“PAY GH12, 000 OR FORGET IT...”

Information Flex newspaper is gathering is that some renowned and award winning video directors might quit the profession if God does not intervene, because they are not getting enough out of their jobs.

From what is happening on the ground, it looks as if the profession of Video directing is no more lucrative because those who started it, do not see the need to still be in it. This conversation ensued between two music video directors Steve Gyamfi of Real House Philms and Kwasi Oduro Junior of Golden Eye Studios and a journalist. Please enjoy!!!

“Before budgeting for a music video, you first have to listen to the song. I mean the kind of song the artiste is bringing to consider if the song is a hip life song or highlife song then you know the concept to use. A video like “So Fly” by Natural Face was one of my best videos because coming on set with jeep took a lot from me. Moreover, here in Ghana we are used to a director going on set with some two people” Kwasi revealed.

“I don’t actually do production like that. I always go on set with more people and I pay all of them so location, crew, props, trips and the rest all goes into the budget before we charge for the production. So I don’t know who are complaining that we directors charge too much but you know what, production is not cheap at all.”

So on the average, how much should one prepare before approaching you for a video shoot Sammy Flex asked. “Ok now if I am shooting a video specifically a gospel video, I am now looking at Ghc 12,000. Yes, I charge big because my works speak for themselves.

“Well, just like my brother Kwasi said earlier on, music video is something people think it is just picking up your tools, go on set and start shooting. Honestly, it is only in Ghana that you see people pick up some small camera and get to some corner and start shooting trust me. It is high time we look for the quality and more over if we look deep into this, you will realize that what Kwasi is saying is even less. One thing that I will like every artiste to know is that every artiste should think about branding before coming into the music scene” Steve Ghamfi noted.

How much will Steve charge for a video? It’s not about how much am I charging you; it is about the song you are bringing. I will try to get a feel of the music, so I will know the concept to use for you. So if you bring the song and it is not good, you will have to send it back because it is not just about the money but my feeling for the song also contributes.”

“A typical example is Stay Jay’s “shashi wowwo” song, initially they brought me “wo be sua sue” but now see, “shashi wowo” was not played on any radio station but it was a hit. In Ghana, the biggest challenge we face is location because sometimes one can have a very beautiful song but you would not get any good location.

Now as if they all planned to say this in unison, the video directors feel they are not interested in the profession any more. Read Kwasi Oduro’s vibes “these days I have just about six gospel artistes I am working with. Even with them if you don’t pay GH12, 000 forget it. I am not doing music videos any more but looking at some other ventures.”

Steve Gyamfi: “personally, I have been out of the Ghanaian music video industry for a long time because these days, I play my trade in South Africa so they should know about this long time.”