Ed Lozama Talks About African Movies Invading The Haitian Market

Ed Lozama on the Radio, WSRF 1580AM, Planet 17

This was a live radio interview of Haitian Executive Producers and movie Distributors Bazile Jean Bertold (Baz) and Lionel Beeper

Here is the transcript, courtesy of Belfim.com:

wsrf.com/Ed Lozama - "why is it that I can return items in the american market if I am not satisfied... I cannot return haitian movie if I am not satisfied"

Lionel Beeper - "Most people who buy movies watch it once or twice... you can return a defective DVD but not return a movie if you dont' like it..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "some people walk into mystore and say 'Baz... chazi pou mwen..."

Lionel Beeper -"it does not make business sense to allow people to return movies simply because they don't like it..."

Ed Lozama - [to lionel beeper] "are you a distributor or a retailer?"

Lionel Beeper - "I mostly sell wholesale..."

Ed Lozama - "Do you sell more african movies than Haitian movies?"

Lionel Beeper - "I sell more Haitian movies than african movies... I've only been selling african movies for about a month..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "gen moun ki ap plenyen pou Lionel plis pase-m paske Lionel dwe pase you vites superie..."

Lionel Beeper - "Some Haitian movie producers were planing to copy african movies and turn them into Haitian movies [a Haitian version]... They are mad at me because... now that I introduce the Haitian community to African movies... they can not do that anymore..."

Lionel Beeper - " the African movie industry have their own Reginald Lubin... konsa tou they have actors that suck like haitian actors whose names I cannot mention..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "Some haitian movie producers by a $400 camera at Walmart and they begin shooting a movie... they have no notion of movie making, no ethics, no story,... and they claim to be movie producers..."

Lionel Beeper - "... Yep... they grab their cheap camera... and they begin shooting a movie... they do self-editting without knowing how to edit... then they want me to pay $60,000 for it...

Lionel Beeper - "... They see us distributing movie and they say 'I can do it too'... they pay the factory... produce the movie themselves... than put those movies in a van and sell it door to door...

Lionel Beeper - "If you do that then you do no respect for me as a distributor... you do not respect my business..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "Gro kout chapo ou Reginald Lubin... Richard Senecal... Wilkenson Bruna... and all the others who are doing a good job out there..."

Lionel Beeper - "Neg yo plis focus sou fè fim... epi vann mastè a..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "Lionel pran de twa konsa... ou dim fim nan bon... pa gen problem... map distribue film nan pou ou... epi... map peye-w sou sak ki vann..."

Lionel Beeper - "papa-m jalou is selling well... ti fi paste a 2 is selling well... we are the only the two people promoting these movies... I am not saying they are the best movies out there ... but will tell you that some movies are selling because of Ti Fi Paste a... consumers walk into my store to buy Ti Fi Paste a... then then ask me 'what else do you have that's new?'"

Ed Lozama - "there are some movies I think that really sucks... and you say it is selling like crazy... how do you judge quality?"

Lionel Beeper - "When I decide to buy a movie master... mwen gade ki aktè ki nan pòchet la... Ki moun ki jwe ladan-l..."

Lionel Beeper - "Si akte yo bon nou ka vann on di mil... si istwa-a bon... se you lòt di mil... si kalite fim nan bon... se you lòt di mil ki ka van... si promotion an bon... you lòt di mil ankò..."

Ed Lozama - "price fixing is unlawful... how do you determine how much you pay for a movie master?"

Bazile Jn Berthold - "the price we pay for a movie master is directly based on how many copy we expect to sell..."

Ed Lozama - "Are there any movies that you personally release and you don't like that movie?"

Lionel Beeper - there's one movie I released and hate it... I cannot say which one... [they all laugh]"

Ed Lozama - "I guess I would make a terrible movie distributor because I would never do that..."

Lionel Beeper - "... I dont want to be the judge of what people like and what they don't like..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "we advise the Haitian filmmakers to improve quality... I have to pay the bills..."

Lionel Beeper - " my advice to the Haitian movie makers it to focus on the type and quality of movie you intend to release to the public instead of hiding the master in your drawer and never release it."

Bazile Jn Berthold - [comment to ed lozama] "Ed m-wè ou kite Zenglen... epi w-ap jwe zouk..."

Ed Lozama - "That's a low blow..."

Caller - "all movies are good... question... why is it that Hollywood movies are relased on the big screen before being released on DVD while most Haitian movie go straight to DVD?"

