19th February, 2015
Funsho Arogundade
Top comedian turned movie producer, Ayo ‘AY’ Makun has cried out to Suleiman Abba, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, over the massive piracy of his hit movie, 30 Days In Atlanta.
In an open letter also made available to P.M.NEWS Showbiz Trends, AY urged the police boss to use the machinery at his disposal to identify and arrest those involved in the nefarious act.
According to the top comedian, the excitement that greeted the movie industry with the box-office success of 30 Days In Atlanta has quickly turned to sorrow after he heard that his creative work has been pirated by a marketer in Alaba.
“The result of my sweat and sleepless nights has been sold by a traitorous miscreant, yet unknown, to a dubious marketer in Alaba. The news that would have made not just more Nigerians but also foreigners invest in Nollywood, has been dampened by the nefarious activities of these intellectual pirates who hide in Alaba,” AY stated.
The popular movie, which has turned Nigeria’s highest grossing cinema movie of all time, is now being hawked openly on major streets of Lagos.
The comedian said that he has contacted Silverbird Group, with whom he submitted the movie’s master; Afam Ezekude, Director General, National Copyright Commission and Ahbu Ventures, a topshot in Alaba market where the alleged pirates are operating, yet nothing serious has been done to arrest the situation and get the movie off the streets.
Our correspondent saw the pirates hawking the pirated copies of the movie on major roads and highways including Ikorodu Road, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lateef Jakande Road, Obafemi Awolowo Way and other Lagos areas at N500 per copy.
30 Days In Atlanta, a 2014 romantic comedy film produced by Ayo Makun and directed by Robert Peters, was a success at the Nigerian cinemas with a box-office records of over N140 million. The movie also had a successful run in Ghana where viwers filled cinemas to capacity.
The film, shot on locations in Lagos and Atlanta, Georgia, USA, features AY as Akpors, Ramsey Nouah, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Desmond Elliot, Omoni Oboli, Rachael Oniga, Yemi Blaq, Ghana’s Majid Michel and Juliet Ibrahim, and Hollywood stars including Vivica A Fox, Lynn Whitfield and Karlie Redd.