M-Net’s Recipes for Love and Murder renewed for second season.

by Thinus Ferreira

The murder mystery series Recipes for Love and Murder on M-Net (DStv 101) has been renewed for a second season which will start filming in April 2024.

Recipes for Love and Murder - a co-production between M-Net, Acorn TV and production company Both Worlds Pictures - will have a second season of eight episodes, bringing the total number of the series to 18 episodes. 

The first season with director Christiaan Olwagen was broadcast on M-Net in March 2022.

Recipes for Love and Murder is based on the novel Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery of the South African author Sally Andrew with the culinary murder mystery that revolves around Maria Purvis (Doyle Kennedy) who is a recipe advice columnist for a small town newspaper.

"Recipes for Love and Murder has since its global distribution once again proven the appetite for our stories told through authenticity by Africa’s most-loved storytellers," says Nomsa Philiso, general entertainment CEO at the MultiChoice Group in a press release that was issued globally but not to South African media.

"We look forward to building on the success of this title through our international partnerships."

Catherine Mackin, managing director of Acorn Media Enterprises on behalf of Acorn TV, says "We are delighted to welcome our audiences back to the beautiful region of the Karoo in South Africa and the exciting but often dangerous world of Tannie Maria, led by the incomparable Maria Doyle Kennedy".

"There are still many investigations with shocking twists and turns to uncover, and with Tannie Maria leading the charge, justice is surely a small discovery of detail away."

Thierry Cassuto, Both Worlds Pictures managing director, says "We're overjoyed to announce the renewal of our beloved Recipes for Love and Murder for another season".

"This achievement is a testament to the dedication and talent of our creative team. To our partners, your support has been invaluable. To our fans, your love for the show has been the ultimate reward. And to Maria, we can't wait to have you back in South Africa and to cook up more magic together."

The Morning After with a British singer washing up on a Cape Town beach is Amazon Prime Video's first South African drama series.

by Thinus Ferreira

Filming has started on Amazon Studios' first South African drama series, The Morning After, in which a British singer and party girl wakes up naked on a Cape Town beach after she broke out and escaped rehab and is then taken in by a group of young people.

The Morning After as the first original South African drama series for Amazon Prime Video comes after the disappointing and little-publicised Gangs of Lagos which finally made its debut earlier this year with very little fanfare or media traction as the first Amazon Original film from Africa.

Amazon Studios also announced that it is doing a format version of LOL: Last One Laughing South Africa with Trevor Noah as host, as well as a Nigerian version, LOL: Last One Laughing Naija.

Then the streamer also commissioned a new Nigerian travelogue reality show Ebuka Turns Up Africa, with all of these shows which will make their debut in 2024 when Amazon's localised retail presence and portal also launches in South Africa.

The Morning After with eight episodes is produced by Both Worlds Pictures and Paradoxal for Amazon Prime Video, with British actress Amara Okereke in the main role as Nina who makes friends with a group of twentysomething beach cottage mates Michaela, Mandisa, Cleo and Justin after she bails on the upmarket rehab centre New Life in Cape Town.

The Morning After, created by Thierry Cassuto and Karen Jeynes also responsible for M-Net's Recipes for Love and Murder, also stars Carmen Pretorius as rich kid turned artist Michaela, Danica Jones as camerawoman Pauline, Richard Gau as aspiring techbro Justin and Khaya Dladla as nightclub impresario Tarquin. 

Tarryn Wyngaard plays lawyer Cleo and Gaosi Raditholo is model Mandisa.

The drama series is directed by Cindy Lee and Karen Jeynes with Rémy Jacquelin at Paradoxal and Thierry Cassuto, Karen Jeynes and Thato Cassuto at Both Worlds Pictures as co-executive producers.

Nina is "determined not to give her stepfather the satisfaction of seeing her fail and takes on a series of hustles to earn enough for rent, food and weed, putting her singing talents to good use, and relishing the world-renowned carefree sunkissed Cape Town lifestyle".

Rémy Jacquelin says The Morning After "is a very special project whose time has finally come for Paradoxal and Both Worlds, the second in our slate which got disrupted by Covid. It's a fun, sexy and bingeworthy comedy-drama set, with an amazing young cast, in stunningly beautiful Cape Town and we can't wait to share it with viewers from all around the world".

Filming starts on 10-episode South African drama series Recipes for Love and Murder as another M-Net international co-production with AMC Networks' Acorn TV starring Maria Doyle Kennedy and Tony Kgoroge.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net is doing another international co-production for a drama series, this time Recipes for Love and Murder that is a 10-episode South African murder mystery series done with the global streaming service Acorn TV from AMC Networks with principal photography that is starting today.

Recipes for Love and Murder will premiere on M-Net (DStv 101) in March 2022 and throughout 2022 on Acorn TV.

The series is based on Sally Andrew's acclaimed novel Recipes for Love and Murder: A Tannie Maria Mystery that Oprah's Book Club raved about for its "mouth-watering food and landscapes" and was translated in 16 languages.

The novel was adapted for television by South African writer Karen Jeynes who is also an executive producer, with the Scotland-based director/writer Annie Griffin as story consultant and co-executive producer.

Recipes for Love and Murder stars Maria Doyle Kennedy as an empathetic, accomplished and complicated recipe advice columnist for a small-town gazette who investigates the murder of one of her correspondents, as well as Tony Kgoroge who plays Khaya Meyer, the local chief detective.

