Ghanaian Actors Turned Producers Talk About What Motivated Them to Venture into Movie Production | Are Their Reasons Plausible?

It’s natural for every human being to desire to progress in life. In every profession, a great number of people strive very hard to climb the success ladder—as it is with other professions, so it is with the movie industry.

The new crop of actors we currently have are transitioning from being just actors to producers – working behind the scenes more often. This new challenge has raised quite a number of questions.

Many are of the view that actors who venture into production are the ones who are not getting desire roles; therefore they set off with their own productions and cast themselves.

It should be noted that actors like Charlie Chaplin, Mel Gibson, and others all evolved from their roles as actors to producers and directors so it’s not all that new when Ghanaian actors ply the same route. However, the market structures of Hollywood, Bollywood, and other movie industries are completely different from ours.

At a time when our movie industry (Ghollywood to be specific) seems to be on the verge of collapsing, it is the same time that quite a number of Ghanaian actors are diverting their attention from acting to producing and directing their own movies.

We have seen the likes of Van Vicker, Eddy Nartey, Kafui Danku, Nadia Buari, Juliet Ibrahim, Lydia Forson, Yvonne Nelson, Ama K. Abebrese, Nana Ama McBrown, Yvonne Okoro and others produce their own movies.

According to actress cum producer Kafui Danku, each and every one of them have their own reasons for venturing into production. Speaking on Pluzz FM – an Accra based radio station – Kafui pointed it out that she loves the act of storytelling and that motivated her into producing her own movies.

In her opinion, she believes glamour movies are not and cannot be out of date as people think. I presume Kafui did not start her own production house because others were doing same. According to her, her colleague actors who feel the need to start their own production houses are free to do so.

As she puts it, there are lots of challenges associated with being a producer; and one is getting actors from all walks of life to cast in a movie. Even though some of the actors they cast are their friends, Kafui believes they ought to be paid like anyone else because that’s their job.

Another producer who spoke on the same platform is Mabel Germain – sister of Jon Germain. According to Mabel, it is love and passion for production that motivates them to move from acting to production. “When you are a producer, you feel free to express yourself”, she stated.

In my estimation, it seems our actors are venturing into production because they need some kind of freedom as directors and producers restrict their activities or ‘role type’ for which they are not happy.

The question, however is, do these actors turned producers take it upon themselves to learn (acquire further education) about the new trade? This will be a different topic for discussion for another day.