BY SHARON SIBINDI MULTI-AWARD winning musician-cum-comedian Mothusi Bashimane Ndlovu, aka Madlela Skhobokhobo says his encounter with different producers in South Africa in the past two years has shown him that film production is a serious business.
In 2020, Madlela featured in a movie— Shaina, set in South Africa and Zimbabwe and dealt with public health issues and gender-based violence (GBV).
In 2021, he managed to score a lucrative deal in South Africa with Cambridge Food —a food retailer powered by Masscash. Madlela auditioned for one of the adverts where he acted as an uninvited uncle, who just came through for dinner. The advert was aired on SABC channels and eTV.
This year, he just came back from South Africa where he is working on a production which courts some seasoned actors.
“Film production in SA is a serious business, that’s from what I have seen and experienced. The past two years, I have engaged with different producers in that country and yeah….It’s been an eye opener,” Madlela told Standard Style.
“I learnt from those productions that a lot of resources go into making them. In this country you might have a good script or idea, but it’s almost impossible to implement it because of lack of resource.”
He acknowledged the importance of time and it’s management.
“I have learnt to not waste my time on small things anymore. We need to do big things as we are also capable of that. With God on our side we will get there and moreover A Dream Never Dies,” said Madlela.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“I just came from SA and I have been engaged. We are doing a huge production there. There are agreements we made that side that might see our productions also crossing borders to that side.
“However, at the moment we stopped for some time to do full movies or dramas because of the challenges we faced with platforms we put them on. But we are working on something now that might see us partnering with online platforms for our productions.”
Asked what he has been doing to push the Madlela brand besides film, he said: “We have been a bit blessed to represent brands who either want adverts, skits or short stories to sell their brands or for brand visibility.”
