In terms of movie production, Ghana has really come a long way. We have been able to establish our own movie industries. Various aspects of our movie industries are doing pretty good. However, I have put together some clues which indicate that our movie industries are still performing below required standards.
Split of our the Movie Industry into Several Industries
I do not know whether we have a single movie industry in Ghana or quite a number of such industries. Each passing day, new industries are formed without one knowing the real objectives behind the formation of such industries. Latest to join the already existing woods, as we reported yesterday, are Vollywood and Tallywood. In a small country like Ghana, one would not expect numerous divisions within its movie industry. Here lies the case where a wood-like name is attached to every single movie produced from a specific region of the country.
Ideally, a movie industry is made up of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking. Among other things, these include production companies, film studios, film festivals etc. Since time immemorial, not a single major film festival has been organised in the country; yet, we wake up on our feet and just create industries anyhow, with poor-quality produced movies from such industries.
Why don’t all these self-styled movie industries come together under one big umbrella and learn from the expertise of one another, take Ghana’s movie industry to the next level (unless they are comfortable with their present stage) before finally thinking of doing their own things.
Organizing Events/Festivals out of Movies is a No-Go Area within Our Movie Industries
Making our movie industry grow is not about embarking on mass production. Organising meaningful movie events is one sure way of growing a movie industry. In our case, the numerous movie industries we have in Ghana consider this area as a no-go place. The only events they are capable of organising are premieres and award shows.
When we take our music industry for example, quite a number of events are organised to project our music and musicians. Even if such events don’t take our musicians to the international scene, they are made known to Ghanaians both home and abroad. Same cannot be said about our movie industries. It is time momentous events are organised for our movie industries to showcase what we’ve got.
We Can’t Discover More New Talents
How can a movie industry grow when new actors are not discovered? The success of a movie industry, among other things, depends on discovering new talents to replace aging and outdated ones. The Ghanaian movie industries are filled with same old faces that can be spotted in every movie that is released in the country. Much is not done to unearth, train, and feature new talents to fit in the shoes of the old faces we see on our screens.
It will be shocking to find out some years to come that there are no good actors to cast in movies again, simply because the ones we have currently have grown old.