Dennis Brussard, a Dutch movie director and producer, has mobilised a youthful crew from South Africa’s Ekangala township to create a pilot for a musical comedy series for television called “Happy Days”. The young crew are from a local theatre initiative known as Teleios Korban (“complete empowerment”).

According to media reports more than 30 children from the townships Ekangala and Rethabiseng are involved as cast members and 25 young filmmakers from the South African School of Motion Picture Medium And Live Performance (AFDA) are working as crew on the show.

“Happy Days” is a musical comedy series that projects an underlying message of hope. In a Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) media report, Andrew Worsdale states that like most of the kids in the area, the youth featured in the series have lost their parents due to HIV/Aids and are growing up without adult support and guidance.

In the pilot episode they move in with their poor granny, who lives in a tiny shack which they try to make ‘home’. Even though the young kids are confronted with extreme challenges on a daily basis, the show is not filled with poverty and despair. Although it deals with ugly realities like Aids, drug abuse and child-reared families it is resolutely upbeat in its message – a positive vibe that was completely echoed in the production of the series’ pilot episode last month.

The pilot episode is a totally independent production of ContentDivision, a creative independent production company from the Netherlands in collaboration with AFDA, Teleios Korban (TKO) and St Joseph’s Care Centre. KidsRights, a charity organisation is involved as a Dutch partner.