‘Stay’ breaks the mould of local television

On Monday, KTN launched its new, local drama series, ‘Stay’, written and produced by Jason Corder, who stars opposite Mkamzee Mwatela. The story is based on the simple dramatic premise of the budding relationship between an American Ex-pat and a Kenya Woman. But love is never simple, particularly for a mixed-race couple living here. The last scene of the premiere sets up the inevitable conflict between the characters, their pasts and inherent family meddling.

Even if the story takes time to unfold, it is easily the most sophisticated looking local television program. The series is shot on a ‘Red’ camera that creates cinematic grade imagery. The director of photography, Justin Purefoy and directors Ash Jivu and Claire Ash Meadow work together to produce photographic genius, even if at times this ethereal magic slows down the plot and takes the viewer through beautiful scenic tributaries unrelated to the story.

That said, competent acting and a simple drama make for a compelling show that is often punctuated by well-timed comedic moments that gets the audience laughing on cue. Certainly the team around this production is a crew packed full of talent, and just to see how they continue to perform is reason alone to keep watching. We’re officially intrigued.

The biggest underlying story to the whole series is the fact that ‘Stay’ should help to dramatically improve production quality standards for local television and to raise the bar on budgets devoted to programming here. In the past, quality productions were left to satellite broadcasters, as most local media houses were not willing to spend enough to develop great programming.

Clearly KTN is out to change the game on this front, and when taken as a whole, the quality of its local productions make them the current leaders in the industry.