Video Director Gil Green & Akon “Drop Jewels” In Africa

By Janeé Bolden
SOHH.com
September 25, 2006

Hip-Hop director Gil Green and Akon recently trekked to Africa to teach a music video course.

Green, who has directed videos for Lil Jon, Three 6 Mafia and Rick Ross, was invited to conduct the two-week long music video workshop sponsored by MTV Base, NYU and Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, designed to raise the bar for music videos in Africa.

NYU Ghana provided classrooms, facilities and equipment for the workshop. Ten Ghanaian video directors (Gerald OG, King Luu, Felix Dakat, Paa Kwesi, BB Menson, Abraham Ohene Djan, Q de Lust, Abdulai, Ezekiel and Panji Anoff) were hand-picked for the class, conducted from August 23-29 by Green, along with a notable crew that also included Director of Photography Martin Lince, Producer Martell Rose and Editor Pierre Verna. The class wrapped by collectively shooting Akon’s “Mama Africa” video.

“When they contacted me there was no artist tied on to the project, so I asked if we could shoot a video as part of the class. I connected the organizers with Akon’s camp. I volunteered my services and also helped get a top producer, editor and DP to do the same,” Green told SOHH exclusively.

The average music video in Ghana is made for less than $2,000 dollars and most directors in the country have never shot on film.

“Getting the camera into the country was a big ordeal; they don’t even have a film camera in the country. This is what they go through on the daily, there’s no money for the arts. That’s one reason why the quality is not the same as in the States. I had a chance to work with some really creative and talented directors with vision, who have to make due with what they have,” Green explained.

In addition to “Mama Africa,” the ten workshop participants also filmed the video “Kangaroo” by hip life artist Tic Tac featuring Batman.

“The music they listen to there is called ‘hip life’ which is like hip hop mixed with African and dancehall. It’s dope. As filmmakers this is the reason why we do what we do. I personally got involved in film to make a difference in the art that we do. Ghana really needs some help on the lighting tip. They could use donations or help acquiring lights and film equipment for the country,” Green shared with SOHH.

Anyone willing to donate lighting or film equipment to Ghana should contact Gil Green at info@gilgreen.com.

Source: sohh.com