adminNgqwele Dube, Sunday Life Correspondent
PAY television DStv’s, Zambezi Magic channel has made an impassioned plea for local content as the station seeks to make inroads into the local film market.
Zambezi Magic’s head Addiel Dzinoreva told filmmakers during a session at a Bulawayo recently that they were “hungry” for local content that would resonate with local audiences.
He said Zimbabwe was one of the station’s major markets hence the call for more productions from the local movie industry.
Zambezi Magic is already airing the Arthur Evans Show, Wedding Diaries and Zim Top 10 video show.
The station is targeted at television audiences in Southern African countries that include Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland.
Dzinoreva said they would welcome original ideas in the form of scripted content (dramas, telenovelas, soapies and feature films) and reality series.
“We have two main mechanisms of accepting content and that is licensing and commissioning, we are also in a position to air funded shows as long as they are in line with the channel’s thrust.
“We are driven by two core values that are hyper local and focus on content or stories over technology. Hyper local means the stories have to be localised as much as possible, telling the story as it is within that locale. Do not be afraid to use local language because that is a reflection of the audiences’ everyday lives. If you are writing about a story in Luveve then we know most of the people there speak SiNdebele so they should use that language.
“While technology is important, the story reaches to the heart of the audiences more, powerful stories are more critical. We don’t believe in putting over emphasis on the technological side while the storyline is weak. We have learnt from Nigerian movies that audiences put content ahead of technology,” he said.
The Zambezi Magic head said those seeking to submit content should do so through their website where there is a form one fills to ensure all required information was provided.
He revealed they want to phase out South Africa content, including soapies, Isidingo and Generations from the station as they wanted it to exclusively broadcast productions from the target countries.
Dzinoreva said it was critical for film industry practitioners to be aware they do not have to produce a full show to make money but they could simply come up with a script or idea which then could be bought by the station for full production.
He said taking that route would avoid the production of low quality content.
The South African-based Zimbabwean said local content had gained traction as part of their business thrust Mnet as shown by the creation of Africa Magic, Mzansi Magic, which he said had become their cash cow and dedicated channels for audiences in East Africa and Lusophone countries (Mozambique and Angola).
He said plans were in the pipeline to set up separate channels for Zambian and Zimbabwean audiences adding that the current economic situation in the country had put a hold to the idea.
Dzinoreva said there was hunger for more local content as one channel (ZTV) cannot satisfy the audience out there.
Local arts industry practitioners who attended the meeting included veteran filmmaker Priscilla Sithole-Ncube, playwright Raisedon Baya, Tswarelo Mothobe, Umkhathi’s Matesu Dube, Nhlalo Dube, talk show host, Arthur Evans, writer, Naison Twala, National Arts Council official William Nyandoro and veteran broadcaster Sam Mkhithika.
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