John Apea, popularly known as ‘Junior’ from ‘Home Sweet Home’ fame
Ghanaian actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur John Apea has revealed that the lack of structure in Ghana’s movie industry pushed him to explore other career paths.
He stated that while he loved acting, the industry did not provide the structure he needed to thrive.
According to him, after working on successful projects like ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Run Baby Run,’ it became evident that the system lacked a structure that could support actors and filmmakers.
“I left the space because I realised there was no structure in place. My plan was to find other places that had a structure in which I could thrive,” he explained in an interview on ‘Konnected Minds Podcast.’
He recalled the challenges he faced with ‘Run Baby Run,’ a film that won multiple awards.
He stated that despite the success, he never received any financial returns, and the promises made to the filmmakers at that time, never materialised.
“After we completed Home Sweet Home, we produced a film called Run Baby Run, which was very successful and won numerous awards. There was a significant sponsor behind the Africa Movie Academy Awards who informed us that for both ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director,’ each award would come with a substantial cash prize.
‘We thought that if we won just one of these awards, it would be about three times our budget for Run Baby Run. Unfortunately, the promises made by the sponsors did not materialize,” Dr Apea revealed.
AK/EB