Sunday, October 14, 2018

DATELINE - LUSAKA, ZAMBIA: MultiChoice says ultimate aim of its new MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy is to enlarge the capacity of Africa's film and TV industry, to create more creators of high-quality local video content.


MultiChoice says one of the aims of its brand-new African film academy is not just to enhance, upskill and to supply more experienced and knowledgeable producers and film makers for the continent's TV and film industry, but also to get them to ultimately produce quality pan-African local video content that MultiChoice wants, and wants to broadcast on its DStv and GOtv pay-TV platforms.

MultiChoice Africa's MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) has officially opened, running three film academy hubs for West, East and Southern Africa in respectively Lagos, Nigeria, in Nairobi, Kenya and also in Lusaka, Zambia.

The 60 students have been chosen from across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa - excluding South Africa where M-Net is running its now 4-year old Magic in Motion Academy that the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) is based on.

Out of over 3 100 applications, 20 students were chosen for each of the three campuses of the new film academy.

During their yearlong internship the students will create local content that will be broadcast on the various M-Net channels carried on MultiChoice's DStv and GOtv satellite pay-TV platforms throughout Africa, including Africa Magic, Maisha Magic East, Maisha Magic Bongo, Zambezi Magic, Pearl Magic, M-Net and SuperSport.

It's however what happens afterward their yearlong internship and the local content that they help to create afterwards, that is of much bigger and greater importance to MultiChoice.

TVwithThinus spoke with Nyiko Shiburi, MultiChoice Africa's regional director for Southern Africa, on Thursday night at the pan-African pay-TV operator's official opening in Lusaka, who said that the purpose of the MultiChoice Talent Factory is to increase the capacity of Africa's film and TV industry to produce more and quality video content.

"We've identified that there's a gap in the industry when it comes to creating local content and telling our own African stories, by Africans."

"We really want to try and improve that. This is a way for us to really build Africa's film and TV industry, and to create that bigger capacity in this industry to tell our own stories."

"The idea is obviously that the output from this MultiChoice Talent Factory, we need to see the content that they will produce during their internship, but also long afterwards, on our platforms - that is the ultimate," said Nyiko Shiburi.


ALSO READ: MultiChoice Africa officially opens its brand-new MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy for Southern Africa.
ALSO READ: In photos: The glittering official opening gala event of MultiChoice Africa's MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy for Southern Africa.
ALSO READ: 'Their stories had us in tears'. Academy director of the Southern Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory says tales of the film students during the selection process made people cry; that their stories will help change film making in Africa. 
ALSO READ: MultiChoice urges all stakeholders in Africa's TV industry to work together to fight the growing scourge of content piracy.
ALSO READ: 'We don't want to fail. We want to make a big success out of it' - first film students of 2018's inaugural class at the MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy.