One Vibe Africa and What’s Good Studios are proud to announce a formal partnership that commenced on Feb 2018 at the exclusive Africa Premier of Black Panther in Kisumu. The partnership has since launched a new campaign dubbed “#RoadToMadaraka (RTM)” which is a documentary about the collaboration of young creatives from the two organizations with their counterparts in Seattle, Washington. The documentary covers the partnership of these youth from the slum of Kisumu and Nairobi and their journey to Seattle where they will attend creative workshops, panel discussions, and focused group boot camps, which will be hosted at the iconic Museum of Pop Culture (MoPop). Youth from underprivileged backgrounds in Seattle served by organizations such as Seattle Theatre Group, Arts Corps, Seattle International Film Festival, MoPOP, and other organizations in the Pacific Northwest have also confirmed participation.
RTM is set to fundraise for the travel expenses for the Kenyan youth supported by a strong delegation of Kenyan artists and social entrepreneurs that are also traveling to Seattle where the delegation will participate in music and video production at the legendary Robert Lang Studios with two-time Grammy winning producer – Maurice Jones Jr. The highlights of RTM will be on May 25th when the delegation will be at Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park for One Vibe Africa’s 2nd Annual Fundraising Dinner and June 1st & 2nd at Upstream Music Fest & Summit where One Vibe Africa is guest curating the first International African Stage. Kenya will be represented by Nazizi and Nairobi Horns Project while Samini will represent Ghana, Aramide represents Nigeria, Amen Vienna represents Togo, Mr. Reed Represents New York, and Caleb Cunningham & PLH represent the rich musical herigate of Seattle. The partnership will culminate into Kenya’s debut Madaraka Festival slated for December 2018.
The Executive Director of One Vibe Africa, Simon Okelo on the partnership between One Vibe and WGS, “This is the beginning of a year long collaboration that will see our respective teams work together to capture exciting stories from Kenya and the rest of Africa to the world.” Regarding Upstream Music Fest & Summit, Simon adds “This is a big platform which is in line with One Vibe’s intention of creating opportunities for African artists on global stages.“
Tilo Ponder, CEO and co-founder of What’s Good Studios said, “I have tremendous respect for Simon Okelo and the amazing young creative team in Kisumu whom he has nurtured and empowered over the years. Both our organizations share a mission to help build a sustainable economy in the Kenyan creative sector, which should be youth led and backed by experienced media professionals the world over.”
While in Seattle the delegation will also do presentations at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. On the way back to Kenya the team will stop in Los Angeles to tour YouTube facilities and participate in a training program by YouTube. While What’s Good Studios is donating all film, digital content and marketing services including a 1-hour live stream during a fundraising event set for April 15th in Nairobi; the delegation needs to raise 50,000 USD to support the expenses related to travelling from Nairobi to Seattle.
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