Lionel Beeper - "Ampli fwa se a koz de pirataj... si ou pase you film au kap... se a remote remote control yo pirate fim nan..."

Caller - I watch more african than movies... after Hollywood and India... The African movie industry is the third largest in movie production in the world... Africans sell their movie really cheap..."

Ed Lozama - "Are the African movies cheaper than Haitain movies?..."

Lionel Beeper - "I sell African movies 3 for $15.00... Original... Not bootleg..."

Ed Lozama - "what about haitian movies?"

Bazile Jn Berthold - "Haitian movie are more expensive..."

Lionel Beeper - "well the african movie industry is much larger... they sell in larger volumes..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "We cannot sell Haitian movies cheaper than the actual price because we sell on avreage 10,000 copies..."

Lionel Beeper - "Fim ayisyen yo gen you gro avantaj sou fim afrikin yo... if you make your Haitian movies in kreyol... The african movie cannot even touch you... remember that All the African movies are in english... there is still a large number of Haitian movie consumers who prefer to buy movies done in Haitian creole... Not all Haitain consumers speak english [or french for that matter] ..."

Caller - "I like comedy... if the movie suck I don't want pay more than $3 for it... mwen encouraje sa ki bon... Like Alleluia... It sucks...

Lionel - "... Non Alleluia Bon..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "... Li bon..."

Ed Lozama - "I guess sa depan de moun kap gade..."

Caller - " Gen 2 tip de clien... genyen ki remem bon film... ge lot ki just renmen film ayisyen... I am a consumer... Biznismann yo... they're just making money... they sell good Haitian movies $15.00 and the bad Haitian movies $15.00... That's why people don't want to buy haitain movies anymore..."

Lionel Beeper - "If I decide to sell a haitian movie for for less than $15.00... the comsumers automatically assume that it's because it sucks... 'a gen lè-l pa bon'... and they will not buy it"

Ed Lozama - "I am sure the US govt has laws to protect the consumers"

Lionel Beeper - "But Ed... Someone just said aleliua sucks and I hapen to watch that movie at least twice a week..."

Caller - "I love all haitian movies, but ti fi paste a and alleluia... I left them in front of the door... I am waiting for my money back..."

Caller - "with the price of one haitian movie I can buy 6 african movies, I love the african movies... they release quickly... I don't have to wait... for the sequel..."

Ed Lozama - "do you still support the Haitian movie industry?"

Caller - "yes... If they say Reginal Lubin... I run to buy it..."

Caller - "I watch all haitian movies good or not, one problem I have about the Haitian DVDs is that I have to sit there and watch so many danm commercials before the movie starts..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "there is a menu where by you can by pass all that and watch the movie..."

Lionel Beeper - "We have to do that... there is not enough Haitian TV stations out there for us to do movie promotion... Some people like it..."

[Ed Makes the announcement about the Haitian Movie Producers Conference this Friday]

Lionel Beeper -"I don't think lionel beeper, Baz, and Wilkenson Bruna are invited to that conference..."

Lionel Beeper - "yo di lionel beeper and mizik depot ap kraze industry a..."

Ed Lozama - "mwen kont gabitch... if you were selling parfum francais, of designiner jeans, no one would complain..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "The other day a Haitian/Bahamian came into my store looking to buy an African movie... I offered him and Haitian movie and he bought it..."

Ed Lozama - "I was introduced to blood sisters [an African Movie]... I like it... I don't care what anyone thinks... and I highly recommend it..."

Lionel Beeper - "and if someone wants to buy it... where will you send them?... [Laugh]

Ed Lozama - "the last good Haitian comedy I saw was 'I love you Anne'... how long ago was that?"

Ed Lozama - "There are a whole bunch of topics that are not explored by Haitian movie producers...

Ed Lozama - "It seems... Haitian movie makers simply turn on their camera then they tell the actors... 'you say this.. and you san that'... no scripts..."

Bazile Jn Berthold - "I encouragge this meeting [the Haitian Filmmakers conference]... I hope they discuss steps to improve the quality of the movies they make..."

Caller - "ayisyen pou ayiensn selman, africa is a continent... Gen actè ayisyen k-ap prye pou yo mete yo nan fim.. ayiti rich nan kilti... there are so many subjects to discuss..."

Note from Belfim.com - I thought this was a very important show for the Haitian movie industry that's why I took my time to transcribe it. If you are aware of any discussions taking place anywhere on "haitain radio or television... submit a short transcript to the belfim message board.

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