(The) Write to evolve – Ryan Yamba

Posted on 8/5/2009 at 3:21:20 PM

Every writer worth their salt fondly recalls a definitive moment in their back-story when it dawned on them that ‘mightier than the sword’ didn’t technically refer to the humble pen but rather the hand that put it to paper. Mine came one sunny Friday afternoon many years ago. I’d been invited to a friend’s house after school to check out his Amiga, a high-end gaming console, ‘the likes of which had never been seen in the little mining city of Ndola, Zambia.’ *Cue the violins* When this technological phenomenon emerged, (in slow motion if memory serves correctly), my jaw hit the ground. It wasn’t really a console but a slim line (by early 90’s standards) keyboard that plugged directly into the TV and took floppy discs nogal! My fingers trembled reverently over the white keys and when at last I could tear my glistening eyes from them and muster some semblance of speech, I looked up at my beaming friend and hoarsely whispered… “Can we type stories on it?”

Miraculously enough, our friendship survived his disgust but more importantly, from that moment, I knew I wanted to be a storyteller above all else. Of course the school guidance counsellor wrote this off as a no-brainer in the nicest way she could and gave me the ‘Have something else to fall back on, Ryan’ speech but I wasn’t having any of it. I was going to write the greatest opus since the Old Testament, come hell, high water or, (as prophesised by said counsellor), hardcore poverty! Almost two decades later, I’m making a living writing for television and even though I feel like the cat that got the cream most days, (or at least before SABC ‘lost’ 800 million rands worth of it), I’m still dying to tell bigger stories in bigger formats for the small screen.

South Africa is the soap opera central of the continent (with over ten local soaps currently airing on screen) and although most of them, particularly the stalwarts, are very well made and hold their own, I find myself wondering if, by producing carbon copies of them (in daily and weekly formats), local content is denying itself the right to evolve beyond suds and lather. Very early in my career, a colleague told me that in order to stay (moderately) sane whilst writing for TV, I’d have to keep writing my own stuff on the side, regardless of whether or not it ever saw the light of day. The implication being that a writer’s highest work could never make it on local screens and thus has to be nurtured in secret. A tragic philosophy if ever there was one. South African audiences (across all demographics) are inundated with international fare (on local / satellite television and the big screen) which makes them far more sophisticated than I believe our industry gives them credit for.

With these slick, high-concept international serials and movies being the order of the day now, SA writers, (and more disturbingly), SA audiences run the risk of outgrowing local content. I’m not calling for the termination of current soaps (just don’t commission any more for the love of all things holy), what I’d like to see is our producers challenging the national broadcaster with fresher, edgier form and content. Can such content still adhere to the stuffy specs of SABC briefs? Abso-friggin-lutely! Am I prepared to put my money where my mouth is? You better believe it, sister child! I firmly believe inside every writer, lies a groundbreaking, soul-shaking, devastating opus… Isn’t it time one or two local ones revolutionized our small screens? Muse upon it while I get back to polishing mine.

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Ryambaz@gmail.com