 short film and in the first two weeks of this Christmas week we sold our rock even after having spent over 800,000 shillings to create this short film we broke even in the next two weeks so that again was a bit my soul for us as filmmakers and I believe we kind of made you know our promise true to ourselves that short films can't make business whether it's short films or each of them you know for as long as we come into the game thinking about you know monetizing the product and you manage to achieve what you need to achieve. Come the Colossians definitely we had already submitted and we won the short film and something beautiful came out of it the Kenya Film Commission having seen how we had monetized our product among other filmmakers we were taken to Berlin for the Berlinale Film Festival where we got to interact with a couple of filmmakers and we learned so much personally I got to learn so much in terms of how to you know beach for products how to look for funding as well and I learned of the day how to monetize and work with different filmmakers of course during one of my trips when I was moving from one location to another I bumped into a gentleman in one of the past trips he was a Kenyan he was also attending the Berlinale Film Festival and he had gone with his own evolution and we got to discuss a bit more about the industries called Rahim he is based in London but also you know he practices in Kenya as well he's also a filmmaker so we talked a bit about what we expect for the future in the likes and as we speak today we are already doing a collaboration in our next film he's doing a series of international series and he has tasked me with you know just helping him with drawing resources from wherever so that for me is a big plus having worked closely with the Kenya Film Commission just to go to Berlin another thing that we realized was as well is the Berlinale having been 73 years old you know running for 73 years these guys have understood the essence of visibility I immediately we landed at the airport there were big partners there were you know what you call them big booths just talking about the Berlinale Film Festival when we went to the epicenter of the event itself I mean as you know maybe within a radius of about one kilometer every establishment around there was serving the purpose of the Berlinale Film Festival and I bring to go that one day that is where the Kalasha is going to get where if we are having our sessions at a what do you call it KICC we know that the entire the CBD is serving the you know the dream of the Kenya filmmaker so in 2019 when we won you know our awards that was the first time the Kenya Film Commission was giving cash awards any time before that we were given you know the trophy and I mean there was a lot of this kind of voices about how to be you know show that just apart from this trophy you know we can get money out of it so we'd like to take the Kenya Film Commission under the leadership of a team of yours that since 2019 today people have been getting cash prizes and we are grateful for that and we look forward to you know giving you more works that can be celebrated more and make more money at the end of the day so that's just about it I say that do five minutes I think I've done over six but thank you so much for the opportunity guys thank you a couple of things that I picked up from that is if we go TV space in the filmmaking space I would now like to invite up my dear friend Caroline to say a few words of course Caroline is the event he came in Nigeria event he Africa works in Kenya and Nigeria event he have high venti Africa and she's going to talk a little bit about some of the great work of Kalasha over the last few years and of course the Kenya Film Commission as well give her a big round of applause. Thank you everyone, good morning, not so good at this political thing, sadistic good morning and thank you Caroline is the event he came in Nigeria and give me an opportunity to share my own experience so my name is Caroline Big Dioporoso I'm currently the head of high venti Africa running our production hubs in Kenya and Nigeria for those who have made me in the 25 years or so class I've been in production for a very very long time I've aged out into the industry by our down-bound management I made the move from production production to localization that is my home business now and has been since 2015. Identity is a trans perfect company. Identity was originally French we were acquired by an American company in 2022 and trans perfect is the largest language service provider in the world and I had Kenya, Nigeria and India and Intertainment Division so what do I do? I localize your content. I've interface to a lot of producers here I do gupping, I do audio description, sub typing, I package, I do asset management, I do a lot and I also our company is batched by Netflix, Amazon, Disney and a couple of the big boys and girls on the multi-national stage so we package a lot of content a lot of people don't know that we package but a lot of what you see for Africa or Netflix we interface with here in Nairobi so we're very proud to be a part of Kalashia we've been a part of Kalashia for many many years through the different phases of the production process before and as a freelancer as we many about have been so I used to be there as freestyle media events and then I went in as African voices dubbing company and then I've been participating as identity and this year we participate in trans perfect media. My experience of the market not so much the awards is access to people an opportunity to share ideas an opportunity to find out what is happening in the content creation space and of course time deals and and share the tools that we have so we're really looking forward to paying a big role at the next market we have a lot of tools will be rolling out we have we have an online platform for freelancers to do dubbing work out to teach them the techniques of dubbing how to be self-employed in dubbing we also are in the AI space we want to participate in the discussions and I'm sure you will on what is really happening versus all the fear so we're looking forward to it and I yeah we get a lot out of it but most it's just meeting people collaborating and also talking to the young ones and telling them you know you're gonna be in the creative world the reality versus a tick tock so thank you reality versus tick tock I love that I think it's really important to also note the great work that has been done over the years by the Kenya Film Commission as well I think we would be remiss if we didn't mention for those of us who have been in the industry for two decades plus and they can see some great hair in the room so I know many of us have the Kenya Film Commission what we've seen