Local Drama Series, the Star Premieres
Spira Tlhankane | Monday April 12, 2021 16:53
Director of Isago Media and producer of the drama series, Godson Tshipietsile said The Star is a production by Touch studio and licenced by new IP content on demand Upic TV owned by BOFINET. “We shot The Star in two months, being the whole of November 2020 and January 2021. The drama started playing in February 2021 on Upic TV,” he said. He also said they invited experts who emphasized the need for them as creatives to come together and be hopeful that the dire situation the industry is facing will be over soon. “Being the producer I was a guy who looked at the script and found a way to put everything together. From casting to looking for directors. it was a whole experience from my part. We were shooting The Star during a time when COVID-19 was rampant so we had to adhere to protocols and make sure that everyone on set is safe. We were working after hours and used every time that we had,” he revealed.
He recalled how they halted the production after the festive holidays, because one the cast member was in isolation. Tshipietsile said those were the things they were not used to before COVID-19, because halting a production is a loss. “The Star is a Police drama more like CSI Miami and we make sure that it is as relatable as possible. But we couldn’t move around at night, because of curfew, so we had to tilt the story a bit and shoot in one location all night,” he said.
Tshipietsile further said the premiere just gave people the urge to go to the Upic TV platform and watch the available episodes. “It helps these platforms to know whether to renew the drama for another season or not,” he highlighted. Tshipietsile added that they had invited an actor from the United States of America (USA) called Scott Pharell who has since expressed interest to shoot an episode of his Netflix show in Botswana. “He was talking about content and specifically how much the streaming platform is spending every year to buy content,” he revealed.
He said in The Star they let their cast members own every role that they play. “We spent the whole day there and met a couple of fans and people who like what The Star is and what we are doing with The Star,” he concluded.