By Alex Balimwikungu
To many people, Humphrey Nabimanya is just the founder and CEO of Reach A Hand Uganda is a youth led non-profit organization focused on youth empowerment programs with an emphasis on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights.
Those who know him well know that he has since evolved. He has a strong foothold on the film and Television industry. It showed at the Kampala Serena Hotel on Wednesday as Nabimanya and his team through the Sauti Plus Media hub, launched the iKon Awards, geared towards Film and Television.
The Kampala Sun learns that the awards recognize and reward formidable implementers including filmmakers and actors, connect participants and their interventions/films/show/series to opportunities for resource mobilisation, networking, core organizational development and publicity
They also intend to educate through one-on-one sessions, webinars, online courses and summits from professionals in film industry.
For Nabimanya, this initiative will definitely impact the next generation and help them make informed decisions while using Film and TV as a medium of exchange. for this exchange, he is also passionate about creatives telling their own stories.
“Over the next 5 years, I envisage myself as a major stakeholder in the Film and TV industry. It is an industry close to my heart as it brings back memories of my early beginnings. I see an incredible opportunity to bridge the gap for youth employability through investing in the creative arts sector,’ he said.
Early beginnings.
When NBS Television came onto the scene, Nabimanya saw an opportunity to reach out to the country’s youths with life changing information through the Youth Voice TV show, an edutainment show. That was in 2007. The edutainment show later morphed into an organization (Reach a Hand Uganda). This would later catapult him into national fame.
Even though he took a sabbatical from television to concentrate on key issues like HIV/AIDS, relationships and menstrual hygiene among youths, he set a path for youngsters in entertainment.
Some notable names include but are not limited to: Victoria Bagaya currently a news anchor with Next Media, MC Ollo and Abraham Prince who are now some of the highly sought-after city event emcees, TV host and filmmaker, Aaron JEH Tamale whose talent and skill has enabled him work on various big TV projects in Nairobi with Multichoice among others.
With his flagship TV series Kyaddala as Executive Producer, Humphrey through Reach A Hand Uganda and his new media venture Sauti Plus Media Hub rewrote the narrative for quality local storytelling.
From the impeccable performance of cast to the well thought out elements of the production, the show set a new bar for what the country can do if it focuses on the benefits of investing with the film and TV industry. This T.V drama series which has garnered a total viewing of 15 million viewers and employed 200 young people directly and 500 indirectly is a true definition that when you focus on the vision upon your life, lives are changed. For Nabimanya, the five- year dream for film and TV is steadily taking shape.
