Africa’s creative economy has never looked better. And while African music has been at the forefront, there has been an uptake, both locally and internationally, from a film and television perspective. It’s not all glitz and glam behind the scenes, but it would seem the growing $5 billion-plus industry in Africa is one global audiences can’t seem to get enough of.



In 2023, African entertainment company MultiChoice and film and television company Bomb Productions revealed the story of the heroic rise of an iconic Zulu king. It was production value at its finest, from the elaborate costumes on Shaka iLembe and the sweeping cinematography, to the standout soundtrack, stellar computer generated imagery (CGI), and the resonant portrayal of Zulu culture and tradition. “Honestly, we were terrified of the reception we would get,” says De- siree Markgraaff, Executive Producer at Bomb Productions.



“We were so excited by the idea of it but we cheated a little bit because we wanted to tell the story of Shaka, but we were really more interested in telling the story of the men and women who lived in that time, who influenced him, who gave rise to this great person.”



Markgraaff says they were nervous as they only introduced Shaka in episode six of the series, which, she thought, audience members would respond negatively to.



But that wasn’t the case.



Shaka iLembe, a six-year production, saw over 3.6 million viewers on DStv in South Africa in June 2023 – reportedly the best-ever perfor- mance that MultiChoice has seen in its history, for a drama series. It also reached number one on the DStv App in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and other African countries.



“When audiences reacted in the way that they did to the show, and embraced it in the way they did, firstly, it was a huge relief,” Markgraaff laughs. “But it was so beautiful to watch people falling in love with their history.”



Similarly, when Netflix launched in Africa in 2016 and released its first Netflix Original Africa show in 2020, it portrayed the deep desire that audiences have for authentic African content.



“I really was new to the industry,” Ama Qamata, the actor who brought Puleng Khumalo to life in the Netflix Original series Blood and Water, and who was also a FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 list-maker this year, told us in April.



“It was my first time doing something that big. And I remember the shooting being so stressful. I guess my mentality the whole time was ‘I just need to show up and give my best’. I remember at the Queen Sono premiere, the CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, met me and said, ‘oh, I’m not worried about the show’.” Blood and Water premiered in May 2020, it ranked num- ber one in several countries, including South Africa, Kenya and even France.



It is also the first South African show to reach number one in the United States.



African creativity is on the up.



According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Africa’s film and au- dio-visual industries, in 2021, employed an estimated five million people and accounted for $5 billion in GDP across the continent.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62856" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/HeartoftheHunter_Netflix_0054-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">HeartoftheHunter. (L to R) Bonko Khosa as Zuko, Mandla Dube in HeartoftheHunter. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024</figcaption></figure></div>


The figures, however illustrious, seemingly paint a picture of where the landscape has been and where it’s heading.



Monde Twala, Senior Vice President of Editorial and General Manager at Paramount Africa and Lead, BET In- ternational, talks about how he foresaw the potential and effect of entertainment.



“Growing up in the seventies as a Soweto boy… For a lot of us, our window to the world was television, storytelling and movies. Entertainment was a big part of just how we all were coping,” Twala says.



“I don’t think any African child watches content purely for the purpose of entertainment, and bear in mind, televi- sion on this continent is maybe forty years old, so I’ve seen storytelling evolve at a number of levels.”



Born in the rural part of Limpopo known as Mukum- bani, film and series director Valen’tino Mathibela recalls how even in her village, everyone would watch battery- operated television back in the day.



She remembers how the children were berated for watching too much television as the family would need to save battery power for her uncle’s sports matches over the weekend or her mother’s drama series once a week. And if the battery ran low, you would have to pay 50 cents to your neighbor who still had power to watch television. “That, for me, was where I fell in love with the art of storytelling and motion pictures, especially, but also radio,” Mathibela says.



“I would literally sit next to the radio and listen to drama every day after school. We followed the radio dramas tradi- tionally, and almost had our own imagination of what the characters looked like.”



Representation was lacking at the time. But the new dawn of stories has focused more on creating and control- ling narratives.



This is why shows such as Shaka iLembe or Queen Mod- jadji, which tells the story of Balobedu rainmaker Queen Modjadji whose bloodline has reigned over southern Af- rica’s Lobedu clan for centuries, have been celebrated.



It’s not just about the cultural impact and celebration of history, but also the accurate depiction of those African stories.



Nomsa Philiso, CEO of General Entertainment at MultiChoice, says that part of the storytelling strategy is about ensuring they are told in different streams – not only for the purposes of representation but also education.



Queen Modjadji, which premiered in July, is a story predominantly told in the Khelobedu language.



“We’re going to be telling a story about a language that is not commonly spoken. We haven’t told anything in Khelobedu ever so I would like to see, at least, on an annual basis, in all of our different markets, that we do something impactful for all communities. And [I want to see] that it is going to be long-lasting, and made with the same quality that we would do any other show.”



Authentic storytelling was particularly in the spotlight in 2018 when American entertainment company Marvel released the highly-anticipated Black Panther film. It was the first with a predominantly Black cast, depicting the portrayal of a superhero of African descent.



The film became a global phenomenon that mesmerized



audiences, with many critics, at the time, hailing it as “revo- lutionary”.



“I did not anticipate what the result would be,” says Danai Gurira, who played General Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.



“I could never have anticipated it. But as the response started to happen, it was like, ‘what is happening [I was shocked]’. But at the same time, I did understand, I remem- ber… it wasn’t the easiest process because we were creating something that had never been created before. And we’re all pushing to make it as authentic as possible.”



Tendeka Matatu, Director of Content at Netflix, tells FORBES AFRICA that when making content about the continent, representation should be at the fore of that strategy.



“Also, more than that, it’s about authenticity,” Matatu adds.



“If you’re going to make a show that’s for a local audience, and it’s locally- grounded and relatable, it needs to be authentic. And we want to reflect our shows. We should want to reflect the reality of society as well.”



Seemingly, once you get that right, the viewership numbers will start to reflect just how hungry people are for African content.



Several series on Netflix echo this.



Heart of the Hunter, starring Bonko Khoza, was number one for two weeks on Netflix’s global top 10 and was number one in over 81 countries. In Nigeria, Black Book, starring Richard Mofe Damijo, held the number three spot in the global top 10 list. Blood and Water has also been successful in this regard.



“We are kind of in this, dare I use the word, renais- sance of African culture and how it’s gripping the world,” Matatu says.



“We’re really seeing great shows and movies from African storytellers kind of travel the world.”



According to reports citing research firm Omdia, Netflix had 1.8 million subscribers in Africa towards the end of 2023. Furthermore, according to a Socio- Impact Report by the streaming giant, it spent about $175 million between 2016 and 2022 in several coun- tries, for creating African content.



Showmax reportedly has 2.1 million subscribers on the continent, which could be due to their focus on locally-produced content.



Variety stated, earlier this year, that MultiChoice spent roughly $1 billion on African film and TV, covering half of its gen- eral entertainment budget.



Showmax pumped out around 20 Originals in February and expected to have over 1,300 hours of original content produced in the coming year — representing a 150% increase in output compared to the previous year. The streaming platform’s rev- enue this year grew by 22% to $1 billion.



This then begs the question – if streaming is doing this well, what is happening with cinema?



African cinema still faces hurdles such as funding limita- tions, distribution barriers and the need for more training and development.



But according to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa’s Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027 report, box office revenue has been recovering since 2021 but has yet to match pre-Covid-19 levels. South African cinema was the strongest per- forming of the three markets in 2022, with total revenue amount- ing to R862 million ($47 million).



Beverley Govender, Senior Marketing Manager at South Afri- can cinema company, NuMetro, says that while streaming servic- es have changed the way people consume media, they have also underscored the unique value of the cinema experience.



“Competing with streaming platforms involves meeting the demand for convenience and variety,” Govender says.



“However, we have turned this challenge into an opportunity to elevate the in-cinema experience. Our collaborations with technology partners have allowed us to offer innovations like VIP lounges, gourmet concessions and immersive sound systems. By enhancing our customer service and providing unique, high- quality experiences, we continue to distinguish ourselves from the at-home viewing options.”



Another reason why cinema continues to thrive could perhaps be due to the massive budgets pumped into the international ti- tles, shown at cinema houses; a fact that exposes the investment gap between Hollywood and Africa’s film landscape.



Statista reported that Hollywood budgets, on aver- age, are about $100 million per film.



Statista reported that Hollywood budgets, on aver- age, are about $100 million per film. Take for instance a blockbuster like Black Panther which reportedly grossed around $1.3 billion – the 2022 sequel that followed, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, starring Letitia Wright and Gurira, made $800 million in worldwide box office, according to Forbes.



In South Africa, specifically, the average production cost in 2020, according to the National Film and Video Foundation, was about R7.1 billion ($387 million).



“Cinema in South Africa is definitely catching up with what’s happening, especially because of the streamers. Our crews, which have always been good, have certainly gotten better now. I suppose the biggest difference is just budgets… but that doesn’t mean that the stuff is less good,” says South African-American actor Arnold Vosloo, who starred in the Hollywood mega-grossers, The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.



“I find the crews in South Africa as good as anywhere else, and, in terms of the scripts and the writing that’s coming along, people are getting better all the time and doing unique things. I think the best is yet to come. I’m very positive about South Africa, its opportunities and chances to put things out there.”



