19 Sep 2024

American award winning entertainer, businessman and philanthropist, Steve Harvey, has encouraged the youth to develop the creativeness in them. 

Speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing at the Mass Media Auditorium on the Botswana Ignite project, particularly Family Feud Botswana, Harvey advised the youth to desist from waiting on opportunities to be availed to them but rather go out and look for them. 

He said Botswana youth were lucky to have  free education, adding that they should use such opportunities to create  jobs for themselves. 

Given the name Mothusi by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, Harvey said his vision was to mentor and develop the Botswana creative sector. 

He said the Botswana Ignite project was a process, which aimed to ensure the creative sector’s sustainability. 

Harvey, whose main aim is developing and honing the creative youth’s skills, said more countries had started to show interest in filming their productions in Botswana.

 He said together with his stakeholders,  he was lobbying such countries’ productions companies to sign agreements to use Batswana as they needed jobs and opportunities to grow the local industry. 

And, with the Botswana Ignite project, the many interested production companies who want Botswana as their next stop for their projects will have a pool of young creative Batswana who have been fortunate to have been trained and exposed to the industry through the initiative. 

Furthermore, Harvey encouraged young filmmakers to invest in studios, which would eventually be available for international productions to film in Botswana, and also pay tax for using such studios. 

Updating the nation on the Family Feud Botswana show, Harvey said of the countries  including South Africa and Ghana, where he had also shot the game show, Botswana had given him the most excitement with intelligent participants. 

“Shooting has been fun y’all, however there was barrier in language and pronunciation of your Setswana names,” he chuckled as he pronounced some ‘hard’ sounds. 

He said Batswana would be proud of the show, which he said has humourous and smart intelligent Batswana. 

The 26 episodes, one-hour family show is currently being recorded in Johannesburg, with 52 families from Botswana. 

Already 12 episodes have been recorded, and Harvey said they were working on a special episode to be aired on Botswana Television, to tease the audience on what was coming on the Family Feud Botswana. 

The Botswana Ignite project is a three-year project and one of the key projects that will enable the achievement of the knowledge-based economy, which President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi is pushing for. 

The project was first announced in 2019 as a partnership with the Steve Harvey Global to allow and facilitate the creative industry especially in the video,  television and film industry in Botswana. 

The initiative has pillars of training and development, Television Academy, wildlife film school, mentorship and development as well as the Family Feud game show. 

It is currently at the end of the first batch of 20 film students who enrolled with the Television Academy, and the next group will follow shortly.

Also, the wildlife film school has commenced and trained the four courses this year whilst there has been a series of master classes offering various disciplines in the film space facilitated by internationally acclaimed instructors. 

“We are currently working with the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture to establish the Film Commission,” said Botswana Ignite coordinator, Duncan Irvine. Ends