MultiChoice Africa's MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) has officially opened, running three film academy hubs for West, East and Southern Africa in Lagos, Nigeria, in Nairobi, Kenya and in Lusaka, Zambia - each with 20 students selected from the three different African regions.
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.
Students at each of the three film academies 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.
All three regional campuses of the MultiChoice film academy are giving students the opportunity of a yearlong internship in film and TV production.
The curriculum of the 12-month accredited training programme at the MultiChoice Talent Factory will combine film studies with practical workplace experience at local TV and film production companies.
In the curriculum the students will learn more about the Business of Film, and cover Film Appreciation with the course taking them through a journey of the history of film and gaining working knowledge of the diverse artistic and practical elements of film making as well as film critique.
Fundamentals of Production will give students in-depth technical skills in the production of high-quality content, while the Cross-media Digital Laboratory will help students with emerging technology and how to develop content for transmedia and cross-platform distribution.
The students will also learn hands-on practical skills and get practical experience, and will produce Student Films in West, East and Southern Africa that will be broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv by the respective M-Net regional channel.
The student films will also compete in MultiChoice and M-Net's annual Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards (AMVCAs) in a new student category.
The Southern Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory had its official opening on Thursday night in Lusaka with a glittering gala event.
Earlier in the week MultiChoice Africa held similar launch events for its MultiChoice Talent Factory in East Africa and West Africa.
The Southern Africa MultiChoice Talent Factory is based at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM) in Lusaka, an independent media training trust.
TVwithThinus that toured the refurbished building at ZAMCOM that will house the MultiChoice Talent Factory in Lusaka, spoke to Sally Jason on Thursday evening who is from Namibia and supported by MultiChoice Namibia, and one of the 20 students attending the Southern Africa film academy.
Sally Jason: Well, I applied to be a storyteller so I will be learning how to script write and also how to do floor management and that is what I'm hoping to do. I'm hoping to bring my stories to life and how to package my product in a better way.
And where did you see about the MultiChoice Talent Factory film academy and why did you decide to apply?
Sally Jason: It's a funny story actually. It was an email that my colleague sent out and then I think just a day before the closing date of applications, he sent it to me again and I thought: okay, I'm just going to apply for it. Then I applied and a week later they called me for an interview. I went for the interview and got the call on my birthday, so it's very special.
And how did you parents and friends and family react? Because now you're also going to be living here in Lusaka in Zambia for a year.
Sally Jason: My family is happy, it's all their hard work that has brought me to this place.
Of course the family is happening that we paid all of this money for school fees at least we're getting somewhere. So my family is very accepting and happy and it doesn't even matter for them where I go as long as there is something good coming out of it.
And what do you hope to take back to Namibia?
Sally Jason: Well besides the skills I hope to take back just the motivation. I'm sure that there are those who already have the skills but motivation is really important. I hope to just be part of a platform for whatever it is that my country's media industry needs.
What message would you have for other young female film makers or aspirational film makers in Africa?
Sally Jason: Stay working hard. Keep working as if no-one is watching - that's what I did really. Stay humble, keep working and have faith that what you're doing will get you somewhere. Keep praying.
Lastly what do you think of your other 19 internship friends from across Southern Africa and who you are going to be spending time with for a whole year? Have you bonded a bit? Have you spoken about your fears and hopes and dreams?
Sally Jason: So far the environment has been very open. I think we all share the same fear that we don't want to fail. We want to make a big success out of it. We're very excited that we're all from different countries. It makes it even better. We get to learn all the different languages, we also get to run how different countries run things in their TV and film industries, so it's all very exciting.
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