Radio & TV
The 14 best international series on Showmax in Ghana this December & January,
First seasons of the new Gossip Girl, Dr. Death S1, Insecure S5, In Treatment S4 starring Uzo Aduba, Scenes From A Marriage, new season What We Do In The Shadows and more
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS S3 | Binge now, first on Showmax
Based on the 2014 cult movie from the batty brains of nine-time Emmy nominee Jemaine Clement (Flight Of The Conchords) and Oscar winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), the fiendishly funny vampire mock-doc What We Do in the Shadows is back, with a threat of retribution and a whole new job description for Staten Island’s oldest and most inept housemates!
Season 3 has a 100% critics’ rating and is #10 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV of 2021 So Far, where the critics’ consensus says, “Carried on the wings of its cast’s incredible chemistry and the strongest writing of the series so far, What We Do in the Shadows‘ third season is scary good.”
Already nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, WWDITS added to its accolades earlier this year with awards for Best Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series (for Natasia Demetriou as Nadja) at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards. At the 2021 Critics’ Choice Awards, BAFTA winner Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Toast of London) – who plays Laszlo – was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, while Mark Proksch (The Office, Better Call Saul) and Harvey Guillén (The Magicians) were both up for Best Supporting Actor as energy vampire Colin Robinson and the not-so-harmless Guillermo respectively.
What We Do in the Shadows has also already been renewed for Season 4. The New York Times calls the series “genuinely ha-ha funny,” adding, “If you are feeling a bit frayed right now and want something brilliant and silly, a true pleasure, watch this.”
GOSSIP GIRL | Binge the first 10 episodes from 3 December, first on Showmax, with episodes 11-12 due 10 December 2021, express from the U.S
Based on the bestselling novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, the original 2007 Gossip Girl won 18 Teen Choice Awards and launched the careers of the likes of Penn Badgley (You) and Blake Lively (The Town).
Now this extension of the pop culture classic takes us back to the Upper East Side, finding a new generation of New York private school teens being introduced to social surveillance nine years after the original blogger’s website went dark.
Gossip Girl, which explores just how much social media – and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years, saw record viewership over its first weekend on HBO Max in July 2021, trending at #1 on Twitter and generating over 15 billion total social impressions at launch.
Amid all the gorgeous fresh faces, some of the key elements that made the original Gossip Girl such a hit will stay the same – People’s Choice Award winner Kristen Bell (The Good Place, Veronica Mars and the voice of Frozen’s Anna) returns to voice the anonymous blogger and “Gossip Girl”, and the show will be helmed by the original executive producer team of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C.) and Joshua Safran (Quantico), who developed the new series and serves as showrunner.
Also catch all 122 episodes of the original Gossip Girl series from 1 December, for a limited time only until 31 March 2022.
SUCCESSION S3 | Binge episodes 1-7 now, with new episodes every Monday until 13 December 2021
Succession, winner of Best Drama at both the Emmys and Golden Globes in 2020, follows four very rich siblings behaving very badly while trying to win their father’s approval – and control of his company, a global media and entertainment empire.
Jeremy Strong won the 2020 Best Actor Emmy as Kendall Roy, while Brian Cox won the 2020 Best Actor Golden Globe as his father, Logan. Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin, as Kendall’s siblings, and Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun and James Cromwell, as his extended family, also earned Emmy nominations.
In Season 3, that already impressive cast is adding Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Pianist) and Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies, True Blood), not to mention Black Reel winner Sanaa Lathan (The Affair, Love & Basketball), Emmy nominee Hope Davis (Your Honor, Captain America: Civil War) and singer Jihae (Mortal Engines).
Ambushed by Kendall at the end of Season 2, Logan begins Season 3 in a perilous position, scrambling to secure familial, political, and financial alliances. Tensions rise as a bitter corporate battle threatens to turn into a family civil war.
