There are no sacred cows and no punches held as local and
international politicians and celebrities get turned into frightfully
lifelike latex puppets inspired by South Africa’s most famous
cartoonist: Zapiro. In Znews, famous characters in South African and international life
are re-created in the form of lifesize puppets, which – in the manner
of newspaper political cartoons – grossly exaggerate that person’s most
obvious facial and personality characteristics. Given voices by topline
South African impressionists and comedy talent, the puppets are
manipulated by a team of skilled handlers to act out the wickedly funny
sketches that comprise each edition of this parody of TV news.
Thierry Cassuto and Jonathan Shapiro, aka 'Zapiro'
Znews was instigated by Thierry Cassuto, Executive
Producer, who over the course of many years researched and acquired
expertise from the original ‘Spitting Image’ series and the varied
adaptations it inspired around the world, notably the french ‘Guignols
de l’Info’; and by Jonathan Shapiro (aka Zapiro)
whose hard-hitting caricatures and unique political acumen form the
core of the show.
Together they came to the conclusion that the South
African public and front-page figures were now ready to have a good
laugh at themselves; that people that made the daily news had to be
portrayed free of the omnipresent facade of PR gloss and occasional
deceit; and that the envelope could be pushed much further that anyone
had yet dared to do on South African television. They put a team
together, designed and manufactured a life-size prototype puppet of
Madiba – that was presented to Nelson Mandela the day he officially
retired -, and produced a sample of what was to become the Znews
project.
In 2008 they produced a TV pilot in conjunction with SABC which,
despite the massive publicity and warm critical response it received,
never got aired and was not commissioned for a series. Frustrated by
the conservative attitude of the South African TV gatekeepers, Cassuto
and Zapiro have decided to take Znews straight to the viewers via the
Web and Mobile, a place where freedom of speech and the right to laugh
at anybody and anything are not being limited.
Initially www.znews.tv will host existing material from the TV pilot
produced in 2008 but very soon (as soon as sort out the funding
issues…) new content – news, clips and parodies – will be introduced
right here on a weekly or daily basis.