2 Wrangle Over Movie Scripts Payment

A battle of words is raging between Mabel Germain, scriptwriter, costumier and CEO of Access Media Productions and Ahmed Banda, movie producer and CEO of Bandex Productions over the payment of three movie scripts that Mabel wrote.

The scripts for the movies, Millions, King Jomo and Masters of the Game were said to have been sold to Bandex two years ago but he has refused payment for them although they are out on the market and appear to be doing well.

When Showbiz called Mabel to find out about the matter, the lady who won Best Costumier at last year’s Ghana Movie Awards confirmed that she took the scripts of the three movies to Bandex’s office two years ago and Bandex agreed to pay her.

According to Mabel, after production of Millions, she went further and introduced Bandex to a marketer in the U.S with whom he struck a distribution deal. “ But I don’t want to know whatever transactions went on between them; all I demand is payment for the scripts of the movies I wrote for him” she said. Asked the said amount, Mabel said Bandex owes her GHC7,690 for the three movies.

“I have tried in different ways to get my money but all he keeps telling me is he did not make enough money from the movies”, Mabel said. She said meetings have been held several times on the issue but Bandex refused paying her the money.

When Bandex was contacted, he said it was true that Mabel wrote Millions and King Jomo but Mabel did not charge any money for them. “I personally asked how much she wanted for the scripts but she told me the scripts were for free and that those were only two of many movie scripts she had written”, Bandex said.

This gesture, according to Bandex, made him trust Mabel so much that he left the production aspect of the third movie to her to handle but little did he know that Mabel had a different agenda. Bandex said, he paid every budget that Mabel presented to him regarding the production of Millions and King Jomoand yet he had to dish out more money to pay some of the actors when Mabel failed to make full payment to them.

“I haven’t made any money from the two movies Millions and King Jomo but if I do, I won’t hesitate to pay Mabel.” But he also said that the highest amount he will pay for any movie script is GH¢ 1,000 because scripts are not sold for that much in Ghana.

“I am a genuine man who wouldn’t want anybody to tarnish my image”, Bandex said.