Toyosi Etim-Effiong Says Nollywood Actors Can Earn More Through Film Profit-Sharing Deals

Talent manager and media entrepreneur Toyosi Etim-Effiong has urged Nollywood actors to explore film profit-sharing agreements as a way to earn additional income beyond their initial acting fees.

Etim-Effiong said professionally negotiated deals could allow actors to receive extra payments when films perform well commercially, giving them a share of the revenue under agreed terms.

She spoke during an interview with PUNCH Online after a session on the Creative Economy Stage at Moonshot 2026 by TechCabal in Lagos on Thursday. The session was titled ‘Africa’s creative economy: The numbers and the next bet’.

The founder and Chief Executive Officer of That Good Media said some industry professionals were already negotiating such agreements, but the practice was not yet widespread in Nollywood.

“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,” she said.

She compared the opportunity with royalty arrangements in Nigeria’s music industry, where artists can earn additional income from their work. According to her, the industry did not always have the structures needed to support royalty payments, but professionals worked to establish more standardised systems.

“The music industry wasn’t always like this. It was people who took it upon themselves to make a proper global standardised industry from this music industry that now got singers to start getting royalties,” she said.

Etim-Effiong argued that the film industry needed more professionals capable of helping creatives turn their work into sustainable businesses. She said considerable attention had been given to training actors, singers, videographers and cinematographers, but less effort had gone into developing the managers who negotiate commercial opportunities for them.

The founder and director of TGM Academy, which trains talent managers, said actors, musicians and other creatives needed professional representation to build sustainable careers. She added that one manager could represent both actors and musicians but advised managers to handle no more than three talents at a time, depending on their workload.

“When you take up a talent as a manager, it’s like you are working with a start-up. It’s like a business,” she said.

Moonshot 2026, organised by TechCabal, brought together stakeholders from Africa’s technology and creative industries to discuss innovation, investment and business opportunities.