M-Net Press

On Friday 18 April at 21h30, the Emmy® award-winning drama series Game of Thrones returns to M-Net on DStv Channel 101, shortly after its US premiere on Sunday 6 April.

M-Net will also screen two exclusive one-hour specials on the channel on 4 and 11 April respectively, in the time slot allocated to the series, as a special treat for fans of the series, as well as viewers who have not watched Game of Thrones from the start.

Says M-Net’s head of publicity: “These two specials will take your breath away. They are built around awe-inspiring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the actors, directors, producers and set designers that illustrate the magnitude of this extraordinary production.”

The exclusive Game of Thrones specials highlights the major events in the series to date, elaborates on the development of all the families and characters and details how the different locations in various countries have challenged the crew and cast.

Seasons 1 and 2 are highlighted in the first special, while the second special takes a closer look at Seasons 3 and 4, and also contains teasers.
Game of Thrones, based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, is described as “an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal’.

A large part of the Season 4 storyline centres on the second half of Martin’s book A Storm of Swords, the third in his series A Song of Ice and Fire.

The series was shot in seven countries, namely Northern Ireland, Croatia, Morocco, Malta, Iceland, Scotland and California. Approximately 100 locations, 3,000 costumes, 4,000 props, 257 cast members, 703 crew members and 87,014 visual effects are used for each season.

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernie Caulfield are the executive producers, and Martin is one of the co-executive producers.

The returning cast is led by Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Charles Dance, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Diana Rigg, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and others.

New cast members include Pedro Pascal as Oberyn Martell; Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand; Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lord Mace Tyrell; Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis; Yury Kolokolnikov as Styr; Elizabeth Webster as Fat Walda Frey, among others.

Season 4 will be available on all DStv Catch Up services.

Click on http://www.dstv.com/News/Game%20of%20Thrones%20fully%20stacked%20on%20DStv%20Catch%20Up/58945?sp_mid=45393042&sp_
for more information about DStv Catch Up on iPad, iPhone, online and Explora.

The M-Net family of channels has made changes to its programming schedules
and on-air material in fond memory of Nelson Mandela.

Celebrating the significant and extraordinary wonder that Madiba brought to the
world, M-Net, M-Net Series, M-Net Movies, the Mzansi Magic channels, the
Afrikaans channels, AfricaMagic channels Vuzu, Channel O and MagicWorld will
screen special prime-time programmes:

M-Net, M-Net Movies

M-Net 101
Friday 6 December at 19h30 – Carte Blanche special (replaces Ironside)
This hour-long show will commemorate Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy over the
past 95 years. The special will feature a look-back on the great man’s life, with
unique retrospectives and interviews, including one with his wife, Graça Machel.

Sunday 8 December at 19h00 – Carte Blanche
Coming up on Carte Blanche this Sunday, the team conducts exclusive
interviews with some of South Africa’s most prominent leaders as they pay
homage to the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Mzansi Magic

Friday 6 December at 18h00 – My top 10 @ 10 Madiba Tribute
This special episode of My Top 10 @10 features the likes of South African guests
such as Mfundi Vundla, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Somizi discussing their fondest
memories of Madiba.

Friday 6 December at 23h00 – Madiba documentary
A documentary about the life of Nelson Mandela, on his dream to create a
unified nation.

kykNET

Friday 6 December from 19h30 – Max oor Madiba (Max about Madiba)
Journalist and political commentator Max du Preez takes a look at the life and
times of the legendary Madiba.

Sunday 8 December at 14h30 – Mandela Merkwaardige Man (Mandela
Extraordinary Man)

Part 1: A look at the life of this exceptional man, visiting his homes in Qunu en
Mqhekezweni. Friends and family talk about his life and inauguration as South
Africa’s first democratically elected president.

Part 2: A look at Madiba’s role as leader, nation builder and peace maker.
Friends and family talk about Madiba’s day-to-day life, his love of children and
personal experiences.

Sunday 8 December at 19h30 – So Onthou Ek Madiba (This is how I Remember
Madiba)
Famous people and academics who have met Madiba share their memories.

Monday 9 December at 19h30 – Robinson Regstreeks Synopsis
In the time just before Mandela’s 92nd birthday, Freek Robinson spoke to some
of his confidantes, friends and influential figures about racism, reconciliation and
his relationship with Afrikaans-speaking South Africans.

Tuesday 10 December at 19h30 – Rian: Nelson Mandela Spesiaal (Nelson
Mandela Special)
A consolidation of Rian’s interviews about Nelson Mandela.

Wednesday 11 December at 19h30 – Kwela Special
A special tribute to Mandela that includes his speech at the Klein Karoo National
Arts Festival.

Vuzu

Friday 6 December at 18h00 – V Entertainment Madiba Special
A look at today’s international messages pouring in for Madiba; celebs give their
67 minutes back on Mandela Day and Ndileke Mandela talks about spending
time with her grandfather.

Channel O

6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 December at 19h00 and 22h30 – In His Own Words: A Tribute
to Nelson Mandela
Channel O celebrates the life of the iconic Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela in his own
words.

For the latest updates, keep an eye on the channels’ social media pages. Go to
www.dstv.com for more information.

SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Twenty-nine-year-old Durban-born, Cape Town-based food blogger Kamini Pather was proclaimed as the winner of MasterChef South Africa 2013 during the season finale broadcast by M-Net on 11 September.

At a lavish function held at the Hyde Park Hotel in Johannesburg on the same evening, journalists from around the country watched the tense final in which Pather narrowly beat runner-up, 23-year-old scientist Leandri van der Walt from Mahikeng.

