adminBongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
PLAYERS in the local film industry have been urged to form associations in order for them to access broadcast production equipment from the government.
This was said yesterday by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services George Charamba on the sidelines of a Zim Digital meeting with captains of the film industry in Bulawayo.
Part of the equipment unveiled to the Deputy Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Thokozile Mathuthu, at the meeting included 15 HD cameras, Apple iMacs computers for editing, headphones and microphones.
The equipment would be given to people who want to do pre and post production of their content and help produce quality content as Zimbabwe gears up for up to 12 television channels at cost to government.
Charamba said everyone involved in film making, be it script writers, actors, producers, editors and sound engineers should have an association that represents their interests.
“A practical challenge that I’ll obviously have is one of releasing equipment to people I don’t know. Someone must put a stamp to say this person is a film maker and who does that, except an association? Until and unless they’re organised it may be difficult for them,” said Charamba.
“All that must not create a tower of Babel, but it must create a well structured regime where trades are organised hierarchically to create an industry.”
Charamba said when those in the film industry organise themselves, they could make demands on government to improve their industry.
“The key thing is that the filmmakers must know that they need to organise themselves so as to make demands on government, channel managers or owners. We have to introduce a new regime where equipment related to film making will have to come in duty free, the same way we’ve done with musicians,” added Charamba.
“The government is like a judge. It can’t invite cases, there has to be someone who is demanding a service for the government to move. So essentially what we want to do is to organise your filmmakers in such a way that they can be heard by the State. So it’s not a matter of request from government it’s a matter of existential need, they have to be organised in order to be heard.”
He said they were yet to identify the location of the equipment in the city, this would be revealed in March when they launch the channels.
Charamba said he was hoping that they would fulfil the wishes of all people who came to the meetings.
“The response is so overwhelming. In fact I’m so intimidated that I’m just hoping that we won’t disappoint. The response is spontaneous and overwhelming and it tells you that people have been labouring under frustrating circumstances,”
He said film schools should run parallel programmes for long term and short term courses to cater for the market.
“My plea to the film schools is to, yes, run their two year, two-and-a-half year programme as always. But to be flexible enough to start on short term programmes which are discipline specific, so that you’ve a group of camera people who want to hone their skills on camera work, then they can come to the film school for two, three days have their skills perfected and then be allowed to work,” said Charamba.
Online Reporter