Ghollywood Production (GP) Limited, organizers of the Ghana Movie Awards on Tuesday December 3, launched the fourth edition of the event at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra.

The main event is scheduled for Monday, December 30th, 2013 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Present at the launch were the Minister for Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts- Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare; Mr. Steve Asare Hackman, President of Film Producers Association, plus a host of celebrities including John Dumelo, Sonnie Badu, James Gadner, Ekow Smith Jnr., Vivian Achor, Eddie Nartey, etc.

Addressing the media on what would be new at Ghana Movie Awards 2013, General Manager of the Company, Prince Tsegah, said: “We are promising nothing but a very entertaining and concise four-hour-package, which would start at 8pm prompt; irrespective of the number of people present in the hall at 8pm on December 30th This year, the Academy system has replaced the Jury System which has been used for the Nomination/Voting process since the inception of the awards show four years ago.

According to the organisers, a panel made up of 50 key industry people shall form the Nominations and Voting Academy. Different wings of the Academy shall determine the nominees in their respective categories.

However, all voting members can vote for best picture nominees. Members from each wing vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories — actors nominate actors, for example, while film editors nominate film editors, each member selecting up to five nominees.

For the special awards and African categories, more than one wing screening committees vote on the nominees. Special screening by the Academy would be at Silverbird Cinemas; meanwhile each member would later vote secretly and post their sheets directly to the event statisticians, Deloitte & Touche for accounting.

Also, according to the organisers, the 2013 Ghana Movie Awards is dedicated to the memory of Ghanaian writer, poet and film maker, the late Kofi Awoonor (13 March 1935 – 21 September 2013), for his contribution to the industry.

In her keynote Address, the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare who endorsed the event, said: “Ghana Movie Awards has soon become the biggest annual event in the film industry, where the entire industry looks forward to.”

She continued: “It is my expectation that events like this would help encourage businessmen to invest into the industry, in addition to the advocacy for Government’s assistance and policies to court film studios to come to this country for productions; which would further open up the landscapes and create jobs for local film crews”

The Minister hinted that she had already constituted a committee that is drafting a legal and regulatory framework for the creative arts industry.“Also my Ministry is working closely with the Ministry of Information and Media Relations, and Industry stakeholders to ensure that the Draft Cinematography and Film Bill is passed into Law”, she hinted.

President of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), Mr. Steve Asare Hackman, used the opportunity to hint about plans he has for FIPAG and its affiliation with Ghana Movie Awards.

The final list of Nominees will be released at MAG Nominee Party 2013 at Golden Tulip on December 14, 2013.

To enable them cover the event, the media have been urged to apply for accreditation between December 5th and December 15th, via this e-mail: entertaingh@live.com (Entertain GH Ltd, Media Agency for the MAGS) Limited advance tickets for the December 30th big showdown would be available from December 15, 2013.

Meanwhile, courtesy of the Ghana Movie Awards Foundation, a percentage of the proceeds from the main event would go to support “Kwabena Kwabena Save a Heart” campaign.