Socrate Safo, one of Ghana’s most seasoned filmmakers, says the shine of the entertainment industry often hides a harsh truth: success is never guaranteed.
Speaking on Hitz FM, Safo explained that, unlike other professions where progress can be predictable, the creative sector is filled with risks and uncertainty. He recalled a moment from his early career when he desperately wanted a Nigerian actor in one of his productions but couldn’t afford to pay him.
“I would love to be in the movie. I said, ‘Okay, come, but I would not pay you, but I would give you the Nigerian right,’” Safo recalled.
He revealed that instead of offering cash, he handed over the distribution rights for Nigeria, allowing the actor to profit or lose from sales in that market. According to Safo, such deals are not unusual in show business.
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Filmmakers, he said, often rely on these arrangements because paying top actors upfront is impossible. Instead, actors are offered equity or a share of distribution revenues, a system that mirrors practices in Hollywood.
“To do the distribution in Nigeria and take the money. It happens, Hollywood, it’s done. That’s how people say that actors do get shares. He charges you $150m, and you don’t have it, so he has equity in the movie, so as you are distributing, then he is also getting a percentage in the movie,” Safo explained.
He stressed that entertainment investments are always a gamble.
“I give him the full right, so he can sell as many as he wants and he can also make losses. One thing about entertainment is that returns are not guaranteed,” Socrate Safo added.
Watch his statement.
“In entertainment, returns are never guaranteed.” – Filmmaker Socrate Safo, recalling when he gave his movie as equity to a scriptwriter#ShowbizReview pic.twitter.com/mJtE91tEuP
— Hitz 103.9 FM (@Hitz1039FM) August 18, 2025
