Fresh Film Ideas

I am in this impossible quest to find just one million original films in our lifetime.  How many people are there in the world?  India and China have more than one billion people a piece.  Asia as a whole has more.  There’s massive Africa and South America. 

We can never have the correct figures because a child is born every minute.  In short, there are billions of people in the world and we still don’t have just a million original films. 

My search reminded me of the popularity of the weekly Cosby show when I lived in Canada.  It had many original story lines.  There was one where Dr. Huxtable (Bill Cosby) wanted to read his Saturday newspaper. 

He went to the kitchen.  There were children.  He went to the living room.  There were children.  He could not find one quiet spot because of his kids.  Parents around the world loved it.  It was their reality.

One day Dr. Huxtable fetches kids from school.  They are all covered in snow suits, scarves and boots. His wife says she hopes he has brought back the right kids.  One episode teaches Theo the cost of living if he decides to leave home. 

His landlady, played by his sister Rudy wants money for electricity.  Do teenagers know the cost of electricity or water?  That was the point of that episode.  You have many original stories that can be made into films.  Yes you do.

©No Headlines 2day, conceived and written by Nonqaba waka Msimang

Three men are watching television at different places. Manoj is at an electronics store buying a mobile phone for his daughter.  He patiently waits for her to make a choice.  Television sets in the store are all on.  He sees a woman being interviewed.  “Manase!” he says.

Lungi is in his kitchen arranging toppings on a pizza dough.  He keeps checking his laptop computer that is open on the kitchen counter.  He blinks when he sees the woman on the screen.  “Manase!” he says.

Phiwe works at the funeral palour.  He is busy putting final make-up on a body.  He glances up and sees a woman being interviewed on the screen.  He takes off his mask and grips the table with both hands.  “Manase!”

The film is about all three men trying to call the television station to find Manase.  This also results in trouble at home because the women in their lives know about their past:  Manase.

What is an original film script?

It is an untold story.  It is also something highly unlikely, for example No Headlines 2day.                      

Nonqaba waka Msimang is the author of Sweetness the novel.

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