Cinema Tax and Creative Profit: Navigating B2B vs. B2C Models in Nigeria’s Film Industry

The internet is currently on fire over the clash between Kunle Afolayan and Funke Akindele, and as usual, the dragging departments have started their thing.

First, let me set the context for those who may not be aware:

In one video, Kunle was seen to be talking about how he is not avoiding cinema, but actually was one of the pioneers of new age cinema and the itinerant marketing as far back as 2006. I particularly remember he toured across Nigeria and abroad to promote his movies, Irapada and Figurine, back in the days. According to him, it’s an exhausting venture – one he is not keen to always do. And he said that if there are other proven ways to make a cinema movie and market it without needing to do a lot of skits, he would gladly take it.

In another video, he was seen to be saying he is not in competition with Funke or anyone else because he wouldn’t want to be recorded to have earned ₦1 or 2bn, only for him to pocket a “meagre ₦10m” as his personal profit at the end of the day.

Of course, fans of Funke saw this and believe that it is a backhanded compliment and that it reflects envy on Kunle’s part. Funke herself took to her IG stories to fire back even though she didn’t mention anyone’s name.

In my opinion, Kunle’s comments aren’t necessarily about “jealousy,” but first about his strategic trade-off. He has chosen the B2B model, partnering with global giants like Netflix. This path requires immense energy spent on production quality to meet international standards, which leaves little appetite for the high-octane, ground-level hustle required for a local box office run.

On the other hand, Funke Akindele is the undisputed Queen of the B2C model. Her success isn’t just about dancing skits or noise, it’s about Product-Market Fit. She understands the Nigerian mass market better than almost anyone else and has built a promotional machine that works.

The real friction here is that Kunle used a hyperbole (the ₦10m profit claim) to make his point about profit margin vs. volume of work required. While the actual profit on a ₦1bn gross is significantly higher than ₦10m, Kunle was highlighting the heavy “Cinema Tax.”

After the cinema takes roughly 50%, the distributor takes 10%, investors monies are returned with interest, cast and crew overhead expenses are taken, and taxes are paid, the producer’s slice of profit is indeed much thinner than the public realizes.

Saying ₦10m is the profit from a ₦1b revenue comes across as an attempt to diminish the value of Funke’s hustle. This is where the “I-better-pass-my-neighbor” mentality often poisons our discourse. We find it difficult to celebrate one person’s successful strategy without subtly casting shade on another’s.

Funke’s fans have every right to defend her, as this is another episode of industry people and producers making cheeky comments about her methods.

At some point, she’ll be forced to fight back. But I hope she uses everything as fuel to keep going.

But instead of dwelling on that as fans and blocking each other over who is greater, we should be studying the diversity of their success.

We are witnessing two masterclasses in film business happening simultaneously. We can learn how to secure global licensing deals from Kunle, and we can learn how to mobilize a massive local audience from Funke.

There is enough space in the sky for every star to shine without dimming another.