HBO has just renewed Succession for a fourth season, after the Season 3 premiere drew over 1.4 million viewers across all platforms, marking a series high and the best premiere night of any HBO Original series since the launch of HBO Max. Season 3 has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with IndieWirecalling the series “television’s best show, a singular TV experience.”
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE S1 | Binge now
A remake of the iconic 1973 Swedish miniseries by legendary Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, the HBO drama Scenes From a Marriage stars Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Help, Interstellar) and Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Star Wars’ Poe Dameron) in an intimate examination of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce, as seen through the eyes of a contemporary American couple.
Written and directed by Golden Globe-winning series creator Hagai Levi (In Treatment, The Affair), the five-episode miniseries holds an 81% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with TV Guide calling it, “an acting tour de force… impossible to look away from even when it’s almost too difficult to watch.”
With a cast that includes Black Reel nominee Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Golden Globe nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards), and Screen Actors Guild nominee Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot, GLOW), Scenes From a Marriage is already listed among the 2022 Limited Series award contenders by the Emmy predictors over at Variety.
INSECURE S5 | Binge from 29 December 2021
All good things come to an end, even Issa Rae’s landmark, Emmy-winning comedy, Insecure.
As you should know by now, Insecure centres on friends Issa and Molly (Nigeria’s Yvonne Orji) in what the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus hails as “an insightful, raunchy, and hilarious journey through the life of a twentysomething black woman that cuts through stereotypes with sharp wit and an effusive spirit.”
As the Peabody Awards put it, “Rae delivers a groundbreaking series that captures the lives of everyday young black people in Los Angeles with a fresh and authentic take. Breaking away from tired and familiar representations of ‘diversity’ on television, this series offers a fun and intimate portrayal of work, relationships, and the ordinary experiences of the two young black women at its center.”
Season 5 currently has a 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the show’s 2021 accolades include Image Awards wins for Best Comedy and Best Actress (Rae), not to mention Critics’ Choice and MTV nominations for Best Actress and a Satellite Awards nomination for Best TV Series.
Showmax is also releasing Insecure: The Final Season documentary on 4 January 2022.
- DEATH S1 | Binge from 1 January 2022
Based on a terrifying true story, Dr. Death stars Teen Choice winner Joshua Jackson (Little Fires Everywhere, The Affair, Dawson’s Creek) as ostensibly brilliant young neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch. After several of Duntsch’s procedures end with patients maimed or dead, two fellow physicians and a Dallas prosecutor set out to stop him… and discover a system rigged to fail the most vulnerable among us.
The phenomenal cast includes Oscar nominee Alec Baldwin (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, BlacKkKlansman, Glengarry Glen Ross); Golden Globe winner Christian Slater (Mr. Robot, True Romance, The Wife); Critics’ Choice nominee AnnaSophia Robb (Words on Bathroom Walls, The Act); Meryl Streep’s daughter, Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot, The Hot Zone, American Horror Story); and five-time Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).
Based on Wondery’s hit podcast of the same name, which has over 50 million listeners to date, the eight-episode limited series has a 91% critics’ rating onRotten Tomatoes, with AV Club saying, “This adaptation manages to improve on its source material, perhaps because the story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch is so monstrous, it must be seen to be believed.”
Also look out for the four-episode true crime docuseries, Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story, from 1 January 2022.
CHUCKY S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
A vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, throwing an idyllic American town into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begins to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets in Chucky, which picks up after the events of the seventh film in the horror franchise, Cult of Chucky.
Created by Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominee Don Mancini (Bride of Chucky, Child’s Play), the series stars Oscar nominee Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings’ Wormtongue and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s Billy Bibbit) as the voice of serial-killer-possessed Good Guy doll Chucky, with child actor Zackary Arthur (Transparent) as Jake Wheeler.
Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly (Bullets over Broadway, Bound) returns as Tiffany Valentine, and Saturn Award nominee Alex Vincent (Child’s Play) reprises his role as Chucky’s archnemesis, Andy Barclay, with Christine Elise (BH90210) returning as Andy’s foster sister, Kyle. Also look out for Dourif’s daughter and genre marvel Fiona Dourif (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, The Stand, The Blacklist, The Purge) returning as Nica Pierce.
Chucky has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus calls it “a bloody good time.”
IN TREATMENT S4 | Binge from 1 January 2022
Season 4 of In Treatment stars Emmy winner Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America, Orange Is The New Black) as the observant, empathetic therapist Dr. Brooke Taylor, who takes over from Gabriel Byrne’s Doctor Paul Weston.
She was up for the 2021 Best Actress Emmy, while the Season 4 reboot has a 96% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it’s #32 on their Best TV Shows of 2021 list. As Variety says, Aduba is “proving to be one of the essential actors of the 21st century.”
The season’s cast includes Hamilton star and Emmy nominee Anthony Ramos; Emmy nominee John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C, The Good Wife); Charlayne Woodard (Pose, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit); and Saturn Award nominee Joel Kinnaman (House of Cards, The Killing), among others.
NEW AMSTERDAM S3 | Binge now
When Dr Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold from The Blacklist) took over New Amsterdam, he asked a simple, revolutionary question: “How can I help?”
In Season 3, Max and his team face the daunting task of sustaining that optimism while dealing with a pandemic that exposed the gaping inequities in healthcare. Max is no longer content to fix a broken system. He’s determined to tear it down and build something better.
New Amsterdam has an 8.1/10 rating on IMDb. As Bustle says, “Every Grey’s Anatomy fan needs to watch this.”
BILLIONS S5 | Binge episodes 1-7 now, with the last 5 episodes due 21 December 2021
Bobby Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades have been unscrupulous adversaries and underhanded allies, but nothing has prepared them for the ruthless machinations of billionaire Mike Prince, who’ll use everything – and everyone – at his disposal to come out on top. As alliances get ripped apart and new enemies rise, everyone gets roped into the conflict. Consequences be damned.
Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis (Homeland), Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (Sideways), and Golden Globe nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards) co-star as Bobby, Chuck and Mike respectively.
Season 5 has a 90% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus says, “The machinations of the rich and infamous continue to enthrall inBillions’ fifth season, with Corey Stoll proving a worthy addition to this arena of financial chicanery.”
WHY WOMEN KILL S2 | Binge from 1 January 2022
The delicious (but deadly) new season of the drama anthology series Why Women Kill is here is at last. Created by Emmy nominee Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids), the series has an 8.3/10 score on IMDb, with an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 2.
Emmy nominee Allison Tolman (Fargo, Good Girls) headlines this season as Alma Fillcot, a frumpy 1940s housewife desperate to join an exclusive local garden club, presided over by Rita Castillo (Teen Choice Award winner Lana Parrilla from 24, Once Upon a Time). Veronica Falcón (Ozark, Perry Mason), MTV Movie Award nominee Nick Frost (Fighting with My Family, Shaun of the Dead) and Teen Choice Award winner Matthew Daddario (whose older sister Alexandra played Jade last season) co-star.
Even more star-studded is the line-up of directors this season: Desperate Housewives’ Emmy-nominated director-producer, Larry Shaw; Housewives star, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Eva Longoria; Growing Pains star and Emmy-nominated director, Joanna Kerns; BAFTA nominee Jennifer Getzinger (Mad Men, Westworld, How to Get Away with Murder); and Emmy winner Melanie Mayron (Jane the Virgin, Pretty Little Liars, Thirtysomething).
ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST S2 | Binge now
Jane Levy (Suburgatory, Castle Rock) was nominated for the 2021 Best Actress Golden Globe as Zoey, a young woman who suddenly gains the ability to hear other people’s innermost thoughts … in song.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist won a 2020 Emmy for its Outstanding Choreography and was nominated for another five Emmys this year. The quirky musical comedy has an 8.1/10 score on IMDb, while Season 2 has an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Collider calling it “the TV series of the year”, ET Online the “antidote to your quarantine blues”, and US Weekly “pure joy”.
