Heritage

Writers’ Guild creates platform to showcase and grow talent

Guild-UbuniScriptwritingW

Keith Kinambuga Ndenga (standing) speaks during a Writers Guild Ubuni Scriptwriting Workshop. PHOTO|MARGARETTA WA GACHERU

The Kenya Writers Guild only came into being early this year.

But clearly the Guild hit the ground running, having already held several writers workshops, organised panels featuring accomplished Kenyan scriptwriters, and even hosting the award-winning filmmaker Wanuri Kahui who shared her views with Guild members about not just writing but also directing and producing films.

Most recently, and following its first membership recruitment drive, the Guild (which was originally named Kenya Scriptwriters Guild) held elections of officers last weekend at PAWA254.

“We wanted to establish a stable structure that would be accountable to the writers. We also changed the name to Writers rather than scriptwriters as we wanted to be more inclusive,” said Keith Kinambuga, the founding father of the Guild who was unanimously elected chair.

His vice chair is Njoki Muhoho while the other officials include secretary and assistant secretary Wangeci Kamyeki and Jackline Emali while the treasurer and assistant treasurer are Felix Ndolo and Joseph Gitau aka Tash Mitambo respectively.

All the office bearers are established scriptwriters and/or producers. But Mr Kinambuga, who’s about to embark on another membership drive, emphasised that one didn’t necessarily need to be a seasoned writer to join the Guild.

“There are a number of members who are aspiring or part-time writers who are working at day jobs in other fields,” said the chair who himself switched from a stable job in the telecom industry to scriptwriting just a year ago.

‘‘I saw a notice on Spielworks’ Facebook page inviting scriptwriters to apply for an opening they had, so I responded, got shortlisted, and the next thing I knew, I was writing story-lines for ‘‘Lies that Bind,” he said.

“Not long after that I began working with a five-person team of writers developing scripts for the series,” said Mr Kinambuga who has written for other Spielworks’ soaps, such as ‘‘Sumu la Penzi’’ and ‘‘Jane and Abel.’’

Having studied IT and telecommunications at Kenyatta University, he had never taken writing courses. “My initial experience writing was on my blogs,” he confessed, noting that he started blogging (like most people) because he felt he had something to say.

“One blog was a sort of satirical commentary on the current social scene while on the other I simply shared how I viewed the world at that point in time,” he added.

But he modestly admitted he had been a rapper in university. Writing his own raps as a running commentary on campus life, he said he wasn’t known off campus but he did have a small following at KU.

The only other indicator that Mr Kinambuga would become a media man who would start up an organisation aimed at giving a voice to Kenyan writers who he felt needed to be better informed about their legal rights and about opportunities opening up for them, was a short course he took in 2008 in radio and television production at the Kenya Institute of Professional Studies.

Calling himself a self-taught scriptwriter, the chairman has also initiated various collaborations with other media groups, most notably the Ubuni School of Media and Creative Arts.

So far, the Guild and Ubuni have held three writers’ workshops. The first was on how to create basic structures and stories for film.

The second was on how to do the same thing, only for episodic TV series.

And the third was on how in practical terms to produce an episode of the storyline devised in the second workshop.

The fourth workshop will be held August 9 at PAWA254 and will be on the art and craft of directing for TV, film or stage.

Aimed at recruiting more writers as well as offering inspiration and information, this workshop will actually be a panel of five professional scriptwriters.

Among the five will be ‘‘Cajetan Boy’’, best known for his scripting and directing ‘‘The Captain of Nakara’’, one of only two African films screened recently during the European Union Film Festival. Also there will be Rubin Odanga, scriptwriter for the series Saida on Citizen TV.

The other three are yet to be announced.

Whoever the Guild chooses to take part in the August panel at PAWA254, they are bound to have a fascinating story to tell.

“What we want to promote with the Guild is professionalism in scriptwriting, and we know one way to do that is by inviting inspiring Kenyan writers to share their experience, ideas and advice with us,” Mr Kinambuga said.

“We also want to see many more writers emerge and feel they have a body to back them up at various levels in days to come.”