James Aboagye, President of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) has rejected the assertions that the sector he oversees is dead.
He said the situation in which the industry finds itself now could be best described as going through transition. Although the President of the Film Producers Association of Ghana has agreed that there are some bottlenecks that need urgent attention to once again make the industry vibrant, he would disagree with anyone who thinks the industry is dead or even in comatose.
“I won’t say the industry is dead or in coma. Just like any human being, the industry is going through transition and I can say there are also challenges that we are dealing with. One is moving from analogue to digital system. That is where the world is moving now, nobody buys CD anymore. Government support too is not enough.
“The ecstasy and eagerness to be the first person to watch newly released movies done right here in Ghana, for sometimes now have disappeared. There are those who attribute the situation to poor and shoddy production, coupled with lack of investment. While some are of the view that love for foreign contents is to be blamed, others also think it is largely due to change in taste as a result of globalization. These observations have caused some to conclude that the industry ceased to exist or is in the intensive care unit.”
However, explaining what he called challenges confronting the Ghanaian movie industry on Zylofon FM morning show ‘The Statecraft,’ James Aboagye argued that government support is not much to propel the industry to where its competitors are currently. He noted that successive governments after Dr. Kwame Nkrumah have done little to help while the structures built by the first president have been sold, leaving the industry struggling.
On what they are doing to join the digital world, James Aboagye intimated that the association is working on a plan to build Ghanaian Netflix with wholly local contents that will be available both locally and for those who are in diaspora.
He called for government’s support to ensure that this plan comes to fruition since the industry is capable of providing jobs for the youth.
Addressing the issue of non-payment of actresses and actors, FIPAG president appealed for fair reasoning, saying “It is unfair for them (actors and actresses) to keep complaining like that. Do they think of how the movies sell in the market and what is spent on production, for some every opportunity, all they do is keep nagging and complaining, complaining. They should also think of the loses we make sometimes.”
“While some are helping the industry players to fix challenges confronting us, some are just selfish and want everything for themselves. Let us put our shoulders to the wheel to make the industry better for all of us,” James Aboagye told Noel Nutsugah.
Source: ModernGhana