Season 2 sees Critics’ Choice nominee Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) join the already impressive cast, which includes Alex Newell (Glee), who was nominated for a 2021 Critics’ Choice Best Supporting Actor award as Zoey’s friend Mo.
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY | Binge now, first on Showmax
From Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, The Inventor), The Crime of the Century is a searing indictment of big pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable over-production, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates.
With the help of whistleblowers, newly leaked documents, exclusive interviews, sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, Gibney’s exposé posits that drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of billions of dollars – and thousands of lives.
Produced in association with The Washington Post, The Crime of the Century won Best Political Documentary at the 2021 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, where it was also up for Best Documentary Feature and Best Narration for Gibney. The two-part HBO documentary has a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with FilmWeek saying, “Only Alex Gibney can get his arms around the behemoth that is the opioid crisis in America… It will open your eyes and make you angry.”
CALL ME KAT S1 | Binge now
Nominated for a 2021 Emmy for its cinematography, Call Me Kat stars Emmy nominee Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) as a woman who struggles every day against society and her mother (Emmy winner Swoosie Kurtz from Huff and Pushing Daisies) to prove that she can live a happy and fulfilling life despite still being single at 39… Which is why she recently spent her entire savings to open a cat café in Louisville, Kentucky.
Call Me Kat is based on the BAFTA-nominated hit British sitcom Miranda, by multiple BAFTA nominee and British Comedy Award winner Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife), who executive produces alongside Bialik and series creator Darlene Hunt (The Big C, Dickinson).
Bialik’s co-stars include Emmy winner Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace, The United States vs. Billie Holiday) and Emmy nominee Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock,Glee, American Horror Story).
EVERYTHING ON SHOWMAX IN DECEMBER 2021
To see everything on Showmax in December 2021, including the first Showmax Original romance, Troukoors; the 2021 Golden Globe nominee The Personal History of David Copperfield; and the Guy Ritchie-Jason Statham action blockbuster Wrath of Man,click here. Please note this release schedule is subject to change.
Radio & TV
BB Menson the “Virus” returns with Night Train
One of Ghana’s finest broadcasters Bertrand Bannerman Menson popularly referred to as BB Menson, the “virus” makes a return to radio after a long break.
Yes, BB is back with his popular and controversial late-night show BB’s Night train on your power station radio Gold 90.5fm.
Starting on Thursday February 2, 2023 @9pm, the reloaded, repacked and re-engineered version of the night yrain will be airborne with the rumbling sound of “tsuku tsaka”.
It will be fun packed and super exciting with segments like “departing point and destination, Wano pa asem, Marley mode for the Sheroe’s and heroes, news fore view of the next day’s papers, pre – nocturnal personality and the big one, Ex Pee’s cross over”.
BB Menson took a break from being on-air to assume the role of General Manager of the Station.
After, close 13 years of break from the microphone, BB makes a return to full time radio with his award-winning show the Night Train.
The last time he attempted to host a radio program, he set a Ghanaian radio record by being on air for 20 hours, 20 minutes and 20 seconds,20/20/20, to mark the 20th Anniversary of Radio Gold.
For many, who grew up listening to him, BB’s Night Train evokes nostalgic memories. It makes them reminisce the days when one was glued to their radio sets listening to the rants of one man, who held the entire nation spellbound with his unique style of presentation. No wonder he was nicknamed the “Virus”.
Many listeners, who are anticipating his coming back on the radio are wondering if he still got his stuff on like he used to do back in the day.
BB, is however keeping his cards close to his chest waiting to deliver on Thursdays.
The Night Train will be filled with suspense, good music, great talk and loads of controversies.
