Revive dying movie industry

It is no secret the fortunes of the Ghana movie industry is seeing a down-turn. Even the casual observer would have realised that compared to previous years, the numbers of Ghanaian films being premiered have reduced significantly.

As pointed out by our columnist Arnold Asamoah Baidoo, in his feature in today’s edition, not too long ago movie actors and actresses took matters in their own hands with regards to movie production.

This gave birth to the era of movie actors/actresses producing and staring in their own movies. Had this trend been encouraged and supported, Showbiz has no doubt that the industry will not be in the sorry state it is in now. From all indications, the admirable effort of the actors and actresses was not enough to save the industry, especially without support from government or corporate Ghana.

Most of these movies were self-financed and considering how expensive a venture like filmmaking can be, it is little wonder the industry has taken a downturn. Interestingly enough, our neighbours in Nigeria have seen how financially rewarding the film industry can be and it is little surprise there is a credit facility dubbed the Nollyfund which is available to filmmakers.

The NollyFund is available to movie producers for the production of films of international quality that would be screened on various platforms of movie distribution both in Nigeria and internationally. As a country we cannot boast of being a serious film making country if corporate Ghana is not prepared to invest into it.

Considering the huge numbers of people employed during the production of a single movie, it is in the interest of government to see the industry thrive. Maybe with government setting the example and showing confidence in the industry, corporate Ghana will eventually follow suit.