Tac Studios, the production arm of US-based The Africa Channel has announced a collaboration with Currency Media a Kenyan production house to produce “The Yard”. The Yard is an interesting drama series set in the world of the hip hop scene in Nairobi.
The Yard tells the story of Dash, a struggling hip hop artist trying to make it big in Nairobi’s rap scene. Dash gets caught between his dual lives as a musician and a drug dealer and his loyalties are tested when the authorities come after him and his father. The series features an all original score that highlights a range of Kenyan artists with commercial potential.
The media company also announced three other series that will be produced on the continent for the global marketplace. hey include May’s Kitchen, a cooking show featuring the talented celebrity chef, May Yocoubi a partnership with Filmedia in Egypt, Second Husband, a scripted series based on the popular Nigerian film of the same name a co-production with Biola Alabi Media in Nigeria and My design my rules , a competition reality series in the world of real estate design a partnership with Cardova Productions, in South Africa.
The shows are a buildup on Tac Studio’s commitment to invest in talent and foster quality and excellence in media production on the Continent. They are a combination of scripted and unscripted projects, these programs reflect the breadth and depth of talent and storytelling available across Africa.
The shows are being created with a global aesthetic for audiences both across Africa as well as for North American and UK Pay TV and streaming platforms including The Africa Channel and Demand Africa. They come on the heel of other recent productions from TAC Studios including, Africa on a Plate, Minjiba Entertains and World Wide Nate, which have successfully been distributed to platforms in Africa as well as globally.
Brendan Gabriel, Johannesburg-based Head of Creative and Production for TAC Studios explains further “We are really excited to continue to evolve our network of relationships across the continent cementing our Studio as a key hub for Pan African content creation. The producers and talent both established and new who we are working with bring an authentic voice to their storytelling and we want to ensure that their stories are now distributed globally and reach vast new audiences. With the recent announcement of streamers such as Netflix and Amazon who are investing in content from Africa for their global viewership, TAC Studios is well positioned to be a key supplier to these entities”