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The Movie Industry in Ghana - My
experience
Samuel Dowuona, Accra
Accra, March 26, Ghanadot.com - I have had the opportunity
of acting since my school days. In primary school I was in a
dance drama group, during my secondary school days I acted
in a number of church plays, some of which I wrote and
directed as well.
Besides, I wrote and directed plays for my pupils during my
post-national service teaching days. After that period,
there was a long lull until I had the opportunity to
audition for a role in a movie entitled Candidates for Hell,
somewhere in the early 1990s, but sadly I did not get the
role.
More than 10 years on, I recently decided to try my skills
at acting again so I actually lobbied for a role in a new
Ghanaian movie (title withheld). I was fortunate to be a
co-tenant of the Executive Producer (EP) of the movie so I
got the role without sweat; no audition, nothing - I got
hold of the script one night and in a couple of days I was
on set shooting a movie! Wow! How easy.
During the shooting sessions, I noticed a number of
experiences within the movie industry. Some of them were my
own experiences and others I gathered from my heart-to-heart
conversations with some of the professionals in the industry
who were on that set with me.
As a writer, I thought it was an opportunity to share my
experience with the reading public:
First of all, when I was given the script, I expected some
sort of a contract document to come along with it. Something
to tell me what was expected of me and what I was supposed
to expect in terms the overall transaction, exact role,
remuneration and all. But nothing of that sort came, nor was
it even mentioned.
I thought it as funny, but I decided to keep my cool and
observe the turn of events so I could get the true picture
of what pertains in the industry.
I was interested in the full picture.
My first shock was with the demand for costume. I expected
the EP to provide us with costumes. I mean the EP should
have organized sponsorship from some costume companies for
the movie, but no.
To my utter amazement, I was asked to bring two of my best
suites, shirts, ties and shoes to the set. What was even
more shocking, the EP asked me to bring those suites and use
them for my scenes but I never got use of my own suites,
rather, someone else used both of my suites, shirts and tie
and I had to make do with the same attire I wore from home
to the set!
I was peeved to bits! I however, comforted myself with the
thought that I needed to keep my cool in order to get the
whole picture. In fact that night I related to my dear wife
about my first experience and her immediate reaction was,
“you better ask the EP to do the right thing or back out
from the movie all together”. But as a I said I decided to
hang in there and sacrifice all I could.
Again I went to the set with my own car and at one point my
car was used in the movie without my prior consent! Speaking
of payment for the many days I used my car to go on set and
for the many errands I ran for the sake of the movie with my
own car and gas, I was given a paltry 200,000 cedis ($22) in
two chunks of 100,000 cedis on day three and another 100,000
cedis on the final day of shooting. Wow!
Initially I thought I was the only one being given a raw
deal, probably because I was not a professional per se, so I
decide be inquisitive and to chat with some of the
“professional actors” on set to know what it was like for
them.
One of the key actors in that movie told me she was being
paid a paltry one million cedis ($110) for a very high risk
role she played in that movie. Her character was a chain
smoker and a drunk and she had so many scenes in that movie.
I watched this lady, who in real life was not a smoker and a
drunk at all, smoking at least two full boxes of real
cigarettes and drinking several bottles of alcoholic
beverages. All for the sake of acting a “good” role!
As a matter of fact, my character in the movie had to sit
beside her and watch her smoke as I inhaled the fumes. I
became a second-hand smoker, which doctors say is even more
dangerous than direct smoking. At one point I had to kiss
this lady on the lips several times to get that scene
properly shot from all angles. And what did she get, a
paltry one million cedis.
I was more concerned for the lady because she could hurt her
lungs and kidneys for smoking and drinking that much for a
first time. I was sadly amazed at her story.
She told me how bad she felt about it because that paltry
money did not also come in bulk but in bits and pieces. When
one million cedis come in bits and pieces, your guess is as
good as mine.
That lady had acted in other Ghanaian movies and she could
tell me that in some of those movies, one of which is
currently considered the hope for the Ghanaian movie
industry, the lead local actors were paid not more than five
million cedis ($550) each.