and how it's grown and become a commission that really supports the industry and there's so much work to ensure that we are now finally in a place where we can be proud of all the work we do but also we can sit on an international stage and have the backing of the Commission behind us which is so important so with that in mind allow me to invite the KFC CEO Mr. Timothy Obasi up to say a few words and please give this man a big round of applause stakeholders the media invited guests good morning once again I'm delighted that you honored our invitation and I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to this very first meeting before I get into my speech I'd like to invite Dr. Lucia who is one of our board members representing the board of Kenya Film Commission come and greet you gentlemen good morning yes I'm delighted to be here, my name is Lucia and we are a board of directors for the KFC I'm very much excited and grateful to be here same here as you do today here means that you are going to have a successful Kalashian event and for the homeboys thank you for the good job we are here I appreciate that I'm not going to take much of your time I say once more thank you and best of all thank you Dr. Lucia well it's an exciting morning that I stand before you to introduce Kalashia 2023-24 and as you always know Kalashia has taken place every year since the year 2009 that is the Kalashia work that we transformed this into a film market and a festival so at a personal level and at a level of Kenya Film Commission as an organization I'm so excited to announce that this year we are going to host Kalashia International Film and TV market festival and awards between the 27th of March to 30th basically we'll have the market running from the 27th all the day all the way to 29th and on 30th we will host the Kalashia awards where we celebrate winner this year I want to underscore the importance of this event because this event provides us with an opportunity for our platform to engage to converse, do business, celebrate winners, network and do all that are pertain to storytelling we expect international guests coming from South Africa, Uganda and other countries so this is going to be a platform where we have an opportunity to engage do co-production engagements and also showcase the kind of work that you have the Kenya Film Commission is committed to see to it that we provide with a platform that will give you room to showcase what you've been able to do over the years and also to get a new engagement as far as going into the future I know you are all looking forward to seeing that we are able to implement the co-production treaty between Kenya and South Africa and I'm happy to announce that South Africa is actually coming during Kalashia and as we speak now the Kenya government is currently finalizing the modalities and you as stakeholders, more so producers, you will be marching forward and coming up with the modalities of how to implement this so I look forward to engaging you so that we are able to do this together of course last year there was an apro about the Kalashia awards payments for the year 2022 I just want to clarify today that the year 2022 we promised to award each win out of the 39 categories 200,000 shillings however that took a bit of time before we paid out but last year December we were able to pay out so we don't owe any filmmaker the awards money and it became a costly moving to the future of course our commitment is to see that we are able to work together and that what we promise is sustained as our brand because our brand is our promise how do we envision to see Kalashia this year this year Kalashia we will not hold Kalashia awards as an independent product but we are combining the festival, the market and the awards so the first two days we will have the Kalashia market and festival running then the final day we will have the Kalashia awards all this will be taking place at KCC of course I want to take this opportunity to invite each one of us to come, invite all the filmmakers to participate at this event and see to it that we all succeed allow me also to indicate when we talk about Kalashia International Film and TV market what do you mean this is a platform where we will have exhibitors we will have key activities taking place including and not limited to workshops conferences, pinching sessions, exhibition booths among other forums that will enable you to engage we will have other countries being able to showcase what they have and we will have stakeholder forums that will give local producers and filmmakers in general an opportunity to engage with their counterparts for other countries beyond that we expect that during the Kalashia market you will have an opportunity to cut deals get new partners from other countries and create an avenue for storytelling for stories that will be able to showcase going into the future again, as Kenya Film Commission we are committed in developing and promoting the Kenyan cinema scene and with this I just want to highlight a few programs that Kenya Film Commission has been able to undertake in the recent past one, I must appreciate your support in enabling Kenya Film Commission to achieve the first ever film industry satellite account which was executed with the support of the GIZ which is the German government to see to it that we are able to provide you with the necessary data data that is critical as far as economic contribution for industries concern we want to know how many people are we able to employ in a year as far as our industry is concerned what are we contributing to the Exchequer annually beyond that we want to know how many women are actually participating in the film industry and what roles are they playing are they only playing the makeup artist role or are they playing a role as a director, producer and so on that data is critical in position making beyond that Kenya Film Commission was able to carry out a feasibility study on the establishment of a film fund basically for a very long time we all appreciate the fact that with money we can be able to do a lot, we can be able to create more jobs and this has been confirmed through the limited support we've had as far as the film empowerment program is concerned the first year we were able to support 22 projects at a cost of 40 million shillings again supported by the German government we are looking forward to again sending out a call for the same of course the figures may not be 40 million we hope it will be more or so but when we send out a call I'm reminding producers that you send in your application and they ensure that you take all the right boxes so that when the evaluation is being done you are able to move to the next stage other than that the commission was also able to execute and come