Creatives must take advantage of digital revolution - Speakers at Graphic Showbiz forum say

Speakers at a forum organised by Graphic Showbiz have asked players in the creative industry to make digitisation a top priority if the industry is to survive the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The forum, which was on the theme “Maximising the benefits of digitisation in the COVID-19 era,” came off at the Executive Theatre of TV3 on Tuesday, June 22.

The panellists, drawn from various sectors of the creative industry were rapper Okyeame Kwame; events organiser and CEO of the 3Music Awards, Sadiq Abdulai Abu; filmmaker Ivan Quashigah; creative entrepreneur Mabel Simpson of Msimps fashion; artiste manager George Britton and blogger Ameyaw Debrah.

Focus of forum
Moderated by General Manager of Media General Television, Francis Doku, the forum focused on options available digitally for creatives to exploit and how beneficial, especially from a financial perspective, digitisation could be.

In her welcome address, Editor of Graphic Showbiz, Adwoa Serwaa Bonsu said although devastating, COVID-19 had lessons for players in the creative sector.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a big blow to the creative industry which will take quite some time for it to recover from. Thankfully, digitisation came to the rescue at the height of the pandemic and I believe this has lessons for all of us including taking another look at our traditional models and modify what we can to keep with the times.

“Digitisation plays a key role in this and that is why we have selected this diverse panel from sectors of the creative industry to help us break down the conversation about digitisation and look at how we can maximise its benefits,” she said.

The speakers spoke about some of the initiatives they had to embark on when the pandemic hit Ghana in order to keep their brands alive including setting up streaming platforms and coming up with new ways of staying relevant.

Digital revolution

They also urged players in the industry to take advantage of the digital revolution that is coming so they are not left behind, highlighting some of the options available to them.

“Digitisation is very expensive to implement and the benefits may not be seen in the short term but it has huge benefits in the long term if we are consistent and keep at it," Sadiq Abdulai Abu said.

Okyeame Kwame and Ivan Quashigah also urged Ghanaian creatives to embrace and accept their own. "We have to be able to grow our own platforms and that can only be when we accept what we have developed here,” Okyeame Kwame said.

Ameyaw Debrah and George Britton also urged creatives to think outside the box and look at new ways of breaking through in the digital market while Mabel Simpson also said there was hope.

Guests who graced the forum included Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyemang; Gospel musicians Cwesi Oteng, Bernard Amankwah and Kofi Owusu Peprah; rapper M.anifest, comedians Lekzy Decomic and OB Amponsah; actor Bill Asamoah among others.