The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Life Reporter
GROUND-BREAKING film production company Invision Studios has announced that it will begin shooting a Zimbabwean version of the popular reality show — Dragon’s Den, as Zimbabwe becomes the third African country to introduce the show.
Dragon’s Den is a concept incepted by America’s Sony Pictures Entertainment. Sony Pictures is the American entertainment subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony.
Invision Studios, based in Harare announced last week that it would begin shooting the show in August and it would be broadcast on ZBC in October this year.
“For the past few months we have been in negotiations and in talks with Sony Pictures to produce the universally-acclaimed Dragon’s Den in Zimbabwe. It will be third Dragon’s Den production in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria. Our hope is to herald our entrepreneurial talent as Zimbabweans and also to create investment opportunities for local entrepreneurs.”
Dragon’s Den is a reality TV programme featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. Various versions of the show have been produced in nearly 30 countries, as well as one for the Arab world.
The show has also been titled Shark Tank (a name that originated in the United States) and Lions’ Den, and variations on those names, among others. In versions where the name of the show contains a creature’s name, the investors are referred to as that creature.
Perhaps owing much to their unopposed effort and diligence in production, coupled with a few awards for producing quite a number of good films, Invision managed to land the Sony Pictures deal.
“Our vision as a film studio is to create high quality entertainment productions for global distribution. Our philosophy is extreme quality control on every production that we handle. Each of us handles every detail on a production with tender care, because we know that God is in the details. We’re quality-focused. Invision Studios is comprised of an affable team that is working diligently to build a first-class film facility.”
@peterkmatika
