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Urban Brew Studios makes popular South African programming of a world-class standard. Coming soon: A unique gallery of photos and videos capturing all the behind the scenes and on-set moments that make up a working day at Urban Brew Studios.
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Urban Brew Studios' genesis was written in 1985. We began to tell a new story then; we have lived and renewed that story along the way. Our story is open ended, with temporary destinations, of unending learning, where we always arrive and depart. Today a Kagiso Media Limited company, our story in 2012 continues to unfold and to be told, refracted in the faces of the people we employ, in the recognition of the communities we serve, and, ultimately, in the quality of the content we produce.
It is Urban Brew Studios’ mission to invest and reap good returns for our efforts; to respect ability, competence and talent; to express and celebrate, to expose and nurture, to shift and change; to push the limits of our possibilities; to be energised by our resourcefulness; to engage in growth, transformation and development while valuing interdependence and reciprocity.
While firmly believing that “the welfare of each of us is the welfare of all” Urban Brew Studios aims to promote the principle of “active citizenry” through its transformation and training initiatives. These set out to establish mutually cooperative relationships in which the interchange of skills and business opportunities is beneficial to all parties. In this way we can strive to be accommodative and accommodated; to feel trustful and trusted; to understand and to be understood. The approach is one of “reciprocal altruism”, where the balance of the selfish and the selfless is achieved, acknowledged, and appreciated. We share our work, our resources and our successes; we learn together, we feel healthy, we feel needed.
Urban Brew Studios furthermore aspires to work to create plenty; our work brings us closer to our dreams, and we work towards goals with patience invested in effort. It is our promise to deliver through service, to build positive teams and a family spirit, to be adventurous and open-minded, to be passionate and determined, and, not least of all, to be humble and loyal.
After servicing the South African independent television production sector for 27 years, Urban Brew Studios has learnt to recognise the value of, and to cherish, shared successes; we have resolutely set out to change our lives with the profound knowledge that our story has been, inescapably, shaped by the stories of others. We understand where we have come from, we are confident of who we are and we are excited about where we are going.
Murphy has a career spanning the worlds of student activism, trade unionism, work in the non-governmental sector, politics, the public sector, conservation and the corporate sector.
After his release from Robben Island in 1982, he began his working life as a Trade Unionist with the General and Allied Workers Union. He went on to work as the Publicity Secretary of the United Democratic Front and from 1989 to 1994 he worked for PG Bison Ltd as Manager responsible for Transition Affairs and later Corporate Social Responsibility.
In 1994 Murphy was appointed the first Provincial Secretary of then PWV Region in terms of the Interim Constitution, charged among other things with establishing the first Provincial Legislature of what became the Gauteng Province.
Always seeking fresh challenges, Murphy was then later in 1994 appointed as the first CEO and Chairman of the Financial and Fiscal Commission established in terms of the Constitution. He was tasked to make recommendations to Parliament regarding the equitable sharing of nationally collected revenue between national, provincial and local government. He remained in that post until 2004 when he joined the Presidency as Head of Communications, a role he played until 2006 when he joined Kagiso Media.
Murphy has served in various board capacities, both in the non-governmental and private sectors. In 2009, Murphy became Chairman of the Board of Urban Brew Studios.
Omar started his career in commercial radio in 1990 as a bottom-feeder, when no one was listening. He then freelanced on television and produced shows and anchored others on SAfm. In 1996 he returned to East Coast Radio to programme the station, rising to CEO in 1998 at age 32. His vision was to turn East Coast Radio into the first radio station that defied the comfortable CIW (Coloured, Indian, White) classification of media. In 1999, ECR became the first regional station in South Africa to reach a million listeners and an equal mix between the race groups. In 2004 he became Kagiso Media’s Executive Director: Broadcasting.
Omar has a post graduate qualification in Education with Drama and Literature majors and has trained at the Deutche Welle Akademie in Bonn, Germany, at Georgetown University in Washington DC and at The Harvard Business School in Boston.
