Ivorian producer and director Ana Ballo has been working in the Ivorian audiovisual production and directing industry for over 20 years. Her work includes television series, documentaries, and awareness-raising films.
In collaboration with partners, Ana Ballo also participated in the creation of Bogolan Distribution, a company specializing in the production of original audiovisual content for television and the web. At the end of 2017, she joined RTI as Director of RTI Distribution.
Can you tell us about your activities?
RTI Distribution is the content distribution arm of the Ivorian public audiovisual group, created in 2014. It is an international distribution platform that aims to promote the RTI group's own productions, as well as those produced by independent producers, in Côte d'Ivoire and abroad.
I joined RTI Distribution at a time when the CEO, Mr. Ahmadou Bakayoko, wanted to further structure RTI Distribution to make it a true distribution and co-production hub, a "Babiwood"-type studio, and a platform for co-production and filming for ambitious projects.
What does your catalog represent today?
When I joined RTI Distribution, we had more than 700 hours of content. Today, we have a catalog of more than 1,000 hours. We have succeeded in expanding our customer base and building a large network of African broadcasters, including public channels in various countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Cameroon, Benin, and Senegal. We have partnerships with players such as TV5Monde, with whom we carry out pre-purchases and to whom we supply content. Finally, we also sell content to channels such as A+ here in Côte d'Ivoire. Beyond the French-speaking world, we are trying to expand further into English-speaking countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.
In terms of demand for audiovisual content, audiences increasingly want to consume content that is well constructed, well written, well produced, and well filmed. Content that is not only high-quality but also local. Looking at our catalog, "Sœurs Ennemies" is a widely acclaimed Ivorian series. We sold season 1 to the France'O channel and have just produced season 2 in French and English versions.
What is your view of audiovisual production in Ivory Coast? What measures can be put in place to enable Ivorian audiovisual production to develop and consolidate?
From a global perspective, I think that Ivorian audiovisual production is booming! We can see a real buzz, even if it is not structured.
I think that over time, the market will structure itself because public demand will become increasingly significant and increasingly demanding, particularly in terms of quality. This is what happened in Nigeria with the Nollywood industry: initially, we had productions with very limited financial and technical resources, but over time, the quality of productions improved.
I therefore believe that audiovisual production will follow the same path, driven by the liberalization of the sector and the requirements of the agreements put in place by the HACA with channels, which require them to offer at least 20% of their content produced locally. In order to meet this demand, the ecosystem will therefore have to become more structured. But for this to happen, certain prerequisites are necessary:
- A more in-depth audience study
- Institutional support to put in place tax facilitation mechanisms to support producers and entrepreneurs in this sector.
- Training is also crucial, across the entire value chain
What is your view on the upcoming launch of DTT in Côte d'Ivoire?
We are all eagerly awaiting it, as the launch of DTT in the country represents a major advantage for us. In terms of broadcast quality, it will allow us to improve and gain recognition beyond our borders, becoming accessible to the most remote populations. The arrival of competition will also allow RTI to develop in order to increasingly meet standards and maintain a leading position in the Ivorian landscape, playing our role as a public service while taking into account the needs of viewers.
Any news to share with us for the start of the 2019 season?
We are launching a communication campaign to inform viewers that from the start of the season until March 2020, we will be on air every Sunday after the television news with high-quality Ivorian dramas and series.
Biography
Ana Ballo's work covers television series as well as documentary and awareness-raising films.
From 1995 to 2000, she produced a cooking show called "La route de la cuisine" (The Road to Cooking) across Côte d'Ivoire and the West African sub-region. In 2004, she directed a 12-episode, 26-minute drama series for the UNHCR entitled "Résidence AKWABA," which aimed to raise awareness about social cohesion.
Since 2006, she has been the director of a successful series of 2-minute short films entitled "On est ou là?" (Where are we?), broadcast on RTI, TV5, RTS (Senegal) and currently on YouTube in partnership with Google.
At the same time, from 2009 to 2012, she was Director General of the Conference of Audiovisual Producers of Côte d'Ivoire (CPACI), then in July 2013, she directed seven 7-minute mini-documentaries for the Presidential Emergency Program (PPU); and two more awareness-raising films on reconciliation, which she made in 2011 for the Ministry of Culture and Francophonie.
Very active in the film and audiovisual industry, she represented directors on the management board of BURIDA (Ivorian Copyright Office), serving as its vice president from 2011 to 2013.
In February 2015, she won first prize in the TV series pitch competition organized by the OIF during the 24th edition of FESPACO in Ouagadougou and at DISCOP with the project "Ablaha Pokou," an 18-episode historical saga, each episode lasting 26 minutes, which she plans to shoot in 2018.
Since January 2016, she has been producing a women's magazine called Essentiellement Femme for RTI.
Since March 2016, she has been producing a crime series co-produced by CANAL+ and Bogolan Distribution.