Owner of — and writer and producer for Zethu’s Tales; Mbalizethu Zulu, founded her production company with a vision of telling entertaining and educational stories that would work not only to instil hope within local communities, but she also had a vision of fleshing out on screen those stories which rang true to her own experience(s). Moving images that would say something about Zulu who is an alumni of the MultiChoice Talent Factor (MTFza) was appointed as a writer for the award-winning soap, Isibaya shortly after graduating from the programme. Reflecting on how her time in the MTFza programme fundamentally altered her relationship with the film and televisions industry and her trajectory within it, Mbalizethu states:
[I realised] I should look beyond the horizons, my vision was very narrow-minded so [the experience] opened my eyes up to a world I didn’t recognise. Now I have my own company and can tell my own stories…When I was in MTFza in 2015, my goal was to become one of the best writers in the world, but then I met a lot of industry greats like your Clive Morris Productions [which is what showed me] I can be more. So, that’s when I started to believe that [I was actually capable of starting] my own company and through the MultiChoice Enterprise Development programme, I learnt how to start and manage a business.
With a continued commitment from MultiChoice to growing and investing in local stories and the visionaries behind them, the Enterprise Development Trust was founded in 2012 to help drive transformation in the country’s film and TV industries which as expressed by Mbalizethu are plagued by “a lack of Black businesses”. Its mission; to develop and support these new Black business in the industries of TV, film and media — providing funding as well as mentorship and skills development. With a passionate focus on telling stories centred around the experiences of young Black femmes, Mbalizethu’s also hopes to create a sense of connection between and amongst her audiences through the mediating and fleshing of these narratives on the sliver-screen.
CREDITS
Photography: Jamal Nxedlana
Styling: Lebogang Ramfate
Make up: Aimee (Bobby) lokota
Hair: Israel
