In the past, South African private airline Kulula.com sponsored ZAnews production on a quarterly-basis but has since pulled out, with the possibility of reinstating its funding in the future. While the show has been very successful online, boasting 2.5 million views online since launch, Kulula wants to see ZAnews hit mainstream television.
Explains Thierry Cassuto, executive producer of ZAnews, "We are at the point where we have exhausted our funding and Kulula has stepped back completely now; for now our agreement has lapsed. They say they want to come back, but they haven't decided in which capacity yet; as the headline sponsor or as a secondary sponsor, or as a media sponsor if we get onto TV.
"They are very interested in getting us on TV; they believe we have done a great job online, a great job on social media, but they want us to become more mainstream."
While Cassuto doesn't believe ZAnews needs to be aired on mainstream media in the age of digital broadcasting and the Internet, ZAnews is still working to get onto one of the mainstream broadcasters in order to win over sponsorship. This has proved difficult in the past as, with most South African broadcasters, according to Cassuto, "it's all or nothing when you look at contracts".
"They want to control, or have a look at every word that is said on the show and be able to censor or to dictate how the show is done. We believe that with satire, humour and comedy it shouldn't be dictated by the news department - what we do is comedy; it's not news," says Cassuto.
"What we don't want to see is a complete takeover of what we do by some other force with an agenda. What we want to make sure of is that we still control our content's intellectual property (IP), because it's very important to us. We want to do a licence deal where we maintain our IP."
With the aim, as of last year, of producing a full year of ZAnews in order to secure the futures of the production and its team, they will need to work with a secure long-term budget; without funding, ZAnews isn't able to produce any new material.
The production works on a full-time basis with 10-12 core staff and up to 35 in the production phase. It is important that a sponsor is found soon in order to keep this workshop running.
With delays in airing season four since March this year, the team hopes to be back by 1 May 2011. The situation, says Cassuto, is beginning to look a bit "dicey" as seemingly enthusiastic brands get cold feet when it comes to putting pen to paper.
No deals have been filled
"We've had a lot of very good feedback from sponsors who say there's a good fit between our brands; 'We love what you do guys, we want to find synergies, we want to sponsor you...' but none of the deals have been filled.
"We also had very promising contacts with big brands who told us, 'What you do is amazing, guys; we want to be behind you, our brand is exactly what you guys stand for...' and as we got closer and closer to the deal, feet got colder and it became, 'We love what you do, but maybe not right now because what you do is controversial or a bit risky for us...' so those did not happen.
ZAnews has now turned to friends and fans of the show for support in the form of crowdfunding on the Indiegogo platform, which shows exactly where the money comes from and is made available almost immediately. Contributions have already been made from within South Africa, Australia and the UK, with donors given the option of giving from US$20 upward.
Being a donor comes with perks, which include a visit to the ZAnews studio, lunch with the production crew, original drawings, digital voice-over ringtones from the various puppets and the biggest prize of all - an original mini head of one of the puppets to sit on your mantel piece or on your office desk.
Donors also become 'bloody agent cardholders' says Cassuto: "It's a great way to get support wide and far and will leap into your community because every giver will then become an evangelist - he/she will email or share on Facebook or Twitter saying 'Hey guys, I've just given R100 or R5000 - do the same, you'll feel great about it; it's for a worthy cause! We need satire and we need to save the ZAnews puppets!"
To help get ZAnews back up on its feet, go to www.indiegogo.com/ZANEWS-Season-4. I was privy to the workshop area and met Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama having their features tweaked as they waited in anticipation for a brand bold enough to push the envelope alongside ZAnews.
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