Recipes for Love and Murder also stars Elton Landrew as Constable Piet and Arno Greeff as Warrant Officer Regardt Snyman, Jennifer Steyn as the editor of the local paper, and Lee Duru as Grace, a domestic worker whose story shakes up the town.

Recipes for Love and Murder is being filmed in Cape Town, in the semi-arid region of the Karoo and in Scotland.

Recipes for Love and Murder is produced by the Cape Town-based Both Worlds Pictures, in collaboration with Pirate Production in Scotland), and is helmed by the South African directors Christiaan Olwagen and David Isaacs.

Maria Purvis (nicknamed “Tannie Maria,” meaning “Auntie Maria” in Afrikaans), is a middle-aged advice columnist who moved to Scotland as a child along with her parents and returned 10 years ago to South Africa after her husband died.

She now dishes out help and recipes via the local gazette in the imaginary South African town of Eden, in the beautiful region of the Karoo.

Mostly keeping to herself, focusing on food, gardening, and showing kindness to others, she is often thought of as an old lady before her time.

When Martine, a woman who writes to Maria about her abusive husband, is found dead, Maria joins forces with a local, risk-taking, rookie journalist, Jessie September (newcomer Kylie Fisher), to solve the small-town murder and catch the killer - before the local police finds more victims.

Recipes for Love and Murder is produced by Both Worlds Pictures' founder Thierry Cassuto in collaboration with Pirate Production's Jenny Williams, with development support provided by Screen Scotland.

Executive producers for Recipes for Love and Murder include Catherine Mackin and Lesley Pemberton from Acorn Media Enterprises, Yolisa Phahle, Allan Sperling and Jan du Plessis for M-Net, Thierry Cassuto and Karen Jeynes for Both Worlds Pictures.

M-Net will hold the exclusive rights to the series in Africa, Acorn TV will hold the exclusive rights in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, while Global Screen will handle distribution for the rest of the world.

The series will premiere on M-Net 101 in March 2022 and throughout 2022 on Acorn TV.

"Recipes for Love and Murder has just the perfect ingredients for a rich, appetizing mystery drama, and the beloved Maria Doyle Kennedy will make a wonderful fit as the empathetic recipe advice columnist with a mysterious past," says Catherine Mackin, managing director of Acorn Media Enterprises, in a prepared statement.

"We look forward to bringing this first-ever TV dramatisation of Sally Andrew’s renowned novels to life. This series is a prime example of the kind of fascinating, masterfully-written stories set around the globe which we're proud to offer on Acorn TV."

Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice CEO of general entertainment and connected video, says "MultiChoice is delighted to partner with Acorn TV and Global Screen on this brilliant murder mystery series".

"We are proud to be working with South Africa's talented writer Karen Jeynes and award-winning directors Christiaan Olwagen and David Isaacs. This partnership will continue to put MultiChoice on the forefront of high-quality African television that promotes our ongoing commitment of being Africa’s most-loved storyteller."

Thierry Cassuto of Both Worlds Pictures says "We are thrilled to partner with M-Net, Acorn and Global Screen to produce this ambitious series brilliantly adapted by Karen Jeynes from the delicious Sally Andrew novels".

"Viewers can look forward to a dazzling cast and a very intriguing story with a unique tone, which brings together small-town life, murder, love and mouth-watering food, which our extraordinarily talented director Christiaan Olwagen likes to present as The Killing meets Chocolat."

Both Worlds Pictures wants to make a South African 'Beitbridge' version of the Nordic drama series The Bridge, with an all-African cast.

The South African production company Both Worlds Pictures in Cape Town has picked up the format rights for a possible South African version of the Nordic drama series The Bridge and wants to make a series set at the Beitbridge border between South Africa and Zimbabwe with an all-African cast.

Both Worlds Pictures secured the exclusive rights for an African version of The Bridge from Endemol Shine, with Both Worlds Pictures that will look for a  broadcast partner to create a South African version of the international series.

"The adaptation will feature an all-African cast and will be based upon the famous Beit Bridge, the physical border post separating South Africa and Zimbabwe," says Both Worlds Pictures in a press release.

An African version of the show would mark the 7th local version of the series, which has so far been remade in Malaysia/Singapore, Germany/Austria, Croatia/Serbia, U.S./Mexico, UK/France and Russia/Estonia.

Originally known in Sweden and Denmark as Bron/Broen, the format is a present-day crime thriller exploring the tensions between two neighbouring countries.

The drama series was created by Filmlance International, part of the Endemol Shine Group, in Sweden and Nimbus Film in Denmark.

Thierry Cassuto, the founder and executive producer at Both Worlds Pictures, says "We are thrilled to adapt the award-winning series The Bridge for South Africa and the continent".

"I've always been a great fan of the series and admired how sensitively remakes were made in parts of the world that are so culturally different. It shows how the story and the characters are able to strike a universal chord, and we intend to create an adaptation that will be equally unique and will resonate with African viewers".

Lars Blomgren, creator of The Bridge and the Endemol Shine Group's head of scripted for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, says "Thierry and the team at Both Worlds have such a huge enthusiasm for our beloved series and we couldn't think of anyone better to create the first African saga".

"It’s been a joy to watch the various iterations of the format develop around the world and we can't wait to see the direction they take this one in."

Both Worlds Pictures produced ZANEWS Puppet Nation as well as Point of Order for StarSat, the South African division of China's StarTimes satellite pay-TV service, and Parlement, Parlement for M-Net's Afrikaans language kykNET (DStv 144) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.

Both Worlds recently launched a high-end scripted content division under the supervision of award-winning South African screenwriter Karen Jeynes.