Dear Stakeholders,

The Kalasha Awards are alive and kicking in spite of all the set backs KFC has encountered in recent times. Indeed we were keen to keep everyone posted on the goings on but understandably we needed to communicate officially as soon as a replacement sponsor was found.

The withdrawal by YU from sponsoring this event not only left us stunned but has also eaten into valuable time. As we stand now and as Alex has correctly pointed out the event was postponed for two reasons: Nomination Academy required more time than anticipated and we needed more time to secure further sponsorship.

We have had to cut back and downsize the event to accommodate the new reality…where many companies are faced with dropping profitability and as thus are unwilling to assist at this time. We are however have a number of prospects that we hope will come on board and help us set up a respectable event.

In the country we live in, I am not surprised that many of you had become skeptical of any kind of deviation from the mark and especially Govt. institutions where foul play always wins the day.

I want to remind you all about the commitment that KFC has for this industry. This is not a job for us otherwise we could have cancelled the event as soon as we lost the funding component. We are working tirelessly to make the film industry a major economic sector and this event was to secure it for all of us. We welcome any leads (sponsorship) as we are well aware we have no monopoly for good ideas.

Presently, I cannot authoritatively say exactly when we will hold the nomination unveiling event (a preamble before countdown to the event proper). We have however set the Kalasha Film and Television Awards Gala night for 25th April, 2009 at Carnivore grounds and hope to kick of the publicity around the nominations by 25th of March.

The nominations have now been concluded and only await the unveiling in about 2 weeks time, an event that many of you will be invited. In the meantime stand with us as we seek for a key sponsor and prepare to unveil the potential winners. We will also send you further information by tomorrow afternoon.

This will especially include the Kalasha Awards framework to allow for a better understanding of the process.

David Maingi
CEO, Kenya Film Commission.