Writing and producing in Africa
Goals
A project
Supported by
In partnership with
Presentation
Television series are a significant commercial asset for African TV channels: they are tremendously successful amongst a loyal viewing public, attractive to advertisers, are today much sought-after by broadcasters, and are a strong factor in channel identity. Produced locally, these programmes also constitute a creative space for not only technical but also artistic young talent.
With a view to helping to modernise and renew African series, a programme of courses in the trades of writing, directing, producing and acting has been set up and prospective participants are invited to apply.
The objective is to enable attendees to acquire the skills and techniques to write a well-balanced, creative series, involving authors, directors, production managers and also actors and technicians.
Partner-financing funds the programmes - to be broadcast in Africa - produced during the practical training course and on the basis of the projects chosen from those submitted.
The project comprises 4 parts:
- "MDR !*", open to production companies and to directors, caters for short and comic programme series projects.
- "Script Talents", the aim of which is to encourage French-speaking African authors to give expression to their talent by joining the artistic team of a pan-African TV crime series.
- "Direct yourself !" aims to identify and to train French-speaking directors within the context of the second season of the series entitled "C'est la vie !".
- "Invisible", which deals with the phenomenon of 'microbes', unemployed youths who terrorise the streets of Abidjan.
- "F&C", a family saga featuring police‑based storylines.
- "Best female talents", written exclusively by a group of African women.
- "Stories and legends of Africa", a collection of 8 films giving the public the opportunity to discover or rediscover stories rooted in the collective unconscious.
*MDR!: [ mort de rire] is the French equivalent of "LOL" [laugh out loud]
Project beneficiaries
Directors, actors, authors, script-writers and production directors from French-speaking Africa.
Files to download
Actions
MDR !
Candidate selection
Launch of a call for applications in sub-Saharan Africa, after which 8 projects will be selected.
Selected applicants will sign an agreement and receive a grant to finance the filming of a pilot.
Training in short programme writing
The 8 candidates take part in a writing workshop in Abidjan led by two script doctors.
Pilot filming and follow-up
Candidates film the pilot using their own resources and receive production assistance, the amount of which is determined by the panel of judges. The pilot has to be filmed within 4 months of signature of the agreement. The various production stages are monitored remotely by the experts responsible for the project.
The best pilots may be chosen for developing the series and be broadcast on Canal + Afrique.
Eight talented Africans embark on the next step of their 'MDR !*' audiovisual adventure
Talents de script
Call for applicants
Launch of a call for applicants based on 2 pitch tests, after which 11 authors/script-writers will be selected.
Selection of finalists
The script-writers selected will take part in a workshop in Dakar, during which the context of the development of the series and its constraints will be analysed. An initial task relates to the story arcs and the synopsis.
After this workshop, 5 script-writers will be selected.
Participation in topic-specific workshops
The script-writers take part in 2 topic-specific workshops on script-writing:
- story outline: summary of each sequence in the overall story
- dialogue continuity: visual, auditory and chronological description of the story
Production direction training
Two production assistants will be selected and trained by a production direction expert.
After the training courses, all candidates must be able to become active members of the programme production team.
Script Talents call for applications
Script Talents: 11 candidates selected
Talented scriptwriters create a draft for an African crime series
Talents de femmes – It’s a wrap!
Réalise Toi !
Call for applicants
Launch of a call for applicants based on 2 pitch tests, after which 8 directors will be selected.
Selection of finalists
A panel of judges will choose the eight best directors and take part in an initial training course. After that course, only five of the eight will be selected to form the pool of directors who will be involved in production of Season 2 of the series entitled "C'est la vie".
Participation in topic-specific workshops
Eight-day training workshop in directing in Dakar (Senegal) for the 8 pre-selected candidates, to be followed by a two-day presentation. Surrounded by a production team, the directors must be in a position to produce scenes under filming conditions. After this workshop, Keewu Production will choose five directors who will be given the task of producing one or more episodes of the series between May and June 2016.
After the training courses, all candidates must be able to become active members of the programme production team.
Direct yourself! - A training course for directing African TV series
“Invisibles”, best foreign francophone fiction
Top Radio competition
Call for applicants
Launch of a call for applicants based on 2 pitch tests, after which 5 humourists will be selected.
Participation in topic-specific workshops
A review of script-writing prior to participation in writing workshops with the authors of the series (and the series editor, as far as possible) for the purposes of sketch integration.
With training given by the authors of the series and the series editor, the 5 humourists selected will have the task of integrating into the screenplays the jokes, written or visual gags, skits and any other comic digressions, all the while fulfilling the specifications defined by the production.
Venue: Abidjan.
Top Radio – identifying Côte d’Ivoire’s best comic talents
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