It has been revealed that the award-winning film maker, music composer and creative director Mandla Ngcongwane, well known as Mandla N buys small portions of land and assembles the shops and houses seen on our small screens from scratch.
The film maker recently set the bar higher when he bought the former Urban Brew Studios on Hartley in Randburg and renamed it Media City.
The founder of Black Brain Pictures confirmed the film studio purchase during an interview with Radio 2000 where he announced that he bought the building and recently received the title deed.
Speaking to TshisaLIVE, Black Brain Pictures spokesperson Nyiko Bilankulu said, “I can confirm they have acquired the building where Urban Brew Studios used to be. They have renamed the building from Studios on Hartley to Media City,” said Nyiko.
While a source close to Mandla N told the publication that he was in talks with the owners of the buildings for a while.
“The building is now under Mandla, and is where The Masked Singer South Africa is being filmed. The building will be useful for acting scenes in his drama series. He bought the building because he wants Black Brain Pictures to own its set,” said the source.
Another one said, “People don’t know that the houses, shops and police station on Isitha and Isiphetho were built from scratch. Mandla buys a portion of land and then builds his set. Everything is shot on that piece of land,” the source revealed.
Black Brain has produced some of the top drama series, including Lockdown and the iconic City Ses’la.
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