Award winning movie director and producer, Shirley
Frimpong-Manso, has bemoaned the lack of money
in the Ghana’s movie industry.
The director and brain behind Sparrow Production,
which is the purveyor of many top Ghanaian
movies, was speaking to Jessica Opare-Saforo on
the Traffic Avenue on Citi FM. According to Shirley,
the movie industry is bedeviled with many
hardships, most of which stem from financial
difficulties, because it has, in her opinion, been hit
hardest by the economic hardship facing the
country.
Shirley, who is set to premiere her latest movie
Grey Dawn, also expressed disappointment and
concern at the level of piracy in the Ghanaian film
industry.
“There is no money anywhere, because people do
not buy movies on CDs anymore and for most
Ghanaians, [watching a movie] at the cinema is not
an option; it’s a luxury that many simply cannot
afford. Apart from the fact that it is not [a natural
phenomenon of] our culture, people [would prefer]
to use their money to buy fuel to power their
generators in this era of dum-sor”.
The best director at the 6th Africa Movie Academy
Awards debunked rumors that movie directors in
Ghana are rich, because they make a lot of money
through their movies.
“You need, on average, $100,000.00 to shoot [just]
a regular action movie of international standards
and, clearly, [such money] is not easy to come by;
in fact you will never make that amount of money in
[the film industry of] Ghana. I laugh when I hear
people say that ‘Shirley makes a lot of money’
because it is just not true. Even Abdul Salam
Mumuni will bear me witness.
“I do not get bothered when I hear people say ‘we
are tired of romance and drama, we want action
films.’ What they do not know is that making these
movies is very expensive, especially when after the
premiere of your movie, no one shows up at the
cinemas to see it again.
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Sponsorship is also scanty. [Honestly,] it is
heartbreaking when a director or a producer goes
to the cinemas to see only empty seats. We do not
make money and I laugh every time I hear [people
spewing assumptions that] we make lots of
money.” she passionately revealed.
Shirley minced no words on her view of the movie
industry in Ghana, saying the future, at present, is
very bleak. She also cautioned business people
against investing in Ghanaian film, without having
conducted proper research. And Shirley did not
hesitate to take a swipe at government. In her
estimation, our government has done very little to
grow the industry and this has contributed to the
stunted growth.
She however gave a thumbs up to the ‘Kumawood’
movie industry saying that Ghanaians should cut
them some slack and watch the movies for what
they are:
“I personally watch [Kumawood movies] and I
laugh every time I see one. They do what they can
[with extremely limited funds] and, believe it or not,
they make [their money back] because Ghanaians
love to watch these movies. Kumawood films are
light-hearted and whether we like it or not, there
are people who practice withcraft and juju, [which
Kumawood projects]. We should learn to take the
Kumasi-made movies for what they are. People
love them and that’s all that matters.”
Shirley is the brain behind several movies,
including Six Hours to Christmas, the Adam’s
Apples series, Contract, a Sting in a Tale,
Potomanto, among others. She has also won
several awards including Best Video Editor and
Best Movie Director, at the 2014 Africa Magic
Viewer’s Choice Awards.
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