Telenovelas putting actors out of jobs - Entertainment Lawyer

Entertainment lawyer, Kwame Koduah–Atuahene, is asking television stations to show more local content. According to him, the stations’ constant showing of telenovelas was gradually putting Ghanaian actors out of jobs.

Lawyer Atuahene, who is also the Founding President of the Centre for Intellectual Property Advocacy Ghana (CIPAG), said it was about time TV stations made a conscious effort to promote local content.

“It is sad that good talents are going to waste because of these telenovelas. For crying out loud, how do you think any actor would feel if their works are not shown on TV? The love for acting will gradually die out, putting them out of jobs.

“More so most of the soap operas shown on our television stations are not Ghanaian and our children are not learning anything good from them,” he told Showbiz last Monday.

Lawyer Atuahene stated that the Nigerian entertainment industry did not become what it was out of nothing but through a deliberate attempt by players to show 70 per cent local content, which the people gradually accepted.

He explained that there were benefits the TV stations stood to gain from showing local content, including attracting more investors to sponsor productions, especially those that were very good.

“What I often hear from TV stations is that they need to pay bills, hence the reason they often show soap operas, but my question to them has always been to what extent. At the expense of the larger industry? What about our sense of cultural morality?” he asked.

“Can’t we have 13 weeks of our local series running on our television stations? If the likes of Inspector Bediako stood the test of time when we had just one television station back then, then it is very possible we can make it happen because I am very much aware producers are ready to bring their stuff to be shown on TV,” he added.

Lawyer Kwame Koduah-Atuahene said the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture could not turn a deaf ear to the call and ought to do all it could to help the local industry. He explained that the ministry could hold discussions with the television stations and come to some agreement.

“The ministry can plead with the TV stations to save the industry by making a conscious effort to show 70 per cent local content and by this, we will help build the industry like the Nigerians did,” he said.