MEDEVA June 2012 Newletter

Medeva eyeIn this Issue...

MEDEVA marks its

inaugural Founder’s Day

by mentoring journalism

students Page 03

MEDEVA empowers young

Kenyans, yet again!

Page 04

MEDEVA Trainee of the

Month

Page 06

Issue NO: 001 June 2012

Credits

Editor:

Jason Nyantino

Design and Layout:

Fred Makori

Contributors:

Joy Wanjiku

Clare Kariuki

Nyambura Macharia

Contact us on

[email protected]

Media Development in Africa

(MEDEVA)

The GoDown Arts Centre

Dunga Road, Nairobi, Kenya

P.O. Box 59835 Nairobi 00200

Tel: +254 (0) 20 557569/70

Mob: +254 (0) 734 696741

+254 (0) 722 696741

Fax +254 (0) 20 557585

MEDEVA is a registered Ken-

yan media Non-Governmental

Organization founded in 2001

for the purpose of offering

free training to young people

in modern aspects of TV and

Radio production who in turn

produce high-quality, popu-

lar television and radio pro-

grammes for positive change in

East Africa.

The MEDEVA Staff (above)

One of the MEDEVA trainees trying her hand on the camera (side)

Media Development in Africa - MEDEVA

Medeva eye June 2012

Busy inside the MEDEVA Radio and sound edit suite

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MEDEVA mentors journalism students as

it marks its inaugural Founder’s Day

A team of senior producers from Media Development in Africa (MEDEVA) held a mentoring session recently with students

from University of Nairobi’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, to discuss the role of the independent producer in the Kenyan me-dia landscape. The forum that was presided over by Dr. Muiru Ngugi, the Associate Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, attracted 30 journalism students who engaged the MEDEVA team led by their Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jason Nyantino, on the contributionof independent producers to Kenya’s media. This was part of MEDEVA’s activities to mark the Founder’s Week between 28th May and 1st June 2012 in remembrance of MEDEVA’s founder the late Polly Renton who died in a road accident on May 28, 2010. Polly’s vision was to empower upcom-ing journalists and give back to society. It is in this spirit that MEDEVA went out to mentor the trainee journalists in one of Kenya’s oldest and premier media schoosl. During this interactive session, the media students interacted with the MEDEVA staff, shared their experiences, and asked questions about MEDEVA’s path that has seen it become one of East Africa’s leading independent producer. In his presentation, Mr. Nyantino said that inde-pendent producers had brought about innovative-ness and raised the bar of local productions as

they had more time and resources to allocate to creative program-ming. “Broadcast-

ing stations that undertake con-

tent produc-tion have a difficulttime bal-

ancing t h e d e -

mands of a news environment on one hand and the production of quality programmes on the other;; this happening with limited hu-man and financial resources. The independentproducer on the other hand has the time, the human resources and capacity to fundraise”. He further added that independent producers bridged the gap between state owned media and private owned media both of which operated under various dynamics that could at times compromise their impartiality in coverage of unfolding events. “While state owned media tends to act in the inter-est of the state, private media on the other hand has its own interests – profits, ownership, andpolitical influence – that may affect its objectivity.Independent producers are neither of this and of the three are the ones most likely to be objective”. Led by Dr. Ngugi, the students raised discus-sion points around the role of the media in po-litical reporting, career opportunities and pro-gramme development. While thanking MEDEVA, Dr. Ngugi proposed that the two institutions should think along the lines of future partner-ship to create synergies between them with the aim of infusing creativity, innovativeness and bet-ter professional standards in the Kenyan media. The MEDEVA team comprised Mr. Nyantino;; Dan Oloo, Head of Radio;; Joy Wanjiku, Programmes Manager;; and Fred Makori, a Senior Producer.

By Joy Wanjiku

The late Polly Renton, the founder of Media Development in Africa

(MEDEVA).

Jason Nyantino the CEO of Media Development in

Africa - MEDEVA.

3


MEDEVA empowers young Kenyans, yet

again!

Part of Media Development in Africa (MEDEVA)’s core business is offering industry-

standard, TV and Radio Production training to young East Africans with a view to empowering them to invest their talent in develop-ing a positive media industry for a better Africa. MEDEVA has proudly done this for the last 10 years and in June 2012, it did it again. Thirty young and dynamic Kenyans se-lected from thousands of applicants underwent the month-long training in excellent TV and Radio journalism. By the end of the course, the train-ees produced 6 TV documentary stories, 6 radio documentaries and one short film. No past train-ing class has ever shown this kind of determina-tion and hard work.The trainees oozed confidence as they graduatedwith a certificate in TV and Radio Production with

many of them describing the training programme in glowing terms. Arthur Sanya, who specialized as a camera person during the training had this to say: “I’ve always wanted to be a MEDEVA stu-dent because I’ve worked with former MEDEVA trainees and from the way they did their work;; I saw nothing but serious quality.” His classmate, Isaac Njue, added that when he joined the MEDEVA training programme, his expectation

By Clare Kariuki

Simon Mukali, a MEDEVA trainer in one of the sessions.

