How ‘Yemi My Lover’ made me famous, broke – Yemi Ayebo

Veteran filmmaker and actor Yemi Ayebo has bravely shared the challenges he faced after releasing his breakout film ‘Yemi My Lover’.

Released in 1993, the film, which introduced a Bollywood-style flair to Nollywood, tells the story of Yemi, a young man who falls in love with a beautiful woman named Moji, a mystical water spirit lineage member.

Speaking in an interview with content creator Akin ‘Mrlilgaga’ Abolade, posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Ayebo revealed that despite the film’s success, it left him financially devastated.

He reflected on the movie’s toll on him: “After Yemi My Lover, I produced several other films—almost seventeen, but it surpassed them all. I didn’t profit from that film because it was created during the analogue era. There was no social media then, so I didn’t have the opportunity to promote it widely. The awareness was low, and I was struggling, doing the little I could to promote it. As a result, the movie was pirated, and the marketers were not pleased with me because I handled the marketing myself. The marketers waged war against me, which marked the beginning of my problems with them.

“Since then, I’ve been struggling. Both pirated and original copies of the movie circulated. People were printing and selling it without my consent. Back then, there was no way to combat piracy due to limited means of communication. Across all Yoruba-speaking regions, the film was being distributed illegally, and people profited from it. Some even rented halls to screen the movie and charged people to watch it. Meanwhile, some marketers printed the DVD covers and distributed them, while I was in my office selling what little I could.”

Sampling

Additionally, the actor stated that the film’s financial loss was primarily due to a general lack of understanding or knowledge about the film industry.

He further alleged that several musicians, including Olamide, sampled the film in their songs without seeking his permission or making any contact with him.

In 2013, Olamide released the song ‘Yemi My Lover’, a track on his album ‘Baddest Guy Ever Liveth.’

“In the film industry, there’s supposed to be a division of labour, but I did everything myself due to my limited knowledge. I produced ‘Yemi My Lover’ with about N50,000 to N60,000 and only made a small amount back, barely enough to cover production costs. I didn’t own a house then; I was renting an apartment. I bought a camera, rented an office, hired a few staff, and got a car. That was all.

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“I’m trying to build a house, but it’s still incomplete. I have never met Olamide, and he didn’t reach out to me when he sampled ‘Yemi My Lover’ in his song. I tried to contact him, but I couldn’t get through. When he released the song, I was happy because it served as a form of promotion for me. However, what pained me was that when he wanted to shoot the music video, I expected him to call me to feature in it. I would be thrilled to meet him today”, Ayebo said.

Furthermore, the actor revealed that since the release of ‘Yemi My Lover’, he has struggled to reclaim his place in the industry.

“Right now, I’m broke and don’t have much. The movie industry is all about connections; you’ll struggle financially if you’re not well-connected. I need more connections to get back on my feet.

“All the money I made from my productions ended up with the pirates. I tried to fight them, but I couldn’t win. Thank God for YouTube today, where we can at least share our movies directly with the public.”

Watch Yemi My Lover part 1 here

Watch part 2 here