Matatu adds, “Funding across all formats, across Africa, has always been an issue. I think it’s still an issue. But to be honest, it’s an issue in many parts of the world especially when you’re talking about independent productions.



“I see things getting better and I think that there is a boom in production across genres. I have 20 years of experience as a film- maker and I spent a lot of that time running my own produc- tion company. I was involved in many movies in South Af- rica, and I think about the options and the opportunities that I had to fund productions in the early 2000s versus what I see producers have now, it’s become a lot easier.”



According to reports, there are now funding mechanisms specifically focused on Africa’s creative sector. Capital Films announced a new fund earlier this year of ₦500 million ($316,000), which would be dedicated to investing in a vari- ety of Nollywood films.



Similarly, in South Africa, investment group Talent10 Holdings and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) recently announced a commitment of around R1.9 bil- lion ($104 million) to develop new entertainment and gam- ing.



Talent10 CEO Wayne Fitzjohn tells FORBES AFRICA that South Africa has a lot to offer.



“In terms of production, I’m not aware of another juris- diction that can produce content at the quality we can, at the cost we can, with staff as versatile,” he says.



“There are many times that when it comes [to] storytelling, especially African storytelling, when we are thought of as niche,” British-Nigerian actor David Oyelowo says. “We are in an era where people are starting to see us. We are getting there.”

HeartoftheHunter. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024

The Content Boom: Lens Is More For African Cinema

The man behind the success of the The Real Housewives of Nairobi has an equally interesting story.



Amidst the ever-changing landscape of entrepreneurship, Eugene Mbugua is a role model in Kenya, embarking on a journey that found its roots in the most unexpected of places — a high school canteen. Nestled within the hallowed halls of Nairobi&#8217;s Upper Hill Boys High School, Mbugua took his first steps into the world of business by joining a student-owned canteen that offered break snacks. This early foray ignited the flames of entrepreneurship within him, leading him to become a shareholder in the venture and explore unique avenues, such as selling creatively-adorned envelopes to fellow students, designed for penning letters to girlfriends in other boarding schools, whose letters were sent via post.



When he moved on to university, he continued his quest to explore the world of business. He dabbled in various enterprises, from a shop selling bootleg DVDs to a haven for video game enthusiasts between classes. “I also tried my hand in different businesses varying from event management to a tour company; they all failed,” says Mbugua.



It was during his last year of university that the tide turned. A chance encounter with the world of film-making after high school, courtesy of a cousin who brought him to a film set, ignited a passion that would change his life&#8217;s course. This newfound love led him to pursue a course in television production at university, while concurrently managing his small businesses and exploring various job opportunities in the field.



Throughout this tumultuous journey, Mbugua held onto a dream – the dream of creating his own TV show.



“This whole time I pitched to quite a number of different TV stations. Eventually about a month prior to my graduation, our first show Young Rich was bought by a local station”. It focused on young entrepreneurs and quickly became a top-ranking, award-winning TV show. “That was our first milestone, the premiere of our first TV show Young Rich in 2013. It’s what set the ground for everything else that came”.



Mbugua and his team at D&amp;R Studios went on to produce more than 20 television shows, establishing a prominent presence in Kenya&#8217;s media landscape. Their latest sensation, The Real Housewives of Nairobi, is capturing audiences&#8217; attention not just in Kenya but on an international scale, thanks to collaborations with platforms like Showmax and NBCUniversal.



After a successful run of their reality show Kyallo Kulture, Mbugua got into the beauty space, forging partnerships with entities and personalities that allow the studio to not only take advantage of their clientele base but also tap into their huge following to provide value for audiences and broadcasters.



He recently launched a cosmetic line called Unapologetic in partnership with media personality and entrepreneur Betty Kyallo.



What makes Mbugua’s journey particularly fascinating is his ability to adapt and innovate. One major pivot came in 2020-2021 when D&amp;R Studios attracted investment and established a governing board.



“We took in investment and set up a board which now governs the company and to which I answer to as CEO. The board’s input has often helped us expand our view of what our business is capable of and has also helped us put together governing structures needed to scale new heights,” says Mbugua.



This strategic move allowed him to expand the company&#8217;s horizons and put in place the structures needed for scaling greater heights. As an avid reader now learning to play the saxophone, he finds inspiration in books.



Challenges abound in the film and television industry, with the rapid growth of digital media and technological advancements like AI rendering some job roles obsolete. However, Mbugua and D&amp;R Studios seem to have met these challenges with a proactive attitude. Mbugua predicts that streaming services will continue to thrive, offering on-demand content to an audience reluctant to return to traditional TV schedules. Self-publishing through platforms like TikTok and YouTube will also gain momentum, providing fame and fortune for emerging talent.



“What I think will provide the most disruption however is artificial intelligence. If one is able to use these tools well, it is possible to generate very good content very quickly and this might build some new fortunes and destroy others.”



For aspiring entrepreneurs entering the industry, Mbugua, an alum of the FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 list, offers an essential piece of advice: “Start where you are with what you have and embrace new technology quickly. In a rapidly-changing media landscape, early adopters are handsomely rewarded.”

Eugene Mbugua; image supplied

Kenya’s Early Adopter In Showbiz On The Next Big Disruption

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SOUND STRATEGIES: The Innovators Going Global With African Music

<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-south-africa-flutist-producer-and-composer">South Africa | Flutist, producer, and composer</h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-spotify-monthly-listeners-16-8k-youtube-total-average-views-13-million">Spotify Monthly Listeners: 16.8K YouTube Total Average Views: 13 Million</h3>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">SOCIAL MEDIA NET WORTH Instagram: 13.1K Twitter: 14.7K Facebook: 99K</h3>



Words and Curation:&nbsp;Chanel Retief|Art Director: Lucy Nkosi |&nbsp;Photography: Katlego Mokubyane&nbsp;Photography Assistant:&nbsp;Sbusiso Sigidi Studio: NewKatz Studio, Johannesburg|&nbsp;Videographer: @astro.vn |&nbsp;CNBC Africa Videographer:&nbsp;Thabo Mathebula|&nbsp;Video Editor:&nbsp;Chanel Retief|&nbsp;Styling: Bontlefeela Mogoye and Wanda Baloyi |&nbsp;Outfits supplied by: Kworks Design; Imprint South Africa; House of Suitability; LSJ Designs|&nbsp;Hair &amp; Makeup:&nbsp;Makole Made



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&#8220;&#8230;Maths and music often go together, they say. Well, in my case, that was very much the situation.&#8221; 
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Kellerman’s myriad stellar accolades apart, what draws you (besides the melodic notes of his flute) to his story is the long journey he had to embark on to get to where he is. 



In this story, Kellerman had to always “wait” before doing what he loved most. Growing up, Kellerman’s parents encouraged his love for music. 



After attending a symphony concert at the age of 10 with them, he was handed the option of playing an instrument. He, of course, chose the flute. 



“I was very excited to start but then my teacher was sick for the first lesson,” Kellerman smiles as he recalls the memory. 



“And my mom was scared we were going to break the flute if we assembled it. So every day, I would just open the flute case, look at the flute, and wonder what it would sound like, and how it would feel to play it. I would close the case, and then an hour later, open the case again.”



Although a young Kellerman got to play the flute every day after that, the wait started all over again when he left school. Wanting to study music, Kellerman knew that there was no money for university so he had to obtain a bursary.



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“My other talent is maths,” Kellerman says, surprising the entire studio where he has arrived for the photoshoot in Johannesburg. “Yes, maths and music often go together, they say. Well, in my case, that was very much the situation. So I was offered a bursary to study engineering by Anglo American at the University of Johannesburg.”



The wait continued as Kellerman had to work off his bursary after his studies. To afford him the time and freedom to play the flute, Kellerman then started his own engineering software company.



“After a while, I decided, no, I want to be a full-time musician. But I ran out of money within six months,” Kellerman laughs. “So I had to go back to engineering.”



Kellerman got married and had children which meant that playing the flute professionally would just have to wait. He jokes that “every time I tried to swap over to being a full-time musician, it didn&#8217;t work”.



“The money just wasn&#8217;t enough to do music. And so, I tried that every few years and basically had to wait 20 years before I could do this full time. In the meantime, every year, I&#8217;d allow myself to go overseas for three weeks and study new masterclasses with the best flute teachers.”



Kellerman remembers fondly the moments his children would ask him what his ultimate dream was.



“I would say to them ‘Oh, to one day, get a Grammy nomination; that would be fantastic’.”



From waiting to wanting to winning – Kellerman’s story may not be over, but for the accomplished two-time Grammy award-winning artist (in 2015 and early this year for Bayethe), it feels as though life has come full circle.



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“WOUTER MAKES BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS CULTURES AND SHARING HIS POSITIVE ENERGY WITH THE WORLD.” —South African singer Lerato Moipone Molapo, known professionally as Lira.
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Despite all the accolades in his career, Kellerman’s true mission, he says, has always been sharing South African music with the world, which he continues to.