Following the broadcast, MasterChef South Africa executive producer Donald Clarke of Lucky Bean Media told journalists that this second season of the popular M-Net reality cooking show had been much easier to shoot than the first one.

“This time round we had more time in which to produce the series and so could tell more stories and give an increased focus to the actual food. We believe the show has grown to the extent that our audience now wants more food-related information.

“Our season 2 contestants were more sophisticated than the previous series and our celebrity chef judges – Pete Goffe-Wood, Benny Masekwament and Andrew Atkinson – were definitely more relaxed in front of the cameras,’ he said.

Clarke noted that MasterChef South Africa episodes are highly produced and packaged in such a way to increase the tension. “Watching someone cook live on camera can be boring because it’s such a time-consuming process. So we add music and storytelling techniques to add pace.’

M-Net’s head of Original Content Anne Davis said that season 2 had been very successful and generated “great ratings’ as well as a high level of interactivity with the audience.

“The MasterChef format, created and owned by Shine, is hit in over 40 countries around the world,’ she continued. “We learnt a lot from producing season 1 of the South African show, most significantly that each contestant has their own unique food dream, which is not necessarily to open a restaurant if they win the competition. Kamini, for example, wants to relate food to media. M-Net is grateful that our MasterChef sponsors – Robertson’s Spices, Woolworths, Nederburg, Volkswagen and Tsogo Sun – are generous enough to let us be flexible in this regard. There are many ways to be successful in the food industry and we don’t want to be dictatorial.’

Pather said she would like to inspire South Africans to cook locally and noted that her interest in food had been sparked at age 17. “I first started playing around with eggs and then did a degree in commerce. But this didn’t fulfill me so I began blogging about food.’

She would not be drawn into revealing how she planned to spend her R400,00 prize money.

Van der Walt said that she’d always been an achiever and that sitting in the runner-up chair at the press conference was not pleasant. “However, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to grow from this experience and to understand myself better.’

She said she would use part of her prize money of R100,000 for humanitarian purposes.

M-Net declined to confirm whether MasterChef South Africa would return for a third season.

Report by Joanna Sterkowicz

On Tuesday 9 July the current M-Net Series channel on DStv will transform into a trio
of amplified series channels. These will be called M-Net Series Showcase, M-Net
Series Reality and M-Net Series Zone.

All three channels will be available to DStv Premium customers, while DStv Compact
customers can follow their favourite series on M-Net Series Zone.

M-Net Showcase will feature the world’s latest big-name shows with all its flamboyant
characters. The channel will feature fresh, superior quality content in all popular
genres, from comedy and drama to fantasy, crime and suspense.

These first-class shows include new seasons of Army Wives, Mad Men, Criminal Minds
and Defiance, and all the latest showstoppers from the US. Most of the series will be
seen on African TV for the first time, close to their US debuts.

M-Net Series Reality will cater to the fans of real-life series. Reality fare like Junior
MasterChef, Life After Top Chef, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, America’s Got
Talent and Naomi Campbell’s The Face will make their African television premieres
here.

Apart from these shows, the very best in talk shows will also be scheduled on the
channel. This means that viewers will be able to find two of the most popular genres
on global television – reality and talk shows – all in one place.

M-Net Series Zone will be the home of all the firm series favourites. It will include
content specifically catering to DStv Compact customers. The shows will also be
packaged in such a way that back-to-back screenings, especially over weekends, will
make it easy for everyone to catch up on all the series action they may have missed.
The channel will boast special festivals and themes, and much more.

Pierre Cloete, director of M-Net channels says: “M-Net’s fantastic reputation in
broadcasting is built on screening the world’s best movies and series. These new
channels allow us to do it even better, with well-designed tailor-made schedules for
every taste.

“In line with our very successfully defined channel offerings in the movie arena, we
are now collating our incredible series portfolio in an easy to find, well-structured,
channel offering. We are specifically catering to the varying tastes of our DStv
Premium and DStv Compact viewers.’

On M-Net’s Million Rand Money Drop episode 7 on Wednesday 22 May on Channel
101 on DStv sisters were doing it for themselves! 

After newlyweds Tamara and Ryan from Cape Town got off to a good start, they
were eliminated and made way for Sanelisiwe and Piwe Ngcobo from KwaZulu-Natal,
sisters with a 12-year-age gap between them.

Entering the show with the aim of using their winnings to fix up their family home
in KZN, the sisters faced some tough questions. After answering Question 5 correctly,
and with R60 000 remaining, they could go home next week with the cash to call their
own.

Episode 8 of Million Rand Money Drop airs on M-Net (Channel 101 on DStv) on
Wednesday 29 May at 19h30.

For more information about M-Net’s latest game show or to play the live online
game, visit www.mnet.co.za.

In each episode of M-Net’s Million Rand Money Drop a pair of contestants start off with
R1m and only seven questions stand between them and staying millionaires.

Contestants are given multiple choice answers to each question and place their money
on the answers they think are right. If they choose the wrong option though all cash
bets on the wrong possibilities disappear through a trap door.

After battling with a few difficult questions in Episode 5, best friends and ex-drama
students Jason Barber and Sheira Schoeman from Durban made strategic bets that kept
them in the game. Therefore the pair will be back in the next episode to see if they are
able to hang on to their R320 000.

Episode 6 of Million Rand Money Drop airs on M-Net (Channel 101 on DStv) on
Wednesday 15 May at 19h30. The show is presented by glamorous actress Busi Lurayi.

Visit www.mnet.co.za for more information about M-Net’s
latest game show or to play the live online Million Rand Money Drop game.