Another local producer, Chaftop Films, has managed to break into the competitive television industry and managed to air a comedy series on Zambezi Magic via Dstv. This 30 minute show titled Situations is a series of comical skits representing different situations people face in their daily lives. According to producer, Decent Ngwenya, the series tackles various domestic, religious and social situations. Ngwenya also said it is a 13 episode series filmed in Gaborone and Rasesa.
In explaining the content, Ngwenya said for every situation there are 3 actors and that they do not particularly have a storyline. The series was apparently inspired during the filming of a completely different project. He stated that during filming breaks, his team would tell jokes and act them out, hence the birth of ‘Situations’ from the impromptu skits which were collaborated and ultimately filmed into a series.
Ngwenya’s journey began when he approached Africa Magic, but because they did not respond to his request, he changed the route and approached Zambezi Magic. Within two months the channel responded positively and this is when they packaged their show which was officially launched on Thursday.
Ngwenya described his source of inspiration as consistency and persistence, never giving up and continuously working towards his dream as the only key to his success. He also said that due to the excessive digital migration and vast increase in demand for content they have been able to penetrate the market.
According to Ngwenya, Botswana Tourism needs to be applauded because when consumers think of Botswana, all they want to see is wildlife and the Okavango rendering them not being interested in fiction, drama and other creative works.
Regarding the challenges in the industry, Ngwenya cited lack of finances as the greatest problem since there is very little compensation for their work. Chaftop are no stranger to Dstv since they produced a game show for Africa Magic Channel titled reassure Box Africa.
On a positive note, Ngwenya stated that they have a team on board working tirelessly for the 2nd season of the series. He also said the show will get better as more episodes come up since they were getting better as the filming proceeded.
