Socrate Safo, Director of Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture, has declared that the Ghanaian movie industry is in a state of collapse.
Speaking to Reynolds Agyemang on Happy 98.9 FM’s Fact Sheet he said, “Although there has been vase improvement from what the creative and arts industry used to be, the film market has collapsed. Collapsed in the sense that now, cinema houses have collapsed, video on demand has also collapsed and the only one left coming up is streaming but even with that it hasn’t taken its right dimensions yet. It’s now in the teething stages where people are experimenting and coming out with ideas”.
He expressed disappointment with the situation, believing that the industry could have achieved much more.
However, he pointed out that the responsibility for the collapse does not lie with the government, as they had made efforts to support the industry. Instead, he blames industry players.
“This sector is more of a private driven sector. The government controls are minimal and it’s deliberate because it’s a major requirement of the industry players so the industry is currently being controlled by industry players so all the challenges we face are caused by them. Therefore, the challenges we face are a result of decisions made by those within the industry,” Safo stated.
He argued that the government had done its part, and now it is up to industry players to address the issues.
Safo highlighted several factors that contributed to the collapse, including producers selling CDs to TV stations and uploading movies to YouTube, which reduced sales and revenue.
Another significant factor, according to Safo, was the impact of ‘dumsor.’
“We already faced challenges, but ‘dumsor’ made the situation worse. Despite Ghanaians having a strong appetite for local films, these issues led to the collapse of our market” he emphasized.