Shove Off Nollywood! Kenyan Films Headed for the Stars

Despite Kenya having over 16m active media consumers, film makers are struggling to make inroads into the local market, trailing rivals telanovelas, Nollywood and Hollywood, in what industry players blame on lack of specialization of roles, and an absence of audience research.

However, partnerships with incoming TV channels are now beginning to fuel Kenya’s own film industry. One such partnership, between Kijiji and Zuku, has delivered a world class Kenyan production, Groove Theory, which has earned 4 nominations in this year’s Kalasha Film and TV Awards, after its first series, which premiered in November 2013.

“The show was a co-production, Kijiji Entertainment provided content, while Zuku distributed and marketed the show,” said Kanjii Mbugua the CEO of Kijiji Entertainment and producer of Groove Theory, which is the first musical series in Kenya.

Kijiji, which is about to commence filming of the second series of the show, partnered with Zuku to make the musical show, after Zuku had run content from Kijiji’s industry leading Village Musical – a series of theatre musicals staged every Easter and Christmas now in its 6th year of production.

The decision to now shoot a second series of Groove Theory followed from the show’s immediate success, and the affirmation that both parties shared the same production qualities and standards. Zuku has been keen to partner with local production companies to produce local content that is of high standard and appreciated by the local viewers.

Currently, Africa remains the world’s least developed broadcast market. With a population of more than 525m viewers, it constitutes a great opportunity for growth, with proven demand for quality content, according to the African Broadcast Network.