up with corruption prevention guidelines within the film industry this we were supported by the GIZ again as well as ESCC and it's in our best interest that we would like to see good governance taking place within the film industry we've had a lot of approval from actors and other practitioners within the industry in terms of working environment within film sets and I believe with these guidelines we should be able to have clear fora where we are able to undertake film business indeed as a business and we should be able to set the state through self-regulation without waiting for government to be the supervisor of producers I don't think that's what we want within the film industry again there is another critical component that we've been able to deliver we are focused on seeing that we create an enabling environment where film makers are able to access various facilities such as locations, government, government offices as well as other key elements and with that, as we speak now I have a team in Machakos that is working with Kenya Revenue Authority, the National Police Service KWS, KFCB all agencies that you interact with to streamline the processes on how you should be able to access critical services from government I know there is a lot that has been happening as far as processes if you are bringing in equipment what are the, can you be able to lighten that in the part of producer so that through our liaison offices we are able to facilitate you without much pressure so that we make filming in Kenya as small sailing as possible beyond that, we are also looking at enhanced stakeholder engagement and this is enshrined within the constitution that any government entity should never do any activity without proper buying from stakeholders so I'm just enlightening you that you have a right to know what the commission is doing at any given time unless continuing engaging through our corporate communications department we will continue engaging and to ensure that we are working together at any given time there is a platform that the commission has set up we call it an e-film shop an e-film shop is a platform where all the licenses will be processed from there from the comfort of your seat you should be able to access a filming license at KFCB if you want to use locations at the wildlife restricted areas you should be able to get all these through a particular platform so I just want to implore you that all that we are doing is to the good of the film industry and we can only achieve the same when we are collaborating so let's work together on that allow me also to mention that as we talk about an enabling environment it is clear that we have all been yearning to see when we are going to achieve the filming sector just yesterday our cabinet secretary committed to delivering this very soon and very soon so I just want to re-emphasize on the same that this is going to be achieved and why I am very confident about the same is the fact that the Kenyan government has an agreement with the invention studios of Los Angeles and part of the commitment from the governments of Kenyan side is film incentives so with that alone the presidential announcement during the current day celebrations I think that's a presidential directive that we must be able to achieve this so this is going to be a huge milestone that will enable filmmakers to access film incentives and also to ensure that filming in Kenya is as small sailing as you envision lastly on this the screen culture development is so critical we would like to see Kenyans watching content content that we create and not only just watching but watching and spending money when you spend then you you facilitate, you support Peter Kaur and others to be able to make again when we make more films when we make more films then we have an opportunity to create room for conversations conversations that add value we contribute to our economy and our building as well as economic well-being because this is one industry that can employ millions if not thousands of people so let's work together to see that we achieve these aspirations I mentioned Invention Studios Invention Studios is an organization from United States and it's in the country to work with the film makers so that we achieve various aspects so training script writing among others so we are going to work together to see to it that we create those opportunities and these opportunities are able to get to a level where we are able to do real film business I'm going back to my notes on the market what are you going to expect at the market? as I mentioned earlier we expect exhibitors at the market we expect forums where we have expert opinions coming out in terms of technology distribution because we are saying filming or film business is real business we shouldn't just look at this as an ensignment and as such the film market is to give us an opportunity to champion growth and development of this particular sector so let's all rally together and see to it that we see the KALASHA International Film and TV market festivals and awards that we are able to achieve all these aspirations so come, thread, engage and connect please just raise your hand we'll come around with a mic and you'll be more than happy to answer them anyone? I'm no more than happy to respond to all your questions I'm not clear about the dates what are the dates? 27th to that year 27th is the Wednesday that is the thing you're not too worried about it I'm not too worried about it because based on our plans if we work in the event it will affect the plans exactly so the market is on 27th, 28th yes a question over here just tell us your name as well as you grant the mic Hello everyone my name is Amano I work with the people daily and also the events thank you just to clarify that last year we had 39 categories and this year we have 39 categories then about South African audiovisual agreement with the Kenyans that has been cleared by foreign affairs we are now engaging our counterparts in South Africa and the US film makers so that the framework suits exactly what you require for implementation okay, question over here Ginger Wilson Ginger from Africa thank you Timothy question about the awards which categories if and all is a portion of those awards determined what proportion of the award is given over to supporting the social media or the audience or the people's choice in the A-list festivals as the children were all aware there's a separate audience award but it's jury driven for most awards and yet Kalasha seems to have I could be wrong each award is given over to audience that's a very good question just to clarify 100% we as you are all aware this country doesn't have very good infrastructure when it comes to film screenings and as such we give 80% to the jury and 20% to