ICRH-K Sponsor Film Impact Report
By Genexo Youth Group From Mombasa
Introduction
Imara.Tv is a non-profit TV that broadcasts free entertainment videos directly to the Kenyan public, educating them about sexual reproductive health in a safe and fun way. What’s even better, these videos are produced by small groups of talented youth here in Kenya who self-employ their artistic and digital skills to create the music, movies, comedies, animations, and such digital video content. These videos tackle real-world issues that the youth deal with on a daily basis where they live, work, or play, such as HIV/AIDS and other STDs, Rape and Gender-Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Early Marriages, Sexual Identity and Rights, Early Unwanted Pregnancies, and Abortion among other issues. Imara.Tv hosts on the cloud, distributes through smartphone apps and social media, then monetizes using advertising, product placement, premium pay-per-view streams, and sponsored content among other channels. Imara.Tv then disburses 90% of the Net Revenue generated by the videos to the youth groups forever to create a regular source of income and tangible wealth for them through shared ownership of the digital video assets. The 10% retained goes into building the capacity of the systems and people required to manage and run the Imara.Tv platform.
Genexo Youth Group
The International Center For Reproductive Health-Kenya (ICRH-K) sponsored the Genexo youth group from Mtwapa, Kenya to produce 2 TV series. The group is an informal live drama and music group who performed high school setbooks or open–air theater events in Mombasa. It has a total of 24 youth members who live within the Coast region of Kenya.
Production
Imara TV, through our partnership with Barclays Bank Kenya, helped Genexo Youth group open a joint group bank account. For some of the youth members, it was the first time to have a formal bank account.
Genexo youth group got sponsored to produce 2 TV series for Imara Tv, “The After Party” and “The Ill Minded”. A total of 24 youth were involved in the acting and production of the 2 series.
Series Summary
- The After Party
This is a 5-episode series centered on the ills of casual unprotected sex among the youth especially in parties called “sex orgies”. It shows the risks involved in taking part in such an activity to educate the public about the dangers one can expose themselves to in such events. - The Ill Minded
This is a 9-episode series that revolves around the lives of a group of youthful friends who engage in reckless relationships and the risk associated with such behavior. Among the dangers mentioned include the contraction of Sexually-Transmitted Infections and unintended pregnancies.
Broadcasting
The series were produced over a period of 3 months and released on the Imara.tv app, social media, live screenings, and DVD giveaways.
Below are the total audience numbers registered across all broadcast mediums used to date:
Sponsorship Revenue Statement
The below is a statement showing total sponsorship received by Imara.Tv for Genexo Youth group and a breakdown of production costs and revenue distribution.
Post Production Highlights
Genexo Youth Group saved enough funding from the ICRH-K sponsorship to purchase high-quality content production equipment to produce even higher quality content. In March 2018, they produced and submitted a short film “Kahonzi” to the Kenya Film Commission MyKenya MyStory National Film Competition where they emerged overall winner and got KES 200,000 reward.
In August 2018, Imara TV took the initiative to submit Genexo’s The Ill Minded and another group’s series called The Diary of a College Girl for the forthcoming Kenya Films Festival Kalasha International Film & Television Awards 2018. The Diary of a College Girl went on to be nominated for Best Animation Production. The Ill Minded, unfortunately, did not make it into nominations.
Conclusion
Genexo Youth Group’s success is proof that Imara TV's goal of empowering the youth to earn a living through the production of digital content is not only feasible but sustainable. The youth just need to be empowered with the right resources and they can create jobs by exploiting their natural artistic talents and digital skills to produce digital assets in the film industry which create wealth too.