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‘Shuga’ set for comeback after success in first series
Nicholas Munene (second left), who featured in the MTV drama series ‘Shuga’ with HIV-Free Generation associate director Tijuana James-Traore (left), senior vice president of the MTV Networks International Georgia Arnold and HIV-Free Generation country director Lydia Murimi during a press briefing at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday. Fredrick Onyango
For Nicholas Munene, acting is not only a way of making a living but impacting positive change in people’s lives.
He acted as Leo in the first series of Shuga, a MTV Networks Africa production in partnership with the Staying Alive Foundation, US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) and Partnership for a HIV-Free Generation whose theme was HIV/Aids and safe sexual behaviour.
“A lot of what we see on television is what happens in the society. I am glad that I acted in the first series and I touched people’s lives,” says Mr Munene who has also acted in two other TV productions; M-net’s Changes and Citizen Television’s Tabasamu. He beat 300 others who had applied to act in the first series of Shuga and was among the chosen six actors that comprised the cast.
Production of the second series will begin in August this year and if the schedule is anything to go by, the series will hit the silver screen from February next year.
But what informed the decision to invest in Shuga 2?
According to Georgia Arnold, senior vice president of the MTV Networks International, the fact that Shuga 1 received a large following, especially among the youth, was a reason to produce a second series with a broader theme.
Other than MTV, the series was aired in Kenya by NTV, KTN, KBC and Citizen television stations. A follow-up research to establish the impact of the series showed that in Nairobi, 60 per cent of the youth watched Shuga and more than half of the number watched the series more than once.
The big following was attributed to the fact that most of the actors were drawn from Nairobi and as such viewers, especially the youth, easily identified with the show.
But this has raised criticism because the youth in rural areas felt left out thus producers are considering extending the cast to include rural based artistes.
“The second series will feature beyond Nairobi. It will be longer and definitely include actors that the youth in other parts of the country can identify with,” says Ms Tijuana James-Traore, an associate director at HIV-Free Generation.
This does not mean that the entire cast in the first series will completely be left out as the search for new talent is adopted. However, they will be subjected to fresh audition.
“I am crossing my fingers. I did my best in the first series and I hope I am given another chance,” says Mr Munene.
Other than Kenya, Shuga 1 was broadcast in 48 countries across Africa. Globally, the show was watched in 72 countries including the US through the large network of MTV.
It is a series that ran in local television stations weekly from November 2009 to December last year in three episodes. The second series will feature six episodes and is expected to be aired for a longer period and to a wider audience.
Contrary to film productions for commercial purposes, Shuga is targeted to aid education on HIV and Aids. Its main financiers are Unicef, PEPFAR and the Bill and Gates Foundation.
“As you know MTV never states the costs of our productions, but I can certainly say that producing such a series takes many resources,” says Ms Arnold.
As a result, the series is not available for sale even after it has completed airing at local stations as would have been the case for commercially produced films.
It is hard to attribute any decline in HIV prevalence to the awareness that was created through the first production, officials from the various support groups of the series say.
They measured the success by the expressions of intention to change behaviour based on the theme of the series, follow-up HIV and Aids workshops where the series was used as a training tool and youth guidance that both the cast and stakeholders in the production gave in response to feedback from viewers.
A research conducted by John Hopkins University centre for communications programmes on the impact of the series reported increased intentions for HIV testing, decreased intentions for multiple sex partners, improved attitudes towards people living with HIV/Aids and increased use of health and social services among the youth.
“Behaviour change starts with an intention. Shuga had a profound impact on the attitudes of the Kenyan youth,” says Ms Lydia Murimi, the HIV-Free Generation country director.
On the flip side, the first series failed to meet the required length to complete the story line. It also did not include stories that the rural youth could identify with, according to the responses from the evaluation of the series. “In some instances viewers would be left wondering what happened to a character after he/she tested positive for HIV. These are the gaps that the second series should address,” says Mr Munene.
Since the first series revolved around night life in the urban areas mostly depicting the city lifestyle, it failed to create a real experience that the rural viewers could connect with.
The second series will also be looking at including a mentorship programme to give the youth a chance to grow their talents in film production.
