By: Envaalde Matheus
Namibia’s first dating reality TV show Kapana Spice rolled out on Monday on YouTube and TikTok.
The show was created by Laudika Hamutenya, who told Eagle FM that he saw a need to have enough local content for Namibian viewers to watch content they can relate to.
Hamutenya also said most Namibians would watch either South African or other African TV shows because it’s the closest content available.
“We chose to have our first episode released on Valentine’s Day because we believe it is the perfect day, on a romantic day because the show is about two people falling in love,” explains Hamutenya.
The episodes will be dropped on the Elegant Media TV channel on YouTube.
In the meantime, all promotional materials for the show will be dropped on other social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and Elegant Media’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.
“Every Friday, we will have a short portion dropped of what to expect on a fuller episode that drops on Mondays,” he said.
Following the first episode’s release, they will be dropping one episode every week for the next seven weeks.
Hamutenya said the first six episodes are all blind dates, but the last one will be different and unique, where a couple will get to ask each other questions to test how well they know each other.
“We were supposed to finish shooting the show last November, but because of Covid-19, we didn’t want to risk anyone’s life. That’s why we only finished mid-January and released our first episode now,” said Hamutenya.
Hamutenya said the shortage of equipment hindered the production.
“Unfortunately, we merely had three cameras, of which two focused on the people and the other for close-ups. It was a challenge to incorporate Kapana if we couldn’t show it. We needed two more cameras,” he stressed.
He said it becomes hard to produce content when the budget and resources are limited; thus, he urges stakeholders to invest in local talent because they have so much to offer. “There is a lot of people that want to tell stories. We have to be more positive about our very own content,” appeals Hamutenya.
Those participating in the show will be blindfolded when they meet each other. The blindfolds will only be removed once the cameras start rolling.
The strangers are expected to ask each other six questions to find love and try to find something they share in common. They will be given a spicy and chilly Kapana, and they will talk whilst their tongues are burning from the chilly.
Hamutenya said: “Our people want to watch content they can relate to. They want to watch people who look like them and speak almost as they do.
The more content we can make, the more we can keep our people entertained. Maybe we will be able to produce good enough shows to sell to other African countries and beyond one day.”
