Movie director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Farmhouse Production, Ivan Quashigah, has commended highly Channel One TV for it new series, ‘The Blanksons’, rating it as one of the best.
According to him, the piece of work, yet to be telecast, does not only meet international standard, but can compete with any series abroad.
Speaking after a private Executive Watch Party on Friday, February 20, Quashigah, confidently said that, the series ticks all the boxes when it comes to what he looks out for in a movie or series.
He urged the public to proudly entertain themselves with it and called on advertisers and companies to place adverts as because they will likely recoup their investments.
“When I view a production, I want to see a few things in it. I want to see good scripts. I want to see good acting. And I want to see good production values. All these three I have mentioned are in this. And it shows that a lot of care has been taken to produce this. And as I said, these can rank anywhere. I mean, it’s a production that can go international. And it’s a production that Ghanaians must be proud of and must patronize, must watch”, he said at the unveiling.
He said what Channel One has succeeded in doing is what many of the broadcasting stations should be concerning themselves with, but regrettably, they are rather interested in already made foreign contents.
“This production that Channel One TV has done is an example of what TV stations must be doing. Must put money into producing. And if they do that, they are giving employment to a lot of people that are in the value chain. Actors, technical crew and the rest will all get jobs to do.
That is what we are looking for. We have a lot of people who have been trained that can produce this, something like this, and yet they don’t get their jobs because the outlet prefers to go out for foreign quality production. No, we don’t have them because it costs money.
It costs money to produce them. The thing is that because they could find foreign ones cheaper, they’d rather go out to pick the foreign ones. Which shouldn’t be bad”.
He said, these stations have been bombarding their viewers with contents which have no bearing on Ghanaian’s way of life, but because they are sometimes cheap, and they pirate them they are unbothered.
He was worried that many of the series and movies that are churned out are alien to the Ghanaian culture.
“There are so many TV stations, and instead of us enjoying quality local productions, we end up seeing a lot of foreign content being brought in because they are cheap. So some TV stations would go out to bring content that is so many, many years old from other countries and pull them here”.
He said “the biggest crime they are committing now is to even dub them into local language. And as a result of that, you realize that even the Kumawood industry is dead, because their people are now watching white people, Mexicans speaking Twi on their local channels”.
He was concerned that most of these things the cultural values that they project, are not what Africans have.
“We shouldn’t be promoting those things. But because they have a TV station and they have a license, they feel that they are free to do that. And that is something that we have to look at, to try and make sure that TV stations cut down on the number of foreign productions that they put out”.
He said it was concerning to continue to live with television stations spend time and so much money to air foreign contents, instead of producing their own local productions like The Blanksons.
Quashigah, who has been in the industry for decades, while commending the station for daring to be different, urged the others to emulate the initiative of the Tesano based media organization and invest in the industry.
He was convinced if others follow the good example of Channel One, it help provide reliable employment opportunities to the various levels of the value chain.
“This production that Channel One TV has done is an example of what TV stations must be doing. We must put money into producing. And if they do that, they are giving employment to a lot of people that are in the value chain. Actors, technical crew, and the rest will all get jobs to do. That is what we are looking for.
We have a lot of people who have been trained that can produce this, something like this, and yet they don’t get their jobs because the outlets prefer to go out for foreign quality production”, he expressed concern.
Even though he did not advocate for a complete ban on foreign content, he stressed the need to have a balance between the two so that the local industry does not die.
As board chairman of the National Film Authority (NFA), he said concerned industry player like himself they will continue to advocate for fairness and attention to be placed on the local industry. In as much as they are committed to have the industry back on it feet, he revealed that, it becomes challenging most of the time because there is no law backing their advocacy.
“We’ve always been doing this advocacy work. The thing is that there’s no law. We need a law that prevents them from doing that. And when we have the law, we have to ensure that the law works. We have to make sure that it works. So that is where we have the problem.
He said they have always used every platform to push for the law to sanitize the system. He said they are not looking at just getting a law to be passed but also get it effective.
“Yes, of course. Every opportunity that we get, we make this statement known. And we are also engaging. Fortunately, I’m chairman of the National Film Authority. And so we are also collaborating with the Independent Broadcasting Association so that we can actually get these things put in place.
The Blanksons, is originally produced by Channel One TV. It is a warm character-driven Ghanaian family dramedy set in modern Accra. It depicts the tradition, ambition, and global influence intersect in everyday life.
It directed by NAFTI and Ivan Guashigah trained Victoria Dogbe, who is also an employee of the television station.
Speaking briefly to TheNewRepublic, Dogbe explained the vision behind The Blankson. She said aside the humour and relaxation it brings, it is also relatable and authentically Ghanaian.
“The Blanksons is a present day Ghanaian family story many people can relate to. It blends humour and drama to reflect everyday life. It’s about love, conflict, ambition and the unspoken tensions that exist in many homes.
In watching The Blanksons, we expect our audience to see themselves in the characters. They will laugh and they will also reflect both visually and emotionally. It’s very grounded and Ghanaian. And the reason why you should watch The Blank Scene is because one quality production. It tells an authentic Ghanaian story. It’s relatable.
You see yourself in the movie. So please, don’t miss The Blanksons and you are welcome to the world of Blanksons.”
She was full of praise for CEO of Channel One TV, Samuel Attah Mensah alias Samess. “And I would also like to say thank you to Mr. Samuel Attah Mensah for giving me this opportunity and this platform.”
By Gifty A. Boateng