The contract was won after a gruelling pitching process which involved the submission of a proposal, short listing to four production companies from the 21 submissions tendered, and then followed by a group pitching session to 13 key decision makers at the SABC.
“This show will be our new flagship show, with 26 weeks commissioned at this stage” says Wilna van Schalkwyk, SABC commissioning editor, children. “We are thrilled that not only can we extend our production footprint by awarding this show to a Cape Town production company, but also that we will be involving our audience by providing them with the platform and stage where they can bring their inputs.”
A pool of six presenters based in Cape Town, with five more on locations around the country, will cover content ranging from fun celebrity gossip to the wild and whacky things tweens like to do and see.
“It's a magazine show for tweens that addresses local and international trends,” explains Paula Brown, one of the Okuhle executive producers for the show. “There will be guests, games and experiments, as well as an interlude with South Africa's young, up and coming bands (who currently play in garages all round the country), fashion, where the viewers get to call our presenters and some experts in to gain advice on dressing for special occasions and so much more.”
The concept of developing a show that is largely based on the audience driving and directing the content comes from the major key learning from the recent 5th World Summit on Media for Children hosted in Sandton. It was here that children raised their concerns about the fact that media owners were developing shows for them and not consulting them (the children) on what it is they wanted to see.
“This is set to change,” says Brown. “When we refer to interactivity, it is not merely through the introduction of competitions but actually involving the audience in decisions such as the set, the tone, pace, content and possibly even the logo design. These are big decisions but it's time that we producers really started listening to our audience and, showing them that we respect their views.”
“Internationally, the buzz word is ‘user-generated content', we call it ‘viewer generated'. Through involving our audience, we believe that less control will lead to more innovation. Using many minds will provide the type of show that our audience really wants to see. From day one, tweens out there will be assisting in the creation and design of the set.”