&#8220;Wouter makes beautiful music, building bridges across cultures and sharing his positive energy with the world,” South African singer Lerato Moipone Molapo, known professionally as Lira, says. “He is a generous soul, who is always willing to help, and his invaluable contributions have left an indelible mark on the South African music industry.” Antos Stella, CEO of The Music Arena, adds that “Wouter Kellerman’s exceptional musical talent has paved the way for extraordinary collaborations with artists from various genres and cultures, resulting in a well-deserved array of awards”.



When he is not playing music, Kellerman enjoys a good session of acro-yoga at sunrise on the beach. The next few months are action-packed for Kellerman, who most recently performed for the Presidents at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Next up is a slew of high-profile overseas performances. Kellerman continues to believe in the power of collaboration as he recently partnered with award-winning Tanzanian artist Naseeb Abdul Juma Issack, popularly known as Diamond Platnumz, for their Afropop hit Pounds &amp; Dollars.



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Meet Cover Star: Wouter Kellerman “I HAD TO WAIT 20 YEARS BEFORE I COULD PLAY THE FLUTE”

In its latest product launch, the unicorn AI startup is bringing bots that make it sound like you’re talking to well known people like Taylor Swift into your group chat



Inside Character.AI’s disheveled Palo Alto, California headquarters, employees at first appear to be hard at work, glued to their computer monitors. But rather than coding, many of them are engrossed in lively group chats with their colleagues and the AI chatbot characters that Character has become known for. Now, thanks to a new group chat function the startup launched Wednesday, they were chatting with work friends along with bots that anyone can build to create the illusion that you’re actually talking to the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte, Tony Stark or Lucifer.



“The feature was good enough that people stopped working sometimes to use it,” cofounder Daniel De Freitas told&nbsp;Forbes. De Freitas, the company’s president, has been particularly partial to gathering team members together to play Ship AI, a chatbot programmed to act like a text-based adventure game that lets group chat participants pretend to be astronauts exploring outer space.



The group chat feature is Character.AI’s latest move in cofounder and CEO Noam Shazeer’s bet that people will want to interact with a variety of different chatbot personas, rather than having a single, all-encompassing AI companion. By allowing the company’s subscribers, who pay $9.99 per month, to interact with each other and some of the startup’s 18 million AI bots in chats at the same time, Character is hoping to establish dominance as the go-to app for AI-powered entertainment while adding to its immediate revenue stream. Shazeer said that after “some period of time,” the company plans to make the feature free “because our goal is to empower everyone with AGI,” or artificial general intelligence.



Backed by nearly $200 million from VCs including Andreessen Horowitz, and valued at $1 billion in a March funding round, Character.AI has wowed the startup community with its engagement time — it claims registered users who send at least one message on a given day spend an average of two hours on the platform. Since its initial launch in September 2022, 20 million users have signed up for Character.AI, though traffic to its website has been declining since its May 2023 peak, per analytics provider SimilarWeb. Also in May, the startup began monetizing through its subscription service, which gives customers priority access to its platform (servers have often been overloaded, and non-paying users have to wait longer to get on) and early access to new features. Character.AI declined to share any statistics on its subscribers or its recent growth traction.



The group chat feature, which&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;tested out, is still rudimentary. In the initial iteration of Character.AI’s group chat, human users are able to chat with one another as on any messaging platform. To invoke a bot’s response, however, a user must manually tap on the icon for the specific bot they want to speak, or a dice icon which selects one of the bots in the group chat to respond at random. The bots can respond to users’ questions, as well as to one other (though in the latter case, the human must still prompt the bot to respond).



In a group chat with three&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;reporters and Character.AI’s most popular AI personas for singer Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce, a human user asked, “Tell us your deepest insecurities about dating Taylor” and tapped on the icon for Kelce’s bot.



“My biggest insecurity about dating @Taylor-Swift is that other guys will be jealous of me because they want to date her too. But I’m not afraid of the competition, she’s a great girl and I’m going to show her a great time. I won’t let her down,” the bot wrote.



After the Taylor Swift bot was prompted, it responded: “Haha, I love the confidence, Travis! Let’s meet up after the season, and I’ll let you show me a great time ;)”



There are other, more practical issues: the feature is only available on Character.AI’s mobile app, and the chatbots appeared to only respond to the most recent message from a human user.



The cofounders say product updates with better functionality are coming soon. The underlying AI is also about to improve dramatically, Shazeer told&nbsp;Forbes, because the company is beginning to receive fulfillment on an order of “many thousands” of Nvidia’s new line of H100 GPUs after a months-long delay due to supply chain shortages. The company plans to put the chips to use to train new large language models, he said.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“AI is underhyped because the things that are going to be possible in the coming years are going to be really, really impressive compared to what’s possible now.”Naom Shazeer
</blockquote>



Part of the urgency to launch the product now, before a new model is ready, may have to do with several generative AI tools launched by Meta in late September. In an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/09/26/mark-gets-meta-zuckerberg-talks-ai-and-that-musk-mma-fight-thats-never-going-to-happen/">exclusive interview</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;last month, Mark Zuckerberg outlined a vision of bringing AI “characters” to his company’s various products. “You’ll be able to talk to them in WhatsApp and Messenger and Instagram, and they&#8217;ll be embodied as avatars in virtual reality,” he said. These include an AI assistant called “Meta AI” and 28 other characters that users can talk to in group chats. “That looks familiar,” Character.AI’s Twitter account&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/character_ai/status/1707130316920635432/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quipped</a>&nbsp;after Meta’s announcement.



Shazeer said the group chat feature had been in the works for several months before Meta’s announcement, and he views Zuckerberg’s move into the space as something of a compliment. “It is great to see other companies getting inspired and building similar products — it’s a real testament to what we’re doing and to the engagement that we’re getting,” Shazeer said.



De Freitas and Shazeer, a coauthor on the seminal research paper on “transformers” that catalyzed the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2023/02/02/inside-chatggpts-breakout-moment-and-the-race-for-the-future-of-ai/">generative AI boom</a>, met while working as AI engineers at Google, where together they developed an early large language model that would become the foundation for Bard. But in 2021, they left the company because they said they’d run into bureaucratic roadblocks implementing the technology into consumer-facing applications. Shazeer, a 20-year veteran who joined prior to Google’s IPO, said he departed despite a personal plea from CEO Sundar Pichai.



“He talked to me to see if he could encourage me to stay,” Shazeer told&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;in a July interview. “But, basically I wanted to get this technology out to as many people as possible and just empower everyone with flexible AI. I think it was the right decision.” Shazeer said the company would have needed to release the chatbot they were working on to a wide audience for him to consider staying. “It just felt like Google was not going to be very comfortable launching something that could say anything, and that you really had to be a startup to launch something like that,” he said.



The pair founded Character.AI in November 2021, a year before public appetite for AI swelled when OpenAI released ChatGPT. Google unveiled Bard this past February. Still, Character.AI has continued to carve a niche for itself. The vast majority of the startup’s bots have been created by its user base, who can upload examples of what they want the character to say and give the model feedback to help it improve, Shazeer said in the interview this month.



Startup challengers Replika and Chai have emerged, but the space remained devoid of Big Tech challengers until Zuckerberg’s announcement last month. But Shazeer claims to be unfazed by these competitors. “We’re competing against the $2 trillion industry of legacy entertainment” — say, games, books and movies — “because people want a lot of the same things like fun, the social experience and interesting content. Those things are identical regardless of whether more companies are noticing our space,” he said.



Enter the group chat. Shazeer acknowledged that Character.AI has kinks to work out in the new feature to improve its usability, such as expanding its context window so that the AI can appear to remember longer durations of the conversation. “Right now the system is operating just based on a context window of a few thousand words, so characters are only reacting to whatever happened recently, which is highly suboptimal,” Shazeer said.



The bots also remain prone to “hallucinations” in which the AI outputs false information. After&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;asked the startup’s flagship bot Character Assistant how it was trained, the bot stated it had access to, among other things, customer service calls and transaction data from banks like Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Shazeer and De Freitas said this was incorrect and the bot had made up the answer.



Up to now, Character.AI’s chatbots have been built on the same foundational model that it trained in summer 2022 using 1,000 Nvidia A100 GPU chips. After its full order is fulfilled, the startup will be able to train new AI models on 40 times the amount of computing power as its current model, Shazeer said. All the compute access is being rented from Google Cloud and other cloud providers for now; Shazeer said Character.AI is considering eventually building its own GPU cluster, but has made no firm decisions.



Character.AI is betting that the new models will bring its technology closer to AGI, expanding the range of use cases beyond entertainment. For Shazeer, this is one reason he claims to not be worried about declining traffic. “Really I think AI is underhyped because the things that are going to be possible in the coming years are going to be really, really impressive compared to what’s possible now,” he said.



That goes for Character.AI’s group chats too. In time, he said, the bots in the group chat will be able to respond to human messages automatically. In the future, a fictional AI character could “just step in and say something that will bring you together with somebody,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a magical moment when that happens.”



Rashi Shrivastava contributed reporting.

Einstein And Musk Chatbots Are Driving Millions To Download Character.AI

Character.AI’s $200 Million Bet That Chatbots Are The Future Of Entertainment

At the age of 88, South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim’s music is as vital, creative and important as ever. The Germany-based composer, looking forward to the release of his latest album next year, shares more in this exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA.



