My business journey to the big leagues on Cartoon Network

At 20, Phillippe Bresson was shooting and directing the TV show Changing Times.

His budget was Sh300,000 per episode. Concurrently, he was shooting a big budget show for MNET, at Sh1.5 million per episode.

The lower budget one won him a Kalasha award.  Phillippe’s interest in film began as a child. At 17, he scored a computer and began practicing making music videos. With time, using hand-me-down cameras from a cousin, he began making amateur music videos in Nairobi’s Rongai neighbourhood.

That sparked the journey of the film director, producer and cinematographer behind Insignia Productions. Phillippe shares his entrepreneurship journey with Hustle.

 

You had a major win recently. Tell us about that.

 Well, it also happens to be my proudest achievement yet; getting my show into Cartoon Network earlier this year. The show is called Let’s Dance, a dance series for African children to express themselves through dance. Having pitched against a lot of local producers, and beating them purely on creativity and talent, made me proud. Winning on merit, for me, is everything.

Many of us grew up watching shows on cartoon network – what’s has been the greatest thing for you working with them?

 The networks I have made. I have got useful referrals through them. Recently, Cartoon Network referred me to another international company, and it is a liaison that hopefully will bear fruit. After many years on the grind, it sure feels good to be making headway.

 Back to the beginning.  How did you transition from the neighbourhood music video maker to a filmmaker?

 Everything I know is self-taught. For my first job, I worked for Mars Group under activist Mwalimu Mati. He was heading the news department. There I met Jeniffer Gatero, an accomplished filmmaker.  By then she had written the film Better Days.

We began dating and then decided that it was a good idea to quit employment and start our own venture. We felt that the newsroom was too limiting for our extremely creative minds. We wanted to make the shows ourselves. And thus Insignia Productions was born in 2008.

 Was it easy as you thought it would be?

 Not even close. The beginning was rough, and we sought financial support from our mothers. And then Michael Ndetei, the then KTN production manager, called up Jeniffer asking for a pilot script and a trailer for a show. That was our first break. We shot a pilot that immediately got us another order.

This was Mheshimiwa. Both shows premiered on KTN as the first official local show on TV. Even with the lucky break, the cast endured a terrible first few months as we were running on inadequate cash. But I have to say that for their loyalty and unity of purpose, to date, I have maintained around 50 per cent of the members of the cast from over a decade ago.

 Any temptation to quit and go back to employment?

 Oh, yes. A lot. Plus, our partnership was suffering. My business partner and I were dating, and there were lots of fights. So when our relationship died, the business died too. I wanted to still do it. And I began on my own again in 2012.

 So does this mean that dating a business partner is a bad idea?

Totally. Love and business cannot mix. The minute emotions are brought into the workplace, it is the genesis of destruction. It was a good lesson to learn. The challenges I have faced in business cannot be regretted. For me, they have been priceless learning experiences.

 

Did anything change with the new insignia?

I went out on my own in 2012. This new Insignia explored ads and documentaries. I wish we had diversified right from the beginning because we would have become financially stable sooner. We pitched and got the opportunity to do documentaries for Kenya Airways. One of our commercials, Jumia Black Friday 2019, was voted the third-best loved ad by Kenyans. We also did a show called Prem, which again aired on KTN, and on the back of whose success we did a pan-African show, New Beginnings. My team, at any one time of production, always consists of between 15 and 65 people for every project.

  How does a TV show production work?

 Developing show concepts works one of two ways. You can be contacted by a TV company to make a pitch for a show. That is when you meet them and present your ideas. Sometimes, like in the case of Mheshimiwa, we work on ready scripts. But more often, we write the scripts ourselves and present our pitch to the company. My business partner Grace Kahaki and I will often come up with the show ideas. If you visit the offices, you will notice that the walls are littered with sticky notes. There are many sticky notes inside my car as well, stuck all over. We brood over the ideas and ensure we are never caught flat-footed.

 Do you make pitches that fail?

 (Laughs) Oh, yes. I do get turned down at times. It does hurt to get a no. Trying to get into the top agencies is always difficult, but that only gives me the determination to keep knocking on the door.

 Once you get the green light, who funds the production?

We, the production company, fund the production of the episodes. We have to have set aside considerable monies that will be used in the process of production because it isn’t a cheap process. We are paid per season.

 

 What are the challenges you have faced along the way?

  The show, Prem, was cancelled because of a management change, a debilitating blow. But it was a blessing in disguise that challenged our team to go international. New Beginnings, our TV show, brought with it unprecedented success. It got the highest sales in the continent and was the first Kenyan show to air on Ebony Live (Nigeria) and ETV (South Africa). So far, it has sold in over 20 countries in Africa. It has also aired in Video On Demand platforms in the United States, France and the United Kingdom.

Another challenge has been dealing with unscrupulous associates. A distributor for the show New Beginnings, we discovered, made sales without informing the company. So we lost a lot of money; well in excess of Sh10 million. This was a blow because this was a self-funded project.

 When did insignia gain financial stability?

 My wait for financial stability was long, and only two years ago did I start to feel like we had a bit of financial freedom.

Working with bigger companies, one has to have the ability to fund their own content because the big companies don’t give a down-payment. Big companies want to work with companies, or individuals, who are stable and able to stand on their own, at least financially. I have been paying salaries for 10 years, to the tune of over Sh500,000 a month. My business partner and I have sometimes had to go without a salary for weeks just to make sure that the employees are catered for. I don’t regret the journey though.

 Advice for those wishing to venture into the film industry?

The journey is not easy and not for the faint-hearted. But it was harder back in the day.  With social media and its influence now, one can get exposure, fame and recognition and thus get closer to the producers. At the time we started, we didn’t have that. Soon, even I am going to release projects on social media, especially for shows that TV can limit. I am already planning a show on YouTube.

What is the greatest business lesson you have learnt?

 To treat my clients right. With time, fortunes change and the people who were at the very bottom rise to the top, and vice versa. I have met horrible clients, some who even bully me, but I keep my cool and deliver my best. The quality I deliver eventually endears them to me.

Don’t burn bridges. You will need them again.