Kumawood was unable to switch from CD to streaming – Nana Ama McBrown

The conversation about the movie industry, particularly Kumawood, and whether or not it has collapsed, has been an ongoing discussion by industry players and critiques alike. Many believe that the reason most actors have now taken to other mediums including TV presentation, music, etc to enable them survive is due to lack of investment in the movie industry.

Actors like Nana Ama McBrown, Emelia Brobbey, Kwaku Manu, and Tracey Boakye among others have now become TV presenters, and musicians, churning out music and TV programs rather than movies.

But ace Kumawood actress and TV presenter, Nana Ama McBrown, says the Kumawood movie industry’s collapse is due to their inability to switch from CD, to streaming.

Nana Ama McBrowm made these revelations when she took her turn on CiTi TV’s Hall of Fame with AJ Sarpong. In the interview which was monitored by Ghanaweb, she explained that, Kumawood movie marketers were unable to make the switch to streaming on time, and the lack of knowledge about the new streaming technology made it impossible for the industry to take advantage of it.

“At that time just like the cd system, our movies were always on the market…there was nothing like internet marketing, social media, streaming, none of that. We were good when we switched from CD to DVD, the problem we are facing now, is that because we didn’t plan switching from CD to streaming, it has become difficult”, she said.

Nana Ama McBrown explained that the marketers who sold their films were businessmen and not film makers, and so were late in switching to the new technology when others were doing so.

“The marketers who came in when I started are the same that people that went along with us from VHS to CD/DVD, we thought that the next invention would be another gadget, we didn’t know that someone could even watch a movie on their phone, so we were late in that regard. The time when others were switching we couldn’t switch with them, because the marketers selling our movies were businessmen not film makers, they had shops where our CDs were sold, and now they can’t go there (streaming) because they didn’t start with them and they don’t know what it is about, so they went back to their business. There are no movie marketers in Ghana. Now if you produce a movie and you don’t premiere, you can’t even bring it out. Where are you going to get the CDs done? Who are you going to give to sell to?” She concluded.