The Chronicle
Raymond Jaravaza, Showbiz Correspondent
HER husband is not amused at her for waking up in the middle of the night, switching on the lights, grabbing a pen and paper to scribble down notes as if she is scared a few more hours of sleep will completely erase her memory but he has made peace with it.
After all, he is married to a script and film producer whose ideas for a new project can pop out of her head at any time. Dorcas Maseko is a scriptwriter with a difference. She says she dreams about her ideas for a new project, wakes up with her heart racing and doesn’t waste time putting down her dream on a piece of paper.
Being the old-school script writer that she is, Maseko doesn’t use modern gadgets like a computer or iPad. The old-fashioned pen and paper are her weapons of choice.
Dorcas Maseko Film producer
One night early this year, in the wee hours of the morning to be precise, a dream gave birth to a new project that months later caught the attention of a Netflix agent and will
soon be a reality for viewers to feast their eyes on.
The feature film is titled “Love is Thicker than Blood”, a story of a young man who can’t get over the death of his father and can’t come to terms with the thought of his mother dating another man.
“My colleagues in the industry always laugh when I tell them that ideas for my films and dramas come through dreams and I immediately wake up in the middle of the night and start writing down notes.
“Once I have a general idea of the storyline, the whole process of writing a full script becomes easier and much clearer. The story behind Love is Thicker than Blood is close to my heart because I have seen the scenarios play out a lot of times when a male child fails to get over the death of his father and doesn’t want his mother to move on and start dating again or even get married.
“The feature film will resonate with a lot of people because I’m sure we all have a relative that lost a husband, was left to look after the children and somehow when the woman starts dating again, the children find it hard to accept the new man in her life,” Maseko explained to Saturday Leisure.
The scriptwriter and film producer has assembled a team of seven seasoned actors and actresses who will feature in the production.
Funding has been the biggest impediment in getting filming started and she has been forced to cut her initial budget from US$15 000 to slightly over US$9 000.
“One of our closing scenes is a wedding that will have about 60 people so you can imagine the amount of money and resources that we will need to pull it off. We have approached several service providers such as car hire companies, lodges and corporates to assist us and the response has been rather slow but we remain committed to start filming, possibly in the next two weeks,” she said.
Netflix image taken from Getty images
Netflix — the renowned subscription streaming service and production company — has shown interest in working with Maseko.
“I had a chance meeting with a Netflix agent who was in Bulawayo just when I had finished writing the script and I showed it to him and he immediately liked it. He advised us to give him the finished product for consideration and we are so excited that our film could potentially reach out to millions of viewers on Netflix,” added Maseko.
In 2019 Maseko blessed the small screen with another drama — Xola Sitha — a captivating story about love triangles, backstabbing, confidence betrayal and cheating among couples.
Isibaya cast
The locally produced drama film was set in Bulawayo and molded in the form of South Africa’s popular soapies such as Uzalo, Isibaya and Muvhango and was lauded as a project that somehow closed the gap in the country’s Ndebele film productions.
Just like Love is Thicker than Blood, Maseko fought tooth and nail to get willing partners to share the costs of the production.
She is also the author of the book — The Kind of Love we Deserve. — @RaymondJaravaza