But somehow, the actress no longer graced the screens as nothing more was heard about her again. So many people felt she was no longer in the scene because new acts had come and overtaken her.
But in an exclusive interview with Saturday Beats few days ago, the actress said she practically ran out of Nollywood when the piracy scourge bit harder.
Lillian, who became a producer before her hiatus, blamed her long break on the bitter experience she said she had as a producer.
“I purposely took a break from doing movies. I became a producer and I wanted to be doing my own movies but piracy couldn’t allow me. In Nollywood, experience is actually the best teacher; nobody really tells you the truth. You have to go through the experience to find out what others are suffering from. We cannot continue to ignore the fact that piracy has been trying to bring the industry down. That was why I took a break. I couldn’t continue producing movies without recouping my money. It is not a good thing,” she said.
She said the scourge also affected a lot of big actresses who are no longer featured in movies.
“You don’t even see the super stars in movies anymore because producers now try to cut cost because they are not guaranteed that they would get their money back. By the time you pay the stars and settle other bills in making the movie, you wouldn’t know what would come back to you as your returns. When you release the movie on DVD or even before you do that, it is already pirated.
“We need a lasting solution to this problem, otherwise there will no longer be Nollywood because we are really going down. We are hoping the new government will have the time and come out with a stricter punishment to those who do the act,” she said.
Lillian however said she is still an actress and is available anytime any producer calls her.
“I am not always in the country because I do other businesses. Maybe the time they want to call me for a job will be when I am jetting out. But now, I am home. I am fully on the ground unlike before. I am available if any producer needs me. It is just that I feel sorry for them how they would recoup their money,” she said.
SOURCE PUNCH NG
