Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
FOR years, the Zimbabwean film and television industries have been falling short of expectations.
These two major pillars in the country’s entertainment industry have, in the eyes of some, failed to produce stars while also not giving those within the sector a lifestyle befitting their status for the best part of two decades.
When one thinks television, they think glitz and glamour, two things that Zimbabwe, for all its vaunted talent in the arts, seemed to be terrible short of in recent years.
While a few gems have sparkled, defying a lot of odds, the highlights in the sector have been sporadic, with the industry lacking the consistency to turn into a true conveyor belt of big-name stars worthy of the tag “celebrity”.
Over the last few weeks however, the cloud of gloom that seems to have taken permanent residence over the country’s film and television industry seems to have started to part. Out of the darkness, shining light has come, and there seems to be new hope that the country can once again give birth to a new breed of superstars.
Just over a year-and-a-half after the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) licensed six televisions stations in the country, there is genuine hope that local content creators and artistes will finally get their due, as competition heats up in local television.
It is perhaps no coincidence that this renewed hope came as Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) Prime made its debut on DStv last week.
The coming of ZTN on DStv has had a snowball effect on the industry, with many content creators taking at as the wake-up call that the industry needed to get back on its feet.
“What it means is that content creators will then have a chance to really do a good job and to be rewarded well for the job they do.
This is a big achievement. Zimbabweans at home and abroad will have a chance to show their talent to the global world,” Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa said at the launch of ZTN Prime.
Minister Mutsvangwa’s sentiments are shared by arts doyen Cont Mhlanga, who believes that free airwaves have topped artistes’ wish-list for the past four decades.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa
“This development is a national milestone in the media industry. It is a milestone in the film industry itself because the film industry usually struggles without a good TV industry. So, the opening up of television broadcasting is a new dawn that will have a direct impact on the film industry and also on the development of independent content producers across the country. It is something that we have been waiting for all these years since 1980. The winner in all this is the consumer, then the content producer and the advertiser. Content choice should always lead in any entertainment environment and that is what we have now,” Mhlanga said.
Veteran TV producer Raisedon Baya echoed Baya’s sentiments, as he believed the entrance of new players like ZTN would at least give artistes a chance to negotiate with those that offer the best remuneration for the content they provide.
Veteran TV producer Raisedon Baya
“I would say that the idea that we now have a quite a number of these platforms is actually a good sign and I think a lot of content producers should be happy about it.
They’re competing and maybe they might put their best foot forward, in the sense that if they know that you produce quality content, they (stations) might come to you first and try to negotiate.
This might mean that we will see artistes and content producers being paid and their content seen on these various platforms.
“So, it’s actually a good thing and we need more because with competition comes the improvement of quality.
It’s not like how it used to be long back where ZBC would just say take it or leave it.
They were the only platform so you couldn’t go anywhere and they could dictate the conditions and terms.
Now it’s a question of trying to see which one offers the best services among the different platforms,” he said.
Given the fact that the film and television industries had fallen on hard times in recent years, there is a skills deficit with most practitioners, both in front and behind the camera.
And Baya said there might be need for industry-wide training in order to plug the skills gap.
“I love that the channels are coming with a lot of quality, the picture quality especially.
The content still needs to develop and there are two ways we can do that.
First, we need proper training of the artistes and then the technical people as well.
We also need to pour in resources into the work. We are not talking millions but we want a fair wage for the artistes.
They should be able to go to work and pay school fees and rent from the money they would have earned from working on a particular production,” he said.
Film producer, Lenni Mdawini Sibanda said while he was excited about recent developments, he was somewhat worried by the fact that stations that are yet to go on air were yet to engage content producers.
Film producer, Lenni Mdawini Sibanda
“The fact that we have new channels is good for us as TV and film producers but we are not yet sure about their intentions because we heard that six channels had been licensed but so far, we have two that have started broadcasting while the rest are quiet.
So, as content producers we are not yet sure how to approach things because they promised a lot of things and we thought they would all be broadcasting by now, but we are yet to see that.
They haven’t engaged us and we are afraid that as content providers this will turn out to be a duplication of the relationship we had with the national broadcaster where we just stopped providing content because we were not benefiting from the relationship,” he said.
However, Mhlanga, who helms Bulawayo-based Ke Yona TV, said that content producers had so far failed to come to the party, as they did not have formal structures that could enable negotiation with new stations.
“What is very unfortunate is that content creators have been caught unaware by the new media landscape.
What I mean by that is, it’s been easy for them to just exist with each person doing their own thing, without needing to create professional associations.
In an environment where there are so many TV stations, the biggest losers, if they don’t change, is the content creators.
They will lose big time.
Why? They will be running like headless chicken from this platform to that one, with no standard rates, no ability to negotiate, no equity and no guidance.
“They will be throwing their content to any broadcaster who will flash a cheque on their faces.
It is important for content creators to quickly come together and really start to understand that a new environment has arrived and it is going to be difficult for them to negotiate if they do it as individuals. It’s important for people to say, I’m an actor and I need to be where the other actors are.
In this new environment, it is going to be difficult for one to stand as an individual,” he said.
In the near future, Mhlanga said, content creators would need to professionalise their industry, that might soon turn extremely competitive, as more and more players go for the same pie.
“There is a need for awareness and training for content producers.
This is because the changing TV landscape in this country arrives at a time when content creators have been completely swept away by the arrival of social media.
Quite a lot of work is being thrown on social media without an understanding what putting out the content means in the larger scheme of things.
There is also a need to understand discipline and creative alignment.
Actors for example need to understand that they cannot be appearing on productions happening on all three channels just because they’re connected to them.
You sign up with a channel, you have to have the commitment and discipline to stay with that channel as long as it wants to keep you.
There will be need to create very tough partnerships.
If you’re Ke Yona you’re Ke Yona and if you’re ZTN you’re ZTN,” he said.