Omotola Made ₦22 Million From ₦103 Million Directorial Debut

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde reveals she made about ₦22.3 million from her directorial debut Mother’s Love, which grossed over ₦103 million, and donated the full producers’ share to charity.

Nollywood star and filmmaker Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has given a rare, detailed breakdown of the real economics behind a Nigerian cinema hit. In a recent video statement, the actress-turned-director disclosed that her feature directorial debut, Mother’s Love, finished its theatrical run with a gross of ₦103,094,663. After all deductions, the amount that accrued to the producers was ₦22,276,558.

She explained that the headline box-office figure was reduced by cuts for exhibitors, distributors, print and advertising, Value Added Tax (VAT), entertainment tax, withholding tax, and other charges. “At the end of our run, we had made ₦103,094,663… After deduction from exhibitors, value added tax VAT, entertainment tax, withholding tax, and every other thing… The money that was accrued to us as producers of Mother’s Love was ₦22,276,558,” she said.

Mother’s Love, released nationwide in Nigerian cinemas on 6 March 2026, marked Jalade-Ekeinde’s first time directing a feature film. Produced under her company RedHot Concepts and distributed by Nile Entertainment, the family drama explores maternal sacrifice, class, independence, and community resilience, with significant sequences shot in the Makoko waterfront community in Lagos. It had earlier screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2025 as part of the Industry Market and other festivals.

From the outset of its theatrical run, Jalade-Ekeinde and RedHot Concepts committed 100% of the production company’s share of theatrical proceeds to Slum2School Africa (also referred to as Slum to School), a Nigerian NGO focused on educational access for children in underserved communities. She confirmed that the full ₦22.28 million that came back to the producers was donated in line with that pledge. The move was widely noted as a first for African cinema in committing an entire theatrical producers’ share in this way.

The disclosure has drawn attention both for the transparency it offers into Nollywood cinema economics,showing how much of a reported gross typically remains after the chain of fees and taxes, and for the scale of the philanthropic commitment. Jalade-Ekeinde, marking three decades in the industry with the project, has described Mother’s Love as her first film as both producer and director and indicated it will not be her last.

The figures underscore a long-standing industry reality: even strong theatrical performances leave producers with a fraction of the reported gross after distribution, exhibition, marketing, and statutory deductions. In this case, the producers’ take represented roughly 22% of the final cinema gross, all of which was directed to charity rather than retained as profit.