In its endeavour to revolutionise the African TV sector, MultiChoice Africa has launched its MultiChoice Expansion Program — Project Pamodzi, in Malawi — which is set to taking industry skills to a new level and boosting the quality of content for audiences across the continent.
At the launch, MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy Director, Christopher Puta said: “MultiChoice prides itself with being Africa’s number one storyteller. So it is with great excitement that we are proud to announce that later this year, MultiChoice will be putting out a call for proposals for the first-ever Malawian series to be produced for and aired on Zambezi Magic channel.”
Also present was Hetherwick Njati, Principal Secretary in Ministry of Information & Digitization
A statement from MultiChoice says Project Pamodzi initiative will be a collaborative project between MultiChoice, local television channels and industry bodies in various African territories.
It will be done through industry experts led Masterclasses and driven by MultiChoice Talent Factory, which the MultiChoice industry-development and training programme.
Puta is quoted as saying: “The first phase of this programme is aimed at upskilling professionals at our local Free-To-Air broadcasters. We hope that through providing skills development opportunities for local TV professionals, we will provide our audience with more choice and greater representation in productions and through content.”
He added that Project Pamodzi will consist of online learning courses, masterclasses, and practical training through which MultiChoice will partner with local broadcasters to help develop skills in the various territories.
It will include certified short courses in critical production skills such as post-production, sound, screenwriting, 3D animation and cinematography.
Also present was Hetherwick Njati, Principal Secretary in Ministry of Information & Digitization
The programme’s online-learning component enables MultiChoice to reach as many content creators as possible, across the continent, while also allowing working professionals to do courses at their own pace.
The programme will initially reach 300 broadcast workers who are already producing content in their local markets through e-learning. They will then be able to instantly apply their learnings on domestic productions.
“Local broadcasters are the grassroots of the TV industry in every country,” said Puta. “By building the industry we are enabling local job creation, enabling an industry to contribute to the economy and responding to the ongoing consumer demand for quality local entertainment.”
At the launch of OneZed GOtv Value, GOtv Max and GOtv Supa packages early this month — a pan-African channel that caters to the Zambian and Malawian markets — journalists wondered why the channel was more Zambia-centric than Malawi.
MultiChoice Malawi’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Zena Makunje assured that there was first need to invest in Malawian content producers into such TV soap operas together with what is already being offered through MultiChoice Talent Factory — the industry-development and training programme.
There are two Malawians — Asante Mbaimbai and Chisomo Kawaga — currently on the third cohort of the fully-funded MultiChoice Talent Factory 12-month academic programme that started in October last year.
The two are set to join four others who graduated from the programme — Mphatso Makamo, Chisomo Livason, Chimwemwe Mkwezalamba and Jonathan Kapumba.
The candidates are selected after weeks of rigorous interviews and adjudication processes by film and television experts, as well as regional Academy Directors across 13 African countries in East, West and Southern Africa — trained at the MTF Academy hubs in Nairobi, Lagos and Lusaka.
Now in its third year, the MultiChoice Talent Factory has honed the skills of 120 emerging filmmakers in 13 countries across the continent, who are now part of the growing MTF alumni network, taking African stories to the world.
Yolisa Phahle, MultiChoice’s CEO for general entertainment & connected video, was previously quoted as saying the success of any academic programme can be measured by the contribution made by alumni in the industry.
“To find out how MTF academies are continuing to ignite Africa’s creative industries, MTF carried out an annual survey, and found that of those that participated in the survey from of the inaugural class of 2019, 92% are economically active in the industry.
“This is exactly what the industry needs and why MTF was launched. As Africa’s most loved storyteller, our commitment is not only to tell authentic African stories but to also invest in them — that is why some of our alumni are working on M-Net and Showmax productions.”
This is what can be appreciated through OneZed — which is already on DStv platform channel 172 — as a full family entertainment channel through which GOtv viewers can expect shows that tell authentic African stories with international appeal.
Popular shows on the channel include drama/comedy, ‘Landlady Meets Landlord’ and thought-provoking drama series ‘Ubuntu’ and afro-novela’s ‘Zuba’ and ‘Mpali’.
“The addition of the channel to GOtv packages forms part of MultiChoice’s ongoing business imperative to add more local content channels to its packages,” Makunje had said at the launch.