A gentle breeze plays with fresh soft green leaves in the early morning hush, clear notes float in the air as the maestro moves his fingers over the keys, conjuring moods and emotions. No matter the time of day, Abdullah Ibrahim has the power to transport me from the mundane world to one of music and dreams.



He lives in a little village south of Munich in Germany these days, his base between performances on concert stages which for the next few months will be in Finland, Germany, various cities in the United States, Canada, and France.



“This is what we do best as musicians, to be on the road and take our music to the people because it is virtually impossible for everybody to come to where we are,” he says on a Zoom call, looking at his partner Marina Umari, who is a medical doctor. “So this is part of our synergy in life. We travel, we take concerts globally. Of course Marina is really the anchor. She does all the behind-the-scenes work and presentation until the time that I get on stage.”



Saxophone players can pick up their instruments and travel. It is a bit more complicated if your instrument is a Fazioli grand piano.



“It’s a beautiful instrument, because it is excellent to work with,” he explains. “It is actually top of the range. And so we have an agreement with Fazioli that wherever I play, they will provide a grand piano.”



Now, at the age of 88, Ibrahim’s music is as vital, creative and important as ever.



Throughout our interview, he refers to the masters who have helped form him, and who still form him.



For many others, he is the guru, the master of the keyboard and composition.



It was Duke Ellington, the famous pianist and jazz orchestra leader, who heard Ibrahim play in Paris, in 1963, along with his Dollar Brand Trio, and led him to a recording contract and invitations to perform at key European festivals, on television and on radio.



Ibrahim has not played a concert in his native South Africa in seven years, and he is looking forward to his next visit, which will be coordinated with the release of his latest album around January next year. It was recently recorded with the new trio at the Barbican in London.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thumbnail_L1030496-1024x535.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-59775" style="width:626px;height:327px" width="626" height="327" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thumbnail_L1030496-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thumbnail_L1030496-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thumbnail_L1030496-768x401.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thumbnail_L1030496.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px" /></figure></div>


They recorded about five hours of music and this has to be curated into an album, which will be a combination of original compositions and pieces dedicated to jazz greats Ellington, John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.



“This is our dedication to our masters and our mentors, wherever they are,” says Ibrahim.



Recently, he played at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg in Germany; a newspaper headline called the concert “a quiet prayer”. He says it is a remarkable venue, an intergrated music platform that offers a broad range of musical presentation. “It’s probably one of the most iconic music venues in the world that we are blessed to have.”



Although his latest tour is around Europe and North America, Ibrahim is no stranger to African shores. “Mozambique is very special, because of the interconnected legacy we have. Swaziland (now eSwatini) for example, I stayed there for about four or five years; in Senegal, I was resident for about three or four years. We had this excellent relationship that we established with the local culture and musicians. And of course with the drum culture. There was a drummer, Doudou N’Diaye Rose, and he had a drum choir of about 100 people, if not more – men and women.” Some years ago, Ibrahim took his New York band Ekaya to visit the Northern Cape province in South Africa and meet about 20 traditional local family groups. 



“In Africa, the music legacy is passed on through families. We were there for about two days and these musicians from New York, they have masters’ degrees from Berkeley and such, and even today they still and such, and even today they still talk about it because they were totally blown away by the complexity of the music.



“Our traditional music is very, very complex compared, for example, to western music. Many people won’t agree with us of course, but that is the absolute truth. One of the things we implore our educators to do is to focus on African traditional music, because of its complexity and to integrate it into our education system.”



Having started piano lessons at the age of seven, and making his professional debut when he was 15, growing up in apartheid-era Cape Town, South Africa, Ibrahim was about 16 or 17 years old when he studied Indian music, the ragas (melodic elements) and talas (rhythmic structure).



“A lot of jazz musicians also gravitated towards that rhythmic and modal concept, because in Africa, all the music is modal and rhythmic, and there is a link.”



He believes that young Indian children grow up with complex music, which can then be translated into an understanding of mathematics, which in turn could have influenced the information technology boom in India. The same could be said of the education system in Japan, where young children are exposed to the complexities of tradition.



His Green Kalahari Project in South Africa makes a focus on traditional music implicit as a springboard to get into technology. When you deal with rhythm, he says, you deal with mathematics.



I ask him whether the appeal of jazz speaks to a niche audience and how diverse his audiences may be. He laughs and replies that he had once asked Ellington what his understanding was of jazz, to which Ellington replied: “Jazz, now let me see, we haven’t used that word since 1947.”



“If I had written a composition and dedicated it to my grandmother and she found out it was jazz, she would be very disappointed. So, this term that they affix to the music – all of us, we never called ourselves jazz musicians. It is a divisive mechanism and almost elitist because the roots of the music has always been community-based.”



It was the slave trade that took African tradition to the US. “This idea of improvisation is also a very basic method of



survival and of understanding. We have lost this footprint of improvisation, so we depend on playing safe. Because when you improvise you go into an area that you haven’t been before. So it’s very scary. So, I play a concert with a philharmonic orchestra, there are 90 musicians, and I say ‘Does anyone want to take a solo’? And they say ‘No’. Why not? ‘Well, we’re afraid’. Afraid of what? ‘Afraid of making a mistake’.



“From my understanding, there is no such thing as a mistake. Something occurs in life that you have to deal with and you have to find a resolution. So this is how we think of the music – like Thelonious Monk said ‘The piano ain’t got no wrong notes’.”



The term ‘jazz’ is a strange, strange concept, Ibrahim says. “Our audiences all over the world are not necessarily jazz audiences.



Breath and life is a gift for everybody regardless. We just know that we learn from our masses. Theyare unsung. They prefer to remain anonymous. So we learn from them what this is all about and how we should conduct ourselves. What shall we do with this gift God gave us? We invest in loss. That means we don’t expect anything in return. So this is what we present to the audience when we play the music.”



It takes a long time to achieve this, he explains.



“It is about more than music. It is about how I can be a better human being. And how I can dedicate my life to those close to me and to the community,” Ibrahim says.



There is deep sincerity in every note of his music. It is mesmerizing. Whether you listen to it in solitude on a gentle spring morning or by a night fire in winter. Or in a large concert hall anywhere in the world. Abdullah Ibrahim speaks to the soul.

thumbnail_L1050192

The South African Music Maestro In Munich

An in-depth look at investment in some of the continent’s most promising entertainment industries reveals areas of growth, challenges and what the future might hold.



Africa’s heartbeat is in rhythm with the passion, culture and creativity of its people. On a continent of 1.4 billion people according to estimates by the United Nations (UN), there are effectively 1.4 billion stories to tell, each one unique and brimming with potential.



The question is: what is the narrative, and who is telling the story? 



Africa’s prospects in creative industries like art, fashion, film and television, crafts and architecture, among others, are well-documented. An oft-quoted fact comes from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 2021 report African Film: A Booming Industry. It illustrates the potential in the film and audio-visual industries, which could result in generated revenue of $20 billion per year.



Speaking on the outlook for entertainment and media in Africa over the next few years, Charles Stuart, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) South Africa’s Entertainment and Media Partner, says to FORBES AFRICA:



“We look at consumer spend in terms of what’s covered from a cinema perspective. [It] is growing; it’s just taking longer to recover to where it initially was. Is cinema dead? No, we are not seeing that.”



But where is investment for this forecasted to come from? With the growth of video-on-demand (VOD) and over-the-top (OTT) services, and a burgeoning appetite for authentically African media and content, venture capital (VC) is poised to be at the forefront of development on the continent, for film and television in particular.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center" id="h-show-me-the-money-jerry-maguire-1996">“Show Me The Money” (Jerry Maguire, 1996)</h4>



The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) indicates that 58 private capital investments, with a total reported value of $346 million, were recorded in Africa’s creative industries over the last decade (2012-2022).



“Starting from a low base of only four investments in 2012, private capital investments in Africa’s creative industries more than tripled, reaching a total of 13 in 2022,” says AVCA.



Notably, VC investments attracted the largest share of these. They accounted for about 67% of the total number over the 2012-2022 period, followed by private equity investments at 33%.



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:36% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="429" height="522" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-59059 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-1.png 429w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-1-247x300.png 247w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“WE LOOK AT CONSUMER SPEND IN TERMS OF WHAT’S COVERED FROM A CINEMA PERSPECTIVE. [IT] IS GROWING…
<cite>Charles Stuart, Entertainment and Media Partner, PwC South Africa</cite></blockquote>
</div></div>



“These investments spanned various sectors, including the development of online gaming platforms, music and video streaming developers, operators of music websites, live broadcasting, film streaming platforms, providers of advertising and marketing services, and clothing designers, among others,” says AVCA.



Jeff Schlapinski, Managing Director, Research, at non-profit, independent membership organization, Global Private Capital Association (GPCA), echoes these sentiments. 



“Africa’s VC investments in media and entertainment companies reached $31.2 million across six rounds in 2022, a new record in terms of deal value.”



However, Schlapinski notes that investments into this sector have, historically, represented a very small percentage of investment activity in Africa’s venture ecosystem (~1% of the $2.75 billion invested in VC in Africa in 2022, according to GPCA).



