GMA’s Red Carpet dress code earned me enemies —Fred Nuamah

THE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Movie Awards (GMA), Fred Nuamah, has revealed he made enemies when he introduced tuxedos and evening gowns as the dress code during the second edition of his award ceremony in 2011.

He decided to adopt a dress code for the GMA after he attended the Cannes Film Festival in France, a black-tie event where patrons made exciting fashion statements with their outfits adding pizzazz to the event.

His decision resulted in a good number of actors, movie producers and individuals getting bounced on the night because they didn’t adhere to the stipulated dress code.

Chatting with Graphic Showbiz on Monday, May 22, Mr Nuamah said, “As we speak now, some actors and movie producers are at loggerheads with me just because they were asked to go back home for not sticking to the prescribed attire on the night.

“However, the complaints I received were a lot after the event, so, I added Kente to what patrons could wear to subsequent GMAs; yet, I still got people not conforming to the dress specification. I had no option but to get them turned away.”

“You see, I had to apply the dress code thing to make sure we are uniformed and it helped because the gowns and tux I saw on the red carpet were amazing. I even got sponsors for Best Dressed Actor and Actress on the red carpet and it gave the awards scheme some leverage,” he stated.

Talking about this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) red carpet, which many Ghanaians criticised for not living up to the standard, Mr Nuamah said he saw nothing wrong with it because outfits for movie awards were very different from that of music awards.

“I have heard and read a lot of comments about some celebrities not dressing well to this year’s VGMA but I personally saw nothing wrong with what they wore. What I saw on the red carpet was meant for music awards. What people don’t know is that the type of clothes worn to music awards are not the same as movie awards.

“Just check what patrons wear to the Grammys and Oscars, they are very different. With music awards, one can wear just anything but with movie awards, there is, most times, a dress code,” he added.

Asked if the GMA would come off since it didn’t happen in December last year as usual and also on the new scheduled date in March this year, Mr Nuamah who is vying for the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said it would come off soon.

“The Ghana Movie Awards is coming on this year no matter what. My team and I will announce the date for the event soon,” he stated.