Renowned Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong-Manso has launched a scathing attack on television stations that illegally broadcast films, calling the act criminal, heartbreaking, and a betrayal of creative labour.
Speaking in an emotional interview on Daybreak Hitz with Doreen Avio on Hitz FM, the award-winning producer minced no words as she described how piracy is destroying Ghana’s film industry.
“I want to kill all of them,” she said bluntly, in reference to media outlets that flout copyright laws. “I have a personal concern, and I do not watch pirated stuff; I don’t care… People say, ‘Oh, use this link,’ and I say, ‘No.’ I never do because I know how much it hurts to spend.”
Frimpong-Manso highlighted the massive financial and emotional investment required in film production, saying few people understand the real cost of even short shoots.
“Movie making is excruciating — the money — having 30 or 40-plus people on set every day, feeding them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a whole thing… the investment, the emotional aspect, the money,” she explained.
She lamented how all that sacrifice is diminished when a film is stolen and aired without consent.
“To be able to put that movie out and have somebody just take it and show it… I can’t begin to describe it to you. It hurts more than anything in the world.”
The Sparrow Productions CEO also expressed frustration at the lack of accountability for known media outlets that openly pirate and air copyrighted content without repercussions.
“I don’t understand why we know who the culprits are and somehow they’re still out there doing it,” she said. “There’s evidence of what it is they’re doing. I don’t understand why we’re babysitting this kind of thing.”
Her comments come amid rising concerns within the creative arts industry about the lack of strong enforcement of copyright laws, despite years of advocacy from filmmakers, musicians, and artists.
Frimpong-Manso’s passionate outburst is a resounding call for legal action, urging authorities and regulators to clamp down on offenders and protect Ghana’s creative economy from further erosion by piracy.
“This is something that we can’t just warn about. It’s a criminal offence,” she emphasised.
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