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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Silverscreen
Happy Tuesday!!!
Good thing there is a lot of competition now on both local and regional television stations.I hear a lot of producers and film makers are busy on their reels trying to give us quality shows. The challenge now is, somehow, tough for some local producers who lack creativity. They are busy trying to do remakes of some other shows that have been on screen a long time ago.

It is good to do a remake but be guided that it surpasses the standards of the first show. Again, why are all producers working on the same concept? Yes, it is competition but if you take a closer look you end up using the same personalities on your show.

Does it mean we have less presenters here in the country. For instance, one presenter is being used to host a show on lifestyle, then that same presenter you see her or him on another show on motoring, fashion and even anchoring the news.

This is a wakeup call that they should do their research first before engaging the person. What happened to professionalism, I mean contract signing.

I had a chat with my colleague last week who mentioned that there is also nepotism in television production. It is either who you know or how much you have for you to take the role.

I won’t say much about some local series she mentioned. There is no creativity on production and the actors seem to be taken off the streets and straight on to set. My colleague believes this is killing the local industry because so and so has fans but yet doesn’t know how to act.

Yes, we might try to use the power of influence but why not then educate or take the actors for a workshop, since it is also about passion. This is how countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana among others, beat us. Not that they have the resources or superior talent.

Another issue which was raised was on using the “old horses”.

Start up with the young ones so that they grow in the industry. We sometimes avoid that and take those who already have made it in acting and give them roles not even befitting them. Imagine having an old horse acting as a school child.

Does it mean we don’t have young actors or we are just creating the same modus operandi? Please writers consider this plea. I won’t mention names for the benefit that I continue maintaining good relations with those in television.

And I have noticed that we tend to blame ZBCTV for giving us boring production. Remember whoever said progress was a slow process was not talking about our ignorance. Our station gives us what we feed them.

On to DStv. A lot is also happening with the number of channels increasing but the fact still remains the same, isn’t it a repetition of other channels. What is the relevance of having more channels yet they are broadcasting somehow similar material?

Although, it is a way of making money, sometimes you should consider the value of money. Earlier this month, MultiChoice Africa announced that there will be no price increase to its DStv service for all customers in Zimbabwe. Lovemore Mangwende, MultiChoice Zimbabwe managing director, said that a decision had been made to keep subscription rates at current levels despite a particularly tough year for MultiChoice Africa in the face of a harsh economic environment across the continent.

“From falling commodity and oil prices, which affected economies and exchange rates, and the ever-rising costs of satellite usage, there have been a number of external economic factors that have challenged MultiChoice Africa,” Mr Mangwende said.

“However, it had been recognised that we’re not the only ones feeling the pinch and that customers are also suffering, so the relief provided by not increasing the price of subscriptions is great news for Zimbabwean subscribers in particular.”

Efforts are being made to ensure a customer-driven experience in other areas. One of the most popular football competitions in the world, the FA Cup, has been extended without cost to subscribers to all DStv packages. Pop-up channels such as the recent James Bond festival are being including among the exciting, world-class programming that viewers continue to enjoy.

Other added-value initiatives will continue to be offered in months and years ahead. This is just a reminder, I hope they practised what they preach. So on Sunday, we witnessed the crowning of Miss South Africa on M-Net (DStv channel 101) and Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161).

The live show, hosted by ProVerb, saw scintillating performances by multi-award-winning songstress and The Voice SA judge Lira. Best-selling singer/songwriter Matthew Mole performed tracks from his latest album “Run”.

I think our local pageants here learnt a lesson, on how to run the event. I won’t repeat or waste time, trying to hint or highlight what to do. Let’s remove our ignorance and start to live by the book. If South Africans can do it, why not us? Aren’t we the same colour, race and somehow minds?

Happy viewing.