Sasani Studios in Johannesburg is abuzz with activity having recently welcomed the popular SABC2 soapie, Muvhango, on site.
Muvhango, which is the first ever Venda-language soap and which generates excellent ratings, has relationships with various radio stations throughout South Africa. Sasani Studios hopes to assist in a potential live broadcast on the Phalaphala Radio Station in the near future.
This brings the number of soaps being shot or post-produced at Sasani Studios to five: e.tv’s Rhythm City and Scandal, M-Net’s The Wild, SABC2’s 7de Laan and now Muvhango.
Says Sasani Studios CEO Eileen Sandrock: “In order to accommodate the high level activity on site we are in the process of building new set storage areas. We are currently extending the storage linked to Stage Two and will commence Stage Three storage shortly. A sets storage area for Stage Five is also in the pipeline.’
The entire brain of Sasani Studios has been replaced with a new high definition (HD) router system and six new HD cameras. This allows for multi-camera HD shoots.
“We recently purchased six new LDK 8000 HD/SD switchable cameras,’ adds Sandrock, “which enable us to switch between HD and SD easily as required by our clients.
“In addition we have integrated fibre into all our studios, to centralise the connectivity between our studios. We hope to extend our tapeless recording systems going forward and plan to build a new control room to accommodate the high level of activity.’
Looking forward, Sandrock is bullish: “We hope to secure an SABC sitcom soon and an SABC HD shoot early in the New Year.’
screen africa magazine – october 2012