“The significant growth of the venture capital asset class in recent years, along with the increased allocation of capital towards technology or technology-enabled businesses, has contributed to the growth of investments in this sector as well,” says AVCA.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">Economies In The Spotlight</h4>



According to AVCA, the increase in the number of investments in Africa’s creative industries strongly indicates investors’ increasing interest and recognition of the sector’s potential. A handful of countries attracted the biggest chunk of that investment over the 10-year period (2012-2022).



“In terms of their geographic distribution, South Africa has attracted the largest share of private capital investments in Africa’s creative industries at 24%.” Following South Africa is Egypt, accounting for 14% of these investments. The country has also emerged as a significant technology hub on the continent in recent years.



“Nigeria and Kenya, two of Africa’s largest private capital markets, have each accounted for 10% of these investments,” says AVCA. Speaking on 2022, in particular, Schlapinski notes that the markets that led VC investments in media and entertainment – in terms of deal value – were South Africa with $22.5 million, Nigeria with $5.7 million and Egypt at $2 million.



They represent three of the four most active countries for overall VC investment with Kenya rounding off the top four.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">The Redefinition Of Main ‘Stream’</h4>



Regarding three of sub-Saharan Africa’s emerging economies, namely South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, streaming service, Netflix, released its Socio-Economic Impact Report earlier this year, where it reveals its impact since entering the market.



Over the 2016–2022 period, it invested $175 million in content and in the overall creative environment in these countries specifically.



South Africa received the bulk of this investment, accounting for at least $125 million. In addition to that, over the same period, it invested in upwards of 425 licensed titles in these economies, further opening up the market to a host of proudly African films and television series.



Expanding on PwC’s outlook for Africa, Stuart says that success for OTTs necessitates an understanding of the type of content you put out there.



“You can have a wonderful distribution platform [but] if you’ve got nothing good to show – which is part of cinemas’ challenges over the last while; some of those big titles and also the lack of big titles has worn out in terms of what we’re seeing.”



He emphasizes the fact that content is always going to be king.



“Coming back to Africa, the culture and the richness and the heritage that we have, if you drive around, you’ve got Shaka [iLembe], there’s Rosemary’s Hitlist (both documentary series) advertised on billboards. You’re seeing the importance of local content to the success of your streaming platforms. Initially, when a Netflix entered Africa, it didn’t do really well. All it was doing is, ‘here’s the international content’. People were familiar with it but we like our African stories as well,” says Stuart.



With streaming platforms, the cost base is mostly fixed, so, in reality, he says that it’s the subscriber base that drives the growth.



“How do you really translate things into profit? It’s getting more people to subscribe to your service. What they were lacking a lot in the early days was this local content – that really resonated with it. What many of the streamers have learned is that it is about finding that balance between your international content, supplemented with your local content. When you look at a lot of the communication coming out of Apple, Netflix, Amazon, there’s continued communication around the fact that they are investing in local content.”



Stuart adds, “There’s still opportunity for your local players but it’s not an easy industry. For every bit of content that ends up on Netflix, there’s probably 10 pieces of content that doesn’t end up on Netflix.”



<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">A Continent Up For The Challenge</h4>



The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) recently took an in-depth look at the continent’s Culture and Creative Industries (CCIs) in its African Trade Report 2022: Leveraging the Power of Culture and Creative Industries for Accelerated Structural Transformation in the AfCFTA Era.



It noted that some of the obstacles hindering the growth of CCIs include policy frameworks, finance, infrastructure, intellectual property rights, standards and norms in the area of cross-border trade, accurate data, language barriers, colonial legacy and an extroverted model.



Furthermore, it states that “a positive outcome of the pandemic has been the necessitated shift to digital solutions and online streaming, which has helped boost the performance and resilience of creative industries underpinned by digital models and platforms”.



While Africa does have its fair share of challenges, PwC’s Africa outlook for 2023-2027, which is expected to be released in September, sheds light on infrastructure investments, particularly in the telco space, which has a fundamental impact on streaming platforms, data consumption, and the growth of mobile gaming on the continent.



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:39% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="333" height="420" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-59060 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-2.jpg 333w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/venture-capital-2-238x300.jpg 238w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“AFRICA’S VC INVESTMENTS IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES REACHED $31.2 MILLION ACROSS SIX ROUNDS IN 2022, A NEW RECORD IN TERMS OF DEAL VALUE.”
<cite>—Jeff Schlapinski, Managing Director, Research, GPCA</cite></blockquote>
</div></div>



“For the first time, in this year’s entertainment and media outlook, there’s a telco outlook that has gone with it. One of the aspects that has been covered as part of that telco outlook this year is telco capex spend – how much are the telcos actually looking to spend from a capex perspective in the various markets,” says Stuart.



A glance at the numbers in the assurance, tax and advisory services provider’s Perspectives from the Global Entertainment &amp; Media Outlook 2023–2027: Resetting expectations, refocusing inward and recharging growth for the three aforementioned sub-Saharan African regions seems to indicate an appetite for investment. This includes the convergence of the creative and technology industries.



“When we look at capex spend – and there is some further breakdown in terms of broadband, mobile broadband – in Kenya in 2022, there was $470 million worth of spend in the capex space and that’s going to grow each year at around 2.2%. By 2027, telcos are forecast to be spending around $520 million on their capex infrastructure in Kenya. The vast majority of that – about 85% – is going to be in the mobile space. That probably comes as no surprise given the strong mobile- first characteristics that the market has.”



Stuart adds: “Nigeria is going to be spending more than three times that, so almost $2 billion by 2027. There is a lot of investment in Nigeria. You’ve got your big players – Glo, MTN – they’ve been spending in terms of upgrading the network. They’re already sitting at about



$1.8 billion and it’s going to be a bit above and below that over the forecast period; fairly consistent with that level. Again, the vast majority of that is sitting in the mobile space. South Africa is spending $1.6 billion and that’s actually going to drop a little bit over the forecast period. It makes sense in a way because a lot of the 5G stuff is already in progress. There’s a lot of spend happening at the moment but over time, that does mean it will slow down.”



Data consumption is expected to continue its increase, leaving telcos with solutions to find from an economic and infrastructure perspective. “The challenge that telcos and, particularly, the content providers have is the monetization of that because [it’s] very expensive to upgrade this. There’s obviously downward pressure on data prices but money needed to be spent to upgrade the infrastructure to cater for the increasingly data-heavy world that we live in.



About 80% of data consumption is sitting in the video space, and there are various other categories around communications, music etc. Does it mean that people are watching more than listening to music? Not necessarily. Video [is] just much more heavy from a data usage perspective,” says Stuart.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">African, Tech Savvy &amp; Proud</h4>



Another notable point in the report is the impact of the continent’s youth on the growth of the mobile gaming sector.



“The fastest growing segment of video games we’re seeing is in what we call casual and social gaming. That’s your Candy Crush, it’s mobile games that people either play on a free-to-play model or ‘freemium’ where it’s free to start but then you might start paying for things down the line. A lot of that is also funded potentially through advertising that appears in those games so that’s where a lot of that growth is coming from,” says Stuart.



These developments have also opened up an emerging avenue in the cinema space and he adds that this could create opportunities in emerging economies that are primarily tech and mobile-focused.



“Video games are seen as one of the access points to the youth. [They] engage in it and we’re seeing things expanding. During Covid, the Fortnite platform, which people access from a video games’ perspective was used to host music concerts – Travis [Scott], I think, was who appeared on the Fortnite platform and had thousands and thousands of people watching his show, whereas you previously wouldn’t have seen it. There’s a bit of multi- functionality within the video games space.



“What we are seeing in the cinema space is interesting. We’ve always had, traditionally, other sorts of areas like Lego, and then you’ve got Lego: The Movie. We are now starting to see video games that have movie titles and movie franchises attached to them. Why? Because you’ve got this audience that’s already engaged with your content in the video games space and how do you try and stay engaged with them but in a different media format? It could be a series on OTT or it could be an actual big screen film. Maybe that’s some sort of element of opportunity within Kenya and Nigeria – as video games continues to grow, that could help to spur some growth as that content is repackaged into the cinema space,” Stuart concludes.

singer on stage with crowd reaching for him

Where Does Venture Capital Feature In Africa’s Entertainment Sector?

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ song “Unholy” earned the top spot on the&nbsp;Billboard&nbsp;Hot 100 on Monday after three weeks in the top ten, making them the first nonbinary and transgender artists, respectively, to rank No. 1 on the singles chart.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



In the week ending October 20, “Unholy” received 25.3 million streams, 21.5 million radio airplay impressions and 19,000 downloads.&nbsp;



The song is the first No. 1 of either Smith’s or Petras’ careers, though Smith has been behind popular hits like “Stay With Me,” “I’m Not The Only One” and “Dancing With A Stranger.”&nbsp;



The song was released September 22 and debuted at No. 3 on the Hot 100, before ranking at No. 2 for the last two weeks.



