Bel Ombre, Mauritius
The newest addition to the M-Net channels, Zambezi Magic, is inviting local filmmakers, scriptwriters and producers to submit videos, documentaries ideas and reality shows and films for an opportunity to showcase their craft and talent on the channel.
The channel, launched on July 1 and is the new home of Southern Africa, and is continuing to search for and identify relevant new titles that it can add to its developing content line-up. Zambezi Magic Head, Addiel Dzinoreva, says the platform opens up a wide range of opportunity to present what locals are capable of doing and hope to encourage film makers to share their stories, and make new stars. “We are not getting enough content to fill our schedule. At the next event like this, we want to see Namibia actors and actress to be interviewed by other African journalists. We are looking for content, if you are a producer, and you got content you need to get in touch with us,” says Dzinoreva.
He adds that there will be a small budget for films, which will commission a number of films from each of the countries, and Namibians will also have a portion of that budget awarded to them. “We are not saying bring us Hollywood quality, we [are]saying grow with us, we all starting… people are starting out, so some of the qualities are not as we want but we going to give as much chance as possible for many people to get in and as time pass by, our standard will rise. There’s room for fresh stories, fresh narratives and fresh take on how to film as a medium of communication. So with the rise of African film, we going in the new era,” says Dzinoreva.
“Feel free to communicate with us through our social media platform, comment, give us as much feedback as you can. It’s the only way we can improve our offering. To the producers we are open for business, if you got content; ideas get in touch with us. Even if you don’t have a product but you got an idea, engage with us and we can work on it,” he says.
And with music being a huge part of entertainment, Zambezi Magic is also looking at beefing up its music offering by giving artists and/ or music producers an opportunity to showcase their gift on the channel. Artists and producers are call on to submit local music video in preparation of the launch of the channel’s first two music video shows, Zed Top 10 and Zim Top 10 which is set to launch on the channel in October. The shows will also give viewers the opportunity to vote for their favourite music videos via the Zambezi Magic Facebook page and more information will be provided closer to the launch date.
This exciting new channel, dubbed ‘the home to Southern African TV entertainment’, will treat DStv Premium and Compact subscribers in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to a variety of quality programming from the southern tip of Africa.
Local filmmakers, scriptwriters and producers can drop their content at the MultiChoice Offices. Artists /producers can submit their videos to:Gugu.Mkhwanazi@mnet.co.za or also drop them off at your local MultiChoice offices.
You can also engage with Zambezi Magic via Facebook For more information, visit www.dstv.com or www.zambezimagic.tv and follow Zambezi Magic on Facebook: Zambezi Magic TV; Twitter @zambezimagictv; Instagram zambezimagictv and WeChat ZambeziMagic.