MultiChoice Ghana and AfricaMagic on Monday morning officially launched the buzzing AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards in Accra, at the African Regent Hotel.  Created to celebrate African film and television talent, both in front of and behind the cameras, the Awards will feature several special categories in which viewers will decide the winners directly, alongside several professionally judged categories. Mr Cecil Sunkwa-Mill, General Manager for MultiChoice Ghana described the awards as a welcomed initiative and called on Ghanaian film makers to submit their entries and make Ghana proud by bringing home some laurels. Ghanaian movie producer, director and writer, Shirley Frimpong-Manso, who was a special guest at the launch, highlighted the state of the Ghanaian movie industry and the journey thus far. According to the award-winning film maker, piracy, lack of proper distribution channels and heavy taxes on production equipment are some of the major challenges still facing the industry. Thus, she was grateful that AfricaMagic provides a platform where African film makers can reach a wider market, via the various AfricaMagic channels on DStv. Gideon Khobane, Head of Marketing for AfricaMagic took guests through the entry process and also announced that the closing date for submission of entries had been changed from October 31 to November 9. Details are available on www.africamagic.tv . Completed entries and 5 DVD coipes of each entered production can be mailed directly to South Africa or submitted to the MultiChoice Ghana office in Accra. In total, 28 awards in 26 categories will be awarded ranging from acting and directing to script-writing and cinematography. Other fields which will be honored include editing, make-up, sound, lighting and costuming among others. In addition the awards will feature two categories destined to become annual talking points – the Industry Merit Award and the TrailBlazer of the Year Award. Awards will be handed out at two separate events to be held in March 2013 during the tenth anniversary celebrations of AfricaMagic – the first event will be dedicated to standout technical accomplishments while the main event will be a glittering, glamourous gala night. Both events will be screened to DStv audiences across the continent with the gala being screened live. Entry is free. Once all submissions are received and evaluated by an expert selection panel to be named later in the year, the big announcement of the nominees for the first-ever AfricaMagic Viewers’ Choice Awards will be made public in early December at which stage public voting will begin. The launch which was hosted by Tinsel star, Chris Attoh was attended by several actors and industry players including Joselyn Dumas, Lydia Forson, James Gardiner, Juliet Ibrahim, Ken Attoh and others. ]]>