'Actors’ Guild Must Be Blamed For The Fall Of Local Movies' – Ghanaian Actor

Patrick Brown, much known as Agyaba has accused the Ghana Actors’ Guild as the body behind the fall of the Ghana Movie Industry especially the Local scene.

Brown has been an actor for the past 17 years starring in most works of Director Jackson K. Bentum as fetish priest. The conversation ensued when Soiree Television visited his home to have a chat on their “feature of the week” program, a show that addresses and defines the entertainment industry in the country and beyond.

Patrick begun by expounding to the host; Asare Joyceline on what Kumawood is about, a tag pronounced on Twi artiste expressing it as error. He explained that Kumawood is a brand owned by Samuel Darko much known as Samdackus which means it is not a general brand for Twi movie makers although they are benefactors in terms of awards and other incentives. “Kumawood does not exist as far as I am concerned. Samdackus created it for his own purpose. The fact that we benefit from it during awards does not make us Kumawood artiste. We are all Ghana Movie Makers.”

“If not, then the Kumawood Television and other assets belongs to us but that is not the case. The fact that Majid is in Accra does not differentiate him from us. We are all Ghallywood actors.” he illuminated.

The former Cantata artiste also spoke on what the cause of the fall of the Local Movies is. He apportioned the blame on both the consumers; Ghanaians and the Movie Making Body. He explained that Ghanaians were always interested in a specific artiste in terms of choosing what movie to buy therefore it created a loop and gave that artiste power over producers because without him, there is nothing like Local Movies. “The buyers every week always expects a particular artiste to be in front of the in-lay before they buy; that was very wrong. If they do not see Agya Koo in your movie, forget about purchase. This attributed to the fact that no matter how good your story line is; they don’t care”.

“So imagine that if every producer wants Agya Koo for his project, how many days do you think he can spend on a movie set for quality production? Which means the more the demand, the higher his cost, and the much shoddy work we produce. This made him powerful the industry” he said.

As to the Ghana Actors’ Guild, the actor imputed the fall of the Local Industry on them blaming them for no standard rules to govern its members. “The Ghana Actors Guild is a disappointment because it has no rules for its members. The actors did what they like in terms of pricing for the reason that they were not under strict rules. It is their duty to make sure that every movie artiste under their umbrella obey them. Also everyone is a director. Just start counting g from Yeji to Kejetia. You will be shocked at the number of directors without license to work” he uttered.

Patrick Brown credited the Nigerian Movie Industry for the great job lifting the flag of West Africa Higher. “Nigerians were here to learn what movie making was all about. What do we see now? They have advanced beyond us. This is as a result of discipline. I quiet remember there was a time Ramsey Noah and Genevieve got suspended by their (Nigerian) thinking they were greater than the industry because the people loved them. Can Ghanaians portray that act towards our artiste? No. because we esteem the members greater than the body which is impossible “he ended.

On the issue of digital marketing of movie especially on YouTube, Brown was quick to agree to that fact explaining it as a modern method of trade therefore Ghanaian movie producers must embrace it and learn a better way to promote the local movies online. “We are into digital marketing and you cannot expect the days of CD’s again. Those days are gone just as the days of cassettes faded. It is high time we learn on how to promote our movie online that to condemn the approach. We need to learn from the Nigerians on how they are doing well in the digital market and stop complaining. Unity is all we need”. he summarized.

Agyaba is into graphic designing and editing, managing his own channel on YouTube called “Agyaba TV”.