Local soap ‘Wenera’ set for Season 4
By Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Local soap, “Wenera — The Family that Matters”, which continues to attract followers on ZTV, is set to extend to Season 4 with some guest appearances and surprise actors from SA, Zambia, Malawi and UK.
Creative director, Eddie Ndlovu, dismissed rumours that it might end soon.He said the soap is here to stay and Season 4 shows maturity and growth of the local soap in the industry.
“It is my dream and wish. If we can adapt like other countries do, given the best time slots, we can make it bigger. If the episodes are too spaced it will not be easy to have theme follow-up because we shoot everyday. This will somehow affect our production.
“For instance, we have a scene based on Heroes holiday then it is screened a week after, which defeats the timing purpose. However, we do understand the limitations,” he said
The soap is centred on saga of rival over diamond company between Shumba and Wenera, while in the Wenera family the struggle continues between the family members.
In an interview, head of studio for “Wenera” Talent Chitauro said she was happy with the high demand for the soap.
She said season has a lot of surprises and special acts who have already auditioned while some are still in talks.
“In Season 4, I am happy to say that we are also adding up a lot of surprises in the package including cameos by well know celebrities both local and regional. We are in talks with some international Zimbabwean-born acclaimed stars to make guest appearances.“There are more powerful plots exploring the untold Zimbabwean stories, hence just like other established soaps, we will also be societal theme based,” she said.
Chitauro said they now have their permanent studios and just like popular SA soap “Generations”, everything is done under one roof.
“We have acquired our master class studio set in Kamfinsa.The new studios are one of a kind in Zimbabwe where the entire programme is shot and edited from and has everything just like a home to jail cells. The reason for the studios is to make sure we produce a programme of high quality and international standards to match or surpass other dramas or soapies across the region.
ZBC is still doing what we call ENG (Electronic News Gathering) where by they go into people’s houses and pay to shoot there. We did ‘ENG’ in Season 1 and 2 but there are a number of challenges we faced including not finding the right feel of the sets you want.
“If you have your own studios you set them the way you want and shoot whenever or whatever you want. There are no limitations.“The dramas we produce today should match other regional soapies like “Generations”, “Muvhango” and “Rhythm City” among others, telling our own story like what “Wenera” is doing.“There is no need to waste money in doing dramas that don’t change the face of television,” she said.
Some of the faces in the soap include Fatima Makungunya, Conrad Mwanawashe, Arnold Gara, Jefferson Muserera, Daniel Kiwiti, Melody Nyamaropa and Tinashe Pundo among others. The Herald
