The queen of low budget top TV soaps

Dressed in a neat red cardigan, a mustard blouse and a black skirt, Catherine Wamuyu looks more like a stern headmistress than the stereotyped cigarette-smoking, scruffy jean-clad, obscenity-hurling idea of a director.

Yet Synovate ratings, which have consistently shown Tahidi High and Mother-in-Law to be the most watched programmes on their time slots, the longevity of the programmes (they have ran for eight and seven years respectively), and the awards they have garnered, have proven her to be at the top of her field — stereotype negating or not.

So what enticed the 48-year-old producer into the wild world of drama?

“I ran a programme on KBC — In Search of an Answer — which dealt with social issues. Over time, however, I felt that it was not doing enough to enable the public to engage with the problems around us. I thought drama would be more effective.”

Challenges

Wamuyu shared the drama idea with her then boss at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

“That challenged me, but challenges have always energised my life.” He nevertheless supported her efforts and her first drama, Reflections, hit the screen in 2003, going on to run till 2005 when she left the station.

Even before this, however, making it past the interview at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, where she trained, was not guaranteed in itself. Her account of it is humorous:

“There were students from schools all over the country, some from Alliance and other national schools, talking very good English, unlike mine. I felt unsophisticated among them and at some point stopped telling other interviewees what school I had attended as many found the name hard to pronounce, and they’d never heard of it anyway.”

During the interview, when asked what a TV producer did, Wamuyu answered in characteristic straight-forward fashion. “I told them that I had asked all through the village for someone to tell me but no one had ever encountered a TV producer and, therefore, I did not know.”

Growing up in her Nyeri village, mere proximity to a television set was a rare thing at that time. “But I also told them that if they admitted me to the course, I would learn what the role of a producer was and at least be able to tell other people in the village what it entailed.”

Completing her studies in 1991, she joined KBC, where she remained till October of 2005 when she joined Citizen TV. She had earlier studied at Gatondo Secondary School in Nyeri and Mugoiri High School in Murang’a for her O- and A-levels.

At Citizen TV, Wamuyu presented a pilot for a new programme, Tahidi High, to the station’s production manager. When the production team saw it, they put it on air immediately, not giving her time to shoot a sizeable collection.

Frenetic shooting thus ensued. The task was made even more demanding by the fact that the ‘crew’ consisted of only two people — Wamuyu and her cameraman.

“When we began, I was doing almost everything; lighting, make-up, editing scripts, casting, labelling tapes, directing and producing. I was also doing sound, which included holding the boom.”

This was not the first time that she was forced to be innovative. Each programme’s inception saw her limited to a low budget. Reflections had an initial budget of Sh27,000, exclusive of studio facilities and salaries, while Tahidi High began with Sh40,000.

In Reflections, cast and crew members contributed Sh250 monthly for miscellaneous expenses and she would have them bring in items from their homes to get over the bureaucratic hurdles of procurement.

“I used to carry curtains from home to use for blacking out and would ask crew members to come with things we needed for the set. One person would come with a duvet, another with a chair, another with cutlery. As a director, you need to have a good working relationship with your crew.” With time, however, the budgets were raised to accommodate more crew.

Wamuyu also cites good public relations as vital to get things moving. “Without the director and owner of Nairobi Academy, where we shoot Tahidi High, Mr Kirugu, and the principal, Mrs Ribeiro, there would be no Tahidi High. We owe them a lot of gratitude.”

She also cites the support of Royal Media Services management such as chairman S.K. Macharia, vice-chairperson Mrs Macharia, managing director Wachira Waruru and her production manager Latifa Ngunjiri as having been critical to her programmes’ success.

Awards followed. In 2009 she was awarded the Kalasha Award for best producer for Mother-in-Law, while Tahidi High went on to win the best TV drama award. In 2010, Tahidi High again won a joint Kalasha award with Inspekta Mwala for best TV programme overall.

Tahidi High also won the CHAT Teeniez TV drama award in 2011, as well as the Teeniez Facebook fan page award. In addition, actors and actresses from the two programmes have regularly won local acting awards.

While Wamuyu views drama as a tool for social change, this intention to tackle everyday social realities has not been without controversy. In 2008 when Tahidi High featured devil worship in schools, it became a point of discussion in Parliament, some members recommending that the programme be banned as it was a bad influence.

Parents also sometimes call the station and accuse the programme of misleading school children.

“We do not mislead children; we actually open the eyes of parents to the real life issues their children are dealing with in school,” she says.

Wamuyu believes that local programming is far from reaching its potential, given the puny amount of drama, soap productions and movies Kenya has produced in comparison to Nigeria.

“Every year we import between 500 and 1,000 new films from Nigeria. That is capital flight. We are letting our money go, our jobs go.” Her programmes currently employ on average 135 people.

Wamuyu is presently doing a Master’s degree in Theatre Arts and Film Technology at Kenyatta University, having completed her bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology eight years ago.

When not at work, the mother of three and wife of a deputy school principal reads detective novels and the Bible to relax. “I also have a kitchen garden that I love to tend regularly. Other things I would love to do are knitting, crocheting and embroidery.”

While Wamuyu does not have any particular favourite directors, some of her favourite movies and programmes are The Godfather, House, Cheating, Sound of Music, Churchill Live and ER. She also watches news avidly.

Philip Karanja, who works as assistant director on Tahidi High and Mother-in-Law, says of working with Wamuyu: “She treats her work with professionalism and is very strict. You have to take trouble with your job. But if she sees that you’re eager to learn and have the energy to learn more, she nurtures your talent.”

Simiyu Barasa, director of KTN’s Lies that Bind and Love 101, believes that one of Wamuyu’s biggest contributions to the industry has been elevating local programmes to a higher level of quality. “Tahidi was one of the programmes that made Kenyans believe in their productions.

First of its genre

“It was the first of its genre and pulled a lot of youthful watchers to it. However, in terms of technical aspects, their lighting could be slightly more creative and the script should ensure characters remain consistent.”
Barasa also credits Wamuyu with having created room for a new generation of stars to grow.

Indeed, through Wamuyu’s hands have passed famous actors like David Mulwa, Maqbul Mohammed, Pierra Makena, Sarah Hussein, Dennis Mugo, Joseph Kinuthia, Naomi Kamau, Angel Waruinge, Abel Mutua, Mahammud Mohammed, Elizabeth Wanjiru, Ferdinand Omondi, TK Kitana and Joseph Omari.

While drama production may have been something she fell into inadvertently, Wamuyu has nevertheless ridden its storms and ended up entrenching her two programmes in the minds and hearts of Kenyan viewers.

Their resonance with the public can be seen in an incident where a woman on the streets confronted and hit an actress from Mother in Law with a handbag, annoyed at the actions of the screen character — a student — seducing a teacher.

Juggling family, two television programs and study means a very limited social life but Wamuyu has no regrets, she loves the frenetic nature of her job. “I don’t do it for the money; I do it because it fulfils me. I’ll be sad to retire. I hope to still be directing at 70 with a cane in my hand.