“Unholy” has spent four weeks at No. 1 on the U.K. Official Charts, and four weeks as the top song on Spotify’s weekly global Top Songs chart.&nbsp;



Like many recent chart hits, “Unholy” is popular on TikTok, where over a million videos have been made to it.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



With the release of the album&nbsp;It’s Only Me, rapper Lil Baby became the third artist in history to chart at least 25 songs on the Hot 100 simultaneously, following Drake, who in 2017 charted 27, and Taylor Swift, who charted 26 last year.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT TO WATCH FOR&nbsp;</h2>



Swift’s new album&nbsp;Midnights&nbsp;was released Friday and became the most-streamed album on Spotify in a day. The work is largely expected to dominate next week’s chart.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BILLBOARD HOT 100 TOP 10 SINGLES</h2>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>“Unholy,” Sam Smith and Kim Petras&nbsp;</li><li>“Bad Habit,” Steve Lacy</li><li>“As It Was,” Harry Styles</li><li>“California Breeze,” Lil Baby</li><li>“I Like You (A Happier Song),” Post Malone feat. Doja Cat</li><li>“I Ain’t Worried,” One Republic&nbsp;</li><li>“You Proof,” Morgan Wallen</li><li>“Forever,” Lil Baby feat. Fridayy</li><li>“Super Freaky Girl,” Nicki Minaj&nbsp;</li><li>“Real Spill,” Lil Baby</li></ol>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BILLBOARD 200 TOP FIVE ALBUMS</h2>



<ol class="wp-block-list"><li>It’s Only Me, Lil Baby</li><li>Un Verano Sin Ti, Bad Bunny&nbsp;</li><li>Return of the Dream Canteen, Red Hot Chili Peppers&nbsp;</li><li>Dangerous: The Double Album,&nbsp;Morgan Wallen&nbsp;</li><li>The Highlights,&nbsp;The Weeknd&nbsp;</li></ol>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Smith’s debut album,&nbsp;In The Lonely Hour, was released in 2014. They have been nominated for six Grammys and have won four. Last week, Smith announced their fourth studio album&nbsp;Gloria&nbsp;will be released on January 27. Smith came out as nonbinary in 2019. Petras was born in Germany and appeared on talk shows when she was young to talk about her transgender identity. She started releasing music in 2008 and released her debut album,&nbsp;Clarity, in 2019.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/10/03/steve-lacys-bad-habit-ends-harry-styles-record-breaking-no-1-run-for-now/?sh=57d9e04d280a">Steve Lacy’s ‘Bad Habit’ Ends Harry Styles Record-Breaking No. 1 Run—For Now</a>



(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/09/26/harry-styles-parade-of-success-continues-with-a-record-breaking-week-on-billboard-chart/?sh=535bfc033714">Harry Styles’ Parade Of Success Continues With A Record-Breaking Week On Billboard Chart</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/09/19/tiktok-spurs-steve-lacys-bad-habit-toward-no-1-spot-on-billboard-charts-but-can-he-top-harry-styles/?sh=26754a1d1977">TikTok Spurs Steve Lacy’s ‘Bad Habit’ Toward No. 1 Spot On Billboard Charts—But Can He Top Harry Styles?</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff

2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Night 1 – Show

Sam Smith And Kim Petras Become First Openly Nonbinary And Trans Artists To Reach Billboard’s No. 1

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“But the business side, you have to learn about it…..we’re not born with that knowledge, you need to learn it.&#8221; <cite>Tiwa Savage, Award-Winning Nigerian singer</cite></blockquote>

Quote 1

Quote Of The Day

With&nbsp;F9&nbsp;racing past $500 million worldwide and likely looking at an over/under $160 million domestic cume, it would appear that the&nbsp;Fast &amp; Furious&nbsp;sequel is the latest big tentpole (alongside&nbsp;Godzilla Vs. Kong&nbsp;and&nbsp;A Quiet Place part II) to perform about as well as it might have in a non-Covid environment. It’s not an exact match, mind you, as maybe&nbsp;Godzilla Vs. Kong&nbsp;might have earned $115 million (just above&nbsp;Godzilla: King of the Monsters) while&nbsp;Quiet Place 2&nbsp;would have neared the $188 million cume of&nbsp;A Quiet Place, but it’s close enough that we can argue that&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;might be in a position to be “judged” on non-Covid standards as it opens this weekend.



So, had it opened in May of 2020 sans a global pandemic as expected, what might we have expected to see? Well, the question is whether the Scarlett Johansson-led MCU prequel would have performed like&nbsp;Doctor Strange&nbsp;or&nbsp;Thor: Ragnarok. Consider this a truncated “pessimistic” and “optimistic” box office preview, the kind of thing I used to do with multiple posts three months out from a big movie’s theatrical release. Anyway, the “pessimistic” look would argue that&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;was a prequel set between&nbsp;Civil War&nbsp;and&nbsp;Infinity War&nbsp;featuring a single non-superpowered Avenger who had died in&nbsp;Endgame. Black Widow should have gotten a solo flick years ago, like maybe during the summer of 2017 between&nbsp;Civil War&nbsp;and&nbsp;Infinity War.



That past-due status and Natasha having already sacrificed herself mars the “event movie” nature of this MCU actioner. Ditto the Kate Shortland-directed movie being the MCU film with a solo female director after Patty Jenkins’&nbsp;Wonder Woman,&nbsp;Patty Jenkins’&nbsp;Wonder Woman 1984&nbsp;and Cathy Yan’s&nbsp;Birds of Prey&nbsp;(plus Lexi Alexander’s&nbsp;Punisher War Zone&nbsp;from a pre-MCU era). With no forward narrative momentum and its existence as essentially unfinished business before Phase Four kicks into gear, the MCU brand would do more heavy lifting than usual. Under this scenario, I’d argue an opening weekend between $75 million (Ant-Man and the Wasp) and $88 million (Doctor Strange) and a likely over/under $200 million cume (taking the Disney+ variable into account) for&nbsp;Black Widow.



Conversely, maybe Marvel is Marvel come hell or high water. Black Widow is one of the original Avengers, and her&nbsp;Endgame&nbsp;death may make this more of a curtain call as opposed to what otherwise might have been a palette cleanser between the third&nbsp;Captain America&nbsp;and the third&nbsp;Avengers&nbsp;movie. She may not be as globally popular as Spider-Man or Iron Man, but Black Widow isn’t some newbie being introduced with a conventional origin story. Even absent similar hype levels as&nbsp;Captain Marvel&nbsp;or&nbsp;Black Panther,&nbsp;it would still be the first biggie of the summer back in 2020. That slot which hasn’t yielded an under (inflation-adjusted) opener under $100 million since the first&nbsp;Thor&nbsp;($65 million in 2011/$75 million adjusted).



Under this “Marvel is Marvel, Black Widow is still popular and Scarlett Johansson is still a star” scenario, yeah, an opening on par with&nbsp;Thor: Ragnarok&nbsp;($123 million in 2017 for an eventual $335 million domestic/$854 million worldwide cume) or&nbsp;Spider-Man: Homecoming&nbsp;($116 million/$334 million/$881 million) would be likely. As the first biggie of summer (which can be frontloaded for Marvel… see&nbsp;Civil War&nbsp;and&nbsp;Iron Man 3), we might have expected an over/under $300 million domestic finish. And that would have been just fine for this “stand alone” offering, especially presuming conventional 35/65 domestic/overseas split for a $800 million-plus finish. Heck,&nbsp;Ant-Man 2&nbsp;($216 million domestic and $620 million worldwide)and&nbsp;Doctor Strange&nbsp;($238 million/$677 million)-level grosses would be/will be okay too provided folks like the movie.



So, looking at a Covid curve, and the film being available to lease on Disney+ for $30, we’re still likely looking at a domestic debut between $80 million and $110 million this weekend. It’s possible that the film might have played like&nbsp;Thor 3&nbsp;but will now have to “settle” for playing like&nbsp;Ant-Man 2&nbsp;due to “the current normal,” but I’d argue the above-noted triumphs mean that&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;doesn’t have to be graded on that heavy a Covid curve. Whatever&nbsp;Black Widow&nbsp;would have earned domestically in May 2020 (sans Covid but amid a crowded marketplace) may be close to what it earns in July of 2021 (with Covid but seemingly unopposed), give or take repeat business, strong mid-July competition and/or Disney+.



Will Black Widow be the first $100 million-plus domestic opener since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December of 2019? Will it be the first $200 million-plus domestic grosser since Bad Boys for Life in January of 2020? Back in early 2020, I presumed that F9 would be the year’s biggest global grosser (obviously sans Chinese mega-movies at the time) with Black Widow neck-and-neck worldwide with likely domestic champion Wonder Woman 1984. Now, in mid-2020, I’m guessing F9 will rule the summer (among Hollywood flicks) while Spider-Man: No Way Home has the best shot at ruling the year and being the next $1 billion grosser. As for where Black Widow fits into the great (and slow) theatrical recovery of 2021, well, watch this space.



By Scott Mendelson, Forbes Staff

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‘Black Widow’: Pessimistic And Optimistic Box Office Preview

With the social scene slowly crawling back to some semblance of normalcy, entrepreneur Bukky George-Taylor is cashing in with an app for customers keen on curated events and experiences in Nigeria.



If there is one person who knows what is hot and trendy in Africa’s biggest economy and most populous country, it is Bukky George-Taylor.



As the CEO and Founder of Robert Taylor Media Ltd., a boutique communications and events company based in Lagos, Nigeria, she is the force behind some of the biggest brand activations and campaigns in the country as well as providing representation for global brands looking to penetrate the African market. 



