‘Give Ghanaian movies 70% airtime - Yvonne Okoro

Ghanaian actress Yvonne Okoro is calling for regulation of the movie industry to cap the airtime given to foreign movies, especially telenovelas so as to boost the local industry.

“We can’t say telenovelas should be banned. What we can say is, maybe, 30 per cent of movies of feature films or series should be telenovelas so every network or TV station must show 70 per cent of Ghanaian movies,” she proposed.

She told Nana Romeo on Accra100.5FM’s mid-morning show AyekooAyekoo on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, that such a move will help resuscitate the ailing Ghana movie industry.

The 2010 Ghana Movie Awards Best Actress is of the view that the industry needs investors, significant funding and laws “to regulate the types of movies that are shown”, adding that telenovelas are one of the "major" causes of the declining industry in Ghana.

Ms Okoro has featured in more 30 movies and has been nominated for Africa Movie Awards Best Actress twice in a row – 2011 and 2012 – for her movies ‘Pool Party’ and ‘Single Six’.

Her latest movie is ‘Fix us’, which was produced by fellow actress Yvonne Nelson and set to be premiered at the Silverbird Cinema on 6 December 2019.

Apart from the two Yvonne’s, the other notable names in ‘Fix Us’ are Tobi from Big Brother Nigeria, Michelle Attoh, Hajia4real, Irene Logan and Prince David Osei.