Wangeci Murage: The future of African film

Wangeci Murage. (Courtesy) An icon in the Kenyan film industry, Wangeci Murage says her next frontier is to open a cinema that showcases African content. Wangeci Murage is a pivotal figure in the TV and film industry. The CEO of Media Pros Africa is an ardent broadcast and content specialist who not only has a long list of productions but also a good number of accolades under her belt. She began working in television production at NTV, KTN, and Mediamax Network, where she led the way in creating strategies to produce African content. She then took her expertise to M-Net and later to Wananchi Programming where she established channels to air African content. Noticing a gap in the TV and film distribution, Wangeci founded Media Pros Africa to tighten this gap. She is now one of the film distributors for Netflix, NatGeo, among other local and international platforms. Having made a name for herself, Wangeci has been a juror for the International Emmy Awards since 2011. On top of that, she was a juror for the Zanzibar International Film Festival, the Coast Film Festival, Mashariki Africa Film Festival, Machawood Short Film Festival, Riverwood Academy Awards, Africa Magic Viewer Choice Awards, FilmAid Kenya, Lake International Pan African Film Festival, Women in Film Awards, and so on. Wangeci reveals to us about her journey in media and her goal of putting more African content in the worldwide broadcasting market. You have had a very exciting career trajectory, how did It all begin? I joined NTV as a radio presenter in 1999, covering weather and traffic updates. The Head of Radio at the time, Tony Patti, offered me an opportunity to feature in a breakfast show and do news features. I would also do continuity announcing for Nation TV, where Maina Kageni and I would introduce programs before they air. My then-boss, Sam Compton, suggested that I host my own show, Showbizz with Wangeci, where I produced, scripted, shot, and edited on my own. It was a training ground for me. Afterwards, I worked on Out and About as an interim producer whenever the late Janet Kanini-Ikua was on leave. Then came the big transition... In 2001, M-Net was setting up an office in East Africa to expand their reach. I was brought on board to be the Regional Manager in East and Central Africa, where I launched the Africa Magic Swahili channel and rebranded M-Net East Africa. I worked for Big Brother Africa, Idols East Africa, and Comedy Club. At Zuku TV (Wananchi Programming) in 2011, as the Head of Business Development, I developed and provided content for Zuku Swahili Movies, Zuku Sports, and Zuku Kids. Tell us about your company, Media Pros Africa, that you set up in 2015. We deal with content distribution, talent acquisition, channel development, media training, and event management. We work with producers, schools, companies, governments, media schools, broadcast networks, TV and film festivals and markets, film commissions, advertising agencies, corporates, and anybody in the media space to provide content. With producers, we distribute content to platforms and help launch the content to the market. Sometimes, they come with a complete project and we distribute to free-to-air, pay TV, online media networks, private screenings, community screenings, and broadcasting channels like KBC, KTN, Citizen, and NatGeo, and video on demand with Netflix being my biggest client. What kind of content are we talking about? We look for relevant African content that can resonate with the local and diaspora audience. On our website, we have a submission portal where people can submit a video or a pitch desk. Together with my content lead, we review content and send feedback. We also do fundraising by speaking with a lot of investors as well as attending festivals and networking with industry players. What are some of the gaps you have noticed in TV and film content distribution in Kenya? First of all, creatives need to identify distribution channels for the demand for films is there. The cinema culture needs to improve since producers spend a lot of money to showcase films in cinemas. To counter this, I plan to open a cinema or collaborate with other cinema owners to showcase African content. People will watch shows for free, and I will only be charging vendors instead. I will pay producers for their intellectual property regardless of how many people attend to watch their films. The industry is growing; producers are publishing their content on websites and YouTube whereas broadcasting channels can grow their industry further by partnering with them and paying them well. What are some of the challenges that you have faced in your career? My team is very supportive, but I am only able to pay them when I have a project abroad. I hope to get more projects throughout the year to keep my team fulltime. What are some of the highlights of your career? Many! I travelled to France for the sunny Side of the Doc, a documentary festival in La Rochelle, France, and met new people who I am now working with. What's more, I went to African-European Distribution Academy in Germany, and this is what birthed my plan to open a cinema in Kenya for African content. Being a juror for the International Emmy Awards since 2011 is equally a big achievement. I have trained students on film distribution at the Multichoice Talent Factory. I am now at Marrakech, Morocco for World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. I also take pride in acquiring so much content for worldwide distribution within a short period of time through my firm that I am now credited as a distributor for Netflix. Earlier this year, was a juror at the MA International Film Festival in the US. Hopefully, I will attend festivals like La Biennale, The Silicon International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Durban International Film Festival next year. With 25-year experience in media, what lessons have you learned thus far? Separate personal matters from business! (She laughs). Believe in yourself and things will work out for you whether you are self-employed or employed. Present yourself to others in an innate and confident way. Further, I would advise the younger generation to pursue higher education even when they ace at content creation. What are you most proud of? Myself. My mentor explained to me that my personal social media account has a bigger following than my business's. He went on to ask why I don't use my name and my strong personality to push my brand. I am also proud for doing what I am passionate about; there is no difference between how I feel about my life now and when I retire.

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