Due to technological advancement, it’s easy for anyone to venture into video making using their smartphones or cameras but it takes a special kind of talent to have artistic vision and skills necessary to produce a memorable music video that stands out all the noise.
Most people will enjoy a good music video from their favorite artist, but far less are aware of who actually produced it.
SUKEZ
Sukez real name Gift Sukali is one of the big video directors/producers the country has. He emerged into the limelight around 2013 – 2014 after producing some top notch videos including Young LT’s “Pakati Pa Usiku” which was received with mixed reactions due to its setting.
Not only does he work with local Malawian artists, Sukez’s works takes him as far as South Africa where he engage himself in international projects. The award winning video producer/ entrepreneur is a founder of HD Plus Creations Company, a Malawian based video production, advertising agency and graphic designing company that specializes in producing videos, graphics and audio content for individuals and corporations.
RON CZ
Each time a new music video directed by Ron Cz rolls around, headlines are made.
Real name Ronald Zeleza started his career in 2008 and says his first video was shot using a web cam on a laptop. He was behind most of Trap Squad’s music videos which had dominated the airwaves before the said hip-hop crew disbanded.
Ron Cz has managed to produce videos for renowned artists like Young Kay, Fredokiss and others. The award winning video producer was also given a chance to shoot Nigeria’s hip-hop star Ice Prince concert in Malawi and Big Brother Africa celebrity rappers Lomwe and Zeus’ Double Wowza concert in the country some years ago.
VJ ICE
Here comes Anthony Malisawa a.k.a Vj Ice, the famous Malawian music video producer and director. If you have watched the recently released video of Zani Challe “Chule” ft Buffalo Souljah, then you surely know what he is capable of.
While growing, he had dreams of becoming a producer and this prompted him to join the school band at the age of seven. His primary inspirations are Chipiliro Khonje, Ron CZ and Essim Mbwana. He is also a club DJ who produces mainly dancehall and house music. Besides producing music and videos, he is a graphic designer, photographer, video director, programmer and an entrepreneur.
VJ KEN
The Blantyre based video producer/director, Vj Ken took the industry by storm after he produced Beanca’s video titled “Ntadekha” that also followed up with two of Waxy Kay’s videos in 2017.
Vj Ken has an unpredictable way of crafting music videos as he comes surprises in each and every video he produces. His videos have flooded all over local Television Stations in the country as it is a non-arguable fact that you cannot watch a music programme on TV today without witnessing two or three videos produced by Hotshots AutoFocus which is run by him.
MEST
Straight from Mzuzu city here comes Mest who owns Mest Media. His career started as a hobby in 2013 when he used to play around with cameras and video editing softwares.
“I remember I was borrowing cameras by then and shooting videos, and even then people were so amazed with my work seeing that I was young…that’s where my interest to explore other video editing softwares developed,” he reminisces.
Today, Mest real name Frank Mhango is living his dream. He has worked with almost all notable music artists in the country from the likes of Kell Kay, Jay Jay Cee, Gwamba and even the top artists who represent the northern part of Malawi. On 12 may 2017, he was privileged to have been given an opportunity of taking photos of the legendary American gospel hip-hop artist, Da Truth during his visit in Malawi.
DOCTOR V
Doctor V real name Stanley Mkangama is one of the video directors/ producers just emerging but doing a lot. His excellent works can be noticed in videos such as Phyzix and Barry One’s Zimandiwa, Vube’s Khulupilira, Black Nina’s recently released Ufiti, just to mention a few. Doctor V is a boss at HGI Pictures.
It is noted that the industry has a lot of video producers/directors that are putting in much effort but the above stated ones are those that are currently buzzing according to local TV music charts.