4

The trainees during a practical session on camera skills.

was to learn camerawork, sound and ethical jour-nalism and he is now glad that the training did just that. With support from the Ford Foundation, MEDEVA has over the last ten years had an impressive track record in training hundreds of young people for free across East Africa in ethical journalism many of whom are now leading lights in transform-ing media programming in the region. This train-ing programme aims at producing a new genera-tion of ethical journalists who use their stories to transform lives in Africa with a view to promoting social change. This decade-old programme was

the brainchild of the late Polly Renton, a British filmmaker who in 2001 asked the Ford Foundationto sponsor a television training project in Kenya to mould a new generation of young ethical jour-nalists. The idea sprung from the fact that at the time, Kenyan television was made-up of partial local news broadcasts and cheap foreign imports - soap operas and re-runs of old sitcoms and chat shows. Polly felt Kenyans deserved local program-ming about their own lives, done in a way that gave them a democratic say in the running of their country.


Lara Mastropasqua, a MEDEVA Board member talking to the 2012 trainees. On the right, a trainee during the graduation ceremony.

5

The 2012 trainees pose for a photo after their graduation ceremony.

MEDEVA’s annual training programme has increasingly become popular among youth in East Africa because of its

uniqueness. The programme has so far produced hundreds of young people with a knack for ethi-cal journalism. One such person is Vincent Mbaya who was in the MEDEVA 2003 class. The award-winning Vincent credits his beginnings in television and film to MEDEVA’s training programme whichempowered him with skills and confidence toventure into the cut throat world of media produc-tion. In 2011, he won the Kalasha Award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ in a TV Drama ‘Be the Judge’- a MEDEVA production. Since he left MEDEVA, Vin-cent has been involved in many major productions in different capacities like ‘The Price of a Daugh-ter’, ‘Kibera Kid’, ‘Knife Grinders Tale’, ‘Makutano Junction’, ‘Noose of Gold’ and many more.MEDEVA Eye’s Nyambura Macharia caught up with him recently to trace his trajectory:

MEDEVA Eye : How did you begin your career in media production?

Vincent: I was in campus studying BSc in Statis-tics. I like math, I still do. I wanted to be an actu-ary mainly because of the money but it wasn’t my passion. While still in campus I got into theatre and TV acting when I had the opportunity to be on the set of ‘Tomb Raider’. That’s when I immedi-ately knew exactly what I wanted to do. I later quit campus, which didn’t go very well with my parents, and went into acting and camerawork. I would vol-unteer on people’s sets mainly music videos and short films through Willy Owusu (another MEDEVAtrainee). Willy was and still is my mentor. I learnt many things from observing him and others work.

MEDEVA Eye: How did you know about the MEDE-VA training?

Vincent: I knew about the MEDEVA training through my friend and mentor, Willy Owusu. He encouraged me to apply. I recall during the inter-view, Polly Renton (then MEDEVA CEO) asked me if I quit campus, how sure was she I wouldn’t quit the training. But I managed to convince her and I got accepted.

MEDEVA Eye: What was your most memorable moment during the training?


Left: Vincent Mbaya posing for a photo during the production of ‘Be

the Judge’ and Above: a scene from the legal drama ‘Be the Judge’

MEDEVA Trainee of the Month

By Nyambura Macharia

6

Vincent: Every time we were put in groups, I always did camera. I remember an incident when Alex (a fellow trainee) and I were going home from training, and I was very excited about my just acquired knowledge in camerawork. I was busy telling Alex what we had learnt that day and what shots I would use the next day. My mind was fully engrossed and before I knew it, I found myself knee deep in a manhole! That passion has never died. I still get very excited.

MEDEVA Eye: How has the MEDEVA training helped you?

Vincent: The training has had a significant impacton how I work today in terms of discipline. We firstwent through a stage where we did the most basic of things like cleaning cables and cameras and arranging tapes which gave me good insights on equipment care which many people ignore. I learnt that you learn the camera by cleaning it. Your cam-era is your lifeline so you must learn to respect it.

MEDEVA Eye: What are you working on now?

Vincent: I have just completed directing a Kikuyu film called Valentine wa Njamba - a comedy which

is yet to be re-leased. I’ve also been shooting a lot of documen-taries which I love so much because you’re

dealing with real people, real emo-

tions in real situa-tions. It’s not acting. At

some point you feel like you want to save the world when you see so many people with so many problems. In fact, doing documenta-ries helps me when I do fictional films because I can draw inspiration from the real life experiences. I’ve also directed a good number of television commercials.

MEDEVA Eye: What makes someone a good direc-tor?

Vincent: A good director is a “benevolent dicta-tor.” You must have a vision and the character to push it otherwise you might get bullied into doing different things. You will listen to others, but you will convince them that your idea is better. But also a good director knows when they hear a bet-ter idea than theirs. Directing is controlling people emotions and the ultimate beauty of directing is putting life on screen.


The main cast of ‘Be the Judge’. Vincent Mbaya standing on the

left and inset, Vincent during one of the many productions he

has worked on.

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MEDEVA June 2012 Newletter