Omar was a judge at the European Radio Awards in Barcelona in 2007, has been published in Europe, the US, India and South Africa and has spoken at various international media conferences. He has trained broadcast managers in Vietnam, Thailand and India.
John Kani is an actor, director, and playwright internationally recognized for his work in theatre and films. He is renowned for his 1974/1975 Tony Award-winning performances in The Island and Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, which he co-wrote with Athol Fugard and Winston Ntshona.
He is the recipient of numerous awards for his plays and performances, some of which include an AA life Vita Award for his role in My Children My Africa, a Fleur De Cap Award for his play, Nothing But the Truth, an Evening Standard nomination for The Island performed in London, and an Olivier Award for My Children My Africa. He performed The Island to packed audiences in London, Paris, Stockholm, Montreal and New York.
He has directed several commercials, one of which won an M-Net Plum Award and another a CLIO award in New York. He has received various awards for his contribution to arts and culture in South Africa, some of which include:
John is executive trustee of the Market Theatre Foundation, founder and director of the Market Theatre Laboratory and chairman of the National Arts Council of SA.
Danie Ferreira is an entrepreneur and a multi award-winning producer with a wealth of experience in the South African and African television market. As founder member of the company, he is also responsible for the strategic and creative direction of the company. He is widely recognised as having been, for the two past decades, at the forefront of South African television. Danie received a BA Communication from Rand Afrikaans University in 1987.
COMING SOON
Mzimkulu (Mzi) Malunga has over 25 years experience in media, both in print and TV. He is the CEO of Urban Brew Studios and is a member of the Kagiso Executive Committee. He was the MD of BDFM and Summit TV, and was on the board of the Newspaper Association of South Africa (NASA), Inet Bridge and BDFM and is a former director of Business Day Nigeria.
Mzi is a former journalist and has written for numerous publications such as Sowetan, Weekly Mail (now Mail & Guardian) etc. He was the business editor of the Sowetan, the current affairs editor of the Financial Mail and managing editor of Business Day. He is also the chairperson of a networking forum: D Group Corporate Forum and is a Trustee of Brand SA.
Mzi is a fellow of the CIS and had proudly completed a world economic systems scholarship in London between 1990 and 1991 , his key focus in the programme was with the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank. Mzi’s academic qualification includes a diploma in journalism and an Executive MBA through the University of Cape Town.
We have one fully equipped 600 square meter digital studio and three fully equipped component studios (one of 300 square meters and two of 200 square meters) that offer multi-camera staging facilities. Recently two more 600 square meter studios were added, both linked to their own control room and with full HD facilities. One green screen newsroom is available for pre-recorded broadcasts.
All our studios are on 24-hour standby with back-up electricity. In-house set design and building expertise is available to clients to custom-make their broadcasting solutions.
Urban Brew Studios’ E.N.G. facilities include 12 camera kits, ranging from DV cam kits (Z5 and Z7 Sony kits), XDcam and HD camera kits plus a variety of lenses, matt boxes, filters and microphone options for various applications. All units come complete with lights, audio and transport.
Keeping Urban Brew on the cutting edge is its state-of-the-art editing facilities. On-line facilities include SD and HD edit suites - all equipped with Final Cut Pro editing systems. Each suite’s configuration has been designed and developed by the operators to ensure perfectly adapted ergonomics, thereby instilling the best creative environment possible. Urban Brew Studios currently has 26 edit suites.
Graphics capabilities at Urban Brew Studios comprise of an in-house 2D-cell animation facility and a 3D Maia system for MacPro. All edit suites are networked to the graphic stations for quick matt painting and easy, uncompressed file transfer. The Brewery is an in-house graphic design team that ensures cutting edge creativity on call.
