As a young boy growing up
in Teshie, a suburb of the nation’s capital, Accra, Ezekiel Okletey Tetteh
dreamt of becoming a professional boxer and the biggest sporting personality to
raise high the flag of Ghana. His decision was hugely influenced by his immediate
society, where most people had love for boxing.
Widely known within the
arts and entertainment fraternity as Stip, he had a humble beginning with parents
who placed a premium on education and wouldn’t compromise on the education of
the children for anything. The family considered education as a priority and would
go the extra length to ensure the children received the best of education.
After his elementary
education at the Mensah Sarbah International school, Stip attended the Teshie
Boys School for his Junior High School education. Discovering his love for the
arts, he enrolled at the Ghanatta College of Arts for a diploma course in
Graphic Designing and later obtained a certificate in Television Production
from the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI).
He is the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Solid Multimedia Limited, one of the most sought after television
content production company in the country at the moment. The company also
specializes in event management and has successfully executed some of the biggest
shows held in the country.
“I remember when I was growing up, anytime a child was asked about his
or her future career, the child will either mention becoming a doctor, lawyer,
pilot or architect when he or she had no clue as to how to get there. For me, I
always said boxing because the people closest to me in my society always talked
about boxing and viewed boxers as great people whenever they talked about
Azumah Nelson and others. On the other hand, I loved to draw so my dad decided to
assist me realize my dreams and that was why I opted for a course in graphic
designing instead of what I fancied, boxing”.
Explaining his journey
into the world of multimedia content production, he said “on the completion of my course, I had my mandatory internship at Sifex
Digital, now known as Ohene Media (OM) Studios. There, I was introduced to
television production by Abraham Ohene Djan and it didn’t take long for me to
start as a music video director in addition to designing CD labels. To succeed
in this new field, I knew I had to get back into the classroom to learn the
basics and be properly tooled”.
That was the genesis of
Solid Multimedia Limited, a company he had to start with his personal savings
and just a laptop in the bedroom of his then girlfriend, who is now his wife,
Mrs. Phillipah Tetteh and mother of his daughter Dulcie Dede Tetteh.
“I came up with the name of the company after my first client described my
work as solid to signify it was a good work. I was thrilled by the term and
decided to name the company Solid Multimedia. After three years working in my
girlfriend’s bedroom, I rented an office space and moved my operations there. I
then employed two people as I was getting overwhelmed with the workload. After
directing music videos for some of the best musicians at the time, we went on
to win the Best Music Video Director at the Ghana Music Awards in 2008. To
remain relevant in the industry, we continued to work hard and strive to raise
the bar with each project we handled.”.
For the last five years,
Solid Multimedia has been the power behind some of the best content on Ghanaian
television at the moment including the very popular entertainment magazine show
on multiple television channels, 30 Minitz, which also won the Best
Entertainment Show at the 2015 Television Awards. Other content owned by Solid
Multimedia are FASHIONgh, Extra Play List and Footprint TV. Other shows
produced by Solid Multimedia are Who Is Behind and Celebrity Delivery TV.
As an event management
company, Solid Multimedia in partnership with Bullhaus Entertainment has for
the last three years been organizing Bass Awards, an annual awards scheme which
seeks to recognize and celebrate musicians and other players within the Reggae
and Dancehall fraternity. Other events managed by Solid Multimedia are
FashionGH Weekend, an annually held fashion show, Sallah Carnival to
commemorate the Idr Adhar celebrations and Footprint Poolside Praise.
In 2014, Solid Multimedia
won a bid to manage the digital television platform, TV7, with Stip as the
Channel Manager and head of the business unit responsible for the day to day
administration and the planned strategic growth of the channel.
“It
was another chapter in my career going in to manage a television channel after
producing content for various television platforms in Ghana and beyond. I took
up that challenge knowing it was an opportunity to implement some of the ideas
I have had for several years. The vision is to transform TV7 into a channel of
choice for exciting family entertainment content”,
he said.
According to Stip, his
dream is to expand his operations to other strategic markets on the continent
and also start movie production. “Without
a doubt, I am hopeful of becoming the first Ghanaian to win an Oscar in the
next decade or two and this is very possible. My advice to the younger
generation is to believe in themselves, keep working hard and put God first”.
