by Thinus Ferreira
The crew and cast of Paramount Africa's upcoming Queendom series were forced to stay home due to non-payment even before the first episode of the upcoming new telenovela starts airing next week, once again due to non-payment by Clive Morris Productions.
Queendom is set to start on BET Africa (DStv 129) on 22 April.
Natalie Mdladla, Paramount senior director of communications, told IOL that the Queendom cast and crew were eventually paid but confirmed that the payments were late.
According to the Zimoja online publication, work on Queendom recently came to a standstill over non-payment of the show's cast and crew.
The publication quotes insiders who said that executive producers Khayelihle Dominique and Clive Morris visited the Queendom set and that "Clive was crying there. But we don't understand the story. We last got paid before Easter and we are relying on the weekly salaries for our families".
The cast and crew on another show, Empini for MultiChoice and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) channel, reportedly similarly went unpaid by Clive Morris Productions.
It's also Clive Morris that in the past failed to pay the cast and crew of shows like SABC3's The Estate and Paramount Africa and BET Africa's Isono on time.
Khayelihle Dominique told Zimoja that payment delays were being sorted out and that "MultiChoice is in very good standing, they paid us. Empini specifically had nothing to do with the broadcaster".
The Queendom cast includes Linda Mtoba, Sindi Dlathu, Hamilton Dlamini, Mduduzi Mabaso, Pallance Dladla, Dawn Thandeka King, as well as Jabulani Hadebe known as Sjava.
Queendom revolves around the character of Nthandokayise Mthombeni, portrayed by Linda Mtoba, who is a community leader in Tsakane who discovers that she is the rightful heir to the throne of the Khahlamba kingdom.
Paramount Africa and BET Africa have an in-person media launch event on Tuesday for Queendom for Johannesburg media. No virtual roundtable interviews with the cast and crew have been organised for media by Paramount Africa and its PR company with no digital screeners issued.
