At two gala events held tonight, in Lagos and Nairobi, AfricaMagic and MultiChoice Africa
presented their latest joint initiative – The AfricaMagic Viewers’
Choice Awards. The exciting announcement was made during a special
episode of the popular AfricaMagic magazine show Jara, which is screened
to DStv audiences in 47 countries across the continent.
Created to celebrate African film and
television talent, both in front of and behind the cameras, the Awards
will feature several special categories in which viewers will decide the
winners directly, alongside several professionally judged categories.
In
total, 28 awards in 26 categories will be awarded ranging from acting
and directing to script-writing and cinematography. Other fields which
will be honored include editing, make-up, sound, lighting and costuming
among others. In addition the awards will feature two categories
destined to become annual talking points – the Industry Merit Award and
the TrailBlazer of the Year Award.
Awards will be handed out at two
separate events to be held in March 2013 in Lagos – the first event will
be dedicated to standout technical accomplishments while the main event
will be a glittering, glamourous gala night. Both events will be
screened to DStv audiences across the continent with the gala being
screened live.
In order to ensure that the awards are
transparent, fair and credible, AfricaMagic has recruited leading and
respected industry veteran Femi Odugbemi to take on the role of
executive judge and has confirmed that all the awards will be verified
by an independent auditing company to be appointed shortly.
Commenting on the Awards, M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi
is confident that this is an opportunity to build a pan-African event
that is both relevant to industry professionals and vastly entertaining
to fans.
“It has been part of our plan to
create a specific event that honors, celebrates and recognizes those
people who are giving so much of their talent and creativity to ensuring
the popularity and evolution of African film and TV. And to do this in
partnership with MultiChoice illustrates the level to which both
companies value this industry and are willing to invest in its future.”
She goes on to say, “Following the
successful launch earlier this year of an expanded line-up of
AfricaMagic channels, we are now totally focused on these Awards. We are
aiming to create a platform that showcases and supports the film and
television community, while simultaneously entertaining and engaging
viewers. While we are aware that there are challenges ahead we are
committed to the success of this initiative as we truly believe it will
contribute positively to the efforts of filmmakers from Lagos to
Nairobi, Lusaka to Kampala and all across Africa.”
CEO of MultiChoice Africa Nico Meyer said “Over
the last 20 years MultiChoice has continuously invested in our premium
channels M-Net and SuperSport to ensure that DStv becomes home of
African television. The creation and success of the Africa Magic
channels are a reflection of the popularity of this strategy of
providing channels made in Africa for Africa. Thus, celebrating the best
talent in this industry we believe will encourage further development
and investment. We are truly proud to be part of this event which will
showcase the best that Africa has to offer.”
With the Awards now officially launched
by AfricaMagic and MultiChoice, the process now begins with a call to
producers to make their submissions for consideration. Details of where
and how to enter are available on www.africamagic.tv
and the deadline for all submissions is Wednesday 31 October 2012 at
9pm (CAT). Entry is free. Once all submissions are received and
evaluated by an expert selection panel to be named later in the year,
the big announcement of the nominees for the first-ever AfricaMagic
Viewers’ Choice Awards will be made public in early December at which
stage public voting will begin.
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