MADE IN SA
Karabo Lediga
Township stories prove a huge hit
by DEBASHINE THANGEVELO source TONIGHT
In four years e. tv’ s flagship eKasi: Our Stories has grown from five dramas to a staggering 52. This year, the township stories include two new genres and the locations have expanded to KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Limpopo. Debashine Thangevelo chatted to Asi-B Films executive producer and director, Asivhanzhi“ Asi” Mathaba, and Diprente Films content producer, Karabo Lediga, about their respective contributions of sci-fi and comedy drama.
BIGGER and better – that is e. tv’ s mantra where eKasi: Our Stories are concerned. When the channel first tested the waters with the township-centred stories back in 2009, it was with a mere five dramas.
Now the series has snowballed into a roaring success with viewers ravenous for more such offerings. And e. tv has worked hard to satiate those appetites, with this year being a ground-breaking one.
First, the story landscape has widened and is more diversified genre-wise. Asi-B Films executive producer and director, Asivhanzhi“ Asi” Mathaba, and Diprente Films content producer, Karabo Lediga, are among the new contributors with sci-fi and comedy drama, respectively, being given a platform.
Meanwhile, Bubblegum, a production company in the Western Cape, offers stories that are synony mous with the Mother City.
In a chat with Venda-born Mathaba, who majored in directing at City Varsity Film School in Cape Town and completed an entertainment master class with EMC at campuses in Berlin, Tel Aviv, Switzerland and Cape Town, it’ s clear his passion for Limpopo Province is unmistakable.
And he is no greenhorn in the industry either. Although he started Asi-B films back in 1999, it was when he was a student and as part of a project he was working on. But he knew that to make a success of what he started, he needed that all-powerful skill called experience. That’ s when he explored the production side of the industry by working on major reality shows such as Zola 7 and Lattitude.
“ In 2006, I stopped everything and started focusing on growing my company. We have done lots of documentaries like Solly Story, which aired at the Berlin Film Festival.”
66 | WGSA MAG July 2013