By NATASHA CHIYOBEKA and YOWELI CHUNGU
WHEN you visit a professional film or television show set, an assistant director (or 1st AD) handles the logistics of running the set during production.
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They are the liaison between the director and the rest of the crew. On Ten Tamanga Street drama series, Emmanuel Luckson Musonda runs this position with an iron fist and sense of urgency.
A journalist, script writer, actor and model, he began his film career in 2014, two years after completing his secondary school at Munali Boys in Lusaka.
“Starting out in this industry was hard for me, I could walk for many miles to meet up with my friends just to write scripts. Sometimes after working so hard on a film set, I would only be paid transport money, often, working long hours on sets on one meal, “says Emmanuel.
“In the beginning, because of the long hours on sets, I often got home late, and my parents were not happy about this, especially after I completed my Grade 12, I was forced to apply for a medical course in Kitwe but it never worked out, thank God for that” adds Emmanuel.
He then went on to apply for a journalism and public relations course at ZAMCOM where he got accepted but his true passion was on script writing. “I remember skipping classes just to go and write scripts at my boarding house,” says Emmanuel.
He started writing and making short films with his friend Emmanuel Mwape who is now one of the top film makers and gradually started writing feature films for Nafler Media Creation and in 2017, he got interested in becoming an assistant director.
The discipline I got from the hard struggling years earlier began to pay off for me as I was the second assistant director for ZUBA Season 1, and I built into these achievements and today I have worked on quite a number of Zambezi Magic projects as 1st assistant from 2017 till date from Amooye, Ubuntu and now on Ten Tamanga Street.
Aside from film he is an award-winning male model who has won Model of the year. Fitness model of the year male at the model of the year model category in the zikomo awards.
“I aspire to become one of the greatest film makers that will ever live. I try by all means to polish my work I am very passionate about film, and writing is my best strength I love to tell stories that are emotionally charging and inspiring,” he says.
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