After a career as a professional musician for nearly ten years, Anselm Nfa created the first French-language television channel dedicated to gospel music in 2015. In the same year, he was appointed Vice President of the French Gospel Federation. He then became an audiovisual consultant and joined THEMA within the CANAL+ group to develop the Gospel Music TV channel. After this adventure, in 2018, he decided to devote himself mainly to the production of pan-African films and series with his production companies Holimage Studio (created in 2015 and based in Paris) and ICÔNE MEDIA in Côte d'Ivoire.
What are your activities?
ICÔNE MEDIA is an audiovisual and film production company based in Ivory Coast. Its production is mainly aimed at a French-speaking audience. Driven by creative filmmakers and innovative projects, ICÔNE MEDIA promotes high-quality African cinema through bold content. It specializes in fiction, mainly for television and digital platforms, although Icône Media is currently working on a feature film project for 2021, a spin-off of the series "Allo Tribunal."
What are your flagship projects?
We produced our first series, "Allo Tribunal," which was subsequently pre-purchased by TV5Monde. The first season has 53 episodes, each lasting 26 minutes. We recently filmed the second season, which has 60 episodes, each lasting 26 minutes. This second season will be broadcast exclusively on TV5Monde. We also produced the series "Chez les Koffi," a sitcom with 45 episodes, each lasting 26 minutes, which was purchased by NCI, the Nouvelle Chaîne Ivoirienne.
Can you tell us about the sitcom "Chez les Koffi"?
"Chez les Koffi" is a sitcom inspired by American sitcoms that revolve around family life.
This sitcom depicts the daily life of an Ivorian family through funny and endearing characters. It features a somewhat eccentric Ivorian family; between setbacks and squabbles, there are also moments of tenderness and affection, reflecting the difficulties and realities experienced by most Ivorian and African households. This sitcom is a mix of traditional influences and modernization of society.
The strengths of such a program lie mainly in Ivorian humor, which is characteristic of the sitcom, but also in the quality of the actors and the transgenerational nature of the show. Producing this series was a real challenge! We shot it in two months, and the writing was the main source of difficulty.
What projects are you currently working on?
We have launched the production of two new series: "Café Show," a short format filmed in Côte d'Ivoire, and another drama series filmed in Libreville, where we have just opened a subsidiary. With this opening, we will establish the Icône Vision group, already well established in Côte d'Ivoire, soon in Gabon as well as in Brazzaville, where we have a nascent project.
How do you view the development of audiovisual production in French-speaking Africa?
In general, there is a buzz everywhere around the production of fiction content, but I also notice that producers generally only target the local market. However, I believe that French-speaking Africa represents an audiovisual market in its own right, especially since we are convinced that Africans want to see more and more stories that reflect their lives. A certain artistic vision of Africa's cultural richness could help position local creations on the international market, taking into account its production standards. Major platforms such as Netflix are beginning to take an interest in the African continent, but this mainly concerns the English-speaking part. On the French-speaking side, we are still in the early stages of audiovisual production development. However, talent is emerging and the arrival of new television channels on the local scene represents great opportunities for content producers, as it opens up the market to competition.
What measures can be put in place to enable Ivorian audiovisual production to develop and consolidate?
I note that today, expectations are growing in terms of audiovisual production. Industry players and cultural authorities, broadcasters, and advertisers are increasingly interested in the production of original content, provided it is of high quality. Production financing needs to be better structured, taking into account the need for training support as a real challenge to audiovisual development. Artistic, technical, and financial choices are decisive for the quality and scope of a work. Unfortunately, the resources available do not always allow us to achieve greater ambitions, which hinders the production momentum needed to create a real market. At this stage, with productions multiplying, I believe we need to develop a fund to aid and support training in audiovisual professions, in order to take the first step and guarantee better quality in our productions. Developing skills will enable us to improve quality and raise productions to international standards, resulting in wider distribution and probably more benefits for everyone.
As a production company, how do you deal with the challenges of financing and training?
At Icône Media, we work with a mainly local team in order to enable and facilitate the transfer of skills. We also try to control our costs so that we can ensure production quality without compromising our business. It's a real challenge!
The entire Icône Media team is mainly made up of local talent. There is a clear lack of skills and expertise in several areas of production, but we try to raise the level of our teams. For each of our projects, we try to fill the skills gap by passing on our know-how. However, the need for training remains obvious, as there is a real buzz, particularly in terms of series production, especially in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. This calls for productions of higher artistic quality, greater technical standards, and more innovation, which makes training in audiovisual professions essential.
Any news?
In terms of our activities, before the end of 2020, Icône Media will produce three new series and launch its audio production studio to support its audiovisual production projects as well as a music label launched in France. At the same time, we are partnering with Obouo Media for the upcoming launch of Marmite Channel, a 100% African cooking channel. It will be launched within three months.