MY Brother’s Keeper actor Nkanyiso Mchunu and Uzalo actress Noxolo Mathula have a message for pupils.
They encouraged those who like acting to study first before pursuing it.
The two, who've made a name for themselves in the acting industry, motivated pupils at Mbekamuzi Secondary School in KwaDukuza, KZN, on Thursday, 11 April.
They were speaking during the first day of the three-day Ilembe Short Indie Film Festival held at KwaDukuza under the Ilembe district.
The festival started by visiting schools from rural areas to teach pupils about the acting and entertainment industry.
Nkanyiso, who has appeared on shows such as Imbewu: The Seed, Uzalo and Umkhokha: The Seed, told Daily Sun it's important for youngsters to be educated about the acting industry to avoid exploitation.
"Without proper education, they'll be exploited because at the end of the day, it's a business. We've seen lot of artists dying poor and a lot of artists complaining that they are now living off grants. This is because they were never paid. They didn’t know their contracts. They also didn’t know the percentages they were supposed to get.
"There are so many disadvantages of being without an education. With a proper education, you don’t just get trained and get taught acting skills. It goes beyond that. It's about how to handle fame, how to handle money, how to handle yourself as a business and as a brand, as well as how to protect that brand, how to grow that brand and how to make money using that brand," he said.
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Matric pupil Sifiso Mfweka (20) from Mbekamuzi Secondary School told Daily Sun being part of the festival helped him a lot.
"I love acting and presenting, and the information I got here will help me going forward. I will finish matric first and study acting and presenting thereafter," he said.
Festival director Zanele Nhlapho told Daily Sun the festival aimed to develop KwaDukuza in the film industry.
"The main reason for including the pupils is because we want them to consider studying audio visual because we want to make Ilembe as the film destination.
"We will be touring the six high schools in KwaDukuza before the official opening in the night, then Friday and Saturday will be doing workshops," she said.
