“Hollywood made me feel like a ‘commodity’ after ‘Lionheart’ movie” – Genevieve Nnaji
Genevieve Nnaji revealed that despite the success of her 2018 film “LionHeart,” which Netflix purchased for a reported $3.8 million, she did not receive the necessary support in Hollywood to pursue further opportunities.
Speaking at the 2024 Afro-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum/Afreximbank Annual Meetings, Nnaji, who has benefited from the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) program by Afreximbank that offers support, including financial aid, for Africa’s creative sector, discussed her experience seeking partnerships in Hollywood and realizing she was considered a commodity there.
“For the first time, I realised I was a commodity. I thought, you know, given what I had done with Lionheart, and all of that, I was going to have an opportunity to do more. Getting there and having the kind of support, that obviously CANEX is bringing on board, but I thought I could find it in Hollywood. That was not quite the case,” she said.