalise commercial returns.

Etim-Effiong also underscored a critical gap in the creative sector: while immense resources go into training actors, directors, and cinematographers, there is a shortage of trained professionals dedicated to monetizing that talent.

As the founder of TGM Academy, an institution training talent managers, she noted that professional representation is vital for turning creative output into sustainable enterprises.

She advised managers to treat each talent like a startup, recommending that a single manager handle a maximum of three creatives at a time to ensure dedicated focus.

ID