Welcome to #IPThursday again good people! This week we’re going through the story of Brenda Fassie and the legal issues surrounding her much anticipated Biopic.
NB: Special thanks to Prof @ZakesMda for helping me with some info on this one!
The star of our story today is none other than the Queen of South African Pop, MaBrrr, Brenda Fassie. Born on 3 November 1964, she is probably South Africa’s greatest ever entertainer.
MaBrrr began her music career as a child, singing for tourists in Cape Town, with the help of her mother. Even as a child, Brenda had big ambitions and so she did what a lot of us have done at one point in our lives, she left home to pursue a career in Joburg, Soweto to be exact.
She joined a vocal group called “Joy” and then later became the lead singer of her own band, “Brenda and the Big Dudes”. Sidenote: Band names back then were really descriptive 😂.
In 1983, at just 18 years of age, Brenda released the song “Weekend Special”. The lyrics are pretty self explanatory and if your bae only sees you on weekends, you are probably a “weekend special” yourself😂
Weekend Special was released through EMi records and it made Brenda a star. People even compared her vocal range to Whitney Houston. It was the fastest selling single of that year, and DJs had it on rotation in SA, UK and US. Weekend baes had found their anthem!
After the success of Weekend Special, a lot of things started to happen in Brenda’s life, which are important for today’s story.
She gave birth to her only child, Bongani Fassie in 1985 and around this time, she signed with popular producer Sello “Chicco” Twala, who helped her produce more hits in the late 80s and all of the 90s.
Together with Chicco, they gave us powerful hits during this period. Who can forget Black President (a dedication to Mandela), Too late for mama and my personal fave “iStraight LeNdaba”.🔥🔥🔥🎶🎶
Her most popular album is probably “Memeza” which she released in 1997. It featured the song “Vulindlela”. If you haven’t heard this you must be living under a rock.
It is the most played song at African Weddings. Most guys will tell you their mothers want them to get married just so they can sing this song to their haters. It is a Mother in Law’s Anthem! I think my mom wants me to get married so she can sing along to it nicely, with purpose!
Soon thereafter she gave us the song “Thol’amadlozi”. Okay, maybe this one is my fave...its so brilliantly written and performed! All these hits, together with her powerful personality cemented her status as the Queen of South African music.
Throughout her life however, Brenda suffered from drug addiction which got her in and out of rehab in the 90s. It affected her music career at times but she always delivered hits.
In 2004 she had a heart attack and was rushed to a hospital in Sandton. She passed away on the 9th of May after a few days in hospital from what was reported as a cocaine overdose. Leaving behind her son Bongani is her sole descendant.
Soon after her death, details of Brenda’s lifestyle became public, this included her love life as well as her reckless spending habits. Essentially, Brenda Fassie died broke. But she still had a lot of earning potential from royalties.
So Chicco, who was her manager, and a few others decided to setup a trust where the royalties for her music would be paid. This was so that her son Bongani, who was the beneficiary of her estate could benefit.
I’m sure we all know what a Trust is, but I’ll unpack it quickly here for those who are trying to have “Trust Fund Babies”.....
A trust is simply an entity created to hold /assets on behalf of another person. Its usually managed by a TRUSTworthy professional, like a lawyer. Simple. NB: a trust is different to an estate. The latter is determined by a court, a trust can kick in immediately.
What followed after Brenda Fassie’s death is drama which probably needs its own Biopic. Over the years, Bongani alleged that his mother’s estate was mismanaged by the executor and even accused Chicco of not paying royalties from the songs to the estate.
Bongani claimed he had suffered financially because of this and money was not being paid to his mother’s estate. I’m not sure what happened with the Trust Fund, but he dragged Chicco, EMi and co to court for royalties and even had the administrator of his mother’s estate removed.
However, sometime during their dispute, Chicco and Bongani kissed and made up. Bongani started considering making a movie about his late mother. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a Brenda Fassie Biopic.
Chicco would fund and produce the Brenda Fassie Biopic, whilst Bongani would provide him with any materials he needed (photos, videos etc. to make it happen). At this point, Brenda’s estate was not yet actually finalised by the courts.
They entered into an agreement and Chicco, who now had the rights from Bongani got started with the research for the Biopic. He got movie director Ntshavheni wa Luruli involved, who then commissioned Prof Zakes Mda to write the script.
They signed an agreement with Prof Zakes where they would pay him in milestones. (e.g. an amount down for signature, another amount on presentation of the treatment, another amount on the presentation of first draft of script etc.)
Prof Zakes was paid the signature amount and then he wrote a detailed treatment for the film. You’re probably wondering what a Film Treatment is.....
Well its simply a short outline of the screenplay before you write the actual script. The idea is to present the concept to make sure it aligns with the producer’s vision. I think! Film graduates can correct me here!
Prof Zakes was paid for the signature amount and after he wrote a detailed treatment for the biopic, he never heard from them again. Which is a breach of contract he could choose to pursue.
There may be some reason why Prof Zakes didn’t hear back from them. Whilst Chicco was making preparations for the film, he would often imply to the media that Bongani had drug issues. Bongani then decided to approach a UK based film company, to do the Biopic instead
He then sent a letter to Chicco terminating their earlier agreement. When Chicco heard another co. was making the movie, he rushed to court and tried to get an interdict to stop them from making it.
Chicco felt that as Brenda’s manager he was best placed to tell the story and if anyone else did the Biopic, they wouldn’t tell it properly. He also said him and Bongani had an agreement where he gave Chicco rights to make the Brenda Fassie film.
Moreover Chicco felt that Bongani had a personal vendetta against him and that is why he approached someone else to make the film.
So the matter came before judge Mgqibisa-Thusi in the High Court in Pretoria. The judge had to decide whether Bongani could go ahead with the film without Chicco or if Chicco had the rights to stop them. He wanted a final interdict that would prevent them making the movie.
The judge said that when Bongani and Chicco made the agreement, Brenda Fassie’s estate had not been finalized by the court. Remember I said earlier that an estate is controlled by the court until it is finalised, which can often take years.
Then only when it is finalised, can someone be appointed to administer it and make decisions without court approval. The judge held that the agreement between Chicco and Bongani was invalid as at the time, Bongani did not have capacity to give away rights on behalf of the estate.
The court said only the Master of the High Court could make that decision at the time and Bongani did not have capacity to do that. Bongani could now go ahead and make the movie without Chicco.
This is a tricky situation for several reasons, the first one being that Chicco owns the rights to about 75% of Brenda Fassie’s music. He is willing to stick to his guns until Bongani comes to the table and works with him. Otherwise, he won’t grant permission to use the music
Secondly, it would be difficult to do the film without portraying Chicco in some way. I don’t know about you, but a Biopic without the music or Chicco may be a bit weird. But I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think we can all agree that we want to see the Brenda Fassie Biopic, but the way the money, the rights and the payment of 3rd parties has been handled is very messy. Hopefully we reach a conclusion soon!
Big Lesson: I think it’s important to make sure you have properly acquired the rights to something before you start working on it. You might find the agreement you have is invalid. Also, pay 3rd parties for their work! ❤️💛💚
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