David Dontoh blames TV for the decline in stage and theatre performances

Veteran actor David Dontoh says the drift from theatre arts to movie productions in Ghana accounted for the growth of the movie industry.

He indicated that actors who were into concert parties and stage plays used to perform for a sizeable audience, however, after discovery that they could reach a wider audience through television, they decided to concentrate on doing movies.

Speaking in an interview with Lexis Bill on DayBreak Hitz, David Dontoh indicated that the movie industry has both positively and negatively sides.

He mentioned public’s acceptance of the acting profession; better pay; comfortable lifestyle; growing respect for the industry unlike what pertains in years back when things were done virtually for free; as some of the positive aspects of the movie industry.

Touching on the negative aspect of the industry, he bemoaned the fact that a lot of charlatans have found their way into the industry and have watered down the industry.

He added because people are so much in a hurry to make money, people are hurriedly putting together scripts, actors and non-professional technicians to make films, a situation which is not helping the industry.

He indicated that there is nothing wrong with making Akan movies and getting subtitles for them except that a lot of people who handle them such as the directors, producers and technicians are not qualified enough to speak the film language in such a way so that a film made in Akan could take part in film festivals in Europe or America.

Talking about quality of acting in the industry, David said the industry used to have few actors who had formal training, and were serious and had long time apprenticeship on stage and television.

He said those actors also worked under competent directors and producers, but currently a lot of the actors work with people who do not have experience in film-making hence his decision to come out with the Dontoh’s Actors Studios (DAS) to train people to act professionally.