Filmmaker, Ivan Quashigah
Renowned Ghanaian filmmaker Ivan Quashigah has weighed in on the ongoing discussions about local TV stations airing Ghanaian content during prime-time hours.
According to him, the costs involved in commissioning or acquiring the distribution rights to locally produced content are more expensive than acquiring distribution rights to foreign telenovelas and soap operas.
His comments follow calls by veteran Ghanaian actor Mikki Osei Berko to prosecute TV stations that show telenovelas instead of locally produced content during the prime-time hours of 7 pm to 8 pm.
Speaking on Hitz FM on March 21, 2024, Ivan Quashigah pointed out that while foreign productions can be acquired for as little as $200, creating a 30-minute to 1-hour segment in Ghana far exceeds such a budget.
"The foreign ones have done their circuits, they have been shown. Some of them are far very old. And so they are sold for next to nothing. You can go and license a production for, say, $200 and show it; you can have as many as you want.
"But the problem with us locally is that our productions are done fresh from the location and brought to these TV stations. This means that they cost far more than those that have been on the shelf for so long. That is where the problem is. A 30-minute or 1-hour production produced wholly in Ghana locally will not cost $200 or $300.
"The question is, do we have the funds here to be able to produce to that standard so that our production can go outside and be shown all over the world like that? No," he said.
The filmmaker explained that it would be challenging for local content to reach the quality needed for global distribution without adequate commissioning by TV stations.
Quashigah's comments highlight the need for greater investment in Ghana's creative sector to enhance its global competitiveness.
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