The Future of African Storytelling is Bright

MultiChoice recently held?the inaugural?Future Storytellers?Forum to?celebrate?the expertise of?some of the?young, up-and-coming?talent?involved behind?the scenes of?its?TV productions.?A new generation of?writers, directors?and technical crew?is?leading the charge to reshape?how?we tell and consume African stories on various MultiChoice Group platforms.?

“We find ourselves in a space where content?production?is?increasing?exponentially,?audience consumption?is evolving?and so has viewership behaviour. We?can’t?be?everything to?everyone?but?must find ways how to strategically?differentiate?our content offering,?and?answer?to the needs of?our Pan-African audiences,” said Nomsa Philiso, CEO: General Entertainment for MultiChoice Group at the inaugural?Future Storytellers?panel discussion.

The discussion featured?talented young directors, writers?and technical crew?who are leading the?young voices leading this charge such as?Director?Kganki?‘Star’ Mphahlele (Love Heist;?Abomkhulu;?Mkhize to Masemola); Head Writer & Producer Nandisa Mkhize (Youngins,?The River); Sean Steinberg, (White Lies, Spinners); Video Editor Mpho Tshabalala and?ThembalethuMfebe, Director (Youngins, Adulting, Outlaws)?who?shared?their experiences of being at the forefront of driving the new wave of content storytelling.

From page to screen?

Mkize?for example,?started her career in the writers’?room of leading telenovela?The River?after her tenure at the?MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTFza),?and credits?compelling storylines and realistic characters set in specific milieus to having young people from different backgrounds?in the?writer’s?room of?Youngins. “They played an integral role in shaping the characters and storylines,” she said. “It’s an emotional process and there?must?be?alchemy,?the right story, for the right audience.?Steinberg?(White Lies?and?Spinners)?reiterated?this by?adding:?“You have to put in the hours and have tenacity because if?young?creatives cannot push themselves, the industry won’t thrive”.

Understanding Audiences

Mfebe is a firm believer that the future of storytelling in Africa is in good health. “We have a lot of stories to?tell?and we have such support from broadcasters to unearth more stories and develop them.?Mphahlele said that the constant evolution of streaming services like Showmax has?openedhuge opportunities for his preferred medium - feature films. “I am hoping for diverse and Africanised storytelling, in collaboration with other African markets and languages.”

Mkize’s takeaway from her personal experience is that she’s developed an ‘each one, teach one’ philosophy. “All the shows I’ve worked on demonstrate we have talent in front of and behind the camera, so mentorship is vital. Our industry would bloom if we took each other under each other’s wings to learn,” she said.

Local Stories?captivating?International Audiences

MultiChoice’s international co-productions like?Trackers;?Reyka;?White Lies;?Recipes for Love and Murder?and?Spinners?are drawing in international audiences and helping establish a following for South African stories. “The success of these shows has increased interest from other potential co-production?partners,?and we do have stakeholders who are eager to finance the production of South African-based stories,”?explained Philiso.

“Recipes for Love and Murder?is doing incredibly well in markets outside of South Africa because of its universality – but then there are powerful African-rooted stories in continental languages, like?Shaka?Ilembe, which is doing well. We had six years to plan for?Shaka?Ilembe, but don’t always have that luxury on our shows.?Our plan is to?increase focus?on?telling?African epic stories?and seeing how well-received?Shaka?Ilembe?has been has given us the impetus to do more – and, as a result,?Queen Modjadji?is in production?now.”

The panel discussion concluded with media members?engaging with the panellists about what more can be done to help audience engagement with content and if South African productions have reached a level where the world immediately?identifies?it as such. Philiso ended the inspiring morning by proclaiming that?“our stories must work for our audiences first, and the more uncompromising we become about our stories, the rest will indeed follow”.?