SOAPS

ISIDINGO THE NEED ( 30 min)
MON-FRID 22:00
Created by award winning writer/director Gray Hofmeyr, the series reflect the needs, aspirations, conflicts and loves of all the people who live and work on the Horizon Deep gold mine.
Horizon Deep is a marginal mine, that is an old mine that is becoming unprofitable and faces imminent closure. The series explores the ensuing insecurity that permeates the whole community as the inevitability of retrenchment draws near.

THE BACKGROUND
Early in 1998, SABC 3 ran a Claim the Name Competition in the Sunday Times in which readers were invited to name a new drama commissioned by the channel and created by acclaimed television producer, Gray Hofmeyr. The drama was to be set in a mining milieu and would premiere on SABC 3 in July of 1998. This was the first announcement of the drama and the competition drew an astounding 13 000 entries.

After careful deliberation the panel of judges selected the name ISIDINGO, submitted by Rosemary Nicol. This was the only entry received that suggested the title ISIDINGO. The chosen title was kept under wraps until the launch of ISIDINGO held 900 metres below ground at Level 17 of Durban Roodepoort Deep Gold Mine in Roodepoort, Gauteng. The location for the launch was also kept a secret up until the time of the function. Media, honoured guests and stars of the show were all transported to the venue from a central meeting point.

Upon arrival at the mine, guests were issued with overalls, hard hats, torches and rubber boots before being escorted into the cages that would carry them 900m underground to where the launch was to be held. Screenplay's Barry Ronge presided over proceedings that included a mock take and the unveiling of the Isidingo logo. Afterwards guests were treated to a 5-star banquet in the Roodepoort Durban Deep Rec Club (the setting for Ted's bar).

Created by Gray Hofmeyr and set on the fictitious Horizon Deep Gold Mine, Isidingo explores the lives of the Horizon Deep mining community as they try to make sense of and survive the challenges facing the New South Africa. Their desperate fight to ensure a future for the marginalised mine is pivotal to the story. Industrial espionage, fraud, faction fights, murder, racism and romance are all part of life on the mine. As retrenchment and falling gold prices alter, forever, the lives of the community, romance stills flourishes and individuals find innovative ways of dealing with the hand that fate, and economics, has dealt them.

When ISIDINGO premiered on SABC 3 last year, it was hailed as a breakthrough in local television drama and almost immediately became a favourite with viewers across the spectrum. The drama's average AR has increased in South Africa in the first year from an initial 2,5 to an impressive 7,4 and ISIDINGO now enjoys the largest audience share across 5 channels (SABC 2, Bop TV, M-Net and e.tv) in the 18h30 timeslot.
For more than 200 episodes, television viewers have been enthralled by the mixed fortunes and intrigues that colour the lives of the people living on Horizon Deep. We soon discovered the dark underbelly of Horizon Deep where all was not quite as it seemed. We soon learnt of the petty jealousies and prejudices that exist amongst the people of the community.

BEHIND THE SCENES
ISIDINGO is one of the largest full-time television productions currently underway in South Africa. Apart from an astounding cast of actors, the series relies on talent of an enormous production team, responsible for everything from writing, scheduling and locations through to the design of sets, costumes and make-up. In assembling the ISIDINGO production team, Gray Hofmeyr sought out some of the country's most accomplished television personalities.

The series is shot in two studios at the Henley Facility in Auckland Park Johannesburg and on location at Durban Roodepoort Gold Mine, just outside the City of Gold.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ISIDINGO
ISIDINGO is shot in two permanent studios in Johannesburg and on location at Durban Roodepoort Deep Gold Mine.
18 sets were constructed for the production
The production team consists of no approximately 100 people.
There is a permanent cast of 23 actors
There are 143 speaking parts in the series
The writing team consists of 9 people
There is a team of 5 directors working on the drama
Five episodes of ISIDINGO are shot each week
The episodes are not shot in sequence, but are shot out of continuity as is the case with feature films
ISIDINGO is shot with multi camera
Unlike most other dramas, ISIDINGO features huge location (outside) shoots
In the first year a total of 4 853 hours of television were shot

PHILOSOPHY
When Gray Hofmeyr created ISIDINGO, he was determined that the series would be like no other local series screened on SABC3. Creating believable characters and sets was an important step in this direction, however, he realised that the true genius of the series would lie in the writing. Together with his top team of writers, Gray began to explore the psyche of South Africa and reflect his observations in the ISIDINGO storylines.
While ISIDINGO allows our Rainbow Nation to laugh at its foibles, it also demands that the nation examine those issues that threaten our society. South Africa's underbelly is well represented in ISIDINGO and the series continues to examine the challenges facing the country. It would be simplistic to imagine that the series could offer solutions to issues such as adult illiteracy, AIDS, rape, kidnapping, corruption, crime and murder, but by highlighting these issues the producers hope to stimulate debate and encourage viewers to look for the much-needed solutions themselves.

The series challenges the notion that individuals cannot make a difference to society. Instead it embraces the idea that South Africa's greatest asset will always be the man in the street who, through sheer determination and ingenuity, is able to change for the better both his own circumstances and the circumstances of those around him. Ordinary people capable of extraordinary things.

One such character is ISIDINGO's Ma Agnes. She, like many other women born and raised in rural South Africa, never received a formal education. When she arrives at the Deep she faces both the disadvantage of not being able to read or write and of not understanding the workings of urban society. When her husband is retrenched she is forced to provide for her family, but without any formal training she discovers that she's unemployable. However, she finds an innovative solution to her predicament by turning her cooking skills to her advantage and opens a take-away business - an extraordinary step for the shy Agnes. Her success saves her family from financial ruin.

The way in which Agnes saves her family typifies the philosophy of the series - ordinary people are capable of making a difference and changing the lives of those around them. The series will continue explore such themes in exciting and entertaining ways. "There are many such examples of quiet heroes in ISIDINGO and viewers are likely to encounter even more of them in the future - STAY TUNED."