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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent
Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), in its quest to offer high-quality television programming and give a wider reach in its storytelling prowess, has opened up more portals for content creation and distribution.

The station is rolling out auditions in Bulawayo for one of the most anticipated shows Zimbabwe will come across. The auditions are for a TV series which is being secretly launched as the audience is put in suspense.

Auditions are targeted at only fluent isiNdebele speakers aged between 25 and 60 years and will be held this coming Tuesday at Amakhosi Studios in Bulawayo.

Media personality, Tendai “Sokostina” Garwe who is the ZTN features director told Saturday Leisure that the forthcoming show is all about showing the greatness of the Matabeleland region.

She said: “We are bringing on the greatest, vibrant and out of the world show which is targeting only Ndebele-speaking people. It’ll be one of the station’s flagship shows.

“To qualify for the auditions, one has to be fluent in Ndebele and can be away for a full month to shoot a season. Auditions are on Tuesday at Amakhosi Theatre in Bulawayo.”

She said the series will be shot in Filabusi and will compete with Southern African big shows that include Generations.

“This is one of the biggest shows Zimbabwe will come across, we can assure the public. It’ll be set in Filabusi with the extras expected to come from the rural areas of Filabusi.

“It’s one of our flagship shows as ZTN as we roll out our programmes. This is something we can say will compete with the likes of Generations and Muvhango, just to mention a few,” she said.

Sokostina said the drama series’ cast will comprise the country’s crème de la crème of theatre.

“The production team is full of artists from all around Zimbabwe with exquisite skills in this line of work. We have big corporates already lining up to partner with ZTN on the drama series thus the nation should brace for well-packaged amazing programmes,” added Sokostina.

ZTN is one of the six television stations that were awarded national commercial free to air television licences by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in November last year. Other stations that were given the green light to operate are Rusununguko Media (Pvt) Ltd trading as NRTV, Jester Media trading as 3K TV, Acacia Media Group trading as Kumba TV, Fairtalk Communications trading as Ke Yona TV and Channel Dzimbahwe trading as Channel D. The six, according to BAZ will have 18 months to roll out operations. – @mthabisi_mthire