TAC Studios showcases a slate of compelling African-produced content for the global marketplace and The Africa Channel sponsors a series of educational sessions targeted to the production community.

These series will be available as exclusive first-run African premieres and will be additive to the studios' catalog of 300+ hours of African-influenced content. In addition, the company will present a series of original development projects for pre-sale that seek to develop a content bridge between Africa and the rest of the world.

These include the scripted series Move On and Asylum, as well as the unscripted series The Bank. Brendan Gabriel, Johannesburg-based head of creative and production for TAC Studios, adds, "The appetite for African content continues to increase in large part due to the advent of global streaming/OTT platforms."

"Our productions seek to meet that demand by creating content that is local and authentic, yet produced to an aesthetic and quality that meets global standards. This slate of finished productions demonstrates our continued commitment to nurture talent and build capabilities across the continent," says Gabriel.

"Our development efforts also seek to connect African stories and storytellers with experienced creators who have global television experience as we begin taking African content to the world," he concludes.

The new developments include: 
  • The Yard, which is a co-production with Currency MEDIA in Kenya. It depicts a gritty drama set in the world of the hip-hop scene in Nairobi.
  • May's Kitchen that is created in partnership with Filmedia in Egypt. It is an original cooking series featuring celebrity Egyptian chef May Yacoubi.
  • My Design Rules, a co-production with Cardova Productions in South Africa, which is a home design competition reality series from the producers of Expresso.
  • Asylum, created by Conor Galvin producer(FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), is a single-camera workplace comedy series that follows the lives of the support staff in a foreign embassy in South Africa.
  • Move On, which is created by Matt and Jordan Toronto — creator of Netflix's Face 2 Face, is a comedy series about a frantic romantic on a quest to silence her late husband's ghost who barges in on every date with a message for her potential suitors.
  • The Bank, created by Matt Luetwyler, Rebecca and Doug Henning — the creators of Bravo's Below Deck, is a social impact reality series where philanthropically motivated bankers search the furthest reaches of the world to grant microloans to small businesses with large community impact. 
In addition, The Africa Channel will be sponsoring sessions at DISCOPRO, an educational conference running parallel to the DISCOP market. DISCOPRO aims to bring together African and international players to address the expanded opportunities now available to African content creators to reach new markets.

The noted sessions include a panel discussion titled, "Exporting African Content to the World", which features executives from African and Global media companies, as well as a masterclass on "The critical importance of The Development Phase". 

For more information, visit www.theafricachannel.com. You can also follow The Africa Channel on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.