Eight dedicated digital audio suites give Urban Brew Studios unparalleled access to a diverse range of audio applications: from voice recording, audio design and final mix to in-house arranging, composing and performance of original music scores. Essential to Urban Brew’s leading edge in this field is its fifty percent share in the subsidiary, Urban Rhythm Factory, a sound design and audio facility with specialist music composers and arrangers. Mmtombo Audio Solutions are available to clients for commercial audio solutions
The only live digital broadcast studio of its size in South Africa, our broadcast and MCR facilities make us the best equipped privately owned broadcast platform in the country. Every day we facilitate the broadcast of One Gospel, Soweto TV, BayTv and 1KZN TV.
As an independent production house, Urban Brew Studios is unique in the South African broadcast industry because of its final control suites, which have the capability to broadcast long form and short form programming over 24 hours. The facility is connected to two earth stations via optic fiber, with microwave as backup.
Urban Brew’s outside broadcast unit specializes in live sport events, dramas, sitcoms and chat shows, live or pre-record, live music events and music DVDs; live or pre-recorded corporate transmissions as well as corporate events in HD and SD.
Specialising in event planning and execution, Urban Events offers in-house event solutions.
1Gospel is a Christian music and lifestyle channel that was commissioned by MultiChoice in 2007 to satisfy the viewing needs of DStv Compact subscribers. It is a 24 hour channel featuring gospel music, praise and worship and inspiration to Christian viewers across the African continent.
Soweto TV was one of the first community television stations in South Africa to be granted a 7-year broadcasting license. In 2011 it doubled its free-to-air broadcasting footprint and can now be seen as far afield as Heidelberg, Benoni, Springs and Nigel in the east, Tembisa and Pretoria in the north and Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Sasolburg in the south of Gauteng. It passed the 2.5 million-viewer threshold in 2011 and is available on DStv to the wider South African and African market.
Bay TV is a Community Television Channel that has been broadcasting content 24 hours per day since 17 October 2011. Bay TV broadcasts programming from the coverage area which reflects the diversity of local cultures, highlights grassroots community issues and reflects the language, religious, lifestyle and cultural needs of the people in the community.
The broadcast footprint includes the greater Nelson Mandela bay area, Uitenhage, Bethelsdorp, Despatch, Ibhayi, KwaNobuhle, Motherwell and Port Elizabeth. The station is broadcast in Xhosa, Afrikaans and English.
In 2011, 1KZN started broadcasting as a community television station servicing the districts of iLembe, Uthungulu, Zululand and uMkhanyakude in KwaZulu-Natal. Station programming is aimed at the people of KwaZulu-Natal and focusses on issues concerning the youth, women, current affairs, health, entertainment, music, sport and religion. At the end of 2011, 1KZN was added to satellite broadcaster TopTV’s offering on Channel 187, making it available to isiZulu speakers across the country.
COLD SWEAT is a five-part television documentary series covering the December 2011 race to the South Pole and serving as a fitting centenary celebration of Amundsen and Scott’s first momentous encounter. More significantly, the series pays tribute to the power of the human spirit. It explores the ever-increasing pressures facing the Antarctic today: it’s a race between the continent and time – Global Warming; it’s a race between the environment and humans – Survival; it’s a race between fear and bravery – The Human Spirit; it’s a race between reason and passion – The Human Condition and it’s a race between individuals – Competition.
A premium music show, focusing on local urban music and entertainment, currently hosted by YFM DJ Warras The Shady Lurker and Luthando Shosha aka Loot Love. The show is fast establishing itself as a music authority in the industry and attracts a substantial viewership not only in South Africa but also in neighbouring countries like Swaziland, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. LIVE AMP prides itself as being the only South African Urban Music Show. .
After 7 seasons and 348 episodes VODACOM MILLIONAIRES, a short form weekly promotional game show, has been on air since October, 2005. This three-minute lucky draw and loyalty programme for Vodacom customers, who stand the chance of winning R1 million a week by entering, receives an average of 3 800 000 weekly SMS entries. With hosts Hulisani Ravele, Graeme Watkins and Pabi Moloi, in December, 2011, the SMS entries peaked at a staggering 9 709 429 in one week.
