We take the safety of our actors for granted - Gloria Safo

Following the tragic death of Nigerian actor Junior Pope in a boat accident while shooting a movie, Ghanaian actress Gloria Safo has called for increased safety and well-being on film sets in Ghana.

In an interview on TV3, Gloria Safo cited the movie industry's negligence towards safety protocols on film sets and stressed the need for stakeholders to re-evaluate their approach to safety.

"As an industry, we need to learn from this incident. There are a lot of things that we take for granted. We don't prioritize our safety or well-being at all. It's not just going to the villages, even shooting in the urban areas.

"Someone had to die for us to realize that we are taking some of the most important things for granted. We have a lot to do," she said.

Safo urged a collective effort to prioritize safety measures, expressing concern over the risks actors take on set.

She noted that often when actors voice their concerns about unsafe practices, they are dismissed by producers and directors who are more focused on their vision than on the actors' well-being.

"We need to make a conscious effort to prioritize our safety on set. We take a lot of risks. I don't know if producers, directors, or filmmakers consider that.

"Sometimes you go on set and they are telling you to do a particular thing or go through a particular process, and you voice out, 'No, this is not going to help me. Can we have it a different way?'

"And then the producer or director will go like, 'This is how I want it. Didn't you read your script? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'," she said.

The actress also mentioned that she makes it a point to speak up about various aspects of production, including costumes and food, because she believes they are crucial to the safety and comfort of those involved.

"I am someone who actually airs my views about issues when I'm on set. Any issue about costume, about food, about whatever, I will talk about it because it's very important," she said.

ID/SARA

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