And her latest creation, a mobile app named CRAWL Africa, launched in Lagos in March, seems to address the need to adapt to a new social life in ‘a new normal’. She calls it Africa’s first social calendar app on a mission to revolutionize social experiences in Africa by presenting a collection of curated experiences for the discerning and upwardly-mobile African consumer.



“Finding information on where to go or contacting establishments in Nigeria and across Africa can be a chore. With no access to 411 or yellow pages in Africa, CRAWL provides you with all the accurate contact information to contact businesses and to tour your city,” says George-Taylor about the new app, which currently has over 100 businesses listed.



With a degree in African-American history from the University of Massachusetts in the United States, George-Taylor has built a firm that services the corporate, entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, beauty and health sectors. This has always ensured her access to the hottest events and happenings in Nigeria.



But why choose to launch an app when the retail and hospitality sector is still recovering from the effects of a raging pandemic?



“The app launched because our city [Lagos] started to open back up with restaurants and smaller events. One of the major reasons was because of travel restrictions; the app was birthed to promote tourism and encourage people to start exploring their own cities.



“The app also enables CRAWLers to save their favorite locations or experiences for future references with a single tap while making suggestions to users based on the preferences they select,&nbsp;such as budget, location, and more.”&nbsp;



As Nigeria’s social scene gradually reopens, the events listings will be reflected on the app. George-Taylor is now also looking at other cities in sub-Saharan Africa such as Accra, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Cape Town in which to launch CRAWL Africa.

5A6A8883 1 (1)

Want To Party In The New Normal? This Could Be How

From Hollywood exports and Grammy artists to award-winning ideas that can save the world, Africa is not only diverse in its people but also in its industries and creativity. For FORBES AFRICA hundredth issue (since the magazine’s inception in 2011), we decided to curate a list celebrating these very ideas, inventions, and influential role models that have spelled Africa’s growth over the last decade.



Having been in the film industry for over 30 years, award-winning South African actor Connie Ferguson is on the list for her impact as an actor, producer, and filmmaker. In 2018, she also graced the cover of FORBES WOMAN AFRICA. She talks to FORBES AFRICA about being included on the icons list.



Correct us if we are wrong but you have had almost 30 years in the acting industry and you have been hugely successful-what/who do you owe your success to?&nbsp; I’ve been in the industry for 31 years now and literally grew up in it and with it! I owe my success to simple perseverance, hard work and never taking anything for granted! Faith and prayer have also been a big part of it! And the people who have believed in me and cheered me on along the way, especially my family, are the reason I never gave up even when times were hard.



 What have been some of your highlights as both an actress and businesswoman?&nbsp; My highlights as an actress are definitely my time at Generations, a show that allowed me the opportunity to build my personal brand, my role as Mavis in Rockville, our debut show as executive producers, and my current role of Harriet Khoza on The Queen. Although the different awards received over the years are humbling and appreciated, the loyal fans and viewers that diligently follow and appreciate my work, are who make it all worthwhile.&nbsp; As a business woman, being the first SA TV personality to launch a perfume in 2008, and a body care range Connie Body Lotion and Connie Men in 2015. Winning the Shoprite Supplier Of The Year Award in 2015 was the cherry on top.&nbsp; Ferguson Films, a production company I own and run with my husband Shona, is also not only a highlight but the biggest blessing! We are able to create work for a hundred plus in a very tough economic climate. All our shows have performed exceedingly well, and we are truly grateful to the people who follow and enjoy our work. They inspire us to keep the creative juices flowing.



 In your opinion what do you think makes an icon?&nbsp; Someone that is not only aspirational but inspirational, that is memorable and leaves a mark wherever they go. 



Can you comment on us at FORBES AFRICA considering you an icon.  I appreciate the honor. I didn’t set out to become an icon. I let my work speak for itself and endeavor to empower and touch as many lives as I can positively. The titles and accolades that come with that are a bonus!



<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2021/04/01/the-100th-issue-100-innovations-inventions-icons-from-africa/">For more on the 100 Innovations, Inventions &amp; Icons From Africa (Forbes Africa)</a>



Get the best of Forbes Africa sent straight to your inbox with the latest insights and inspiration from experts across the continent.&nbsp;<a href="http://eepurl.com/cAlInb">Sign up here.</a>

IMG-20180907-WA0012

‘Success is a choice! Rise and grind!’- says Connie Ferguson

The five top-earning Oscar nominated actors earned a combined $41 million over the past 12 months—less than half the $87.5 million the Rock made last year as the world’s highest-paid actor.



Make art or make money — that’s been the conundrum for A-list actors going back to the days of the first talkies. And unlike the tumult that has rocked the movie business in the past year, that is one Hollywood tradition that has remained entrenched and unmovable.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The five top-earning Oscar nominated actors this year made a combined $41 million over the past 12 months—less than half of the $87.5 million&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2020/08/11/the-highest-paid-actors-of-2020-dwayne-johnson-ryan-reynolds/?sh=2daa50ec112b">the highest-paid actor</a>&nbsp;Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) earned last year. Only one of them, Viola Davis, made last year’s lists of top-earning actors or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2020/10/02/the-highest-paid-actresses-2020-small-screen-stars-like-sofia-vergara-ellen-pompeo-and-elisabeth-moss-shine/">actresses</a>, and it was thanks to her television role on&nbsp;How To Get Away With Murder, not her nominated starturn in&nbsp;Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.



“In a world where accomplished performers have decent choices, the material and the talented director often mean more than the money,” says Ken Ziffren, a partner at leading entertainment law firm Ziffren Brittenham. “To get nominated, even though they may not win, by SAG or for the Oscars, can also materially improve economics in the future.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The top-earning Oscar contender, Sacha Baron Cohen, illustrates the dichotomy between the popular and the films deemed award-worthy. He is nominated for two Academy Awards on Sunday night: One for his role as political activist Abbie Hoffman in the drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, andthe other for writing the adapted screenplay for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a sequel to the hit 2006 comedy, Borat, which Amazon acquired for $80 million. 



The statuettes he’s up for may look the same, but the money he made doing the two films couldn’t be more different: He earned about $20 million for&nbsp;Borat —&nbsp;twenty times the $1 million he received for&nbsp;Trial.&nbsp;The yawning pay discrepancy illustrates the choice that industry players have had to make for decades: do a big-budget blockbuster for fat cash or a prestige film for acclaim and, less cynically, the love of the craft. In rare cases, as with&nbsp;Borat, the two can overlap, but more often than not, the performers vying for an Oscar aren’t taking those roles for the money.



That said, an Oscar win is often the right mix of publicity and validation to help increase future earnings potential. Take Angelina Jolie, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2020/10/02/the-highest-paid-actresses-2020-small-screen-stars-like-sofia-vergara-ellen-pompeo-and-elisabeth-moss-shine/">the world’s second highest-paid actress</a>&nbsp;last year with $35.5 million in earnings. Prior to her Academy Award-winning performance in&nbsp;Girl, Interrupted, Jolie had mainly acted in independent films that failed to garner a wide audience—or big paychecks. Her supporting actress win in 1999 changed her fortunes: She landed the titular character in the 2001 video-game inspired adventure film&nbsp;Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.&nbsp;By 2004, she was commanding $10 million per role, plus backend, for big budget flicks, and that number has only gone up since.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates she received $20 million for her recent starturn in&nbsp;Maleficent 2.&nbsp;More recently, 20016 Oscar winner Brie Larson moved on from smaller budget fare to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain Marvel. Her first starturn as the superhero, 2019’s&nbsp;Captain Marvel, was the first female-led superhero film to gross over $1 billion at the box office.&nbsp;Forbes&nbsp;estimates she made more than $10 million in total for the film.&nbsp;



Here’s a look at this year’s Oscar paydays:



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-5-daniel-kaluuya-3-million">#5 | Daniel Kaluuya: $3 million</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50907" width="622" height="349" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1313212178-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px" /><figcaption> (Photo by GALECA.org/via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



After earning his first Oscar nomination in 2018 for starring in Get Out, Kaluuya is the favorite to win the award for best supporting actor this year for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. While he and co-star LaKeith Stanfield earned the same amount of money for their work on the project, Kaluuya collected an extra check for an XBox ad based on his Get Out role.



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-4-glenn-close-4-5-million">#4 | Glenn Close: $4.5 million</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50908" width="690" height="388" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1310835879-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px" /><figcaption>. (Photo by 27th Annual SAG Awards/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)</figcaption></figure></div>



While Hillbilly Elegy may have failed to be a critical favorite as Netflix hoped, one of the film’s stars, Glenn Close, still got her Oscar nomination. Fees for the eight-time Oscar nominee and her co-star Amy Adams likely commanded about 10% of the film’s $45 million budget. Indie flick Four Good Days also contributed to her payday.



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-3-chadwick-boseman-5-million">#3 | Chadwick Boseman: $5 million</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47417" width="741" height="494" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-915935210-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px" /><figcaption> (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney)</figcaption></figure></div>



The late star, who died in August 2020 from colon cancer at age 43, worked until his final days and was nominated for his portrayal of Levee, an ambitious horn player in Ma Rainney’s Black Bottom, which was released posthumously. A certified commercial star after his role as T’Challa in Black Panther, this is his first Academy Award nomination. Boseman also collected a check for a supporting role in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. 



