Of late, there has been a slew of adverts in newspapers, radio, posters advertising "auditions" for upcoming TV shows. It is wonderful to note that people are putting energy into progressing the momentum of art in Botswana. However, it is wholly disheartening that these same energies are on closer inspection, untoward and disingenuous.
My gripe is with television "producers" demanding that prospective artists/actors pay an audition fee (which is in many a case quite exorbitant-an average of P150). This practice is certainly unheard of in countries where the television industry is at an international standard. Also, it is highly unethical. We are yet to reach an acceptable level of professionalism and I see no way of that happening if we are to allow people that are possibly scam artists or maybe even well-intentioned arts supporters that have no film-making experience to proceed in this manner.
I would urge people that go to audition to strongly interrogate the process. Ask questions! It is your right.Find out where the money is going. What will it be used for? Is it necessary for you to pay to audition? Why have the producers not secured a budget for that process? Who has licensing rights for the production? When will the production be aired and where? What is the remuneration for actors? When does the show enter the production phase? All these are pertinent questions that people auditioning NEED to ask and SHOULD get satisfactory answers to. Otherwise save your P150 or P200 and only audition where it is free. Usually those are the productions that are genuine.
