THE GROWTH OF BOTSWANA'S CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Hello loves ☺️ It's been a minute, welcome back! Today we pivot our discussions around the growth of Botswana's creative industry. We profile one of our budding local media production companies – ‘the Hotlist Crew’.

THE BIRTH AND RISE OF ‘THE HOTLIST CREW’


By: Priscilla Malete 

There has been a notable growth in Botswana's creative industry. Lately, Batswana youth have taken it upon themselves to make use of their creative talents. With the growing digital technology, it came in handy as we see most of them using it to their advantage to unleash their potential in crafting a creative and mesmerizing content.

(Pic by Hotlist)

Notwithstanding the fact that most Batswana creatives only just got into the rhythm of creating and sharing their content during the lockdown period, various platforms of creating and distributing content via technology, have however, been created by several establishments within the industry. Amongst these establishments, we talk of amongst many, media production companies in the likes of ‘the Hotlist Crew’. They have been in existence since the year 2018. This is a youth-owned company formed and co-directed by Thato Kagiso Mokgautsi and Marvin Moatshe. Tumelo Toda recently joined in as a third member of the executive. His area of expertise lies in branding and editing. These folks are currently pursuing their studies in Media at the University of Botswana.

The Hotlist Crew aspire to establish themselves around the sphere of content production. They hope to be a fully functional production company if everything goes according to plan. At a glance at their recent work, it’s quite evident that the young men will be one of the country’s gems in the area of film production. It is heart-warming to note that, despite the hardships and demanding school schedules, ‘the Hotlist’ chaps have always made time to do film gigs on the side. They have worked with various BW artists such as ‘Ice Cold Mob’ and ‘Tflame’.

Video of Ice Cold Mob Produced by Hotlist👇

                      

                                      https://youtu.be/k3GQzR4RZ8A

Now this one has to be a final nail in the coffin, the trio went for the jugular when they recently dropped a lekker local film named 'TOKELO: THE PATH'. The release of this film has shaken all corners of the country. The creative flair in their production has left people speechless! Batswana have shown ‘the Hotlist Crew’ unwavering support since the release of this project. It has been a wave of appreciation across all social media platforms especially Facebook and YouTube. Allow me to prematurely air my sentiments in confidence that, the future is guaranteed!

COULD THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY RESUME OPERATION?

Covid-19 Task Team To Be Engaged on Resumption of Events

By: Priscilla Malete

Pic Credit: Yourbotswana.com

Permanent secretary to the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development has made an official communiqué with the media with regards to getting the creative sector to resume operation. He stated that the Ministry will persistently engage with the COVID-19 Task Force Team on the possibilities of proceeding with business in the creative sector.

The ‘move’ by the ministry follows after conglomerate series of the baffled voices of BW creatives were heard across social media platforms. They expressed their dissatisfaction reducing it to what they deem ‘being abandoned by the government’. They felt left out as other sectors were permitted to carry on and resume their operations under the guidance of the newly formulated Covid-19 regulations.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the Ministry is additionally concerned that the creative sector is unlikely to make a profitable business even given a platform to resume operations under normal parameters. He concluded that the current COVID-19 pandemic has created an inescapable scenario where not every sector will be able to return back to normal operations. Hence, the ministry is mindful of this fact, lest we find ourselves on the losing end as a country.

'OPEN THE CREATIVE SECTOR'

Hi guys.It's great to have you back on my blog. The current post is to some degree a continuation of the previous post.

Batswana Continue To Speak For BW Creatives

By:Priscilla Malete

Jason Ranthatsa posts on Facebook👇

Post lockdown, numerous businesses have been revived for activity. Nonetheless, the creative sector stays shut. Bw creatives have since asked the appropriate authorities to lift the ban on exhibitions and music industry. Interestingly, Batswana have joined in to help send the message to Minister Rakgare on behalf of creatives.

Therefore, today we ought to examine

Batswana's approach in supporting Batswana Creatives. Would you say social media is the right stage to voice out. Is it a feasible strategy to pass the message to the Minister of Arts, Recreation and Culture, Honorable Rakgare. Should the platforms they use be a factor to determine the urgency of issues they present?Social media, especially Facebook and Twitter have been the most used approaches to send the message of BW creatives to pertinent experts. Any observation on how the government is responding to the creative industry?

Let's engage more on the comment section.

#BWCREATIVES🇧🇼❤

COVID-19 HITS BOTSWANA'S CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Hello there. Welcome back😊Today we are discussing how Covid-19 has affected our brothers and sisters in the creative sector. 

The Creative Industry in the Covid-19 season

By: Priscilla Malete

Covid-19 has affected almost if not everyone across the globe but has arguably caused caused more dent on the creative sector across the universe. Contrary to other industries that are able to almost carry on with their normal operations during this pandemic, its rather an absolute fantasy and a wishful thinking for the creative industry. This is primarily because of its nature of operation.

