How would you sum up the first three seasons of "C'est la vie"?
The results have been very positive! These three seasons have been a huge success. In terms of numbers, that means more than 27 million people have watched at least one episode of the series. We achieved this result thanks to the series being broadcast on national television channels covered by the project, which reached more than 15 million people. The program is starting to make a name for itself and attract an increasingly large audience.
We are also managing to build a large community on social media. Even though consumption habits are not the same, we have recorded 30 million views of our video content on YouTube and more than 400,000 followers on Facebook. These are encouraging figures that show our partners that the production has found its audience and that this audience is eagerly awaiting the next season.
Nevertheless, from a programming perspective, the initial broadcast on national channels experienced some delays compared to the previously defined schedule. This disrupted our measurement and broadcast monitoring campaigns. Our schedule was turned upside down.
For the new season of "C'est la vie," we have therefore decided to do things differently.
You have officially announced the launch of season 4 of the series "C'est la vie." Can you give us a preview of what to expect from the upcoming season?
To maintain the momentum we have built around the series, we have decided to begin broadcasting the next season digitally with shorter formats.
Then, in a second phase, the production company will offer an appropriate re-edit of this content for broadcast on TV channels based on audience studies carried out for each of the countries covered.
For the time being, the series is still in development, but the aim is to include topical subjects, themes that appeal to the widest possible audience and are part of the public debate on the continent. For example, we will cover the topic of gender equality with a focus on situations that deserve to be discussed and that we are currently encountering on the continent. Through a cross-cutting approach to content, we will attempt to provide local responses to these issues.
Based on the data you collect digitally, where are your main audiences located?
We have data from a total of nine countries. Thanks to the development of C'est la vie in French, Wolof, Hausa, Mandinka, Fulani, and English, we now reach a wide audience, but in the digital realm, a few territories stand out: the diaspora, Senegal, the DRC, Chad, Guinea, and Niger.
Your digital audience is not necessarily the same as your television audience. Have you adapted season 4 accordingly?
We have indeed planned to adapt to the different scenarios planned for season 4. This starts with casting new, younger actors, as we are aware that our digital target audience is younger. That's also why we chose a theme that speaks to them more. Nevertheless, the new characters will continue to share the acting roles with the series' original actors. These main characters are the ones who have successfully engaged our audience to date.
What
other
projects are you working on at the same time?
We are continuing to develop our WARA series project, which deals with the topic of civic participation among young people and women. Season 2 is in development. All we need to do now is finalize the budget and financing to start production.
For television, we want to produce season 2 of Renaissance, which deals with drug use.
These projects are in the pipeline and will be developed in particular with Alexandre Rideau's production company KEEWU. Finally, we would like to adapt the radio drama Dianké, which deals with issues of governance and citizen participation and was produced with the AFD, for television. We are also developing a spin-off of C'est la Vie, produced in Chad, as well as season 2 of C'est la Vie, but this time for radio.
We have many projects to carry out, but we also need the support of investors. We have loyal partners who support us in our projects, but we also need to attract other investors, private investors. We would like to have more funds to work even harder on developing our projects and the framework for guaranteeing them. As an NGO, we need this diversification of partners, but we also need support and awareness-raising from the local media, because we provide them with quality content and they cannot ask to be paid for broadcasting it in return.