Entertainment of Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Source: citifmonline.com
2018-02-20
Ghanaian playwright Chief Moomen
The current buzz surrounding Marvel Studio’s superhero film, ‘Black Panther,’ has prodded Ghanaian playwright Chief Moomen to tighten his appeal for support for his yet-to-be-staged play, ‘Mansa Musa.’
According to Chief Moomen, the acceptance of ‘Black Panther’ is an indication that people are tired of negative stories about the black race and he believes his ‘Mansa Musa’ play which also seeks to tell the African story in a positive light, will be loved.
“If there is any evidence that my ‘Mansa Musa’ production will triumph, then let us just take a look at the ‘Black Panther’ phenomenon. People are tired of the stories of poverty and disease and squalor about Africa and Africans which forms the dominant narratives in the media,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Chief who recently made a call on the Chief Executive Officer of Zylofon Media, Nana Appiah Mensah to help him fund the ‘Mansa Musa’ play, also reiterated that financial support from people with the wherewithal would make his dream come true.
“Please let it reach the Despites of this world that instead of spending 2 million dollars to buy another land at East Legon or Cantonments to build another luxurious apartment which the ordinary Ghanaian cannot afford, and which will probably have few or no occupants, they should give that money to Chief Moomen who would immediately create employment for some 500+ young people, and together they would create a magical product which will be hotter than This Way ( Dier mehia ne 2 million).”
The producer of the epic ‘Wogbejeke’ play further stated that he will be disappointed if because of lack of resources to stage Mansa Musa, a foreigner picks the story and gives it back to Ghanaians to watch.
“Marvel invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Black Panther what it is. What will ‘pain’ me that most is that we will all be here and some white man will come and do Mansa Musa story and we will all rush to see it and he will cash in big time and Chief Moomen will still be here crying for support. Tofiakwa!,” he added.
Read Chief Moomen’s post below:
If there is any evidence that my Mansa Musa production will triumph, then let us just take a look at the ‘Black Panther’ phenomenon. People are tired of the stories of poverty and disease and squalor about Africa and Africans which forms the dominant narratives in the media. We want to see more empowering and edifying stories that can elevate black consciousness and inspire hope. A Mansa Musa story, about the wealthiest man to have ever lived, of a great African civilization, will feed into this new narrative of an Africa and a black race that can and will triumph. My vision for the production is that it will not just be about Mansa Musa alone; he is only the bait. It will be a glorious celebration of African heritage. We need to seriously begin to capture our young minds and inspire their thinking. We need to start creating a new African civilization.
When I first put up a post about my long cherished dream to do a Mansa Musa story, I was pleasantly surprised with the overwhelming number of people who shared in the vision and reacted positively towards it. I’m sure if some of you had the means, you would immediately invest. I have since been doing a lot of work to flesh out the proposal and I have also started reaching out to some influential people. After careful calculations, our budget for this epic stands at 2 million dollars, with a plan to generate a revenue of 25 million dollars in two years ( I will share some general details of what we need the money for and how we intend to generate that much revenue in a subsequent post)
Please let it reach the Despites of this world that instead of spending 2 million dollars to buy another land at East Legon or Cantonments to build another luxurious apartment which the ordinary Ghanaian cannot afford, and which will probably have few or no occupants, they should give that money to Chief Moomen who would immediately create employment for some 500+ young people, and together they would create a magical product which will be hotter than This Way ( Dier mehia ne 2 million)
Someone tell the Bola Rays of this world that, with all their influence and connections, they should help Chief Moomen raise 2 million dollars , and in two years, he can generate more revenue with his work than all the components of the EIB empire can generate within the same period.
Someone tell the Asamoah Gyans of this world that they should hold on to buying more of their Ferraris and Lamborghinis, and pool their resources together for Chief Moomen to create a product that can bring in enough profit to buy a private jet, if that is the grand aim of their lives.
Someone tell anybody who has the means that instead of over-investing in real estate, imports and exports, pure water business, or any other unimaginative ventures that we Africans like to put our monies in; they should give some of the cash to Chief Moomen, to Bright Simons, to Farida Bedwei, to Tonyi Senayah, to Msimps and many other young, creative and passionate Africans. And let us create empires. Let us open up our economies by investing in new ventures to create more employment. Ain’t we just tired of doing the same old things over and over and over again. Gaddamit!
Please before someone comes to tell me that I shouldn’t be making these sentiments public and should rather try and seek private audiences with such influential people… well, I have been doing that for the past 10 years. In Ghana, people will just look at you and tell you that you are doing well. But hardly anyone is willing to support. So we have to do things a bit more differently. More disruptive. But with focus. Those who get it will get it.
Marvel invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make Black Panther what it is. What will ‘pain’ me that most is that we will all be here and some white man will come and do Mansa Musa story and we will all rush to see it and he will cash in big time and Chief Moomen will still be here crying for support. Tofiakwa!
This year I really mean business. When I say I am a young man in a hurry you think I am joking? 2 million dollars, I receive it! Mansa Musa production, we have started!