Stephen Visse promised that he would take five actors from Bulawayo and the same number from Harare in a programme that would see him importing local talent for various big productions down south.
He gave a number of examples of actors who started on the local scene and made it in SA and even beyond.
He admitted that the local arts industry had immense talent but lacked resources to nurture it.
To me, this was just one of the talent search stories that we always carry but the response we got after publishing the article was amazing.
It was not a response from readers but it came from our local actors.
Although I cannot disclose names of the actors who sought to contact Visse and be considered for the talent search programme, I can announce that some of the names are really big on the local industry and it is worrying to see how we might keep losing our talent to other countries.
Unlike other disciplines such as sport, where we celebrate exposure of players to various competitive leagues because they would come back and employ the talent collectively when we build national teams, acting is purely about individual achievement.
We can be proud of actors that make it big on the international scene but it would be very difficult to quantify their input back home besides noting that they are raising the country’s flag high in foreign lands.
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We have the talent locally but we have often watched actors go to waste because there is no support from the corporate world.
What has become of actors like Lazarus ‘Gringo’ Boora, Jesessi ‘Neria’ Mungoshi, Lawrence ‘Bonzo’ Simbarashe and Enock ‘Tobby’ Chihombori?
They have either left acting for other professions or are languishing in poverty.
It is a great shame for our industry indeed.
Local corporate giants have always stampeded to support well-known arts establishments at the expense of real and individual talent that could change the face of our film industry in a big way.
It is no wonder why established and renowned actors were ecstatic when they heard that Visse could take them out of the local industry for greener pastures.
It shows that they are only taking part in local films because they do not have anywhere to go, otherwise we could have lost most of them and our film industry would sink into deeper mud than the dirty waters in which it is swimming currently.
The Nigerian film industry has grown and made an impact in many parts of the continent including Zimbabwe.
The name Nollywood has been coined to recognise the growth of that industry.
Although many enthusiasts locally would like to refer to our film industry as Zolywood, there is not much to sustain the identity and it can only expose us rather than promote our products until the corporate world gives a hand to local productions.
It is shameful to see how the cream of our actors and producers are waiting for any possible chance to quit the local industry.
I do not think this has anything to do with technology because it is very easy to come up with spectacular movies using the equipment that we have in most private production houses locally.
The products just need to be supported and marketed internationally.
I do not believe it is a matter of lack of coordination in the industry because we managed to come up with exquisite productions like Neria, Everyone’s Child, Yellow Card and Tanyaradzwa.
It is simply a matter of funding.
A serious and collective budget for production and marketing of our films will take us to a higher level and make our artists proud of their industry just like Ini Edo, Patience Uzokwor and Ramsy Noah are proud to be Nigerian actors working for Nigerain Productions.Feedback: [email protected]