That movie had some foreigners and I am sure they may have
been paid far more than their Ghanaian counterparts.
I found out on one Nigerian movie website that Nigerian
actors are paid between 250,000 Naira (17.5 million cedis)
to two million naira (140 million cedis) per movie.
When we do the Ghana-Nigeria collaborations, the Ghanaian
producers deal with the Ghanaian actors and the Nigerian
producers deal with the Nigerian actors. The result is that
the Ghanaian actors get paid peanuts whiles their Nigerian
counterparts get away with fat cheques.
No wonder the Nigerians churn out very quality movies
lately, in terms of acting, directing and technology. At
least 10 movies a week I am told. Their movies dominate the
African market both on the continent and in the diaspora. As
a matter of fact they now have what they call Nollywood,
named after the famous Hollywood in the USA and they are
rated third in the world today, only behind Hollywood and
Bollywood (Bombay, India).
The problem is that the whole approach to the movie industry
in Ghana, by both producers and actors is very
unprofessional. I say that because a producer (financier) of
a movie prefers to deal directly with actors and sometimes
threaten to dump actors who decide to deal with them
(producers) through managers.
The idea is that managers are likely to deal with the
producer on contract basis, where conditions and terms are
properly documented and a contract fee is duly charged
before the actor even takes the script in the first place.
But as it is now, the word “contract”, is not part of the
producers’ vocabulary. If you dare raise the issue of
contract as an actor, you are on the path to forfeiting your
role and living, especially if acting is all you do for a
living.
It is very difficult for me to imagine that someone acting
for a living and another, making movies for a living would
rather base their professional relationship on some loose
gentleman’s agreement and nothing else.
I also had the privilege of chatting with two of the most
popular Ghanaian female actors (names withheld) who were
also acting in that new movie with me and they were frank
and candid about their experiences with producers. They
confirmed to me that the producers deliberately shy away
from actors who have managers and from those who prefer to
work on contract basis for whatever role you hire them to
play in a movie.
It’s amazing how we claim to be running an industry without
rules or regulations of any sort. We prefer to do it in the
most crude and unprofessional manner. How can we expect to
make progress? What justification do we have complaining
that Nigerian movies dominate our movie market when we pay
our actors peanuts and indeed run the industry down?
In fact I told those two big female actors, I would love to
manage them – that anytime a producer called to hire them,
they should give the producer my phone number and I would
get them a good deal for their actual value. But you know
what? They turned down my offer! Not because it was a bad
one but they did not want to be black listed.
To think that such brilliant actors could be at the mercy of
producers in that manner I was very sad because I knew these
actors and they are some of the most delightful ones to
watch on our screens.
In fact I was not surprised at the names some of these
actors and actresses mentioned as their producers and script
writers. They are what we call in local parlance “one man
contractors, to wit, in their separate movies, they are the
script writers, producers, executive producers, and
directors and guess what, the lead actors as well. Wow!
Maybe those guys would mention names like Eddie Murphy and
Tyler Perry as their inspirers, but you and I know that
people like Eddie and Tyler do the one OMC thing with
perfection. So if you want to copy them, do justice to their
character. On the contrary I cannot imagine someone like
Steve Spielberg being producer, director, script writer,
screen play writer and play even the smallest role in the
same movie.
Those guys usually pick characters off the street. They know
next to nothing about acting and yet are used for serious
business. For me, if there was any award like “The Worse
Movie of The Year Award”, those two guys would be the joint
winners!
I could go on and on, but we must look forward. I think some
of our writers and producers make good scripts but do not
get adequate funding and that is why they choose to play
strategically tough with the actors just to get managers and
contracts off their backs. Their lack of funds is genuine.
But you see we have to be ready to learn and learn with some
passion to strive to do the best and nothing but the best.
This is true and quickly too if the Ghanaian movie industry
is to move forward.
Samuel Dowouna, March 27, 2007, Ghanadot.com
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