Let’s make a date with BB Menson this and every Thursday at 9pm on Radio Gold 90.5 FM.
Radio & TV
Audiomack Partners With MTV Base to Enhance Music and Entertainment Accessibility for Africans
In line with its commitment to promoting the growth of music in Africa, Audiomack has partnered with MTV Base, one of the continent’s topmost youth entertainment channels. This partnership will serve to provide increased access to premium music content for listeners, whilst enhancing appreciation for African artists across the continent.
The strategic partnership has been implemented as an editorial collaboration aimed at incorporating MTV Base’s curatorial voice and shows into the Audiomack platform in Africa. With its initial focus on the Nigerian Afrobeat scene, this monumental partnership will strengthen end-to-end relationships between players in the music ecosystem, including listeners and artists.
Commenting on this laudable alliance, Charlotte Bwana, Director of Brands and Media Partnerships at Audiomack Africa, commended the undeniable growth of the African music industry in recent years and highlighted the importance of partnerships such as this in ensuring accessibility and variety in the satisfaction of music listeners’ expectations.
She said, “The African music industry has experienced iconic and undeniable growth in the last few years, and this has done more to refine the expectations of listeners in terms of access to optimal music entertainment. In this regard, as the leading music streaming platform within the African continent, we understand that the satisfaction of our listeners’ demands is paramount, and we are constantly seeking new avenues and strategic partnerships to create value for the community.”
“The collaboration with MTV Base, a renowned youth-driven African entertainment platform, will ensure that we satisfy our listeners’ demand for quality music entertainment, as MTV Base’s Music programs like Official Naija Top 10 (ONTT), amongst others will be available on Audiomack as playlists. These will also give artists the chance to be featured as playlist covers, and as a result, offer an increased opportunity in marketing efforts for African artists across both platforms which forms an integral part of our commitments”. She added.
Also speaking about the partnership, Busola Komolafe, Channel Manager at Paramount said, “We are excited about our partnership with Audiomack Africa as this will advance our mission of bringing premium music entertainment to our audience. We strongly believe that this strategic collaboration will not only allow our audience to listen to the best music wherever they are, whenever they want but will also give artists and other players within the music ecosystem a unique opportunity for their music to reach more youth across the African continent.”
With a presence in all 54 African countries, Audiomack remains committed to advancing the growth of music in Africa, through the implementation of strategic partnerships and investment into the region’s culture and communities.
Radio & TV
Best international series on Showmax this February, The Last Of Us, Young Rock S2 and more
Radio & TV
MTV Shuga Naija unveils new cast for fifth season of multi-award-winning social impact TV series
MTV Shuga Naija, an MTV Staying Alive Foundation initiative, is back for a fifth season and boasts a strong cast to extend the impact of its taboo-defying edutainment TV series. Set to premiere in April this year, the fifth season will focus on storylines about Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19, while continuing to address HIV prevention. Behind the camera, the focus is on empowering female creatives, with an 80% female crew while in front of the camera, an exciting lineup of new faces will be headlined by sensational actresses and co-stars on Netflix’s series ‘Far from Home’, Genoveva Umeh and Gbubemi Ejeye.
Susan Pwajok – best known on-screen from her role in the popular Nigerian family drama series, The Johnsons, has also been announced as a cast member as has well-loved Pan-African MTV Base Culture Squad member, Ilooise Omohinmi. Other new cast members announced include high profile talents Maggie Osuome, Lexan Peters, Ben Touitou, Kem Ajieh Ikechukwu, Okey Uzoeshi, John Njamah, Kiki Omeili, Chioma Edak, Francis Onwochei and, Bolaji Ogunmola.
Last year, MTV Shuga Naija initiated a search for exceptional young talent via online auditions that received over a thousand applications. The two winners of these auditions – Kanaga Emmanuel Eme and Chioma Edak – have been chosen to play lead roles on the show, while others selected will play supporting roles.
Returning MTV Shuga actors include Adesua Etomi-Wellington (Far From Home, Falling, Sugar Rush), Tomiwa Tegbe (My Siblings and I) and Sharon Jatto (The Griot).
“New cast always means deeper, richer stories and, of course, more drama,” said Adesua Etomi-Wellington. “Given the importance of the conversation we are making mainstream, I am so excited to be part of the new season, and excited to be sharing the screen with this group of uber-talented individuals and proud new members of the MTV Shuga Naija family.”
“The cast of MTV Shuga Naija are not just actors, but ambassadors of our edutainment campaign. They are working tirelessly to ensure that our messaging reaches and positively impacts millions of young Nigerians, empowering them to make better decisions about their health and lives.” remarked Anita Adesiyan, Country Manager, MTV Shuga Naija.
Season 5 of MTV Shuga Naija promises brand new storylines, fresh characters and a stand-alone story, so new audiences are welcome, as well as welcoming back the MTV Shuga family of fans across Nigeria. The magic of MTV Shuga lies in the research done with youth in Nigeria which informs the social and health topics tackled in the series and ensures that the storyline reflects the lives of the youth they hope to edutain. Their mission is to drive social change among youth, a mission they share with a number of like-minded organisations.
“In partnership with Unitaid, Global Innovation Fund and Paramount, we will focus on spotlighting the importance of HIV self-testing and accessibility of testing kits, Gender-Based Violence, COVID-19 vaccine confidence, gender capacity building and modern contraception. Also, through our partnerships with the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA), the Lagos State Domestic and sexual violence agency (DSVA), the Lagos State Ministry of Health and Hello Lagos, we aim to provide support and direct our audience to the relevant agencies who will offer the required counselling and treatment they need,” confirmed Adesiyan.
In addition to the return of MTV Shuga Naija, MTV Staying Alive Foundation also unveiled their Talent Accelerator Program — a platform created to invest in young, emerging female creatives. The initiative will leverage internship placements and mentorship programmes across production units to advance gender-aware media in the Nigerian TV & Film industry. Its first execution saw the selection of 11 outstanding young women to work across different departments through the filming of the new season.
The crew of MTV Shuga Naija Season 5 is 80% female, further emphasising the campaign’s objective of investing in female creatives in the Nigerian media market. The fifth season of the award-winning TV drama is produced by 1Pod Pictures, a female-led production company out of Nigeria and boasts the youngest producers ever to film MTV Shuga Naija.
The new season of MTV Shuga Naija will premiere on MTV Base (DStv channel 322 and GOtv channel 72), BET, and the free-to-air platform, NTA later this year. All episodes of the season will also be available on Netflix and YouTube.
Radio & TV
MultiChoice Talent Factory goes live with online short courses for 300 filmmakers across Africa
The MultiChoice Talent Factory has partnered with SAE Institute, a world leader in creative media education, to offer fully funded online short courses to 300 professional filmmakers. The filmmakers come from Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria. They work at various production houses and free-to-air channels, including public state-owned broadcasters.
The online short courses have been custom designed by MTF and SAE, after identifying certain skills shortages within the industry. The five courses created are Script Writing, Production Management, Cinematography, Audio Post-Production and 3D Animation. Each short course will run for five weeks. The courses were designed to address key areas of development that have been identified by content buyers and subject-matter experts in the industry.
SAE, with 47 campuses in 23 countries, has been setting the global benchmark for creative media education since 1976. In South Africa, they proudly offer nationally accredited Bachelor’s Degrees and Higher Certificates across 4 disciplines Animation, Audio, Games and Film.
“Following the success and immense impact of the MTF Academy, we’ve received numerous requests from established filmmakers, who are unable to apply for the Academy Graduate Programmes as they only cater for young filmmakers. To ensure we cater to those filmmakers, we wanted to create short courses to further enhance their skill sets and this is our response to those requests. The TV & film industry is constantly evolving and as such we as professionals must continue to diversify and develop our skills” say MTF Director for Africa, Nwabisa Matyumza.
The online orientation programme, hosted by South African comedian, Mpho Popps, was attended by the various filmmakers embarking on this exciting learning journey. During the orientation session, the filmmakers were taken through the online learning platform and had the opportunity to meet their course facilitators and fellow filmmakers from across the continent.
“We’re excited to walk this journey with the MultiChoice Talent Factory. Our purpose is to educate, empower and employ and this partnership allows us to expand this purpose into other African countries. These short courses provide much-needed upskilling for many self-taught individuals who have never had the opportunity to study at a university. It goes a long way in bolstering the existing skill and talent on the continent,” says Scott Rogers, Managing Director of Invictus Online at the SAE Institute.
Radio & TV
Top Gun: Maverick – and the original classic – now streaming on Showmax
Having any fun yet?
Top Gun: Maverick is now streaming on Showmax, having just been named Best Movie, Best Wide Release Movie and Best Action & Adventure Movie at Rotten Tomatoes’ Golden Tomato Awards, which recognise the best reviewed films of the year. Top Gun: Maverick currently has a 96% rating from over 450 critics and a 99% audience score from over 50 000 fans on the site.
After more than 30 years of service as one of the navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Oscar nominee Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialised mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Sundance winner Miles Teller), call sign “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.” Rooster’s father trusted Maverick; he isn’t about to make the same mistake.
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears.
Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Emmy winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men), four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris (Westworld), multi-award-winner Val Kilmer (Heat) and Monica Barbaro (UnREAL) co-star.
The second biggest box office hit globally, Top Gun: Maverick has already won more than 60 international awards and is one of the 100 top-rated movies of all time on IMDb. It was also named the best film of 2022 by media as varied as Complex, The Globe and Mail, IMDb, People, The Telegraph, Total Film, Uproxx, and The Washington Post.
As Rotten Tomatoes says, “Top Gun: Maverick is why we love the blockbuster experience: exhilarating action with big emotional stakes and an on-your-feet sunset ending.”
Similarly, Independent calls it “as thrilling as blockbusters get”; Daily Telegraph hails it as “unquestionably the best studio action film since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road”; and Time/Out says, “You will want to high five someone on the way out.”
Top Gun: Maverick has been shortlisted in multiple Oscar categories and is already nominated for four 2023 BAFTAs, including Cinematography and Special Visual Effects; the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble; and a Grammy for its soundtrack, among other honours.
Showmax is also streaming the original 1980s classic, Top Gun, directed by the late Tony Scott and co-starring the likes of Oscar winner Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption), Emmy winners Anthony Edwards (ER) and Tom Skerritt (Alien), multi-award-winner Meg Ryan (When Harry Met Sally) and the late Kelly McGillis (Witness). Top Gun won an Oscar for Giorgio Moroder’s Take My Breath Away, a Grammy for Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Steven’s Top Gun Anthem, and the 1987 People’s Choice Award for Favourite Motion Picture, among other accolades.
So whether you’re feeling a need for speed, or Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, old-school action or 80s nostalgia, it’s time to strap in to Showmax.
Watch the Top Gun: Maverick trailer:
Watch the Top Gun trailer:
Showmax’s January movie line-up also includes the Oscar-nominated House of Gucci, the BAFTA-winning Licorice Pizza, and the animated blockbuster The Addams Family 2, with Jordan Peele’s Get Out, just named one of the top 100 films of all time in Sight & Sound’s once-a-decade critics’ poll, available from 26 January 2023, and 2022 BAFTA winner Together, starring James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan, available from 30 January 2023.
Showmax is also home to a wealth of Tom Cruise classics, including Mission: Impossible – Fallout, American Made, Oblivion, Interview With The Vampire, and The Last Samurai, as well as Jack Reacher and its sequel, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
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