SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Afrikaans pay-TV broadcaster kykNET’s soap Villa Rosa, produced by Spectro Productions, celebrated 1,500 episodes at Atlas Studios in Braamfonteinwerf, Johannesburg on 7 August.
KykNET channel head Karen Meiring congratulated the cast and crew on the achievement. “When you filmed the first episode in 2004, you probably thought that the day you celebrate 1,500 episodes, it will snow, and today, it did snow,’ said Meiring. “It really is something significant to celebrate. We hope we can do the same after another 1,500 episodes. As kykNET we are showing our belief in Villa Rosa by investing in their new sets.’
The daily soap, which is set in a guest house in Bloemfontein, has been on air since 4 October 2004.
Ten viewer competition winners got the opportunity to attend the celebrations and appear as extras in a scene of the soap, which also served as an opportunity to show off the new set. “It is thanks to the hard work of the cast and crew that Villa Rosa is still one of the most popular programmes on kykNET,’ said Villa Rosa actress Jana Nortier. “With a new, bigger Bakgat restaurant, we can now party even harder.’
Commissioning editor Marida Swanepoel thanked Johan van de Vyfer of Spectro Productions. “The fact that we got this soap off the ground in 2004 on a very small budget, is mostly thanks to him,’ said Swanepoel. She also paid tribute to actors Lieb Bester and Jaco Vermeulen, the only actors left from the original cast.
The 1,500th episode was broadcast on 2 July 2012.