A lot of the times, this sector is synonymous with pulling the crowds to showcase their talents and entertain people at music events, comedy shows, film festivals, theatre live performances, fashion shows,  art exhibitions, you name it. Physical presence and interaction at these events will always have have that irreplaceable and distinct trait to it. It's about the ambience, it's  the subliminal effect that can never be replaced by any kind of virtual set-up. Most crucial, their income comes from bookings to physically attend these live events and performances. In light of all these,  one can only imagine how hard it is for them to survive this Covid storm that comes with strict regulations and precautions! Their events have been put on pause until the government decides otherwise while closely monitoring the Covid 19 situation.

In the same breath, the thought that they can still produce content in their homes cannot be completely shunned, but it is worth noting that not all of them have all the necessary resources to create and distribute their content. Some of them are still budding creatives who are still building their way to the top.

Another disturbing issue, is that of content distribution for the few privilleged that are able to work from their homes during the pandemic. We live in a digital age yes, which makes it easier to distribute content so that it reaches a wide audience. However, not all people who consume the creative content have access to the digital technology of which they could use to consume the content. A complete 'catch-22' scenario. Even the creatives themselves, are not all familiar with the use of digital forms of creating and distributing content. The point here, is that, advanced innovation & technology doesn't provide a holistic solution to the problem, it sidelines a certain group of people.

Someone might look at the flip side of the coin and say, hang on: lets embrace the technology, its only a matter of time until everyone is conversant with technology! The question then becomes, to what extent do we embrace this technology? Well, its a totally new debate on its own that i would possibly engage you on for one of my posts to come.

Recently, a large number of Botswana's creative artists have been crying out for help from the government. A close example is Botswana's famous &  talented artist, Atlasaone Molemogi prevalently known as 'ATI'. He has been in the forefront of what one could term the "Help creatives, we are dying of hunger" campaign that saw different creatives across social media join in the seemingly loudest cry for help. We have seen the likes of LaTimmy, DramaBoi, Vee Mampeezy etc stand in support of the 'campaign'. Its very clear that Batswana have as well, been very supportive of the creatives' voices online. We have seen posts and comments pouring out in support of ATI. To put the final nail on the coffin, we saw Vee Mampeezy's Facebook post talking for the benefit of his associates in the innovative business!

(Screenshot of Vee's Facebook post)

It would be interesting to hear y'all's views. Pease drop your comments🙏

#BWCREATIVES🇧🇼

CREATIVE INDUSTRY AND ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION

Hello friends😊Welcome back home. As promised, today I’ll be unpacking some issues around the role of the creative industry on economic diversity.

For so many years, mining and agriculture have been the most pivotal sectors in terms of contribution to the Botswana’s GDP. However, the government has on several occasions, identified the creative industry as another potential sector that could help boost our economy through innovation, job creation and trade.

Botswana's Creative Industry's Contribution To Economic Diversification

By:Priscilla Malete

As a set of knowledge-based activities, focused on but not limited to arts, this industry generates income from trade and intellectual property rights.  Intellectual property is fundamentally about the creations of minds such as inventions which include literary and artistic works used in commerce. Now, this is where intellectual property rights come handy. They are meant to protect individuals' intellectual services or creative content that meets the market objectives and has economic value.

For more information about intellectual property, watch this video👇

      (YouTube video by docstocTV )

The growing digital connectivity has led to creatives expressing their ideas in new forms as well as distributing their creative content. The introduction of gadgets such as smartphones, computers etc has opened new opportunities for people in the creative industry to exploit their intellectual property. For example, paintings, music videos and short films are now distributed online. This makes sense because we are living in the digital age where people use smart phones to access intellectual services by creatives. In Botswana, we have artists like Vee Mampeezy, ATI, Ice Cold Mob, HanC, Culture Spears, Amantle Brown etc who have used the social media platform to market and sell their music. This form of content distribution is even more popular in the field of comedy and it has opened doors full of opportunities for Batswana comedians such as Mjamaica, Peneneponono, Motsetserepa, amongst many. These comedians are now big brands which are now internationally recognised. Big companies like Mascom and Orange at times make use of their services for advertising.

Remember to stay tuned again for the next post and Please🙏Please drop your comments🙏❤Sharp-sharp!😊

UNDERSTANDING CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Creative Industry Defined

By Priscilla Malete

QuoteFancy

What pops in your mind when you hear of "Creative Industry"? Is it paintings, music or film? Well, you are on the right platform to get yourself acquainted with what the creative industry is  really about.

One of my interviewees thinks👇

"For a lay person, I think what comes to mind  is the arts mostly but obviously people don't know that the arts are only part of the creative industry. Thats why they usually mention 'creative arts' because there's other dimensions or spheres to the creative industry than just creative or performing arts (often used interchangeably). Architecture for example, is arguably a part of the creative industry because Architects work with creativity. I'm sure there are other aspects also that one surely at a glance would not deem part of the creative industry but in actual fact do have their niche within the industry." 

Well, the sentiments are expressed without doubt, 'spot on' because this industry is about creatives being able to bring abstract dreams to life through words, materials or performance etc. It is a very broad sector that entails amongst others, the following;

• Music and visual arts
• Architecture 
• Film
• Photography
• Theatre
• Advertising and Marketing

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking about an industry much capable of diversifying the economy. Stay tuned for my next post as I unpack the role of  Botswana's creative industry in economic diversification.

You surely don't wanna miss it!🔥❤

#StayTuned

#BWCreatives💯🇧🇼❤