Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Farmhouse Production, Ivan Quashigah has revealed he was exposed to the arts and creative ideas in his early childhood days.
Initially dreaming of becoming a lawyer just like any child would wish for, he never imagined having a career in the movie and arts industry. Ivan Quashigah disclosed he spent most of his time advertising movies to be shown in a cinema within his community, Keta, just to have the opportunity to watch it for free.
During another insightful session of the Y Leaderboard Series on Y107.9 FM’S Myd Morning Radio Show, where he responded to what scene would best describe him in a movie, Mr. Quashigah told Rev. Erskine, “The first scene would be me carrying a cinema board with a film poster on it together with my cousins. We would walk around the Keta township, ringing a bell and singing, shouting and calling attention to the film that will be premiered in the cinema that night. We advertised around town so in the evening we’d go and watch for free. A scene like that would best describe me in later years as I’m in the industry now. I would say finding myself in the movie Industry is providence, the hustle, because I came from wanting to see something on the screen from a home where there was no electricity and could barely watch the TV.”
He also recalled that during Christmas at the time, folks from Accra returned to the town, where there were activities including stage plays about the Christmas story. “There was this band, which gathered at our place to eat, while they sing the songs from the play. Most of them don’t come for rehearsal but during the night of the event, where we head to the Zion Mission Church, these guys would put on their costumes and deliver their lines as if they’ve been rehearsing for years. It was like it was part and parcel of them. The comedy and all the things in it lived with me throughout my life,” these he insist have influenced his film productions.
For his early days, his grandfather and aunty largely impacted his life, as his father was off in the military. Despite his grandfather owning a transport business, he also used to organize events with his uncle. Gradually becoming an event hype man, he picked up lines from popular music to attract the attention of people in the community. This experience he described built his creative ability and helped his work in the advertisement space.
The Creative director who is well recognized for producing and directing the award winning television series, Things We Do For Love and Yolo, further explained he started to realize his true potential after forming a relationship with his headmaster, who was a poet and a sculptor. He was asked by his headmaster to always read and act out his piece, while he also corrected articles he wrote. That was the moment he realized he had veered off from becoming a lawyer and now aspired to become a someone in the movie industry.
By: Jude Tackie.