public voting and that's for each category there are specific categories of course we are going to announce this when we are unveiling the short list of categories question over here my name is Anes I'm an animator from the association of animators artist Kenya we are very reverent association and we thank Kenya Films for hosting us last year of the exhibition we also look to participate this year just two questions they are coming Kalasha one question animation is still growing and we were just wondering because you have one category and it has been a concern of our members because we do have animators rigors, lighting people and stuff so we may get to those categories in terms of trying to compete with the filmmakers so we are just wondering is there a way whereby animation can be given most often for categories and what are the things to do or is this a discussion that we can't have and then another question is on the Machako's meeting that is happening it's a very good thing that you are now collaborating with KRA all other government agencies to pick on equipment that they are coming in and we are just wondering when will we have a report of that is there a way that we can see what came out what was discussed and also give our input thank you thank you very much to start with I'll start with your second question you wanted to know whether you've been able to access the report from Machako's own school lighting training processes within government services as we do this the intention is to ensure that we create a pipeline that will enable training processes especially when it comes to accessing drones clearing of equipment that they are dealing with KRA KWS among others that they are small sales and we have involved producers and producers among other associations and we are going to share with you all this competition then about the animation more categories I think Kalashawad is the industry we are open to more ideas I must tell you that we are open because we would like to have as many stakeholders in the world as possible they are bloggers who are not part of this and I'm thinking that we need to so we are open to this share with us for proposition as we get into the future but that may not be for this particular one thank you now I'm asking as producer please last year you gave the guilds associations two weeks and that was supported by the commission you got the same reputation I thought the same question back to have you made a request that you would like to have a free word from the commission I'm listening okay I think that is something that we can be able to look at but again I've just said film is business we don't want to encourage producers that we give you freebies it is not too expensive but again I encourage you to lead by example so that the rest can also be able to otherwise if I give you free how do I expect the rest the producer's guild is a non-profit making a success try to ask them put it under consideration what about question here good morning everyone my name is Jack my question goes to you in regards to Netflix in Africa and specifically Kenya we have limited content as compared to other countries I one day called them directly and inquired why we don't have many content as opposed to other places and they said it is because different government allows different things or take long to respond to certain requests and now that you say that you normally do the packaging should I hold your accountable that you are the one not packaging enough content for us which in the end because now go look for alternative so just one last business for Netflix thank you I think when you talk about Netflix Netflix is a player within the industry and they have their specific mission on what they want to achieve when Netflix came to Kenya in 2019 by 2021 the Kenya government was able to sign an agreement with them and they are very clear on their trajectory as far as their operations in Africa and Kenya in particular in Scotland as we speak Netflix has sponsored about 47 students in different universities to study 100% scholarship to ensure that they are able to get specific skills that will be able to help them in localization with that they will be able to get the kind of products of their industry but when it comes to dubbing I don't think you would have them identity for one reason if you have a product and your product has been produced in Kamba and you want her to translate the same in Swahili she will only do the translation based on her product she won't edit your content to suit what she works because it's not happening has is just to translate but transcribe based on the job just to add to that when you sign a contract with Netflix you are signing it as an original production or license so license means you already hold the content so how do we interface with the producer you sign with them they have specifications they transform your product to meet their broadcast specifications so we have no say in how or what we interface with but what I would say based on my knowledge of the market and what I am watching and what I am doing with the rest of the content even the content we did 20 years ago can be revitalized and that's why we say take care of assets so you get it digitized type of sellage to a distributor you have to go through there but the license content is due to their license which is a Kenyan company which is one of the foundation of Uraqi so you take it to a person like Uraqi and you say it's due to this category then to end up without keep packaging for the challenge in Kenya is then you didn't keep the assets people downgrade their content the last thing you have is an mb45 we are not even dealing with the 16 nil or or 1080 euro so the biggest challenge is that we have actually not kept our content they are getting a lot of stuff out of South Africa and Nigeria because of how kept the original assets so what I encourage producers is when you say assets they are houses and assets they are cars and assets those video and audio clips are assets and they can make you something 100 years from now if you keep them in the form so for the license content what I encourage people to do is talk to the major distributor media pros in Kenya so that's a very quick entry find out if your license or content can be revitalized so that those things can be sold and you sell it on your own license thank you Caroline I think Caroline has pointed out a very important point that you have one of your own who is the local producer representing Netflix in the country please have a position she is also very accessible as is our CEO we are going to sit down now but you are here I know for a fact that your door is always open any questions even now after the event please don't hesitate to reach out and ask the people