A storm over the quality of Kenyan films erupted on social media recently, with Kenyans tearing apart productions they felt fell short of audience expectations.
Critics questioned recycled story lines and casts, a lack of versatility and what they described as weak production quality.
Some argued that Kenya has the talent but lacks the money, equipment and infrastructure needed to turn good ideas into productive productions that can compete beyond the local market.
It is a debate the industry has had before, but one that has again raised questions about what can be done to make Kenyan productions better.
Two filmmakers with experience working on productions involving some of the world’s biggest brands, broadcasters, musicians and sports personalities believe technology could be part of the answer.
Making a high-quality film is expensive. A production that requires scenes in Nairobi, Mombasa and New York can quickly see its budget swallowed by flights, accommodation, transport, equipment and large crews.
For a small production company, an independent filmmaker or even a business shooting an advert, ambition often has to be adjusted to fit the budget.
The result is that some ideas are scaled down before cameras even begin rolling, with filmmakers focusing on what they can afford rather than everything they imagine.
But British filmmaker James Hakesley and Kenyan-born Roy Kimani now see that gap as a business opportunity for Kenya and the wider region.
The two have worked on more than 150 virtual productions in the United Kingdom, Pakistan and the Middle East and their projects have involved global brands and organisations as well as leading figures in the entertainment and sports industry.
Now, they want to bring the virtual production technology behind some of those projects to Nairobi, betting that it could help address some of the challenges facing Kenya’s film and content industry.
The global virtual production market is also expanding rapidly, with the filmmakers estimating that it could reach about $9 billion (Sh1.1646 trillion) by 2030.
Hakesley and Kimani are betting that the same technology could be tapped in Kenya and across Africa, not only to unlock new creative possibilities but also to create a multimillion-dollar business opportunity and jobs for the next generation of filmmakers.
They argue that the technology could help solve a familiar problem: How to make bigger and better-looking content without stretching production budgets beyond reach.
Virtual production combines large LED screens, cameras, lighting and game-engine technology to create digital environments in which actors can perform as though they are physically at a particular location.
The technology uses Unreal Engine, the same game engine behind the popular video game Fortnite, alongside traditional filmmaking tools.
A filmmaker who wants to shoot scenes in Nairobi, Mombasa, New York and other locations would traditionally have to move cast, crew and equipment from one place to another, which means more days of filming and higher costs. But with virtual production, those locations can be recreated or displayed digitally on large LED screens inside a studio.
A production can therefore move from one location to another without the crew necessarily leaving the building, saving a great amount of time and money.
The same can be done for a beach, a mountain, a foreign city or even the moon.
The idea is not entirely new. Earlier forms of the technology relied on projected backgrounds, while green screens later allowed filmmakers to add locations and environments during post-production.
But green-screen production often requires extensive work after filming to place actors into the final environment. However, for LED screens, Hakesley says, it allows the filmmakers to create the environment during filming, making it easier to blend performers with the location at the point of filming.
“What traditionally would be a set or a location, we’re now able to replicate that location on the LED screen. We’re able to film anywhere in this world or out of this world, be it on the moon, in Nairobi, in London, New York, or a completely inaccessible place,” Hakesley says.
Visual quality
This technology gives filmmakers more options because they are no longer limited by the locations they can physically reach. And when the production is properly executed, he said, audiences may not easily tell whether a scene was filmed on location or inside a studio.
For Kimani, however, one of the biggest opportunities is not just visual quality but cost.
He says virtual production could reduce some of those costs by allowing several locations to be filmed from one studio.
“If you have a campaign that’s required to be in Nairobi, New York and Australia, all of a sudden now, that can be done in one studio space; people are travelling less because they’re all there,” Kimani said.
This cuts between 30 and 40 per cent of the production costs. The savings, he argued, do not necessarily have to remain in the producer’s pocket but could be redirected to areas that improve the final product, including better equipment, actors, visual effects, production design and creative direction.
