Creative Producer Indaba was created to provide professional training and hone the leadership skills of tenacious producers. In this spirit, Indaba’s Opening Assembly will take place as a Conversation on Leadership, moderated by Group Leader and Realness Institute Co-Founder, Mehret Mandefro. Our guests in conversation will be Tabitha Jackson -Director of Sundance Film Institute, Cara Mertes- Project Director of Moving Image Strategies and International Programs at the Ford Foundation, and Makhosazana Khanyile- CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa (NFVF). 

This conversation is a highlight of our program as our guests discuss what it means to be a leader, and what it means to be ‘doing the work’, each of whom has done so in their own their right. Tabitha Jackson’s belief in the arts as a public good has filtered into her work over an expanse career of 25 years in film and public broadcasting, where she has uplifted independent and diverse voices in cinema and other art forms. A strong background in non-fiction storytelling and non-profit work, Cara Mertes has worked to the role of artists in society and cultural expression. Through her work for the Ford Foundation, and previously the Sundance Institute, Cara’s work has included creating strategic global partnerships to increase impact and resources to the field to support the work of artists. Makhosazana Khanyila has worked in media and broadcasting, with a focus on strategies and programming for the African continent for MNet and Fox Network Group. At the NFVF, she provides leadership to the most robust funding agency in Africa, bringing her expertise in forming long-term strategies in building the country’s filmmaking infrastructure.

Indaba will then start its first of 3 engagements on the 31st of August. This first workshop will proceed with plenary workshops run by producers and experts who embody the spirit of the program itself. They are all leaders and are active professionals in their own countries: Ama Ampadu (Saturday Films, UK); Cait Pansegrouw (Urucu, South Africa); Dayo Ogunyemi (Zuri 24 Media, Nigeria); Effie Brown (Gamechanger, USA); Femi Odugbemi(234 Media, Nigeria); Katy Lena (IndigoMood Films, Senegal); Linda Beath (Ideal Filmworks, USA); Rosa Attab (France) and Steven Markowitz (Big World Cinema, South Africa). With a pulse on current industry trends, Indaba has invited Christopher Mack (Director of Creative Talent Investment and Development, Netflix) to host a masterclass on packaging content for streaming platforms. 

Fay Breeman, the manager of The Hubert Bals Fund will be hosting an interactive session with both the Realness Screenwriters’ Residency and the Indaba participants. As the only fund that supports the development of African projects, this will be a fruitful exchange that will allow the producers to engage with Fay on a personal level. 

The producers will also have the opportunity to engage with the screenwriting residents in an industry networking mixer. Both groups will also get the chance to pitch and network with guests from Atlas Labs, Marrakech International Film Festival, Berlinale Talents, the Hubert Bals Fund, Netflix and Sundance. We see a clear overlap in the Screenwriters’ Residency and Indaba as an opportunity to bring these projects into contact with the Indaba producers, with the possibility of them creating relationships.

The inaugural cohort of 17 participants is divided into two groups, those with projects and those who are focusing on career development. The 2020 participants with projects are producers: 

• Carol Kioko – Tero Buro, Feature Film by Silas Miami (Kenya) 
• Maia Lekow – How To Build a Library, Feature Documentary by Chris King (Kenya)
• Lesedi Moche – Are You Wearing You?, Feature Documentary by Nikissi Serumaga (Uganda)
• Lara Sousa – Karigana, Feature Film by Inadelso Costa (Mozambique)
• Souleyman Kebe – Coura + Ouleye, Feature Film by Iman Djonne (Senegal)
• Wafa Tajdin – The Last Post Office in Lagos, Feature Film by Akinola Davies Jnr. (Nigeria)

The 2020 participants with career development focus are:

• Chioma Onyenwe – Artistic Director, Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), (Nigeria)
• Dina Emam – Founder; Producer, Lotus Picture Co. (Egypt)
• Flavia Motsisi – Commissioning Editor for Local Entertainment Channels, Mnet (South Africa)
• Frank Hoeve – Producer; Co-Owner, BALDR Film (The Netherlands)
• Israel Mehari – Producer; Assistant Director, Kana TV (Ethiopia)
• Melissa Adeyemo – Founder; Producer, Ominira Studies (Nigeria/US)
• Oluwaseun Babalola – Founder; Producer; Director, DO Global Productions (Nigeria/Sierra Leone/US)
• Thomas Hakim – Founder; Producer, Petit Chaos (France) 
• Thomas Kaske – Founder; Producer, Kaske Films (Germany)
• Toni Kamau – Founder; Producer, We are not the machine Ltd (Kenya)
• Yolanda Ncokotwana – Production and Development Manager, National Film and Video Foundation (South Africa)

In addition to training, Creative Producer Indaba aims to be a forum for rethinking business models for content creation in Africa and connecting producers with a community. “EAVE focuses on people over projects ; mind over matter.  The participants’ current projects and career or business issues are used as real life case studies throughout the workshop cycle.  As a result, projects and businesses are developed, yet our long-term success criteria are that participants become/remain successful professionals with distinct voices, that actively engage in sustaining, strengthening, and innovating audiovisual storytelling as well as the industry as a whole  – regionally, nationally and internationally.” says CEO of EAVE Kristina Trapp. EAVE has been building networks of producers for over 30 years.

As part of the program, the producers will also spend time exploring peership and laying the foundations for a continent-wide producers network. Establishing a strong community of producers on the continent is an outcome of the program that will be a critical part of its sustainability and success.

Realness Institute would also like to thank its partners and volunteers, past and present, for their continued commitment developing cinematic talent in Africa. 

Realness Institute presents Creative Producer Indaba in partnership with EAVE, IFFRPro, Sundance Institute; with the support of DOC A, National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, French Institute of South Africa and IEFTA.

Read in Screen Daily.