The second season of the local weekly entertainment magazine show All Access Mzansi has just started on Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107) with presenters Jason Greer and Pabi Moloi.
I asked Paul Venter, All Access Mzansi producer from Homebrew Films about the second season of the show, the new black male presenter All Access Mzansi wants to add, what has happened to Tammy-Anne Fortuin, whether the show is going to change this season, and how the show has adjusted moving from M-Net to the Mzansi Magic channel.
With the shift and relaunch of the show as All Access Mzansi on Mzansi Magic, what has been some of the big things over the course of the first season that the show had to adjust to and perhaps learnt from the experience of making a ''new'' show for basically a newly started TV channel?
Paul Venter: The only real shift for us was the target market. We now exclusively focus on content that will appeal to a black market audience ages 25 to 49. And if anything, it is an absolute joy, as the target market is so clearly defined.
All Access Mzansi is and has always been a celebrity, events and entertainment programme, so we keep the mix around this every week. But yes, as with any magazine programme, the scoops are extremely popular, and exciting: if I have to make an exception of one insert, it must be Kimora Lee Simmons at ZAR in Cape Town - it was a major scoop and hit the proverbial ''bulls-eye'' with our target market!
The show has now been renewed for a 2nd season. Anything new or different coming up either in the way the show is produced or the way it looks, or what viewers will see in terms of content or will the 2nd season be more focused on solidifying and building on the first season?
It takes a magazine programme at least 6 months to settle on a channel and I think it would be unwise to change and mess with the formula so early into its Mzansi Magic lifespan. The brand is getting out there more and more, and content and opportunities are getting better and better as we prove our commitment to quality content and professional broadcasting.
There was talk that All Access Mzansi is looking for a black male presenter. Is that still on or not? What happened and what's the latest with this process?
It was never a driven search for a presenter, but with content getting more and more and events happening all over the country, we realized it would be easier on production to have a bigger presenter pool. More news about this will follow soon.
Tammy is in New York at the New York Film Academy where she will be studying for the next 4 years. She will however stay on our ''books'' – so to speak – and our first insert with her from New York is scheduled to be produced very soon. And with all the contacts she will be building in New York….
The show has evolved numerous times on M-Net, and seems to be doing the same now on Mzansi Magic. In what sense do you think the show will be different or have evolved from the first episode of All Access Mzansi that was on Mzansi Magic?
The show's look and feel stayed exactly the same since the first episode on All Access Mzansi on 21 April 2011 and we are keeping the look, feel and production qualities exactly the same for the future episodes.
All Access Mzansi II, Thursdays at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic (DStv 107)
