90% of Kumawood movies are destroying movie industry - Ekow Smith Asante

              Ghanaian actor Ekow Smith Asante says majority of movies being churned out by movie producers in the local language are negating the progress of the Ghanaian movies industry.

The local language sector of the Ghanaian movie industry known as Kumawood is responsible for the majority of movies being produced in Ghana currently and many have credited it for reviving the industry which had lost grounds to the Nigerian movie industry.

But speaking on the dwindling fortunes of the Ghanaian movie industry on Rhythms A-Z on Joy FM over the weekend, the actor noted that Kumawood must also take the blame for the decline in standards in the industry.

Answering a question on whether Kumawood is helping or killing the Ghanaian movie industry, Ekow Smith Asante said, "about 90 percent of the Kumawood movies are destroying the movie industry. I will be emphatic on that."

He explained that "sometimes when you talk to some of the producers, all they are interested in is the money not the passion for the business. Their passion is not for the creative arts, their passion is to make money."

"Their target market is not me and you sitting in Accra here" the actor said and added that their target market is those in Ghana's interior and those people "don't know [anything] about lighting effects, about bad sound, about bad acting. They don't want to know, it's the story that is relevant to [them]."

"Now we need to find out, are we doing movies for money or we are doing movies for the creative industry?" he quizzed.

Ekow Smith Asante lamented that if nothing is done to salvage the situation, the industry will continue to dwindle in fortunes and reputation.