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The Acting Industry in Kenya


(North Texas Performing Arts Website)

The entertainment industry in Kenya has been growing over the past few years. The PwC valued Kenya’s entertainment and media industry at United States Dollars (USD) 1.8 billion in 2014 (PwC, 2016). This was a 13.3 percent rise from 2013 and it is expected to surpass the USD 3.3 billion mark in 2019. The internet was the biggest contributor followed by the television and the radio (PwC), 2016).

The Actors.co.ke website added that the film industry was a key growth industry that had the power to spur economic growth and support Kenya’s vision 2030 through investment and employment (Actors.co.ke, 2012). The website estimated the film and television industry to be worth 4 billion Kenyan Shillings, with the ability to hire approximately 15,000 people (Actors.co.ke, 2012). The website also projected that the film industry could generate over 40 billion Kenyan shillings while creating more than 250,000 jobs annually (Actors.co.ke, 2012).

A study done by the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) in 2007 estimated that the Kenyan film industry has the potential of earning the country up to 60 billion Kenyan shillings in revenue while generating thousands of new jobs (Gacheru, 2012).

Nevertheless Gacheru (2012), had the opinion that the acting industry in Kenya is undervalued, neglected and underfunded by the government. It is a struggling industry that lacks local support yet it has the potential to create revenue and jobs for the Kenyan Republic (Actors.co.ke, 2012; Musinguzi, 2014). It also has limited empirical literature.

Judy Ogana, the general manager of the GoDown Arts Centre, is reported to have said that the creative economy in Kenya is fresh and vibrant, but it is yet to realize its full potential (Musinguzi 2014; Gacheru, 2012; Ochieng’ 2015). Financial and technical support would really help boost the Kenyan theater and film industry because the industry is an important part of culture that brings about a sense of belonging, self-determination, esteem and social cohesion (Barasa, 2011; Gacheru, 2012; Musinguzi, 2014).

History of the Kenyan theatre and film industry

The Kenyan theatre industry started in the 1950s with the opening of the Kenya National Theatre by the Kenyan Governor Sir Evelyn Baring in 1952 (Wa Gacheru, 2017). Pictures of the ceremony are exhibited at the Kenyan Cultural Centre in Nairobi. The first indigenous performance was a play called “Kipanga Athumani” that was a recollection of the Mau Mau peasant rebellion (Wa Gacheru, 2017). During the colonial period the Kenya National Theatre was used for the Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival, a competition based festival where the first indigenous play, Olkirkkenyi, won in 1971. The main focus of the plays were political, but with time, the Theatre became a recreational and creative outlet for the youth.

As time has gone by, other theatres such as the Alliance Francaise, Phoenix Theatres and Sarakasi Dome were built to continue the tradition of staging plays. However, with the increasing costs and lack of compensation, most professional actors use the stage to build awareness of their skills and find a breakthrough to the lucrative film industry (Wa Gacheru, 2017).

The film industry began as far as 1909 when the then United States of America’s President Theodore Roosevelt documented his trip to Africa, and had some great shots of the Kenyan landscape (Wanza, 2017). The short documentary became popular in the western nations with producers from Hollywood and Europe travelling all the way to Kenya to scout for film locations (Wanza, 2017).

This led to the production of classic films such as “Snows of Kilimanjaro” (1952), “Mogambo” (1953), “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985), and documentaries such as “To walk with lions”, which was a recollection of the life of wildlife conservationist called George Adamson who lived with lions in Kenya (Wanza, 2017). The film industry has grown to generate 7.2 billion Kenyan Shillings a year and create direct and indirect employment to more than 100,000 people (McNamee, Pearson, & Boer, 2015; Ngunjiri, 2017; Wanza, 2017).

This growth has captured the attention of mainstream television stations, pan African broadcasters such as MNET, Startimes and Kwese, and international broadcasters such as Netflix, Amazon and iFlix (McNamee, Pearson, & Boer, 2015; Ngunjiri, 2017; Wanza, 2017). This is because Kenya is among four African countries including Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa that offer great opportunities for content producers and distribution platforms for all modes of entertainment including film, television, digital media and mobile (McNamee, Pearson, & Boer, 2015).

The internet has been as a key driving force for this growth, because it has cancelled out physical meetings and reduced production costs (Ochieng’, 2015). The film industry has also grown internationally with films such as the popular 2015 movie Nairobi Half Life to be nominated as the first Kenyan film for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards (Wanza, 2017). This has also led to the rise of international Kenyan stars such as Lupita Nyong’o and Edi Gathegi who act professionally in Hollywood (Wanza, 2017).

The theatre and the film industry maybe young and lack support, but with the constant growth of the internet and social media sites content creators, actors, producers, directors, videographers, photographers, editors, and musicians have a chance to take a cut of the billions of dollars predicted by PwC (Gacheru, 2012; Ngunjiri, 2017; PwC, 2016).

References
Actors.co.ke. (2012, September 5). How much the Kenyan film industry is worth. Retrieved from http://www.actors.co.ke/en/mer/articledetail/229
Gacheru, M. (2012, October 25). Kenya film industry lacks sufficient state support to reach its maximum potential. Business Daily. Retrieved from http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-film-industry-lacks-sufficient-State-support/539444-1598304-3pe7tdz/index.html
McNamee, T., Pearson, M., & Boer, W. (2015). Africans Investing in Africa: Understanding Business and Trade, Sector by Sector.
Musinguzi, B. (2014, August 15). Creative arts could easily provide jobs, reduce poverty in East Africa. The Daily Nation. Retrieved from http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/arts-creativity-Africa-Unesco-/957860-2418892-pe90bnz/index.html
Ngunjiri, J. (2017, October 1). Entertainment, media revenue to hit Sh329bn in next 5 years. Business Daily. Retrieved from https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/Entertainment--media-revenue-to-hit-Sh329bn-in-next-5-years/539546-4119876-h0ghge/index.html
Ochieng’, L. (2015, September 21). Kenya’s entertainment industry made more than sh189bn online last year. The Daily Nation. Retrieved from http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/smartcompany/Kenya-entertainment-industry-made-more-than-Sh189bn-/1226-2883076-ns7253/index.html
PwC. (2016, December 9). Digital fuels growth in Africa’s entertainment and media industry. Retrieved from http://www.pwc.co.za/en/press-room/digital-fuels-growth.html
Wa Gacheru, M. (2017, April 8). Some interesting facts about Kenyan theatre. Daily Nation. Retrieved from https://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/buzz/Some-interesting-facts-about-Kenyan-theatre/441236-3882660-a3iv8e/index.html
Wanza, M. (2017, December). Through the history lens: How kenyan film industry has evolved over the years. Filamu Kenya, (1), 41–43.

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