Telkom's dabbling in the TV industry again with TelkomONE, a new streaming service that they've announced as launching in November this year.
This is Telkom's second foray into the world of entertainment, which wasn't very entertaining the last time.
Their ambitious satellite/streaming service Telkom Media received
a license from ICASA in 2007 and disappeared so fast it made our heads spin.
Hopefully this will be different because we've already used up too much breath telling you about platforms that don't last!
This could turn out better because it's clear they're focusing their energies on South African content which is always popular with local audiences.
And they're cashing in on the popularity of the #OpenUpTheIndustry phenomenon by calling for local content producers to submit their work.
They're running a competition whereby three winners will bank R100,000 to create a short-form web series for the platform in three different categories: Comedy, lifestyle and what they're calling mobivelas.
Here's a description of what they're looking for:
1) Mobivela is a Telenovela for Mobile and entrants will be judged on their ability to capture and tell a real and original short-story.
Telenovela’s are characterised by a continuing melodramatic storyline and permanent cast.
The ultimate winner should demonstrate the ability to make viewers see themselves in the cast/characters.
2) Comedy: In this category the judges will be looking for an individual with the talent to make viewers laugh through great story-telling leveraging relatable moments.
The type of comedy may vary from stand-up performance, Parody, Spoof to Satire.
3) Lifestyle: Here the panel will scrutinize concepts ranging from, and not limited to a magazine show, cooking, travel, exercise or edutainment content.
The deciding factor will be the content producer’s ability to provide good escapism to viewers looking to be inspired and entertained.
How to enter
You can submit your entry on the website here:
TelkomONE (Please note: we disabled this link after the deadline dates closed)
The competition is open to South African citizens or legal residents over the age of 18.
To enter, you need to film and submit a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 short-form (5-10 minute) clips of your project in one of the three genres listed above.
You'll need to include the following when you submit: content title/name, description, entry category, video, supporting documents and contact details.
The competition is open to both amateur and professional content producers.
The winning series will need to be a minimum of two hours in total once complete.
You can't submit work that's been screened on any other VOD or OTT platform.
You'll find the terms and conditions here:
Competition Rules
And the FAQs here:
FAQs
The competition opened on Monday, 12 October and runs until
Monday, 30 November at 18h00.