How I ‘restarted’ industry in Ghana, by Nigerian filmmaker

You just released a new film ‘Iyore’. What inspired the Benin epic rather than the conventional love stories you are known for?What happened is that I have been doing a lot of films in and outside the country, but never have I made one from the land of my birth. Before this project, my dad […]

You just released a new film ‘Iyore’. What inspired the Benin epic rather than the conventional love stories you are known for?
What happened is that I have been doing a lot of films in and outside the country, but never have I made one from the land of my birth. Before this project, my dad from time to time said to me, ‘Frank you have done great things but I will be happier if I see you make movies, telling stories from this soil’. So I had to sit back, relax and think of something deeper than all the works I have done. It wasn’t a day’s job. It was a long journey. I thank God today we have been able to put that together.
You do all your flicks in Ghana. Are you permanently resident in the country?
I shuttle between Nigeria and Ghana. I live in Ghana and I am resident in Nigeria, so to speak. But I do most of my projects in Ghana, so this is where I run my office. Nigeria is my home and I run an office in there, but I do most of my projects in Ghana. I live more in Ghana than Nigeria.
Why the preference for Ghana, or is it that it is more cost-effective to shoot movies here compared to Nigeria?
That is not the reason. Actually I restarted the Ghanaian film industry. The number of actors you know today in Ghana, Majid Michael, John Dumelo, Jackie Appiah, Martha Ankromah, Van Vicker and Nadia Buari, I started all of them off. I groomed all of them from my movies. Making movies here was borne out of a vision. Someone contracted me to build the film industry, Ghanaian producer Abdulsalam Mumuni, the CEO of Venus Films. We had an agreement and a contract to start that almost ten years ago.
Are you appreciated in Nigeria?
I will say yes, because I know the respect I command among my colleagues. For instance there was a period I went to film in Asaba, and the kind of crowd consisting of producers, actors and others that thronged the set proved that. People just came out to see me filming. They said they wanted to see my magic. It felt good.
What’s your background in film-making?
I actually read Business Administration from the University of Ado Ekiti. I started filmmaking out of a burning desire. I did most of it on the net. I jumped in because I have been in the industry for long. I just wanted to know what it takes to make one. I even acted in a couple of movies.
Special effects always fascinate me and I was curious about what it means to be behind the camera. I studied a whole lot from Andy Amenechi, who groomed me to greatness. Well, they say slowly but surely. I hope I will do much better.