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Showbiz Reporter
On July 1, 2015, local filmmakers were excited as a new platform to showcase their work, not only to local audiences, but to the rest of Southern Africa, was launched.
This platform, Zambezi Magic (DStv channel 160) – a channel dedicated to Southern African content on DStv, also came with better deals compared to local broadcaster ZBC.
But, 11 months down the line, the joy has slowly disappeared (like Winky D sings) as only a few content creators have managed to penetrate the channel, compared to South African filmmakers and actors who are benefiting from Mzansi Magic which constantly has new productions.
Funds which the channel had said it would release to filmmakers with enticing scripts have still not been availed, leaving most local film producers in a fix.
Prominent producer, Joe Njagu said they submitted their scripts to the channel and were turned down recently as the channel said it could not fund their project.
“It was communicated to us in March this year that they (Zambezi Magic) couldn’t do anything here in Zimbabwe because of the rand falling to the dollar,” Njagu said.
Another producer and actor, Munya Chidzonga said they submitted three concepts and were still waiting for a response.
Zambezi Magic in response said all hope was not lost as they are overwhelmed with more than 100 scripts from the SADC region which they are still processing.
“We’ve received more than 100 scripts from the region so far, far more than we had hoped for or anticipated. We’re therefore, taking longer to finalise as we have to read them all before making final decisions. This is exciting,” said Zambezi Magic head of channel, Addiel Dzinoreva.
“Some of the producers have been very active in trying to get content, although there tends to be a preponderance of people who wish for us to provide funding for them to produce the content.
“There are as yet too few producers who can produce content independently for sale to us and to other broadcasters, which is how we operate,” revealed Dzinoreva.
Another factor that has been causing the anxious filmmakers to begin thinking that Zambezi Magic is just like ZBC is the fact that some proposals that were sent through last year have to date never been responded to.
To this matter Dzinoreva said: “We’ve been overwhelmed with proposals and it’s been difficult to manage the entire process. We’re working on getting results achieved more speedily and we hope an online system that will help us manage proposals and give feedback much more quickly will be up and running soon.”
Though there might been some disappointments, one show that has been doing well is the Zim Top 10 – the weekly video chat show which showcases the best of Zimbabwe’s music.
“The Zim Top 10 is one of our flagship shows. It’s popular not only in Zimbabwe, but across the region as there’re lots of Zimbabweans everywhere. People are generally curious about the Zimbabwean music scene,” he said. Other than the chart show, local productions that are being aired on the channel are Zambezi News and current affairs show – Tonight with Zororo as well as Wedding Diaries.
Dzinoreva, however, said the channel had ‘big’ plans for the show over the next 12 months, indicating that although the impact of the station has been low, more local productions were making their way onto the channel.
“There has been a growing amount of local content on the channel, including movies, a cooking show, two talk shows, music show and a comedy show. We’ll continue to market the content and creating hype around the shows with a view to attract more submissions for broadcast.
“As we get more local content on the channel, we’ll get more aggressive with the marketing of the channel locally,” Dzinoreva said.
“Zambezi Magic is part of the MultiChoice thrust to develop the local industry and although the channel has only been fully operational for 11 months, we believe we’re already making a significant contribution to the growth of the local industry.” – With additional reporting from Zimbojam
Online Reporter
derick.khumalo