Media Team
Veteran Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has revealed the surprising inspiration behind her venture into YouTube filmmaking.
The screen icon credited fellow actress Ruth Kadiri as the driving force behind her digital content creation journey during a candid conversation on the Nollywood on Radio podcast.
Recalling their pivotal discussion in 2023 while she was on holiday, Omotola shared how Kadiri passionately advocated for the YouTube platform’s potential.
“Ruth wouldn’t stop calling me during my vacation,” the 47-year-old actress revealed. “She kept saying, ‘Mama, you need to see what’s happening on YouTube – it’s a game-changer.’ She bombarded me with statistics and success stories.”
Kadiri reportedly emphasized YouTube’s creative advantages, describing it as a space where artists maintain full control over their projects without traditional industry constraints.
“She was relentless,” Omotola laughed. “Ruth kept insisting, ‘This is your space – you’d dominate here.’ Her persistence became impossible to ignore.”
The constant encouragement ultimately led to action.
“Her nagging worked,” Omotola admitted. “I finally contacted my production team and said, ‘Let’s experiment with this.’ We created our first YouTube project in just five days – four for filming and one for polishing. The results shocked me, and I owe that breakthrough to Ruth’s push.”
This initial success sparked an even more ambitious project – the feature film Mother’s Love, which later earned a prestigious screening at TIFF.
“The momentum from our YouTube experiment gave me the confidence to attempt a full-length film,” she explained. “We moved quickly from concept to completion in under two weeks.”
Despite her industry stature, Omotola confessed to initial hesitation about her digital debut.
“I delayed the release because of self-doubt,” she revealed. “Would audiences accept this new direction? Would they criticize the quality? These fears nearly held me back.”
Her successful transition highlights a growing trend among Nollywood professionals embracing digital platforms for creative expression and global reach.
Kadiri previously discussed her own YouTube journey, citing the platform’s flexibility compared to Nigeria’s conventional film industry’s restrictive frameworks.
