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Edward Zvemisha Arts Correspondent

Only those who understand the importance of producers, directors and most of the behind-the-scenes crew know how much and how long it takes to come up with a well packaged product that will positively influence audience reception.

This is the story of Kudzanai Maneswa, also known as K Mane, a 28-year-old video director born and bred in Budiriro, Harare, who five years ago started learning about directing through YouTube tutorials and has since become one of Zimbabwe’s most sort after directors.

“So, I started directing five years ago and at that point everything was just for fun using our mobile phones,” he said. “I had been watching YouTube videos and felt I could take up a camera and the rest is history.”

Such passion is testament to the projects he has released so far, with the notable mentions being Gemma Griffiths’ video, “Gara Pano”, Janet Manyowa’s “Ndimi” and Ishan’s “Kure Kure Remix”.

Across the border in South Africa, he directed the much awaited video to a TikTok viral Amapiano song by Toss called “Umlando”, where his visual concepts set him apart.

“Every project has been a learning curve for me and I love every project and all the clients I have managed to work with,” said K Mane. “I would say my absolute favourite would be Kure Remix, exploring Mbare always brings me joy.”

With the importance that comes with visual representations, K Mane said the pre and post production differs because of the amount of work done in pre-production, thus influencing the final product.

“I think there’s a lot of work in shooting than editing,” he said. “Planning is key, so we meticulously plan what we want to shoot, thus it is critical to shoot according to the plan as editing just then becomes a puzzle and fitting every piece in place.”

K Mane said the uniqueness and authenticity have made his craft much more appreciated, thus pushing him further and further, as he tries to reach every part of the world.

“I think upcoming directors must push for uniqueness over anything else because it sells to be authentic, they need to discover their strengths and weaknesses while working on the latter first,” he said.

For such an introvert, his projects speak more for him.

“There’s not much difference, K Mane the individual is an introvert contrary to common beliefs, so I guess that’s how my mind is constantly thinking and coming up with ideas.”

K Mane said he has a lot of projects on the way.