Nollywood Star System and Celebrities in the Eye of Film Audience

This study examined Nollywood Star System and Celebrities as perceived by film audience in Lagos State and also the attitude of the audience to film's plot, theme, character (actor) and language. Specifically, the objectives of the study include identifying audience preferences of Nollywood Star/Celebrities and Practitioners in Lagos State, understanding the audience rationale and gratification for their preferences. The study used the Selective Exposure Theory while it adopted the descriptive research design with survey as method of study. Three hundred (300) copies of questionnaire were administered as the main instrument. Convenience Sampling Technique was adopted for this study. The study found out that majority (92.3%) of the respondents watch film. Majority of the respondents preferred actors/actresses most having 53.3% followed by producers with 20.30% and scriptwriters with 12% majority of the participants agreed (60.3%) that film as at 2005 are better compared to 2021 as they depict culture and give insight. Respondents believed that the industry is growing on a faster pace because of the new practitioners involved having 74.33%. Majority agree (82.2%) that there have been changes in Nollywood recently. Majority of the respondents are light viewers having (48.3%). The income respondents earn can influence film source. There is a significant relationship between gender and film audience. (χ² = 55.76; df = 40; p< 0.05). The improvement in Advert/Trailer across age distribution is significant (χ² = 46.14; df = 32; p< 0.05; since the calculated value of .000 is less than the 0.05). The results showed that majority of film audience prefer Actors/Actresses than other practitioners star or celebrities in the film industry as majority preferred Odunlade Adekola and also star/celebrities are better advanced than before. The study recommended that the star/celebrities should lead and maintain a reputable and exemplary life that is worth emulation as film audience sees them as role models. Mass media houses should help in enhancing the growth of film industry by projecting their good images more.