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of equipment among other aspects.
So far, Media Vision has been able to procure more than 300 licences from KFCB to make films locally.
Among them is David and the Bull, a movie produced locally in Bungoma but later translated into Germany( David Und der Stier).
Mucheru is the brain behind Media Vision. A renowned dramatist, he has produced documentaries and infomercials for Kenya Power, Action Aid( County dialogues on KTN), KBC( Marauki & Balamwezi), University of Nairobi and Kenya Forest Research Institute( Sauti ya Misitu). He has also produced a continental documentary for USAID’ s programme SUWASA( Portuguese for the Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Africa) in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Currently, Media Vision is producing a local wildlife documentary that will be voiced in local dialects. This is after they got a free license from KFCB that would otherwise cost Ksh1 million.
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As he puts it, Mucheru says that Dr Mutua is trying to sanitise an industry that has not been streamlined for a long time. He says that this is the reason Mutua is facing a lot of backlash from the‘ big boys’ in the industry.
“ KFCB is misunderstood. Dr Mutua has the best interest for the industry. He has been able to open new horizons, and this has to ruffle feathers with industry players,” says Mucheru.
The milestones have not been without hurdles. Changing Kenyans’ mindset to embrace and commercialise the film industry is one of the biggest challenges he has faced. Mucheru also says that the country lacks substantial film policy as compared to other sectors of the economy in Kenya, the reason it remains underexploited.
Devolution brought in another challenge of double taxation. Even after procuring a licence from KFCB, producers still face harassment from county officials who require them to buy county licences to
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shoot in the respective counties. He gives an example of Kajiado county where producers are required to pay Ksh 150,000 per day for every production they make.
“ There is another challenge with training. Very few institutions offer training on film. This means that producers and actors are not well-equipped to produce quality content,” regrets Mucheru.
“ We also have a problem with piracy and conning by foreigners. Most content produced in Kenya is not Kenyan.
“ We were once conned in the movie David and the Bull. We wrote the script, staged the movie and produced but according to the contract we signed we came to realise that we do not own the movie. It is German.”
Mucheru, through Sinema Mashinani and KFCB, hopes to see a revolutionalised film industry in Kenya.
“ I am optimistic that it will happen. I dream of
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a situation where local content competes side by side with international content. I want to see Kenyans embrace local content, I want to see Kenyans earn directly from film, I want to see our screens filled with local content,” concludes Mucheru.
Currently, Media Vision is working with Mediamax, Kameme TV, Royal Media Services and Viusasa. They are planning to launch a platform to distribute their content online through their distribution company, Soko TV.
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