Woman of passion: Making it in the Kenyan TV shows takes a lot of heart

Auntie boss, Varshita and Njoro wa Uba that grace our TV, are some of her creation. "Having several shows run on different TV stations was not a walk in the park, but I do appreciate the journey that has got me where am at today," Lucy says.

Her passion for storytelling was birthed at an early age. As young as seven years she would read her elderly grandmother stories and they would laugh, cry and share in the emotions the characters in the story felt. That ability to draw out a reader's emotions while reading a story was captivating to her, and she knew she wanted to do that someday. "Here I am years later doing exactly that, through TV programs," the 40-year old says.

Before then, Lucy had graduated from Maseno University graduate with a Communication and Media Technology degree and later acquired a producing certificate from the New York film academy. She then worked as an intern at a local TV station through which she rose through the ranks.

The job allowed her to gain multiple skills as she worked as an assistant producer and multi-camera director. "When I resigned, I was the assistant TV production manager and the commercial producer for the station," Lucy says. That was in 2011 when she teamed up with friends to set up Moonbeam productions. "We used our savings and utilized the networks we had created to start," she says.

They rented a small office space and spent weeks writing proposals and pitching ideas and that for a while didn't bear fruit. "One year down and things were not unfolding like we hoped they would. I hit rock bottom," she divulges.

But they were not ready to give up just yet. "We invested in filming two seasons of Auntie boss and waited for the miracle," Lucy says.

The film needed major funding, which they got from friends and family because banks would not fund an intangible idea. "We got the capital, and we managed to acquire a committed and hardworking crew to work with," she says. The shared the film with several TV stations and eventually, NTV took on the show.

"It was our big break," she beams.

To get to where they are, she says, requires a great team. "The more the team is committed, the better results you get. It's not my show, it's our show," Lucy says.

Like, most business owners, Covid-19 in Kenya has had an impact on their company. "We had to stop producing for two months which had a major financial impact," she says.

They went back to producing in June and have had to invest in the hygiene and social distancing standards required. This has meant that they have had to have fewer crew members on set, as they adjust to the new normal.

"We, unfortunately, lost a contract with a TV station because of the cash flow difficulties media companies are facing," she reveals.

Even with the current hard times, Lucy still has future aspirations for both her and the company. She hopes to go back to school to study film business, a course that is currently unavailable locally. She aspires to learn how to turn her art passion into a more profitable business. "I want to build and leave an empire," she declares.

She is also committed to imparting knowledge to the next generation of filmmakers and plans to be a teacher in the future. "I want to have a set up where I will be more hands-on than the current theory that is common in our colleges," she says.

"Film and TV production is a hands-on career and we need to have a high percentage of practical and less of theory," she adds.

'What do you do to unwind?' I ask her. "I read books" she responds. "and?" I ask – just in case, she had a list to share. "I read a lot, that's it," she shoots back.

Lucy attributes her success, to the support she has received from her family, who understands her unpredictable work schedule. She also gives credit to herself for putting in the work and making sacrifices to ensure that the vision of the company is realised.

"Passion before profit," she says, is the advice she would give to anyone pursuing their passion in the Film and TV production.