Majid Michel
Actor Majid Michel has called for the need for more stakeholders in the creative arts industry to consider entering into politics to solve problems of their industry that requires political willpower to do so.
Speaking on United Showbiz on UTV on Saturday, he said the creative arts industry can’t force any government to do what they want without a number of them taking roles in government to influence it.
He indicated that every government has areas it is interested in and can’t be forced to like creative arts if it (government) doesn’t have an interest in it (creative arts).
“Mahama, if his personal interest as a leader is airport, that is where his passion is. Maybe Nana Addo’s personal interest is education. So he says free education. It comes down to the leader’s personal interest. So we need a leader who will say I love cinemas or film and in my time this is what I will do. But if you creatives are imposing your interest and he doesn’t like film and everyone in his government doesn’t like film and sees no reason why they should invest…That is why we need to go into politics. We need to go into politics to solve the problems that bother us,” Majid stated when he was questioned about government’s contribution to the movie industry.
Currently, a few creative arts personalities are seeking to go to Parliaments as MPs while others are playing minor roles in government.
Actors John Dumelo and Ebi Bright are seeking to receive parliamentary approval in the upcoming 2020 general election to go Parliament, but as to whether they will be fighting the cause of creatives is another issue.
Currently, there is actress Bibi Bright, music producer Mark Okraku Mantey and movie producer Socrates Sarfo serving various positions under the current New Patriotic Party government.
But Majid thinks there is more room for improvement. He also thinks that the movie industry looks dead now because individual businessmen who used to shoot movies have stopped investing in the sector, and there is a need for all and sundry to empower the private sector to invest in the movie industry.
By Francis Addo