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-2-viola-davis-7-million">#2 | Viola Davis: $7 million</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50909" width="661" height="371" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1311362100-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px" /><figcaption>. (Photo by AAFCA 2021 via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Davis can command top dollar for buzzy television roles—like that of Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder—and her L’Oreal campaign but takes smaller checks for passion projects. That said, after winning an Oscar in 2017 for her last role in another August Wilson adaptation, Fences, she was likely able to negotiate a raise for her nominated role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Forbes estimates her paycheck for that film to be $3 million. 



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-1-sacha-baron-cohen-22-million">#1 | Sacha Baron Cohen: $22 Million</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50910" width="717" height="403" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GettyImages-1312531620.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px" /><figcaption> (Photo by The Hollywood Reporter LLC via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Amazon reportedly shelled out more than $70 million for the mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and as the star, producer and writer, Baron Cohen got an impressive cut of the profits. For Aaron Sorkin’s highbrow drama about the trial of a group of Vietnam War protesters accused of inciting riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, meanwhile, “everyone worked for a fraction of what they are usually paid,” one top entertainment agent said.



METHODOLOGY: The earnings above are pretax and fees, and reflect all projects that have been released in the past 12 months. Earnings estimates are based on data from MRC Data, Box Office Mojo and IMDB, as well as interviews with industry insiders



By Madeline Berg, Forbes Staff



By Dawn Chmielewski, Forbes Staff

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The Highest-Paid Oscar Nominees 2021

An insatiable hunger for programming and digital technology has led to an explosion of Over-The-Top (OTT) channels. An African perspective.



By Paula Slier



Broadcasting in Africa has come a long way in the past 20 years. Before smartphones, wireless internet, small cameras and non-linear editing became mainstream, the industry relied on a somewhat messy fusion of then ground-breaking technology like satellite transmission and old-fashioned communication.



I remember working in television in Nairobi in 1998. The video editor and I were seated in front of the editing suite. At the far end of the corridor waited the cameraman; after him, the passageway turned sharply to the right and 12 meters further on stood the producer. Another sharp right turn, another corridor and in the distance was the satellite operator.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">According to Digital TV Research, at the end of last year, collective OTT revenues in Africa reached $392 million and are set to rise to $1.7 billion by 2026. The bulk of the market is, and will continue to be, Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) packages</blockquote>



“Now” shouted the video editor from some 40 meters away as he pressed play on the machine.



“Now” repeated the cameraman from his corner.



“Now” echoed the producer.



“Now” confirmed the satellite operator as he uplinked the video.



Fast-forward two decades and the industry has completely changed. The jobs of five people have amalgamated into one. Far from being the passive consumer of media, audiences are now producers and journalists in their own right.



“Gone are the days that the nuclear family would schedule time to watch something around the TV as a family unit,” says Christina Foley, Managing Director of United Kingdom-based Marvel Media Consultancy.&nbsp;



“Now you have an entire family watching different things in different rooms at the same time. We are digesting content in a very different way. We have a choice which gives us opportunity to watch when, how and what we want.”



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Christina-Foley.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50685" width="326" height="435" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Christina-Foley.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Christina-Foley-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px" /></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Now you have an entire family watching different things in different rooms at the same time. We are digesting content in a very different way. We have a choice which gives us an opportunity to watch when, how and what we want.” – Christina Foley, Managing Director of United Kingdom-based Marvel Media Consultancy</blockquote>



The result is an insatiable hunger for programming and digital technology. This has led to an explosion in the last few years of Over-The-Top (OTT) channels through which content is delivered via an internet connection rather than a traditional cable or broadcast provider.



According to Digital TV Research, at the end of last year, collective OTT revenues in Africa reached $392 million and are set to rise to&nbsp;$1.7 billion by 2026.&nbsp;The bulk of the market is, and will continue to be, Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) packages that allow users to consume as much content as they desire at a flat rate per month. Revenues from such services like Netflix and Disney+ will grow from a current $299 million to $1.5 billion in the next five years.



“Absolutely OTT is the future everywhere, not just Africa,” says Foley.



“News and entertainment will use OTT. A lot of the mobile companies like MTN and Cell C are putting together their own content packages so when they sign up new customers they can offer them this on top for a fee.”



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-50686" width="313" height="313" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann.jpg 800w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Dr-Amadeo-Rahmann-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px" /></figure></div>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“We believe that the growth of digital streaming services in Africa means that the continent is primed for the democratization of content.” – Dr Amadeo Rahmann</blockquote>



But the&nbsp;switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting has been delayed in many African countries because of low internet penetration rates –&nbsp;the continent has a total internet penetration level of just under 40% compared with penetration in the rest of the world at 63.2% – limited WiFi and the high cost of data.



Martin Brasg, a broadcast consultant who’s worked with clients across the continent for the past three decades, blames this on internal politics.



“Traditional broadcasters hold monopolies over internet services and are not willing to let go. In South Africa, for example, for years they’ve been putting the brakes on cheap internet. Until a few years ago, Telkom, the country’s biggest provider of communication services, was the only company that could install fiber broadband connection. This was until the second network operator Neotel came on board. Since then a number of fiber-to-the-home operators started being more prolific in South Africa, enabling more consumers to have broadband at home.”



The potential for Africa is huge. According to Internet World Stats in December 2019, more Africans (526 million) accessed the internet than North Americans. But whereas Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria are ahead of the curve and have taken advantage of good quality internet and a deregulated internet industry, other African countries are lagging behind. Several are listed among those with the lowest internet speed and yet the most expensive communication and internet costs in the world.



“Things in South Africa started to change around three-to-five years ago,” reflects Brasg.



“Consumers have also been moving away to free-to-air operators like OVHD (open view HD) that offer a library of TV shows, films and original programming.”



The lack, and theft, of infrastructure in Africa has also set up OTT to expand enormously over mobile networks, points out Joanne Raphael-Katz, Managing Director of South African-based Exceptional Rights. Katz has been delivering OTT and VOD content to mobile and TV customers for the past two decades.



“Consider that in South Africa there are approximately 14 million TV households but 53 million smartphones. This makes OTT via mobile a force to be reckoned with,” she says.



“Mobile is so accessible and payment is by time, making it ideal for the underbanked. Phones are upgrading and always improving – a smart phone with a rich media screen doesn’t have to be the latest iPhone or Samsung. There are plenty of devices to suit all brackets of income and allow for OTT via mobile.” Africa is on record as having the fastest growing mobile telecommunication market but when it comes to content via mobile there’s still a long way to go.



User-generated content – content created by people rather than brands – like TikTok have become popular overnight.



“Apps and concepts like this will always change and shape the world and how we use our mobile. The spectrum is being opened and auctioned and will change the amount of content we consume. Content providers can also now supply their channels to DSTV via IPTV [internet television] to their platform, doing away with expensive satellite expenses,” says Katz.



But inevitably as more players enter the OTT market, competition is growing.



Dubai-based mobile technology company, Mondia, is one of many penetrating the market. In the last three months, it launched its time-based entertainment platform, Monsooq, in South Africa and Nigeria. Utilizing time as currency, users can buy entertainment time just as they would mobile airtime and use it to consume any content they choose. At the moment, the platform offers over 20,000 hours of entertainment.



“We believe that the growth of digital streaming services in Africa means that the continent is primed for the democratization of content,” says CEO Dr Amadeo Rahmann.



“Covid-19 has had such a dramatic impact on economies globally, deeply affecting consumers’ disposable income. We believe this model will have huge appeal in emerging markets.”



With a population set to double to 2.5 billion over the next 30 years, Africa also offers a vast and growing youth demographic for broadcasters and content producers. As the world of entertainment continuously evolves, consumers too will benefit greatly, accessing information as rapidly as they want – on demand and on the go.

TV remote control in the foreground, Video on demand screen in the blurry background

The Three Letters Driving Entertainment

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IF YOU CAN SPARKLE IN THE entertainment world, chances are you can bring the same spirit to the boardroom as a CEO.



After 16 years in the music industry, Ntombezinhle Jiyane, popularly known as ‘DJ Zinhle’ and one of South Africa’s most-renowned deejays, is proving that right.



She has acquired equity in the international sparkling wine beverage, Boulevard Nectar Rosè, and has taken over as CEO.



In a recent interview with FORBES AFRICA, the artist, famous for her Umlilo music, spoke about how excited she is to be working with a brand she shares synergy with: “I love to celebrate, whether it’s at my house, whether it’s at a gig. Celebrations have also been



part of my life for the past 16 years as a DJ, and Boulevard fits perfectly into that. And I just thought I wanted to be part of people’s celebrations even more.”



With Covid-19, Zinhle has been forced to work from home like everyone else but says that this has not stopped her from putting in the long hours. Admitting that during the time of the lockdown, a great deal of adaption had to happen, Zinhle says she owes a lot of her success to her young and dynamic team who share the same values as her.



“Without my team, I don’t think I would have made it this far even with a lockdown in it; my biggest mission was to make sure that no one leaves the team, no one gets fired, no one is dismissed. Because now my team is so perfect, and they’re so dedicated.”



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Tag: Entertainment

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA