MultiChoice Celebrates MTF Academy's Class of 2020 Graduates

Kenyans Hanigun Kwenya and Maurice Muendo were among 60 African film and production enthusiasts who graduated from the MultiChoice Talent Factory’s (MTF) on Tuesday.

2020 was undoubtedly tough due to COVID-19, but the ability of all the 60 students from the Lusaka, Nairobi and Lagos academy hubs to quickly adapt and transition from physical to virtual learning speaks to the world-class nature of the academy’s course, says Yolisa Phahle, CEO of General Entertainment and Connected Services, MultiChoice Group.

“The MultiChoice Talent Factory is very close to my heart. It speaks to who we are as Africans, natural-born storytellers. Today we are here to celebrate the second cohort who were dealt a heavy blow by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenge seems to have brought on even greater opportunities,” Phahle adds.

The pandemic extended the student’s academic course from 12 months to 18 months. This additional time translated to the students walking away with not one but two qualifications, making them even more sought-after as they re-enter their respective local film and TV sectors as highly qualified industry professionals.

Alongside their MTF qualification, the students also walk away with an equally illustrious qualification from the prestigious New York Film Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (NYFA).

The continued success of the MTF initiative since its start in 2018 is also rooted in its illustrious partnerships, namely with NYFA, the Henley Business School Africa, Pan-Atlantic University in Nigeria, Kenyatta University in Kenya and the University of Zambia in Zambia. MTF also has partnerships with internationally acclaimed organisations Dolby, Jasco Broadcast Solutions and Nihilent.

MTF’s partners have further contributed to the initiative by offering awards to this year’s graduates. The awards and lucky recipients are:

The NYFA 8-week scholarship, which goes to the top-performing graduate per region will go to Abisola Aboaba (Nigeria), Daisy Masembe (Uganda) and Maira Tauacale (Mozambique).

Julie Ako (Nigeria), Kefa Igilo (Tanzania) and Hilma Sheehama (Namibia) will receive an 8-week scriptwriting internship on an animation series from global consulting and solutions integration company Nihilent Technologies.

Jasco Broadcast Solutions will provide one AVID media composer licence to the region’s most promising film video editor. The recipients are Gbenga Gomes (Nigeria), Isiko Abubaker (Uganda) and Abel Ngoma (Zambia). The AVID Pro Tools license for the most promising sound engineer per region was awarded to Igho Arusi Avuirovarie (Nigeria), Maurice Muendo (Kenya) and Reijhaart Wolhuter (Namibia).

MultiChoice’s platforms will give students an amazing opportunity to work at M-Net local productions.

Each winner will participate in a 4-week internship on M-Net productions, equipping them with the skills they need to tell authentic and original African stories. Well done to Joshua Tsotso (Nigeria), Hanigun Kwenya (Kenya) and Masuzyo Mwale (Zambia).

“This is a proud moment for everyone to ensure that the students became graduates. It’s also been fulfilling to see just how in-tune this next generation of African storytellers are with the importance of being multi-skilled and intuitive creatives,” Phahle continues “All this would not have been possible without the collaboration and commitment of our fantastic partners.”