Ghanaian movie producer and Director,
Leila Djansi has shovel truthful sand in our opnion into the gari of most Ghanaian and Nigerian actors on her blog.
The outspoken movie maker questioned the Actor's guild's contribution to the government's pot of finance by way of tax.
According to her piece, Leila brought to the table the truth of living life which would not guarantee a successful ending for actors in the movie industry.
Read her piece....
"My phone's annoying buzz woke me up at 1am today. Someone from Ghana,
calling to tell me something completely random. I was so pissed because,
when I wake up from sleep, going back to sleep is near impossible.
Anyway. I started surfing the internet in Nigeria, cos I am really
fascinated by General Buhari and what his leadership spells for Nigeria
and Africa as a whole.
There I came upon this article:
Nollywood Actor Begging for Alms
The effrontery of this actor. I feel bad he has a stroke and all but
really, blaming other people is neither here nor there. It's no one's
fault you did not fortify your future.
We live for today a lot in Africa. Friends flock around you when you
have money to spend. You go places in an entourage. You pick up the tab
everywhere you go. Immediately you hit on hard times, these very people
find every reason to avoid you. The actors flying business class, buying
expensive bags and shoes and cars... I greet you. Are you investing?
Are you paying into a pension scheme? Do you have life insurance?
I had this experience. I was always picking up the tab when a certain
friend and I go anywhere in Ghana and one day she told me about the
landed property she bought. I had none. It was as though someone had
woken me up from a slumber! I winked at my PA who reads me like a book
and she said "Aunt Leila, I forgot the purse with all the money in it at
home". The very expensive and various meals this friend of mine ordered
were quickly reversed knowing she had to pay for herself. As hungry as
were, my PA and I settled for a bottle of coke each.
Right after that, I also learned that if you give yourself to people
cheaply, they lose respect for you. That's a given. You need to receive
your due. Know what you are worth and make sure you get that. Know what
people are worth and only give them that, nothing more, nothing less.
Let them call you bitch. "All name be name". The homeless kid I gave a
big room to in my office left, leaving a 2000ghc electric bill. Be weary
of desperate people. Help people, but help them from a distance.
Last month, the president of the actors Guild of Ghana castigated the
government for neglecting aged actors. Excuse me, how much, in taxes did
the actors, when they were younger, pay to the government? Life is give
and take. When he was president of the actors Guild, did he wander by
SNNIT and inquire about pension plans for members? What happens to the
30ghc each incoming member pays?
What is the purpose of the Guild?
Do producers take permission from the guild to use its members? Are members taxed to pay into a pension and health plan?
Have they considered upping the membership fee to 200ghc a year, where
70% goes into a pension plan and 30% stays to manage affairs of the
guild?
If you think that people will be around to support when you lose your
shine, then you must be really shortsighted and delusional. People are
around you when you are bright and shining. When the shine fades, they
go chasing after someone else who is shining.
Success is like a corpse. It attracts all kinds of people to mourn, eat,
drink, make new friends, but it always goes into the earth alone, to
rot, and become nothing but a memory.
The ant is the smallest of animals, but it is the smartest!"
I felt so betrayed. Here I was thinking I was being a nice friend, being
a christian, helping and not asking for anything in return. Ain't
nothing christian about what I was doing. All it was was foolish.
Quickly, I rearranged my life. I made certain decisions. I bought land,
built a poultry farm, got rid of my numerous staff and shut down my
office in Ghana. I didn't need it. I don't live in Ghana. The staff in
the office were not bringing in anything. I had to tell them where to
supply DVDs to. They couldn't come up with that themselves, neither were
they interested in following up with our vendors. To them, "Aunt Leila"
is rich. She needs to keep us around and pay us no matter what.
Parasites. I was paying their phone bills, transportation, lunch, plus
salaries. When I decided I was done doing that, you only get commission,
some quit (thank God). See what I mean?
Ghanaian movie producer and Director, Leila Djansi has shovel truthful sand in our opnion into the gari of most Ghanaian and Nigerian actors on her blog.
 African Women In Film Award is presented to an African woman who has demonstrated through her w...){kind=link}
