By Our Reporter
Pearl Magic Prime has marked its first anniversary.
On Tuesday, MultiChoice Uganda held a red-carpet event at Mestil Hotel to celebrate this milestone. The ceremony was graced by actors, film producers and other players in the film industry.
In his remarks Hassan Saleh the MD, MultiChoice Uganda, revealed that, over the past year, Ugandans have welcomed film and content created locally and this support is evident with the growing number of viewers on the channel.
“This viewership goes to show that there is great demand for good Ugandan content, but also goes to show that the Ugandan market can produce great content.” Saleh said.
Pearl Magic Prime was launched in February 2021 shortly before the second lockdown was reinstated in the country. This implied that the film makers had a great task ahead especially with ensuring that content remained readily available for viewers who now had a lot of time to watch TV.
Saleh however noted that these film makers exhibited resilience throughout these challenging times. “Despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, our content creators were steadfast in delivering on their commitments.”
The vetting of content by MultiChoice has also pushed the film makers to produce and deliver quality content evidenced by the awards and accolades the shows aired on the channel have received overtime.
Saleh also revealed that the channel has commissioned and broadcasted over 800 episodes of Ugandan content including reality shows, documentaries, dramas and series.
“Heavily sought after shows like Prestige and Sanyu have aired over 200 episodes with both shows running their second seasons as we speak. Both shows have earned a variety of accolades in Ugandan awards. Sanyu has international recognition for its quality of production with a 9.6/10 rating on the International Movie Database (IMDb).” Saleh said.
In attendance of the anniversary celebration was Eng Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo, the Executive Director, Uganda Communications Commission recognized the contribution of MultiChoice Uganda towards the film industry.
“UCC has had a long-standing relationship with MultiChoice Uganda, witnessing their growth over the years in terms of launching more channels, creating learning opportunities for the young talents through their MultiChoice Talent Factory initiative, amongst other developments. The investments put into the growth and visibility of Ugandan stories across Africa have made you a brand to be immensely proud of. Well done!”
The celebration culminated with a performance from soulful singer, Kenneth Mugabi who delivered a live performance of some his popular songs like Nkwegomba and Naki among others.
