 And we are back. It's still me on set. I know I had said it's brand. Sakuha, Beth, Nimi, Mindyo, Nico. So right now we're going to have a great conversation. We'll be talking about the creative industry on matters of entrepreneurship. How's the business like in this other side? Are you talented? Are you a director? And you're just curious to know what goes on and how you can even engage kids because this particular production company is working with high schoolers. Quite interesting. I have been joined by Jimmy Goko, who's the principal of Greenview Junior Secondary School. His kids are part of the production. And just next to him, we have Tyrus O'Nyango, who's the MD of Maya Production, the production company behind the film that we're going to see. Right? Yes. Kamani Mekosea, please correct me. That's all right. Say something. It's good. A little bit about how you guys met, what the production company is all about. Let me start with you now that you're the MD of the production company. Okay. So we had a concept that we wanted to do. But just having a concept is not enough. And you can also have a concept that is not also complete. So we wanted to shoot a movie and we needed to look for someone we can partner with. So we looked for these guys. Okay. Yeah. Just like that. Yes. So, and we had a discussion about it. We were able to come up together. This is not really something that we've done by ourselves because there's the entertainment aspect of it. But also there's the education aspect of it. So it was a synergy of like minds, people who have the same vision. We are all interested in talent in a big way. But also we also want to tell our own stories. One of the things that we have as a culture in this country, we do music festivals in schools. So there is a very big drama festival sort of culture behind that nobody ever talks about. So how do these talents get developed? Where do they start? There's always a backstory that is never told on stage. So you are telling that story? Yeah, yeah. We need to know that Kenya has talents that can be developed to serious heights. Amazing. Now to you, Jimmy, they said, I don't know why they decided to pick on you. And then why did you decide to now collaborate with them to accept their offer? You know, we usually, like he said, when you have like-minded people because I'm also an artist, a playwright. I also deal in music. But the most important thing that after they came, I found out that we are in tandem with them. Currently, the curriculum of the school has changed to CBC, which we call competence-based curriculum. And as we are imparting this knowledge to the young ones, we usually talk about the competencies. Competencies, we say, they are the skills and the attributes that we instill to our learners so that in future they can exhibit the same. And generally what has happened to CBC, we have like seven competencies which are there that we need to instill in our learners. And by collaborating with them, these competencies we have like communication. So once we do the production, we have the verbal communication because of course a film has to run with a script. There is also the non-verbal part of it where we have the facial expressions and the body language. So by doing that, we are instilling that competence to our learners. Number two, we also have collaboration. So in a movie, you know, you cannot just do it alone. So they have to collaborate. So as we are doing the movie, we are also developing the competency of collaboration. The other one is creativity. So this is about the creative industry in film. So by doing that, exposing our learners to that, we are also developing that competence. Their aspect is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, generally if you have to look at the synonym of the scene, we have something like self-reliance, self-confidence. Self-confidence. So as the learners take part in the acting, they develop self-confidence. Maybe somebody would like to say, talk about self-esteem and self-efficacy. They have a thin line because self-efficacy, despite having the self-confidence, self-efficacy means that you also need to have responsibility of accomplishing something. Like when we had the learners, they are those who came for the auditions. They had the self-confidence. They took part. But now as the, I mean, the shoot went on. The compressors, the challenges. There are some challenges they dropped along the road. But now there are others who went on until now we have the movie because at times the director will come and say, today we do not have a shoot. We have to redo it. And sometimes you know the director might not be very friendly. They are never friendly, are they? So in that aspect of having that, we also develop that self-efficacy. So among the seven competencies in CBC as an institution, we are able to instill like four of them. Through the production. Through the production. Wow, wonderful. What a great way to look at it. I've never thought of it like that. But there's a lot that the learners develop. Now to you, Tyres. Why did you decide to work with high schoolers? Why not, you know, campus students? Why did you settle for high schoolers? It's a very, high schoolers is a very, very interesting demography. Let's, I don't know, maybe I can look at it from the developmental phase of a child. This is the time they are realizing who they are. There's a lot of changes that is happening in their bodies and their minds. So there is, it's, I don't know. This is Kunai Medalli. So you want to instill certain tenets in a child. So you want to instill certain tenets in a child. This is the best time. And they're still teachable. Yes, they're still teachable. They're still coachable. And you can, when you identify that they have something that you can develop, why not? For example, for this particular film, we are looking for children who have three talents. Which are? At a go. The child has to be able to do the three. Three talents. I'm struggling to see which is one. At a go. My talent. You're talking about three, huh? Yes. So they must be able to sing. They must be able to dance. They must be able to act. Wow. All at once. Sing, dance, then act. So they should be able to sing. At the same time, you're performing. So you have, you're dancing. And you see little character. Wow. So you had to find that, that specific one. Because this movie is a musical in itself. Oh, it's a musical movie. Yes. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. Three talents singing is... Okay, but... All right. You found them. You found them. Yes. How many are you working with in the movie? So we're working with a team of around around 20. But there are also others that of course just support. So there's a main cast. There's a supporting cast. And of course there are extras. So all these must be able to exhibit aspects of all those three talents that are going. Including the extras. Including the extras. Okay. But the extras, of course, the extras. I can't... Not so much, but... I can't wait to meet them, just to hear them sing and also just to watch the promo of them dancing and, you know, acting at the same time. Manu, I'm going to come back to you to tell us about the movie. What's the storyline all about? But before that, let me ask Jimmy. How is it that you create a balance for them because I know you decide the timelines because now you're the principal of what type they're going to act? Because it takes a lot. I know it takes a lot to do acting, like drama. It takes a lot of their time. And at the same time, they're also supposed to be focused on schoolwork. So how do you make sure they create a balance? That one has to be checked into, critically. Because as we have said, the current curriculum also accommodates both academics and also the co-curriculum. It's like it is now merging the two. First thing we usually have to spend our time expeditiously, like whenever we have some short breaks, we have to. And most of the time, we also need to create more time. Time is not always available. It's created. We need, other than that, at times, we even had to work over the weekends. Whenever we had the breaks in between, personally, I also deal with music other than being the principal of the school. I'm also a music teacher. I'm also a dramatist. It comes in handy. So that is now the best thing that you are able to now to be together with them. In the sense that even before they came, I had also checked on some talents, identified some talents, those who can see, those who can act. So when they came, it was very easy for us to identify. So once you have identified a person with the three talents, then it was very easy. Because it's not something that we do it, like we never did it for the movie only. It's something that we, is the culture of the school to incorporate. And when the school is in session, we usually have those, I mean the different genres, maybe in music, we also have these four acting. And so when they come in, they are those who had some background. I mean, already they had, they were not very green. So when somebody is very green, that's when we'll be having so much problem. And they want some intensive training. But if you put it as the culture of the school, you inculcate whatever it is that they have in the skills, then when it comes to that, we do not need much time. So the last time that we have to balance between the curriculum and the co-curriculum, now we are able to strike the balance very fast because it's something that is not new to them. Okay, all right. And it's just hitting me now that it's junior secondary school, meaning that there's only one class in junior secondary currently. Yes, yes. So how is it? I mean, is it all that? He said 20, 20 students and then some others. So what happens to the rest that are not part of it? Because it seems like it's a, you know, seawingisana. We try to make sure that everybody took part. Generally at the moment, our population stands at 100 in junior secondary school. But in the primary section, we have 1,000. But majority of those who are now in junior secondary school, they came from our primary school. And therefore it is also very easy for us because whatever they are having at the moment in junior secondary school, we were able to inculcate in the primary school. Therefore it becomes very easy. And also like he says, there are some who are not so much that all they are learning. So we had to incorporate almost everybody. Like there are some scenes where we require like quite a number of the students maybe in class and maybe to show the whole school, maybe on an assembly. So we generally, I think we used to everyone. Okay. At least everyone, but it's the great thing. Very enough. Okay, welcome to you, Thairas. Yes. You know, is this the first that we're seeing of this kind? Or do we have another that can compare to you? I'm thinking of Tidy High, something famous. But I know those are bits older. You know, they were in high school, yes or not. But they were acting as high schoolers. So is this the first that we're seeing or can we compare it to something else? This is the first of its kind in this country. And shooting a musical is not, the concept there from conception is totally different. By the time this idea is even just, it's something you won't find anywhere. It would be very hard to compare. Unless maybe we can get some copycats. Then maybe we can compare from that level. I don't know. They'll be comparing to you. They'll have to, yes. Okay. And why musical? Musical. Music speaks to the soul. It's a language everybody can understand. You don't have to even know what the person is saying. It's a very powerful medium of communication. All right, and it's something new that, you know, in Kenya at least we're not really used to the musical as you've said. So give us the storyline. What's the movie all about? So this is where I have to give you the storyline without giving too much. Oh yeah, there's that. Yeah, because there's that entire team. There's an entire team that is going to kill me if I... Give it your all. We need to watch it at the end of the day. Yeah, so give us a brief. Yeah, so let me give you a brief then. So the story revolves around two kids. Totally different backgrounds, different schematics with that. They go through struggles that make them, their personality comes out very different. So one is a bully, one is not. Both can sing, so they connect with that. But the arrivals, because one is a bully, one is not. There's an interlink between what happens in school, what happens at home, and how that now connects to the lives of these kids. You can be able to see how that affects maybe themselves and their friends and how that plays out. So it's a family film, it's a kid's film, but you will also learn something even as an adult, quite well, yeah. Okay, so it's not just in the school setup because initially it was just in the school set. So we also have scenes at home, a family thing, you know, the whole... There's a very interesting family setup back because, for example, I play the part of... I play a character called Ryan. So you're part of the crew? Okay. Okay, you're part of the cast. Oh, wait. This Ryan is a guy who is totally confused, breaks his family. His daughter is the bully. Okay. So they interplay the issues that happen at home. You can be able to see how that reflects on the mental health of a child and how she projects that now to her peers. So the character Bella has certain aspects that she portrays, but the problems start way back at home. Okay, from the parent. Yes, so you get to see that in the movie. Yes. All right, it's quite interesting, looking forward to watching the movie. And to you, how is it convincing parents that their kids should do this, in fact, as much as it's time consuming, there's a lot of investment into it. How do you convince parents that this is not a waste of time that they should actually do it? Now, it all starts with the students themselves. First and foremost, before we go to that, we have in junior secondary school, it's called a junior school. And in junior school, we have seven, eight and nine. That's where we are going. So we still have the senior one later on. So these are people who are previously in class seven, if we were to use the eight, four, four. Now, for coming to your question, we have to agree with the kids first. We have to agree because the parent or the guardian are paying for the school fees. And they have to get the value of their money. The value of their money is got from their performance academically. So what we need to do, we agree with the kids. Now that you are also taking part in the movie, you must balance, you must strike a balance between the movie and the class. And actually, I am so much categorical on the same. You not fail to complete your assignment in the name that you're in the film. Actually, that will be the first thing that will make me remove you out of your field. So you have to strike a balance between class and the film or any other co-curricular activity. So by doing that, it will make now the parent or the guardian to come in either by default or automatically because if the child is, it will be double gain. The child is performing. The child is also good in, we are nurturing and developing the talents of the kid. And they are moving in tandem and they're all in excellence. So the parent actually will now, like the parents that for the cast, let me speak of them. They have been very cooperative. It was like when you hear, we have had some shoots which were taken out of the school. So we have to create some time to go there. So you communicate with them. And actually, some of them are kind enough even to drop the kids at school. And also, they look forward. Like if you tell them, we are also coming for interview. They are very cooperative. But we have to have to strike the balance between we, the teaching staff, and the kids. Then tell them, we have this, how we are going to do things. Okay, great. I like it. Now, back to you. How is that? What goes into doing such a production, especially financially for someone who's looking into doing something similar? How much goes into it? Is this your way of asking me the budget of the day? Well, good way, I can't do it. Yes, there is quite some financial overtures that we have to look for, look at, in a project like this. First of all, we are engaging a professional crew. A professional? Crew. So everybody has to get paid. Of course. So you can imagine. You can just start from, like, how much... How much what director's paid? Yes, so from the directors, there is also equipment. We have equipment, but there's always something you don't have. So you're going to hire? There's always something you'll have to hire. This just goes for any production. So there's also the financial aspects of that. Also, the other things that you wouldn't expect, for example, would be maybe traveling, we're going out. The school has been really amazing with regards to, say, for example, transportation, coordinating that, it's been quite easy. So there are aspects that were quite easy for us to do. But this is also my way of trying not to answer your question by giving the exact figure. Figure it out for ourselves. Yeah, so you have to... So you can guess how much is the director's usually paid, how much is... OK, so you had that all planned out before you set out to begin this? Yes, so we did have all that planned out. So now, you see, it's not always about money sometimes. Sometimes it's about who you're working with. You find a great partner in anything you do. Anything of value can be bought. But if you have the valuable person, then you don't have to buy it. So for us, we found valuable people, valuable school, really valuable. So it's quite... There's a balance with that. So it wasn't so much of a problem, but of course, some pockets are dented out here. Well, then the winner is a bigger picture. Will the movie be airing in cinemas or when should we expect the movie? Yes, so the movie will do a premiere. We have a premiere coming up on the 9th of December. OK, 9th of December. Yes, 9th of December. That is next month at Panari Hotel, Anga Cinemas. So we'll be airing it there for the very, very first time for the general public. So anybody who wants to come and see this film can be able to come around. Should come. Yeah, I don't know if I should add more details, should I? Yes, how much, for instance, because we need to plan ourselves also if we're coming. So how much will you be charging? What time will it be airing? All right, so our gates will open at 5.30. So from 5.30, that's the time now. We'll have a red carpet set up, all whole wooden stuff. So you probably need to wear your evening gown and tell your producer. Good place to make sure you're going on a kindness. Very important. So our charges are just 500 for students. It's 1,000 advance tickets. At the gate it's going to be 1,500, VIP, VIP 3,000. And a group of 5, 4,000. So if you get a ticket that is a group of 5, 1,000 off. 1,000 off. I don't know what to say of all that. And we are always going for a break, but I realize I've not asked some of the challenges that you guys have faced, because finances are not a challenge for you. What are some of the challenges to you both before we take a break and then come back now with a cast themselves to give us that whole experience? Let me start with you. Now, of course, when you are set out to do something, we usually have challenges that we face here and there. Actually, the first one, not a challenge as per se, because we were able to identify the cast. But now, also getting a cast that will exhibit the three talents. Somebody who would sing, somebody who would act and dance. So it was quite challenging, because you will find a person who would act very well, but with no vocals at all. Not everyone can sing, I don't know why. Not everybody can sing. If you say everyone can sing, we sing. Maybe in the bathroom, everybody can sing in the bathroom. But now the proper singing. Because actually, like he says, as a school also, we were not ready to do some mediocre kind of thing. So we did something that is perfect, something that is excellent, something that is also reflecting what we do in school. Therefore, also getting, it was quite challenging, like getting the cast who were having the three talents. So we needed to work on them, because we find somebody who is vocally, who would sing so well. But now, maybe their acting is also a problem. So we had to do that. Timing also, like in our case, in the junior school, not until when the government had to slot some learning areas. We were having a lot of learning areas that require a lot of time in class. So we also had to use our time expeditiously. Because the crew, Maya, is not located in our school. So we have to make sure that they are there. And also have some class programs here and there. And also making everybody buy their idea. You know, I have the idea, despite being the principal of the school, I'm also a dramatist. I have all those things. I also make to make sure that also my teachers and everybody involved gets to know, to all the projects. Because we have the teaching and the non-teaching. The non-teaching will come in handy when we need to feed the children. And so you have to make everybody own up. That is the project of the school. It's not my project. It's not a project for our directors. It is for the project for everyone. So making everybody, so you have to know how to make everybody own the project, so that it runs seamlessly. So I would say those were the challenges. But not quite big challenges. We were able to manage them. And as they said, they have also said that we were able to accord them the cooperation they required. It will also go out, not properly if we also do not recognize what they did. They are marvelous guys. You know, with a crew of between 20 and 30 times, and they also come into the school, actually have to recommend them. They did a very good job. They also undertook themselves with the decorum. We enjoy working with them. They are good. Yeah, me, I mean. The phrases are going back and forth. It's a good thing. I don't want to ask you a similar question, unless you have something different of a challenge. What is your win? Challenge and win. I think the biggest challenge that we faced, we're still facing it, even right now, is what next? It is a question everybody is asking. So OK, so we've done the move, then what? What next? So to answer that, we have a, this is maybe a tidbit. We have a sequel coming. OK, so there's something coming. So definitely. All right, that's good to know. The biggest win, we can say we did it, and we have God on our side. So awesome. The movie is out there now. 9th December. 9th December, finale or two. All right, thank you. So what can people get, you guys, Maya production? Maya production on TikTok, Facebook, on YouTube. Maya production. And then there's Green View. We have the Green View schools. It's a Green View schools Kamulu because maybe in the Republic, we also have Green View schools. We have ours is Green View schools Kamulu. You find us on our Facebook page. Then we also have a YouTube channel on the same. OK, so thank you guys. We're now going to have the next team come on board right after this break. The movie itself is called Born to Shine done by the Maya production in collaboration with the Green View school Kamulu. So stick with us. We'll be right back with the trailer. All right, good.