Pushing local film content

For years, Ugandan filmmakers hace struggled to find space and platforms for their films and content but over the years, that has changed for both experienced and budding filmmakers and

Content creators. This was mostly because of the emergence of Pearl Magic, a Multichoice channel dedicated to local content. The channel later gave birth to two more channels; Pearl Magic Prime and Pearl Magic Loko.

Last week, however, two of those channels merged. According to the Multichoce Local Content Manager, Brian Mulondo, Pearl Magic Loko and Pearl Magic had been merged into Pearl Magic Reloaded.

The announcement was made during the 2024 MultiChoice annual showcase held at the Multichoice headquarters in Kololo, where several stakeholders gathered, along with representatives from the Uganda Communication Commission and hosted by radio host Malaika Tenshi Nnyanzi,.

To kick off the party, Malaika welcomed DJ Zahara Toto to mix some music for the guests but it was Etania who stole the show with her DJ skills.

The managing director of Multichoice, Hassan Saleh, thanked guests for supporting Multichoice for decades and announced that this year, they would celebrate their 30th anniversary in Uganda.

“Today, Sanyu is one of the top three ranked series in Africa. We are ensuring that we invest in young talent such as writers, actors, and even camera crew,” Saleh said.

The PR & Communications Manager Rinaldi Jamugisa hinted on copyright infringement and piracy.

“We all love different sports, especially football, and enjoy all these programmes. However, if you access it from other sources or for free, you are going to make us fail and stop producing it. The best you can do is report any site or person providing content illegally. Piracy is illegal,” he said.

He added that that they are keen on  investing in quality content.

“A lot of the time we have watched content from abroad and we shall still provide it. But there was a need to have people we know on TV. People need to watch stories they can relate to. On the other hand, creators were hungry to showcase the talent they have, but there was no platform.”

Jamugisa also talked about the Talent Factory, saying there are four talent factories in Africa; Zambia, Nigeria, Nairobi, and South Africa and the company has trained more than 300 people. “We take these young people and fully pay for their studies wherever they go, like the New York Film Academy. For Uganda, we have had 24 students currently in Nairobi. They usually come back, and they have quality work.”

Samuel Mafayo one of the best students in the 2023 cohort and was given an opportunity to go to Zee World.

Lois Kwikiriza, the head of marketing at DStv, said parents should always change passwords of their accounts because it is necessary to protect children’s minds from adult content.

Julian Mwehire, the director of local content at UCC, said as a regulator, they will do everything possible to help creators commercialise their content.