After 9 highly successful seasons, FRIENDS LIKE THESE has established itself as appointment viewing on SABC1 on Saturday evenings. This people-based entertainment game show, a light-hearted buffet of games, tears and laughter, tension, sex appeal, suspense, and jeopardy, has truly caught the imagination and loyalty of the target market. Hosted by the ever popular DJ Sbu, the show regularly delivers in the region of 4 000 000 weekly viewers and more than a 40% share and is rated Top Game Show* across all public television broadcast platforms.
* TVSA Primetime viewing figures 21 – 27 May 201
KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA is a factual entertainment show with a 35% market share on SABC 1 and delivering close to 3 million viewers. This heart-warming actuality series tracks the real journeys of South Africans on a quest to re-unite and bring healing to their families, and has been dubbed as “the truth and reconciliation process of the soul”. Now in its 8th season, the show has been re-uniting families since 2006.
More than 100 episodes later, HEADLINE is still as punchy and pacy, as raunchy and racy as ever, as popular entertainment reporter Kuli Roberts and comedian Trevor Gumbi take the pay channel’s viewers on a rollicking, roller coaster ride of local celebrity lifestyle, news and gossip.
Currently in its 6th season, and having been on air since June, 2007, REAL GOBOZA leads the way with the latest news and gossip about South African celebrities “for celebrities by celebrities”. Rated the top Magazine Show* across all public television platforms, and delivering close to 3 000 000 viewers a week, the gorgeous Pearl Thusi and the controversial Phat Joe continue to charm, cheer and chat their way through the goings on, and takings off, of the lives and loves of celebrities big and small.
* TVSA Primetime viewing figures 21 – 27 May 2012
Having recently completed its second successful season, DANCE YOUR BUTT OFF, a South African version of the ITV format, “Dance Your Ass Off”, is a reality talent competition that brings dance and diet together. The second season was ranked number one by the South African Advertising Research Foundation as the most watched reality show in South Africa during August, 2011, attracting 10.2% of the total adult viewing audience and 2 847 744 viewers. This is far above the 4% for the second ranked show, eTV’s ‘Cheaters’. The same channel’s ‘Fear Factor’, ranked as the third biggest reality show in August, commanded a mere 3.9% share of audience. DANCE YOUR BUTT OFF season 3 will be back on our screens in early 2013.
Turning 16 this year...hip hip hooray! Voted the top local brand of local children’s programming by The Star’s Coolest Brands Survey….again!
Essential viewing for every South African, 3Talk is filled with inspiration, motivation, information and entertainment. 3Talk has received multiple awards, including the Crystal Award for Best Local TV Show, the international D&AD Yellow Pencil for ‘Meet Wally’s Heart’ and was rated the Top Talk Show* with 885 000 viewers.
* TVSA Primetime viewing figures 21 – 27 May 2012
South Africa’s first telenovella, INKABA, premiered its first of 208 episodes on Monday 18 March, 2012, quickly gaining popularity and currently delivering an average AR of 3.2. It features top South Africa actors, including John Kani, Nakedi Ribane, Ernest Ndlovu, Baby Cele, Dumisani Mbebe, Magic Hlwatswayo, Charmaine Kweyama, Richard Lunkunku, Jason Greer, Samu Ndlovu and newcomer Nompilo Gwaya. Although focused primarily on the black market, viewers are treated to a realistic infusion of multicultural South African stories that combine traditional values with love, lust and ambition – all playing out against the backdrop of the SA fashion industry.
Having incepted the LOTTO 12 years ago, Urban Brew Studios holds the world record for the most consecutive, uncontested LIVE LOTTO draws. With hosts Romy Titus and Nimrod Nkosi, the LIVE LOTTO and LOTTO PLUS draws regularly perform in the top two rated programmes on eTV, achieving on average a 12 AR, 46% share, and regularly delivering more than 3 500 000 viewers.
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