Johannesburg - Renowned veteran actor Luthuli Dlamini is on a journey to empower and nurture South African content creators by giving them all the necessary tools to thrive and tell African stories globally.

With this campaign, the actor wants to encourage the creatives to be creative, think outside the box, think globally, think big and challenge themselves.

Dlamini, who is popular for several on-screen television roles, is running a campaign to give 10 hopefuls a chance to break into the industry, including getting an opportunity to bag supporting roles in his new production called Empty Love.

The popular actor’s journey to develop young talent is a collaboration with other South African influencers and content creators through a competition that involves their social media followers.

He has secured a car to give away to one lucky fan, among other exciting prizes.

To win the car, all fans need to do is vote for their favourite content creator. The voting has begun and ends on November 30.

As one of the identified top influencers, the creatives stand a chance of winning a choice between a R200 000 cash prize or a R600 000 brand ambassador contract with Pocket Mobile.

Dlamini delved into a conversation with The Star and explained the essence of the campaign: “I have been working with Grade 10 kids through a programme called Behind The Blazer, where we are teaching Grade 10 kids, we are work-shopping them to make movies. Travelling throughout the country, teaching these kids how to make movies. After 10 days on how to write, how to act, how to use a camera, and how to direct, we give them a camera, and then they go out and they shoot a movie.

“Our problem is that what happens afterwards, that has been our biggest issue. What do we do with these kids once we have worked-shopped them? They show signs of amazing creativity, but then what? So first of all, we want to train the mind and get them to understand that they need to innovate creatively. And think out of the box,” explained the actor.

Dlamini also mentioned his partnership with a telecommunications company, Pocket Mobile, which also wants to break into the market.

He further highlights that Pocket understands the importance of creativity and how the industry has been devastated by the economy, among other factors.

Dlamini says he wants to see anyone in the creative industry make a considerable income out of telling stories, being original and being innovative.

The Star