Born city: ‘Othorong’ong’o Danger’ got me into acting

 ‘Othorong’ong’o Danger’ Photo: Courtesy

I am from the school of thought that advocates for parents to give their children chance to advance their talents.

Talent is not only in sports, but also in art. The current education system, the infamous 8-4-4, has killed talent development.

Back in the day, when we were still young lads, we had a social system, one that encouraged talent growth. Sadly, parents only wanted their kids to excel in academics so they could land that white-collar job. Things have changed, fast. Today, parents would die to have their children’s talent discovered early, but the school curriculum forces them to prepare more for exams.

Since parents, mostly in cities, have taken their brood to sports academies, allow me to delve into talent found in the arts. I am talking about music, acting, emceeing and comedy, which are now well-paying careers. Like sports, they also have to be developed. You also have to put in like 10,000 hours to hack it. As an actor, let me say one learns new things every day, and so it’s important for beginner actors to get regular jobs. Nigeria and South Africa have done it, why not us? Tanzanians are on their way there, closely followed by Ugandans.

Some of us had to fight it out with our parents back in the day to do what we had a passion for. I was lucky my uncle,  ‘Othorong’ong’o Danger’ (Joseph Anyonga) was my mentor and encouraged me want to get into acting. I have also paid back to society by mentoring others. The problems the industry faces include, but are not limited to delayed pay. While a starting actor can’t be paid like a seasoned one, why then rub salt into injury by delaying their pay for months on end?

If I compare the rates of advertising, these days, an actor can earn an average of Sh80,000 for print campaigns, while in days gone by, the pay would range between Sh250,000 and Sh350,000. Series producers want to pay main actors Sh3,000 per episode, which was the amount some of us started with 20 years ago! And we got paid promptly.

I find this very sad and the reason the quality of acting in some of our local programmes has gone south. Another area is the modelling world; it’s very unfair to pay a model about Sh1,000 after a hard runway  session. Some are just given dinner instead of pay. 

I agree with President Uhuru Kenyatta that musicians should be paid more for their signature tunes. I wish he went further and asked the same for actors. The government should create more jobs for the youth by having sessions with the Kenya Actors Guild so that they can advice the government to help in enforcing the rate cards. They should keep to their promise of adding more local content on television. This way, actors will be paid good rates for their efforts. It will also encourage young actors to work harder and new upcoming actors will have a chance to   observe the more seasoned actors before they retire. 

Producers, television stations and companies using acting talent, please help the industry grow by paying artists on time. Let us create a big job market and keep talented youth employed. This is one way of curbing crime.

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@AineaOjiambo