Technical crews behind Ghanaian movies last Saturday launched a new association, the Film Crew Association of Ghana (FICAG).

The association forms part of efforts to unite crew members in the country to fight for the purpose of improving Ghana’s movie industry. Speaking at the ceremony, president of FICAG, Samuel Gyandoh, said FICAG had come to stay, adding that the association would improve the standards of movies and professionalism in the industry.

“We plan to improve upon the image of the industry and the products that come to the general public from filmmakers by setting standards in our scripts and screen plays. We will also organize workshops for our members to improve their skills to meet modern technological needs of filmmaking,” he said.

The association, he noted, would be inaugurated in October this year with three planned events. The first would be a soccer match between actors and producers, and technical crew members on the other hand. The second would be an inaugural ceremony to outdoor FICAG members, and finally a dinner dance.

The launching ceremony was held at the Maxlot hotel in Accra and it attracted a number of crew members including production managers, make-up artistes, scriptwriters and those in charge of continuity.

The only Ghanaian actor who turned up for the event was rising actress Ebi Bright, with Roger Quartey and Socrates Sarfo being the only producers at the event. A number of producers and actors snubbed the occasion despite being invited.

Socrates congratulated members of FICAG for coming together, but noted that he and the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) were not too enthused about their union, saying, “We have benefited from you for long. If you have come together, we are the ones to face the odds. I think it is a good thing that you finally decided to unite. I can assure you that if you are strong, you will be the strongest in the industry. We are not happy that you are coming together as an association,” Socrates added.

Annalisa Agyare, a representative from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), who spoke at the event, also encouraged members to be united and pursue a common cause. She said her organization was happy to work with FICAG.

Producer cum actor Roger Quartey advised members not to use the association as a platform to give certain people in the industry a hard time, as that would spell doom for the association.