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Wenera producer speaks on rebranding

BY STYLE REPORTER era Studio 263. era era ZBC-TV Wenera Viva Wenera, ZBC Wenera. Studio 263, Viva Wenera Wenera, Viva Wenera Wenera WhatsApp. Viva Wenera isodes United Kingdom. era Showmax, era Viva Wenera ( Viva Wenera) Wenera Hi-Impact TV Hi-Impact Vox

LOCAL lmmaker Eddie Ndlovu, who is also the executive producer of popular soap opera which has since been rebranded to says the rebranding exercise was necessitated by the need to take a di erent direction and approach to television production.

caught up with Ndlovu (EN), who shared his expedition in lmmaking among other issues. Below are excerpts from the interview.

SS: You premiered (now rebranded to

on about six years ago, that is July 2015 to be precise, airing every Monday and Tuesday. How has been the journey?

EN: This has been one hell of a journey. When we premiered on six years ago, the rst season was a challenge as we had the idea, but execution was so hard as this was my rst television programme as an independent. I had previously worked with as a writer and director for a number of dramas. Fast-forward to Season 2, things started shaping up and by Season 3 we were now running two days a week and we had a turnkey studio where we were shooting everything under one roof. We were under commissioning till Season 9 when the broadcaster decided to cut all commissioning deals so we had to run independently. We ran till Season 12 when we decided to halt the production citing production budget as we were now relying on adverts, which were not enough to keep producing the show. We stopped at the right time when the show was still popular so that we could come back and continue where we had left rather than letting the show die then try to revive it.

SS: In 2016, you nearly pulled o air, so, if this lmmaking is not rewarding, what motivates you to keep on making several productions?

EN: It is only here in Zimbabwe that lm or television is not rewarding the way it is supposed to be. However, our hope as we keep producing, is that one day things will change and change does not come overnight, but with such productions like My motivation comes from how I picture the future of lmmaking. Since we premiered Wen

on television, we brought back the trust in viewers that local dramas are worth watching and following after the end of After no drama lived to see beyond many seasons and draw a lot of talk from the masses. Wen

managed to cover that gap very well and opened doors to many local dramas. So, the success of on local television makes me believe that we are building an industry that is going to bloom one day. This is a war we are ghting, either it will be our generation that is going to bene t or the next.

SS: In 2017, some of the actors accused you of unprofessionalism in dealing with their welfare. How do you deal with your cast and crew’s well-being?

EN: It is like driving a car. A passenger sees things di erently with how the driver is seeing them. When actors and crew members come on board, we give them clear and straightforward contracts and we also emphasise that there isn’t much money to look out for.

So, when some actors or crew members are released from their parts or jobs, they do whatever it takes to try and tarnish the production forgetting that they accepted the terms and conditions. When we were still on commissioning, we would go for more than 20 episodes without getting paid by the paymaster and the actors would be expecting to be paid in such an environment. I would like to say that I believe I did to the best of my knowledge and that is why Wen

is one of the biggest television brands that we have in Zimbabwe today.

SS: You have rebranded inspired the rebranding?

EN: When we went o air at the end of 2019, I wanted to take a di erent direction, a di erent approach to television in terms of quality control. I wanted to come up with a show that can also compete outside the borders on the international platforms. So, I added new characters and plot outlines to beef up the show. I also decided to rebrand from just to as the former was more of a studio set-up soapie unlike the latter which has more of a drama series kind of feel. It will have pace and character-driven. And also, the other factor that contributed to the re-branding is that some actors left the show to pursue other things or moved to other shows. So, their plots could not continue, so we had to cut them out.

SS: Last week, after six years, you honoured some casts of What inspired such a move?

EN: The idea of honouring actors came about in 2018, but unfortunately it just died out. Then this year after some actors left, I felt I should honour those left behind. Although we are currently not on television, they decided to stay. So, we honoured 20 old cast members with a stone-crafted plaque and a framed certi cate. to

Yes, we also honored the new upcoming cast with certi cates of appreciation as they have been attending workshops and boot camps as part of the grooming process ahead of the rebranded coming soon.

SS: How were the auditions for the cast in the midst of this Covid-19 pandemic?

EN: As we have adapted to the new norm of doing business under the Covid-19 pandemic, we did auditions for the new new actors online whereby they had to send in their monologues through Our casting team then selected potential actors who then came for our boot camps for further scrutiny. We have actors from di erent towns and cities including Mutare, Bulawayo and Masvingo.

SS: You lost some of the actors that were part of

soap’s storyline?

EN: This will de nitely not a ect the storyline at all. Like I said before, losing some of the actors was one of the reasons why we rebranded. I am so happy that we managed to do so because we have a new crop of hungry actors whom we have been grooming and are going to add value to the show.

SS: I understand you have struck some screening deals outside the country. Can you share more on this?

EN: As part of the reason to rebrand, we have been in talks to launch to other television stations like and (who have previously screened old on their stations) who are both on

We have also been in talks with distributors whom we believe will put Viva Wenon such platforms like Amazon, Net ix and

among other platforms. The old Wenepisodes have opened doors for the forthcoming seasons of and the good thing is that it will be better in so many ways, including quality.

SS: Has the outbreak of Covid-19 a ected your production?

EN: Covid-19 a ected us negatively at the same time positively too. Negatively, it a ected our shooting schedules, our sponsors who were nancially a ected and above all the environment. Positively, demand for content grew worldwide that saw online platforms and television stations like and acquiring opening other markets for us.

Arts

en-zw

2021-05-09T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-09T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digital.alphamedia.co.zw/article/281990380398373

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