WE NEED KENYAN PRODUCTIONS ON NETFLIX

Kenyans and indeed East Africans, are yet to join the big feast at the table set by American video production behemoth Netflix.

This is despite the fact that Netflix has lately been including lots of African productions on their platform.

Just last month, the company created what it dubbed – A Made in Africa Collection – a kind of curated list of African series, films and documentaries to celebrate Africa Month.

Interestingly, productions listed on the video streaming platform included lots of West African and South African Productions. As much as these productions are flying the African flag high on Netflix, I believe other regions in Africa – like East Africa – can do just fine if given a chance. 

It’s not comforting enough that Kenya is among the top Netflix subscriber list in Africa; we want our productions on the platform. It’s ‘intellectually criminal’ to be a top subscriber, yet fail to have a single production on this giant video platform.

Of course, there is no shortage of talent in Kenya; our actors have featured in a number of Netflix projects already. A good example is when the film – The Boy who harnessed the Wind – premiered on Netflix in March last year, most of the cast were Kenyans.  

Our very own, Alliance Boys High School alumnus, Maxwell Simba, plays the role of William Kamkwamba in the power film. Other high voltage names included veteran actor Raymond Ofula, former Big Brother Africa contestant Melvin Alusa, Sue and Johnnie actor Martin Githinji, Eddie Mbugua and Robert Agengo. Ofula also made another appearance on Netflix Original Queen Sono and Sauti Sol’s song Disco Matanga featured as the series soundtrack, see Kenya has enough talent to sustain good production initiative.

Our good stream of talent would be meaningless without a robust production capacity. Kenya has both an unmatched production prowess in the region. This partly explains why a number of international productions have been done in Kenya, the latest being American TV series Sense8, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, The Constant Gardener, The Ghost and the Darkness – the list endless.

Kenya boasts of a most talented and professional crew in Africa. A good look at our own productions like You Again, Disconnect, Plan B, Nairobi Half Life and Rafiki among others is a good testament – and we hope to see them on Netflix.

Our beautiful, natural scenery is good fodder for filmmakers. Our locations and film sets are no doubt some of the best in Africa. From mountain location: Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon. Cave Location: Hells Gate. National park Location: Maasai Mara National Park, Tsavo National Park. Slums areas in Nairobi. Local areas: African Tradition and beach locations at the coastal area.  These are rich ingredients for any for whichever story we want to tell.

The question remains, who do we have to talk to get our stories on Netflix and create jobs for the talented Kenyans.