Ghana after the success chalked by ‘Deadly Voyage’, lost out on another juicy international movie deal because Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC) was sold.
According to veteran actor, Oscar Provencal, Ghana would have benefitted from a $55 million movie deal had the government not sold GFIC to Malaysia.
In 1996, the government sold 70 percent of its equity in the GFIC to the Malaysian television production company, Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad of Kuala Lumpur. The GFIC was renamed ‘Gama Media System Ltd’.
Deadly Voyage, which was released in 1996 and tells the story of dockworker Kingsley Ofasa (Omar Epps), who, hoping to find a better life, decided to stowaway with eight other Ghanaian refugees on a Ukrainian cargo ship headed for the United States via France.
The movie grabbed international attention shining the light on Ghana as movie producing powerhouse in Africa.
But the sale of GFIC, which provided support for movie productions, forced producers of ‘Amistad’, which, according to Oscar Provencal, had a budget of $55 million, to the US.
The sale of the Ghana Film Company was “the starting point of the greatest tragedy for the Ghana film industry because the GFIC was set up and was ready to start taking off,” he said in an interview with Doreen Andoh on the Cosmopolitan Mix on Joy FM.
“Don’t forget we had done ‘Dying of the Light’, that was a BBC movie and then we did ‘Deadly Voyage’, [which, according to him, had a budget of $5 million] but then we were going to do ‘Amistad’.
"Amistad’ was on the verge of coming. ‘Amistad’ was a $55 million production and was coming to Ghana based on the success of ‘Deadly Voyage’,” the veteran actor noted.
“I hear the guys were boarding the plane when they were told [GFIC] had been sold to the Malaysians. Even if 30 percent of the $55 million had come into the economy, it would have made a lot of difference.
"Until this day, there are people who are still pursuing that this decision should be reversed,” he said.
Myjoyonline.com checks indicate that the budget for Amistad, directed by Steven Spielberg, was $36 million and made $44.2 million at the Box office.
Veteran actor, Albert Jackson-Davis
Commenting on the issue, veteran actor Albert Jackson-Davis said GFIC served as a meeting point for several professionals in the movie industry and the sale badly affected the industry.
He said, “most of the works there at the time were thrown into a garbage bin as they didn’t need it. All the celluloid movies and documentaries…” were thrown away.
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