MONALISA PRODUCTIONS X DARK CROWN PRODUCTIONS
THE POWER OF COLLABORATIVE STORYTELLING
Two women-founded production companies in South Africa and Namibia celebrating the power of collaborative storytelling
Today, everyone knows the phrase ‘Content is King’, but creating really world-class content that consumers want to take time out of their busy working and personal lives to enjoy is tough. However, two women entrepreneur-led businesses are proving that collaboration can make really powerful content happen, and at scale, by harnessing the power of traditional and digital screens to reach audiences. Monalisa Productions in South Africa and Dark Crown Productions in Namibia are two businesses who are proof positive of going further, together.
Monalisa Productions is a production company founded by South African entrepreneur Tshego Monaisa, that develops and produces films, TV series, web series and documentaries. Dark Crown Productions, founded by Jenny Kandenge and Lavinia Kapewasha is a young Namibian production company aiming to step outside of the box, daring to tread where other Namibians don’t and promising to bring new and refreshing local content to the small screen, big screen and mobile screen.
The Single Diaries of a Jozi Girl is a web series that is developed and produced by Monalisa Productions in South Africa. Dark Crown Productions in Namibia will produce a new web series called The Single Diaries of a Windhoek Girl. Monalisa Productions and Dark Crown Productions have developed the stories collaboratively. Dark Crown Productions will handle production in Windhoek and Swakopmund, Namibia and Monalisa Productions will facilitate the post-production in Johannesburg. The copyright of The Single Diaries belongs to Monalisa Productions, but should the content be distributed on other platforms and a licence fee is paid, there will be a revenue split.
In terms of the formal launch of the collaborative venture, The Single Diaries of a Windhoek Girl goes into production in May 2019. The Single Diaries of a Jozi Girl had its world premiere at the Her Africa Film Festival in Johannesburg, on March 26, 2019.
“At Dark Crown Productions we are a young production company and we celebrate means of storytelling that are not necessarily conventional. We have produced a web series entitled Untitled, and we are looking forward to this collaboration with Monalisa Productions.”
“The single diaries celebrates black love and is a narrative that is full of romance and beauty, and establishes each African city that it it shot in as a character in the web series, using the city’s aesthetics, nuances, textures and wit as a tool to portray and depict that African city.”
