It started as
true goss, it was
officially confirmed and now filming's complete on the new SA soapie Montana.
It's making it debut on SABC1 early in the New Year - as yet no date's been confirmed but according to (tatoo'd) director Thabang Moleya it's looking like it's going to make a late-January premiere.
It's been filming in Cape Town over the past two months so I've been scooping out more about it - I wheeled and dealed with Penguin Films for us to get an all-access on set visit and found myself in the thick of things.
What. Where.
The storyline centres round 4 families who live and work in and around Montana - a real suburb in Cape Town that's a mix of income groups. The families all have different lifestyles, standards of living etc and they're brought together through the Khula Community Centre - a focal point of the story.
Unlike regular soapies that are filmed in-studio, the show's filmed on location in different parts of Cape Town: Plattekloof, Montana itself and Gugulethu - which is where the set of the Khula centre's located and where filming for the day happened. I actually thought it was real and got confused when I arrived - in real life it's a similar sort of centre that gets used for concerts, filming ads and so on.
In the show the centre gives artists from the community a place to sell and promote their work e.g. sculptors, painters, musicians.
Who. Some lead characters:
Noli: the Main lead, who runs the Khula centre - she's 20-something and the "every person" of the story. Everything revolves around her and the people who are part of her life.
Dalene: a kugel hairdresser who's married to a counselman who's got stacks of cash. She's Noli's business partner - she put in most of the moolah for the centre. She's got snob tendencies and also enjoys moolighting with other men.
Richard Duze: Dalene's sex-toy on the side - he's businessman with a ruthless streak. He's married to Vatiswa - who's got a gamblng problem.
Noli's mother, Nomthemba who works for Richard and Vatiswa.
Noli's brother and father are also big players in the picture - they both work in security at the local casino - not Grand West itself, but almost.
Victor: Noli's fiance.
Charles: another rich businessman who Dalene fancies too because of his bucks.
Sizwe, Zola and Zoliswa - a family who are involved with everyone - more about them in the pics.
Step On Set ...
Scenes being filmed on the day: Noli with the BeatBoys; & Noli with Zola
The lights-camera-action view within the Khula centre courtyard - the hanging spot for the crew, extra cameras and wardrobe.
Sizwe, played by Chris Gxalaba
Sizwe's got two teen's: Zola and Zoliswe. Zola's a rapper who used to work at the centre (organising things and people) but once his group the BeatBoys started taking off he handed his job over to his dad. Originally from the Eastern Cape, Sizwe raised the two Z's solo - their mother died in a bus accident when they young - as they were moving to Cape Town.
His real passion: sculpting.
Khula centre props are scattered round the set - both on the set and outside of it
I was tempted to steal this one - it's an actual electric light in between the shells- so cool I thought.
Set dressing in the Khula centre set
Art director Carlu Portwig, - other shows he's arted: Backstage, City Sesla and Malan en Kie.
Settin' up the shot
Clapper board operator Leon Smith, who's also a loader and video operator - he does things like load the film, places the markings on the floor for the actors - where they need to stand etc and makes sure they're all well-miked.
Filming begins between Noli,
played by Zikhona Sodlaka
and the BeatBoys: Simphiwe (Buntu Pham), Denver (Ambrose Uren) and Zola (Ngoma Ntoyi)
Assisant director Dillon Speers - super-bossy, the sort you don't want to arrive late for in case he uses all those bracelets on you. He organised that the cast and crew were in position for the shots, silenced talkers and so on.
The house next door to the Khula centre
An interested bystander hanging outside who wanted to ask the actors for a goatagraph but was too shy.
Lunch tables waiting for the cast and crew
I've never seen a group of people rush for lunch as quickly. They called "cut" and within two milli-seconds - it was literally less than a blink - and the lunch table was crammed.
Lunch.
After lunch I wrapped with the BeatBoys, who told me they'd hire me for a gig if the group wasn't in a TV show but for real. Was pleased.
The series debuts with 26 half-hour episodes, with a view to becoming a daily.
Filming started on 6 October and finished this week.
The director spent a week working with each lead actor and their character, finding their character story-arc, discussing things like: Where is the character at the beginning of the story and where do they end up?
The locatons are all real - other principal locations include a shack in Gugulethu and a mansion in Plattekloof.