Kabelo Maaka & Dr. Tshepo Maaka, Daughter-Mother Filmmaker Duo, Unveal Their Short Educational Animation, 3 Teaspoons of Sugar

Kabelo Maaka and Dr. Tshepo Maaka are the two faces behind Cabblow Studios, who made the short educational animated documentary titled, 3 Teaspoons of Sugar. The daughter-mother storytelling duo focuses on three individuals who share their experiences living with diabetes. They talk to us about the making of their educational animation which had its independent World Premiere on World Diabetes Day on November 14th, 2019. You can RENT/BUY 3 Teaspoons of Sugar, and or buy merchandise on their store.

indieactivity: Did you start writing with a cast in mind?
Dr. T: Not at all, we started with the subject of the film in mind, I.e Diabetes and because we knew who the cast was as part of the story, we then worked the cast in. The film is based on real-life characters.

How long did you take to complete the script? (Do you have a writing process?)
Kabelo Maaka (KM): We actually didn’t write a script. We knew from the beginning that we would incorporate real people into the animation and possibly take a documentary approach to the animation so the story wrote itself as it was being made. There were 3 things that gave the story structure: the medical facts & research that we wanted to include, the interview questions we decided to ask our cast, and the storyboard which gave us a guide as to the visual style of the animation.

The official trailer for 3 Teaspoons of Sugar by Kabelo Maaka & Dr. Tshepo Maaka from Cabblow Studios

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What was your first project?
Dr. T: Our first project was a pharmaceutical client animation about a nasal spray. 3 Teaspoons of Sugar was our very 1st original animated short film that we ever made

What worked better in this latest production that mightn’t have worked so well in the last one you did?
Dr. T: Right now we have streamlined our processes in that we have allocated roles to different people within the team and the process is not as haphazard as it was when we did our maiden film.

Kabelo Maaka (KM): For sure, what worked while making 3 Teaspoons of Sugar was embracing non-traditional processes. We are a growing studio so it is unrealistic for us to expect ourselves to work as other studios work. Because we are in a start-up phase we have more flexibility in our animation processes and tools.

Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business that you struggle with?
Dr. T: It is still early days for us, but I think as our choice of genre in medical animation is new maybe mainstream film broadcasters might take time to adapt it for consumption.

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Kabelo Maaka (KM): It can be difficult being both an artist and a business owner – sometimes it feels like two different roles, but we embrace the adventure nevertheless.

Where do you think your strengths lie as a filmmaker?
Dr. T: Our strength lies in combining our skills set in medicine and animation to tell medical animation stories supported by scientific facts. Our strength also lies in the innovative way in which we tell real medical stories. Lastly, as mom and daughter, our strength lies in knowing how we work and who does what better.

How was the film financed?
Dr. T: We were funded by both the National Film and Video Foundation as well as the Gauteng Film Commission and out of our own pocket.

What do you hope audiences get from your film?
Dr. T: I hope the audience gets to understand a little bit more about diabetes and its complications and thus use this film to change their health behaviors and avoid getting diabetes.

Kabelo Maaka (KM): We also hope that audiences can see that there are vast applications for animation as a storytelling and educational tool on top of it being an entertaining medium.

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What else have you got in the works?
Dr. T: We are currently working on COVID-19 episodic work as well as a project called “Dr. T’s Nuggets”, which are short health advice snippets on everyday issues and lastly we are working on a sequel for 3 Teaspoons called “The Little Teaspoon of Sugar” and our non- medical series ‘ The Fam’.

Kabelo Maaka (KM): You can follow our Instagram page to keep up with what we are doing as a studio.

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