A man from Limpopo, Humbulani Mashamba, hosts outdoor movie nights in rural villages, shopping malls and schools to make a living.
After realising a market gap, a man from Limpopo saw an opportunity to feed himself and his family.
Humbulani Brian Mashamba (40), owner of Movie Mania, a movie outdoor experience, shared with Drum that the business is his bread and butter.
He highlighted that most shopping mall managers ask him to come to their malls to show his movies.
“I advertise the event to shoppers for a free movie night. In remote rural areas, the price is reduced since many kids are from low-income families, and most of them have never been to the cinema before, due to the lack of resources in their area,” Mashamba said.
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Movie mania started operating in 2017, targeting malls without cinemas.
Mashamba explained that schools benefit largely from his business as he plays a movie of a prescribed book of their matric learners, such as ‘My Children My Africa’, ‘Othello, Romeo and Juliet’, and Julius Ceaser and Maru’.
“The demand for our bookings is very high. We were fully booked last month. We have a five-month contract with Jewel City Maboneng in Johannesburg. We are also negotiating with other malls to empower us,” Mashamba said.
He pointed out that Movie Mania was unique and the first of its kind.
Although it was not easy, Mashamba persevered and made his dream a reality.
His first Movie Mania gig was on 16 June 2017, and after marketing the event through radio interviews and flyers, only one person showed up.
‘I was very discouraged and thought I’d made a bad decision by attempting this. I then went back to the drawing board, stumbled upon some research, and concluded that Movie Mania will remain an exciting business that hosts movies outdoors. This is a modern way and a more improved way of showing movies, which used to be called Bioskop in the olden days,” Mashamba said.
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He continued approaching malls in Limpopo, the Free State, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng, and many managers turned him down.
‘’Others were clueless about what I was talking about. It was only in September 2017 that I was contacted by Tibane Shopping Mall, outside Polokwane in Limpopo. It was amazing to witness such a massive number of people who came in numbers,” Mashamba said.
Since then, he has never looked back, entertaining his audience.
Hambulani Mashamba shares how he grabbed an opportunity to put food on the table with both hands.
Those who attend the outdoor movie sessions bring along blankets to sit on or watch the film from the comfort of their own cars.
“I saw a gap in the market, and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented to me. At Movie Mania, we aim to encourage a good life through outdoor events. No matter how many audience members attend, we can always entertain many. We accommodate everyone, family, friends, young children, youth, and school learners during our outdoor movie screen using an indoor theatre system,” Mashamba said.
Movie Mania films caters to a large audience using a big 4 x 7 meter screen.
During the movie night, Mashamba and his team offer small business owners the opportunity to book a stall and sell popcorn and drinks.
They create 50 job opportunities, including security guards, marshals, cleaners, and food stall operators.
After a setback when his equipment was stolen and destroyed during the Rugby World Cup Final between South Africa and New Zealand, he took a well-deserved break.
“Still, with Bafana Bafana qualifying for the World Cup, I am going to relaunch Movie Mania to help people in the deepest rural areas experience the soccer live games on my screen,” he said.
Mashamba has been nominated at the Founder of the Year Awards to be held in Kenya later this year.
Thomo Nkgadima
www.news24.com
