TIPTOPSTARS

Cameroon now has a film actors' guild. The Actors' Guild of Cameroon (AGC) was created on 28 August 2010 in Muyuka, a small town near Buea, the regional headquarters of the South West. The organization was born amidst an urgent need for actors in Cameroon to come together, identify and assess their problems before charting a way forward.

Meeting under the banner of the South West and Littoral grouping for actors, the film stars presented a newly drafted constitution which will in a subsequent meeting be discussed, amended, adopted and implemented. The said constitution will therefore be binding to all film actors in Cameroon registered under the AGC.

But even before it is adopted, the constitution seems to have started showering hopes as far as the future of persons who practice the art of acting in Cameroon is concerned. For example, the AGC constitution somewhere holds that actors shall be paid 50 per cent of their performance dues before they go on set shooting. Also, they shall be insured and provided with costumes for every production or project. "This is the beginning of good things to happen,''  a Kumba-based actor commented  when those clauses were read. Another one said: ''Things will never be the same again.''

Many other provisions in the constitution are expected to solve such immediate problems faced by actors, who hitherto have been at the beg and call of producers and directors. The to-be movie heroes and heroines have usually complained of poor pay, disrespect by producers and directors and unruly attitudes portrayed by shot callers in the industry.  The actors have also for a very long time suffered in the doldrums of unpopularity and have never experienced the niceties that come along with fame in the movie world. Consequently, their names have never been big beyond their respective production houses, let alone the industry.

Over two years ago, the umbrella body, Cameroon Film Industry (CFI), meeting in its fourth convention ion Kumba tasked the various zones to create guilds which will eventually sum up to a national actors' guild. The process has been lackluster until the pioneer coordinator for South West and Littoral and Kumba-based Joe Walkie took the bold step of initiating the national body. The 28 August meeting was therefore seen as a kick-off point. When they meet again in November, actors are expected to seal the deal and start implementing resolutions.

During the meeting, Joe Walkie, its main organizer called on actors to show proof of unity and devotedness. "We are artists and need to be treated with dignity. Let's get things done the right way and enjoy our rights thereafter,'' he said. Other speakers included USA-based Cameroonian actor and producer Akim, who urged actors to work hard, but avoid being selfish. He also advised them to make maximum use of their potentials. ON his part, producer Agbor Gilbert, known to have employed several actors via popular productions told the artists that they needed to exercise patience, even when they are going to be disagreeing on some aspects of the guild. "In the Producers' Guild, we disagree, flex muscles at times, but at the end of the day we always agree and move forward,'' the producer of Before the Sunrise revealed.

Delegates to the actors' meeting were treated to four solid presentations aimed at enriching their understanding of salient aspects in acting and the Cameroon film industry. Buea-based inspirational speaker, Orock J.A Junior spoke on packaging while Mofor Clementine reminded actors on the need to be time conscious. Kumba-based actor Maru Gatscaya outlined the tools of an actor while film reporter Ernest Kanjo painted the picture of the Cameroonian star system, by looking at how movie stars are perceived in Cameroon and who such stars are. The meeting was moderated by renowned film distributor and actor Nche Francis of Magic Touch Movies.