Duo’s award-winning African series experience

TWO local creatives who were part of an all-African TV series have given the world’s best a run for their money.

Christian Morgan and Andrew Whaley were part of the

TV series which was nominated in the TV Films Category at the recent online Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France.

Produced by Morgan’s Fundi Films in collaboration with Johannesburg-based MAAN Creative for Impact,

is a 55-episode life skills

TV series that follows the adventures of six African teens as they navigate the complex challenges of school, family and friendship.

The full production for the TV series started in 2017, and the final episode was completed earlier this year.

It was shot in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, and was produced in four languages: English, Swahili, Somali and Hausa.

The series was broadcast on Citizen TV in Kenya, where it got more than 2 million viewers. It will be broadcast in Nigeria and Ghana in the next few months. Once the series has been broadcast it will be made available online in those countries.

When lockdown started, the producers of My Better World edited the series to make it work on radio. It was broadcast on community radio stations such as Wajir Community Radio in Northern Kenya. As yet, there is no release date for the series in South Africa.

Morgan, who is from Hout Bay, said: “After working on the series for three years, it’s incredibly exciting to see the creative hard work of our diverse team recognised by the world’s highest profile animation event. We were proud to be the only fully-African produced programme in our category.

“We had planned a team trip to Annecy in France for the festival, to meet other film-makers and share our experiences as African creatives. Hopefully, this can happen next year.”

He added: “My fondest memory of the series was recording the song for the final episode. We had the whole cast in a studio in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Juma Rajab, our sound engineer, had written a wonderful piece of music.”

Whaley, who was head writer of

said: “It’s pleasing to have the work of African storytellers recognised internationally, but even more rewarding when the affirmation comes from the audience this series is designed for – the young people and adolescents across Africa who strive for a better world.

“The whole purpose of the series is to empower youth.”

Earlier this year, was a gold winner in the Craft-Television Category at The Telly Awards for Use of Animation and was a silver winner in the General-Television Category at The Telly Awards for Social Impact.