The Alumni of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) has held its first ‘Talk Series’ at the Television Studio of its alma mater on Friday the 7th of September 2018.

The talk series which maiden edition is on the topic ‘The Filmmaker in Ghana, An Artiste or a Businessman’, is intended to become a rallying point of discussion of pertinent film issues in the country.

The series will be held once in every quarter to continuously prompt filmmakers of all walks of life to raise their game in an industry that is yet to exhibit its full potential in Ghana’s economy.

Speaking as the main presenter of the maiden edition, Mr Ivan Quashigah, CEO of Farmhouse Company and Producer and Director of the ever popular “Things we do for Love” and “YOLO”, said students of NAFTI are trained in the arts of filmmaking but soon come to the realization after their training that a good filmmaker needs to collaborate with the people who think in figures and are business oriented, to realize the full potential of the films that they produce.

He harped on the fact that if filmmakers are going to be able to attract financing of their projects from other people then, they have to understand the business aspect of filmmaking and try to ensure that those who invest in the film financially will get profitable returns for their efforts.

He also indicated that for those who want to be an artistes, Crowdfunding can be a source of film financing as shown in the newly released BBC film ‘The Burial of Kojo’.

A panellist on the programme, Mr Ramesh Jai Gulabrai, the CEO of APEX Advertising, indicated that while a filmmaker should seek to get profitable returns for the films they make, it is important for them to always lead with the Art before the business.

Mr Eugene Odame, the Head of Artistic Department of NAFTI observed that the bane of the film industry today has been the lack of proper Producers, explaining that the Producer of a film is not necessarily the financier of the production but the person who becomes the glue on which everyone working on the film sticks.

“Such a person is the one who is supposed to bring both the art and the business of film together and make a success of it,” he noted.

He said it will be important for NAFTI to introduce this discipline as part of her courses.

The next in the talks series is expected to take place in the last quarter of the year.