African producers have been urged to attend international networking events like MIPTV if they want to get a shot at selling their shows to a global audience.
During the session Global Hotspot: Producers To Watch From Africa, media guru Mo Abudu, CEO of Nigeria-based EbonyLife Media, invited African content creators to share their experiences when targeting international audiences.
She said: “Until you decide to invest in coming here, you will never see any returns. If we want our stories told, we have to make sure we’re in the room.”
Interviewee Rethabile Ramaphakela, creative director/co-owner at Johannesburg-based Burnt Onion Productions, agreed. “Many producers don’t come here because they find it expensive — but you need to be here to plant the seeds to continue to grow.”
Burnt Onion, which has produced numerous hits for South African public broadcaster SABC, made Bedford Wives, a comedy drama on Amazon Prime.
Kagiso Lediga, the co-founder of South Africa’s Diprente Films, said the company does try to make its South African content accessible to international audiences.
Lediga, whose company made history as the producer of Netflix’s first Original Series from Africa, added: “If you attempt to speak to a broader audience, even if it is to other Africans, you find the production does become global.”
This and more in the MIPTV News.
