7de Laan fans at a 2023 meet-and-greet
If you're brave enough to have followed the SAFTAs over their 17 ceremony history you'll know that they've had a tumultuous relationship with various production houses including Word of Mouth Pictures, Ferguson Films, Morula Pictures and Danie Odendaal Productions.
One year their soapies are in and nominated, and the next they're boycotting the awards - or at the very least snubbing them,
citing voting credibility issues and incorrect SMS lines.
As we mentioned in the 2023 nominee announcement
here, 7de Laan's missing this year and it's a big deal because the show has award junkie tendencies. The production hits turbo boost when it gets nominated for an award, making a noise and rallying fans for support - which it receives.
That won't be happening this year though because the production has placed its money and attentions elsewhere and didn't enter.
Flashback to 2012 when it was noticeably missing too after an SMS voting fiasco that happened the year before at
the 5th edition.
The public voting number displayed on TV was incorrect for 7de Laan and ran for two days before it was corrected. All votes cast in those two days didn't count but 7de Laan still won the public vote after hitting the awards speed button as per usual.
The production didn't enter the SAFTAs the year after that and there was
a snafu about the fact that it wasn't included in the Public Vote Most Popular TV Soap category. The issue raised was: should a show automatically be in this category if it hasn't entered the awards?
Since then it's been an on-again/off-again relationship and this year it's off again because why? We asked Danie Odendaal Productions who tell us it has to do with finances and the requirements for entering.
Shows need to submit footage that they want considered for each category e.g. Best Actress, Best Editing etc. - every category - and shows need to compile this for each entry.
Required footage ranges from multiple full episodes (e.g. five episodes for a soapie and telenovela) to a compilation of scenes by actors, actresses and TV presenters, ranging from two to five minutes for acting, and half-hour show reels for presenters.
7de Laan has outsourced this process in the past but couldn't do it this year.
To quote their response to our query:
The decision not to enter the 17th SAFTAs was influenced by the costs associated with preparing entry materials.
Financial constraints have hindered 7de Laan from entering.
Our editors are swamped with the actual production work. In recent seasons there's been an increase in location shoots adding to the complexity of the post production thereof.
And therefore, we had to outsource and also pay for the overheads associated with that. We have carried this cost but this time we weren't able to.
This reminds us that Skeem Saam mentioned the amount of work involved in submitting entries a couple of years ago. They didn't enter the
11th edition in 2017 and at the time producers PEU Communication Solutions told us that they hadn't had time to gather the materials to submit.
And so we have a rinse and repeat of the question raised back in 2012: should every South African soapie and telenovela be included in the Public Voting category even if they haven't entered the awards?
The argument for yes: If a show really wanted to enter but couldn't because of time or financial constraints, it would be a good, fair thing to include them.
The argument for no: If a production doesn't want to be involved with the awards it would be unfair on them to be included against their will.
Our ideal: productions should be given a choice as a courtesy to viewers of each show.