Posted on 8/26/2009 at 11:38:42 PM
We @ the blog would like to applaud Chairperson of the Writer’s Guild, Thandi Brewer, independent producers, Rehad Desai & Michael Lee and of course thoroughbred thespian, Terrence Bridget, (yes Chico from Isidingo), for their insightful participation on tonight’s ‘Talk at nine’ 702 broadcast with Kienno Kammies. The show served as a prequel of sorts to tomorrow’s guerrilla theatre action that will be staged outside the ‘faulty tower’ (SABC). The action is geared to generate public awareness around the dire situation local content could find itself in should the SABC go ahead with their plan to cut spending by half a billion Rand next year.
For those of you who missed the show, (sies on you!), a summary of the panel’s closing remarks follows…
Thandi Brewer commended the SABC for their proactive involvement with the creation and narration of fantastic local stories over the past three years and called for the continuation of this trajectory. She specifically advocated writers working closely with the national broadcaster (and of course being paid for their efforts) as one of many means to achieving this. Two thumbs up Thandi!!!
Rehad Desai, maintained it is the responsibility of the SABC to present its audiences with a diversity of voices that reflect multifaceted South African identities and realities.
17 days into his hunger strike, Michael Lee denounced the SABC’s proposed spending cut as ‘inhumane’! He demanded the proposal be scrapped in favour of a collaborative effort between the television industry and the national broadcaster in a bid to build towards a brighter, sustainable future.
Terrence Bridget concluded with the statement that stripping a nation of its ability to tell its own stories, is in essence cultural abortion! He called for a sustainable muscular business plan, transparency and accountability from the SABC.
All in all, not a bad night for our cause! I hope to see you all out in hordes at tomorrow’s protest to help drive these messages home! Not only do the livelihoods of over 80,000 people depend on it, the very fabric of our society does!
Ryan.
Posted on 8/24/2009 at 2:19:33 PM
Friends! Writers! Countrymen! Lend us your ears… and support! THURSDAY 27TH AUGUST is D-day for our industry. Depending on how effective we make it, local content will either suffer the consequences of SABC’s inane spending cut proposal or begin to thrive again under temporary government subsidy. We all know which option we’re rooting for, so the time has come to band together and make sure it happens! And now a word from our esteemed communications officer…
***
Dear Writers
The Writers’ Guild of South Africa are again rising in solidarity with our industry partners in protest against the R500 million proposed budget cuts. On THURSDAY 27 August at 13:00 we will stage an Industrial Theatre Protest in front of the SABC Radio Park building (where we previously handed over our memorandum). This will be captured by the press, and extensively filmed by filmmakers for distribution on the web etc. Together with the guerilla theatre action, The Actors Coalition and the WGSA will picket for about fifteen minutes to half an hour – for filming purposes.
What we need from you, our members is:
Volunteers to picket – the pickets will be premade. You just need to show up. The actual protest will take up no more than an hour out of your day so please show your support!
Volunteers to speak to the press.
Marshalls – we only need two more, so if you are willing and able please do your bit.
We realise that everyone is getting protest fatigue… and that morale is not very high. But we cannot drop the ball now. Please be a part of the change we hope to bring to the TV and Film Industry.
Natasje van Niekerk
Posted on 8/18/2009 at 7:27:03 PM
Writers seem to have some kind of aversion to writing unless they’re being paid for their troubles. Well I need to find out whether I should keep posting new stuff to the blog so do me a favour and comment on this post. Your comment should preferably compliment the previous comment on the post or the post itself. Come on! It’ll be fun! Or at least reassuring for me!
Captain’s blog, stardate August 18th 4008
I have a sneaking suspicion I’m the last living organism on this desolate wasteland…
Posted on 8/14/2009 at 6:30:42 PM
1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat.)
6. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Don’t use no double negatives.
12. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out or mispeld something.
13. Eschew obfuscation.
Posted on 8/13/2009 at 7:43:20 PM
According to a statement from the Television Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) yesterday, Wednesday, 12 August 2009,, the SABC appears to have delayed or cancelled local productions and has not called for Request for Proposals (RFP) for 2010.
The coalition stated that only 12 out of the 47 productions due to have been incepted in April 2009 will be going ahead this year and numerous existing/renewable contracts have been postponed or deferred.
In its statement of Wednesday 12 August 2009, the TVIEC says this will save the SABC an estimated R500-million over the next year but feels that this will mean that the independent production sector will end up taking the hit for the broadcaster’s internal mismanagement. While the SABC will appear to have made a quick turn-around, the impact has deep consequences that the industry, viewers and next board will have to face. These could include job losses, company closures, loss of creative talent and more repeats of programmes in prime time, thus driving down advertising revenues further.
“We are of the view that the SABC should be looking at a combination of selling off non-core assets, downscaling internal units that have been overstaffed, cutting back on unnecessary spending in non-program areas and applying for funding in the form of a bail-out or a loan whilst implementing long term cost savings within its business models,” stated its spokesperson.
The TVIEC consists of the Independent Producers Organization, South African Screen Federation, The Producers Alliance, Documentary Filmmakers Association, Writers Guild of South Africa and the Creative Workers Union.
[Courtesy of: retail.bizcommunity.com]
Posted on 8/13/2009 at 3:51:30 PM
We’ve added two brand new sections to the blog. Check out the SABC Crisis link to read and respond to Robbie Thorpe’s gripe with the film industry and keep an eye on The Frank & the Frivolous section which promises to keep you moderately entertained if nothing else. Finally, keep an eye out for a couple of cool TV and film related RSS feeds coming to the site soon… Happy reading!
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.
[Close up… Fade to commercial]
Ryambaz@gmail.com
Posted on 8/5/2009 at 3:19:43 PM
There’s a gross misconception about writers, in the world at large and South Africa in particular. Scriptwriters, more than most, get a bad rap. It’s always been the case. When William Shakespeare was penning his masterpieces: those literary gems which have become the standard by which all are measured, and all fall short, he did them as a “side gig”. Shakespeare was, first and foremost, an actor. A hired player. He wrote because, well, they needed something to perform.
Such is the lot of the scriptwriter. From the outset, we are consigned to the background – a place most of us feel safe, let’s be honest. As the Men in Black said: “We work in secret, we exist in shadow…” It matters little that the script is, arguably, the most important component of any production. The basis. The blueprint. The guide to magic. But in the eyes of the public and, even more tragic, the eyes of our Industry colleagues, we matter little. It’s like we don’t exist.
Do I sound cynical? I suppose I am. The lack of recognition for writers irks me. We work hard, if not harder, than any. We face the nightmare of the blank page on a daily basis, conjuring from nothing the literature of the age. In the US, this problem has been somewhat set to rights. The names Joss Whedon, David E Kelley, Aaron Sorkin and Carter Bays are as well known to fans in the internet age as the actors who bring their words to life. That is as it should be. A collaboration between writers, producers, directors, performers, crew members and every individual who devotes his life to his art.
“We work in secret, we exist in shadow…” That is the realm of the scriptwriter. The dark bubble of the imagination. But sometimes, just sometimes, we too crave the light. We write for the masses but that makes our work no less significant, no less potent, no less true. Is it too much to ask that those masses look back at us, and recognise the craft we grapple with for their entertainment?
And what if they don’t? Will it stop us? I don’t think so. We’ll still write. We have to. It’s who we are. Because… when the words burn the page, they no longer burn our hearts…
…a writer forever in love with the craft…
Posted on 7/28/2009 at 11:06:52 AM
Welcome to the guild, beautiful people! Buckle up, brace yourself and speak up dammit!