Africa judges the world from South Africa

US Cable Enterprise The Africa Channel (TAC) and its South Africa-based production division TAC Studios were privileged to recently host the International Emmy’s semi-final judging round for Drama Series Category at a virtual event from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Continuing its efforts to build bridges between African content creators and distributors and the rest of the world, The Africa Channel assembled a panel of esteemed industry jurors from Africa and the Middle East to help adjudicate this global event.

This partnership with The International Emmys highlights TAC’s continued drive to champion stories and voices of the African Diaspora in the global marketplace. The company believes continuous dialogue and collaboration on projects between emerging African producers and talent and more experienced global players will serve an important role in improving the quality of storytelling and create more multicultural diverse narratives the world over.

The distinguished panel of African and Africa-focused industry executives, producers, and talent experts included: Allan Sperling (Head of Local Productions – MultiChoice), Amy Jephta (Writer & Director – Nagflug Films), Anthony Oseyemi (Writer, Producer & Star of the Netflix drama series, Dead Places), Bongi Ndaba (Showrunner), Brendan Gabriel (Vice President of Production – The Africa Channel), Kagiso Lediga (Comedian/Actor/Producer – Diprente Films), Manoj Matthew (Territory Head: Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan & Turkey – ZEE Network), Monde Twala (Senior Vice President & GM – Viacom CBS Networks Africa), Nirvana Singh (Senior Commissioning Editor of Drama – SABC), Pearl Thusi (Model, Radio Personality and Star of Netflix action-drama series, Queen Sono), and Tracy Anne Van Rooyen (Head of Programming – Disney Africa).

During the confidential judging process, each juror screened hours of Drama Series programming and bore the weight of scoring their peers on concept and execution. The program with the highest score will proceed to the final round of judging as a nominee for the 49th International Emmy® Awards.

The final round of judging will take place later this month. Winners will be announced at the 49th International Emmy® Awards on Monday, November 22, 2021, in New York City.