Actor, Michael Maponga has been in the film industry for over a decade as an actor on REEL in the US. With the realisation that Africans don't have a dedicated film industry and our stories are not being told from our perspective, he was inspired to start AfroLandTV. "Film hubs in US, India, Asia and the UK are flourishing because they create quality content and provide their own filmmakers with platforms to be able to distribute their content to relatable audiences," he said.
As someone who has committed his life to studying, understanding and teaching people about the numerous opportunities available on the internet, we probed Michael about his vision for African storytelling and the promising prospects for young African digital entrepreneurs.
We had an in-depth conversation about AfroLandTV, an online streaming service that features African content in the categories of Film, Web series, and Documentaries. Michael revealed that AfroLandTV aims to revolutionise the African film industry via the internet and was founded to highlight and manifest the amazing untold African stories though the voice and lens of Africans. They have invested in technology that enables viewers to stream content on the African continent with ease and their target audience are the millennial generation specifically ages 18-34, Africans in the US, UK, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.
What makes this Channel unique is that it features content created by Africans for Africans. The platform stands out due to the high quality of content it offers with award-winning films and documentaries featuring the best work by Africans with each film or series on the website handpicked by film. What stands out is the fact that there is a positive spin on all content and anything highlighting negative aspects and perceptions of Africa is not considered.
Since the launch of AfroLand TV, its growth has been unbelievable. One of the platform's highlights has been the multitude of award-winning filmmakers joining and earlier on this year Michael sealed a deal with another start-up company, Stream TV, headed by Banele Damane. With this deal, AfroLand TV is going to be hosted on Stream TV's android app launching in 2017.
We asked Michael what can anticipate in the New Year and this is what he had to say "Many new upgrades will be coming in 2017, the biggest one being a premium category of African films/shows being added to our library. With this premium content Africans around the world will be able to rent content for a low price and gave access to it for a limited amount of days"