That could be significant for Kenya’s growing community of independent filmmakers and small production companies, where budgets often determine the scale of a project.
For small businesses, the same approach could make high-end video production more accessible. But the two filmmakers insist that virtual production is not only about saving money. They say its biggest impact could be on creativity.
“What virtual production gives people is the ability to dream bigger, think more ambitiously with their creative ideas,” Hakesley said. That means a filmmaker who previously had to choose between three locations because of cost could potentially shoot scenes representing all three from one studio.
Hakesley says the technology is increasingly moving beyond the large studios that initially drove its adoption.
“What used to be reserved for Hollywood five years ago is now drilling down into people that are videographers, content creators and influencers. The only thing that’s going to limit you is how far you can push your idea,” he said.
The pair’s own journey into virtual production began after years of working in photography and video when they met in university. They started by taking advantage of cameras that were becoming capable of shooting both still images and video.
What began with small productions later developed into a larger production business before they moved into virtual production. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they saw the technology as a way of dealing with restrictions on travel and location shooting.
A single controlled studio could be used to produce scenes representing multiple locations.
They later established virtual production studios and expanded their work into the United Kingdom, the Middle East and South Asia. Now, Nairobi is next.
For Kimani, bringing the technology to Kenya is also personal. He said his experience engaging with Kenyan creators convinced him that there was no shortage of talent. The problem, he argues, is access to the same technology and production opportunities available to creators in more established markets.
“I have met content creators who have the same skill set as people who are considered famous and reputable because of their skills. The only difference is that one is in Kenya and the other one is in another place,” Kimani says. For him, giving Kenyan creators access to the same tools could change the equation. “If I gave this guy in Kenya the same thing that guy has, it’s game on,” he notes.
Social media creators
Kenya has seen a rapid growth in independent content creators, filmmakers, videographers and digital storytellers.
From social media creators shooting with phones to established production houses producing commercials and films, demand for video content continues to grow.
But access to advanced production technology has often remained concentrated among companies with bigger budgets. Kimani said they do not want virtual production to be reserved for major production houses.
Their ambition, he said, is to develop a model that can also work for individual creators, small production companies and medium-sized businesses.
“We aspire to make it accessible to everyone in the market, not reserved for just a few that can necessarily afford those big-level budgets,” he said.
The model, however, will depend heavily on pricing and how the technology is made available to different users.
Building detailed digital environments, operating LED screens and hiring specialised crews still comes at a cost.
But the filmmakers say the setup can be scaled depending on the size and needs of a production.
A smaller creator may not require the same studio setup needed for a feature film or a major international advertising campaign. The business opportunity also goes beyond filmmakers, as small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly relying on video to sell products, train staff, launch campaigns and communicate with customers.
But high-quality production remains expensive, particularly when campaigns require several locations or complex sets.
Creative economy
Virtual production could allow businesses to create those environments from a single studio.
For a small business, that could mean producing an advert that looks significantly bigger than the budget behind it.
For larger companies, it could mean cutting travel and production costs while creating more content within a shorter period. The technology could also be used in television, music, advertising, corporate communications and other areas of the creative economy.
The filmmakers say they also want to work with universities and colleges to train students on the technology.
They plan to create a pool of local talent that does not have to travel abroad to learn how modern virtual production works. That could create new jobs beyond traditional camera and editing roles.
Virtual production requires skills in lighting, cinematography, production design, real-time graphics, 3D design, and game engine technology.
For Kenya, the opportunity could extend beyond the film industry into technology, education, and the wider digital economy.
The pair are also positioning Nairobi as a possible virtual production hub for East Africa and the wider region.
If the model works, filmmakers, businesses and creators from neighbouring countries could potentially come to Kenya to access the technology.
They argue that this could open another market for the country’s creative industry while creating opportunities for local studios, technicians, digital artists and production companies.
What used to be reserved for Hollywood five years ago is now drilling down into people who are videographers, content creators and influencers.
“The only thing that’s going to limit you is how far you can push your idea.” James Hakesley, filmmaker.
