Last night, Glen and I joked as I packed my lunch and a few basic office supplies that it was like getting ready for the first day of school-- it was exciting getting ready for my first real job in South Africa since 2006!
It was my first day at Soweto TV and everything about is as different as it could be from Canadian tv. We work out of an old primary school in Soweto-- it's dark and dingy and it's hard to imagine how this rundown building ever inspired learning in young pupils. And I won't even discuss the bathrooms! The location reminds me of how deeply architecture and design affect one's well-being. I will have to take some pictures to post to give you a sense of the place. However, it is just up the street from Mandela's tiny house, now a historic monument and down the street from the Hector Peterson Museum which documents the student uprising of the 1970s-- it's a great Soweto neighbourhood (not that I've had a chance to explore it-- only to get lost in it.)
Yet, there is an incredible spirit here-- the majority of crew are young and enthusiastic and incredibly friendly. None of them have been to film school but have learned by doing. A couple of them have been here since the inception of the station about five years ago. The facilities have only the absolute bare essentials to produce television shows, but somehow they manage to run a 24 hour station with Soweto-centric programming. The titles of the shows that I am now in charge of range from
Mbokodo to
Tsedimosetso to
Mabindzu but fortunately everyone speaks English and some of the shows are broadcast or partially broadcast in English (whew!) I am in charge of 17 shows that range from sports to cooking to current affairs. There is a show where people come to get help with their problems from Dr. Love and I am afraid that I have already fallen in love with Dr.Love!
I share a small dingy office lit by a singular fluorescent tube with three other producers and there is a steady stream of people in and out. Headphones will become essential……
Tomorrow are official meetings with Board and management and then next week, I'll getting to the meat of production. But if anyone had told me on Aug 23rd of last year when I arrived back here in South Africa that I'd be commuting to Soweto six months later, I NEVER would have believed them!
