User:WANGUI KOMBANI/sandbox

This is a brief description of Alice Wangui Kombani as film director in the Kenyan industry( Riverwood). it should give an idea about the content a user will find on the rest of the page.

Brief description of who Alice Wangui Kombani is.
Wangui Kombani is one among the crop of ‘African-Educated graduate’ film makers from Kenya. A graduate of Kenyatta University and like many upcoming filmmakers, is super hyphenated as a Screenwriter-Director-Producer.

Her first skill is screenwriting which is majorly honed, taught by the likes of Film Courage. She naturally a veracious reader but honed her screenwriting muscles using books ranging from ‘Story Genius’, ‘Save the cat’, The Art of Plotting’, The Story Solution’, Screenwriting’, The 90 Day screenplay and a wide array of literature and script reading as screenwriting is an intricate art of plotting, character building, outlining, getting feedback and then months of writing.

How she developed her production skills
She developed her production skills on her first film set during the shooting of her first film ‘Angles of My Face’ and has been developing her film production muscles  over time by immersing in film production courses on YouTube, Udemy and coursera. Her first major production was in her graduate project titled ‘Have-Not’ and then later ‘Pillow Talk’. She still loves working on other peoples set as this way she gets to learn on the job and assist whenever possible. One of her associate production films is ‘Contained’ by Martin Kigondu with Prevail Art Company.

source of her directing skills
Directing skills comes naturally with the urge to have an imprint on the works that she has written and Produced. This is also a muscle in training as she is immersing herself in film analysis, scene breakdown, characterisation and people watching.

Wangui runs Old Gold Films and through it she produced her productions her  first short film which she wrote   ‘Angles of My Face’ (vimeo-Angles Of my Face – password- Angles254) which  was a Winner of the Silver Dhow in the  Best short Film East Africa in 2015.

Achievements and works
She has also won Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Producer and Best Male  Actor in the Kenyatta University Culture Week 2014 with her graduate project Feature film ‘Have nots’ Winner Best Producer Kenyatta University  Culture Week 2015

Her other shorts are ‘Time Left’, ‘Caprice’ Sunflower’ and ’14 Seater’ made for the Machawood all on youtube.

Her love of writing and her beliefs
Her first love is screenwriting, which is a unit offered undergraduate but it is a skill that she has been working on years she draw my inspiration from around me as a lover of life, literature and comradery.

She believe in putting in the work during preproduction to avoid any unnecessary snags during production. I have grown to trust the process and allow enough time for maturation of concepts, scripts, teams and eventually a film.

She believes in early engagement of the major team player like marketers, art department, producers, executive producers, cinematographers, location scouts and Assistant directors during conception and walk with them during the screenwriting process into production. This way they are able develop the stories together (sometime for months on end) and they are also able to investigate the story, and develop their craft alongside it. Example the cinematographer who gets the opportunity to envision the story layouts and lighting opportunities offered as the story develops unlike being ambushed at the production stage.

I am keen to work on projects that open new vistas to the world. Once in a while I produce other peoples work just for kicks and to make their dreams come true. But seeing that film making is such an expensive and rigorous process, I am keen on focusing on educative projects that will educate and give pride to Africa.

Wangui leans towards realism as a film director. This means she will try and copy real life. I will not make a grandmother speak in English because the script is typed in English.

My rates as a director are generally 10 percent of the total budget. I haven’t been paid yet for my work. I am looking forward to the day.

Pillow Talk raked in money at the box office. That is the first time that I was able to show that film making can pay. Otherwise the journey so far has been taking and not giving back. But I know it shall break even very soon.

income
I have other income generating activities through Old Gold Company which is a limited company with other money making avenues.

Wangui has not invested or branded herself as a Director as I am keen on perfecting the art and making beautiful screenwork and I believe in getting the product right before anything else. Maybe this article is the beginning … of a brand…

Associations
I am consciously not a member of any associations as I am investing my time in honing my craft and seeing that film is new in Kenya we have a lot of leeway to be as we want. I also want to prove that it is possible to make it happen without getting bogged down by rules and regulations.

The challenges in film making have faced are so many, from lack of equipment to locations, to lack of discipline among cast and crew, but we bounce and grow with each production. Point in case when making ‘Angles of my Face; film making had been temporarily banned in my alumni as one of the students had abused their rights and had been shooting a TV series on campus without the administration knowledge. We had to shoot illegally since we had to make the deadline. I perfected my shot list while in the campus ‘cells’ cooling my heels wasting precious time after being caught with an illegal power connection…of course after crying my heart out first. We live and learn and become better. Get the shot first and cry later.

lessons learnt while doing film in the industry
The lessons so far is working on an extensive Preproduction,  rehearsals, signed contracts and working with focused and  dedicated people makes it easier going forward. Getting the necessary paperwork done is also very key.

Riverwood has a niche and a market of their own. But all of us need to master and find new ways where we sail with the disruption in technology, engage with new platforms and learn how to monetise our products en-mass and maximise on returns.

Wangui’s films are targeted for the Kenyan market and as soon as she is able to recoup production costs she promises to  pirate and allow others who can’t afford to buy or do not have the discipline to pay to be able to see the artwork meant for their eyeballs. The gospel should be free.

Her advice to the upcoming film makers.
Her advice to upcoming film makers is to respect the craft, invest time in the craft and it will show in their works. Hunker down and read literature, read scripts, outline stories, write scenes, build characters, envision sets, create workshops your stories,  get feedback, write, rewrite, borrow, plead for top dollar location, take time to location scout and make films that will make it worth the time. Allow the craft to grow and develop before claiming big titles.