Can you tell us about your new company, PLAN A?
Plan A is an audiovisual production start-up created in December 2020 in Abidjan. We are a team of six people from different but complementary backgrounds.
What motivated you to create this company? What are your ambitions?
The idea of investing in a stable and ambitious structure stems from the observation that there is a real quantitative and qualitative lack of audiovisual productions with an international focus in French-speaking Africa. Admittedly, we don't have many funding sources in French-speaking Africa, but those that do exist, notably the OIF and the CANAL+ International and TV5 Monde channels, are asking us to contribute to their original programming schedules.
We understand that we are in an ecosystem where serious funders and producers need each other…
Plan A is part of this structuring approach.
Our ambition is to become a benchmark in terms of program creation (TV series, TV movies, etc.) in the French-speaking world.
Our ambition is also to be a driving force in the industrialization of the sector by employing, professionalizing, and retaining as many technicians and actors in the West African audiovisual sector as possible.
Our motto is "Africa in the spotlight!" "
You have just presented your new project, "La dernière voix"
(
The Last Voice), at a press conference. Can you tell us more about it?
La Dernière Voix (LDV) is a 52×26' fiction series that Plan A is creating in association with the A+ channel and Universal Music Africa. And in partnership with TRACE. It will be directed mainly by music video director Roland Gogo…
It is an original series about the world of music creation, featuring five young talents (singers and musicians) who have been recruited by a record label and placed in residence in a secret location called the Laboratory. This place is supervised by an enigmatic butler named Wilson. He will be both their mentor and their judge. During their residency, spread over the 52 episodes of the series, they will work to perfect their art with a view to becoming the Last Voice.
From time to time, reality will intrude on fiction through the presence of virtual coaches played by African music stars and outings to public places where our talents will have to perform without a safety net in front of the public…
Finally, and this is what makes the series unique, the person designated by Wilson as The Last Voice will be offered a "real" artist contract with Universal Music Africa…
What themes will be addressed in your upcoming productions?
Although still in its infancy, the company is currently co-producing with ACACIA Productions, the first Canal+ Original series in Burkina Faso.
It is an 8 x 52' series entitled De Plus En Plus Loin (Further and Further Away) and directed by two young Burkinabe directors, Fabien Dao and Eric Hervé Lengani.
The series deals with the misadventures of two young Burkinabe men in search of the Western El Dorado, who find themselves confronted with the hell of Libya. Faced with this reality, one of them decides to return home and take revenge on those he considers responsible for his "need" to flee… Filming began three weeks ago and promises some wonderful surprises.
We are also working on finalizing the budget for a series that I will be directing in Côte d'Ivoire, based on the world of the so-called "bizzi girls."
Beyond their social context, both series will be predominantly crime dramas.
To be continued…