Bestselling South African author Deon Meyer’s “Trackers” is being adapted for TV after African pay-TV heavyweight Multichoice teamed with German pubcaster ZDF to bring the thriller to the small screen.“Trackers” interweaves three story strands into a thriller spanning the length and breadth of South Africa and involving organized crime, smuggled diamonds, state security, black rhinos, the CIA, and an international terrorist plot. The TV adaptation will run to six parts and will shoot in and around Cape Town next year.Meyer will...
MultiChoice
Yolisa
Phahle
CEO, General Entertainment & Connected Video
Phahle is content chief of leading entertainment company MultiChoice, which aggregates and produces shows for millions of TV viewers across 50 countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa and is best known for pay TV service DStv and fast-growing streamer Showmax. The South African firm has ramped up, increasing content production 32% over the past year to more than 6,000 hours. It dominated at the recent South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs), with Showmax Originals receiving 17 wins for shows including comedy “Tali’s Baby Diary,” doc “Devilsdorp” and movie “Boxing Day.” Co-productions with the likes of Canal+, Fremantle and Cinemax are part of a strategy to scale up scripted shows and take African stories and talent to the rest of the world. A good example is recently launched African fantasy drama “Blood Psalms,” a big-budget joint effort with Canal+.