Bino and Fino: Defeating The Norms of TV Culture
Bino and Fino is not your regular kids cartoon that explores fun activities under the sea like Spongebob ,or faces bad characters like Swiper in Dora the Explorer. Bino and Fino is an educational show that teaches our youth about African culture, and more so, features episodes in languages such as Igbo, Yoruba, and so much more! We got a chance to talk to the creator of the show, Adamu Waziri to find out more info about the show.
Adamu heads business development for the show. “My job focuses mainly on establishing and maintaining relationships with vendors, licensing, merchandising, and working out ways to create multiple revenue streams for the brand.”
How did you come up with the title for the show?
I wanted something cute that would resonate with children. It wasn’t a long process at all.
What inspired you to create Bino and Fino?
As you know, Nigeria is the most populous black nation in the world. Unfortunately, most animated cartoon shows for kids are still being imported via channels such as Disney channel and Nick. Jr. This imbalance spurred me to create a Nigerian children show. It’s very important for Nigerian and Black children to see themselves in the landscape of children’s media. Trying to wait on the likes of Cartoon Network and Disney channel to do it for us is not an option.
What are some challenges you faced when trying to put the show together?
Funding and infrastructure in Nigeria are the greatest challenges for any business to face here. You have to be incredibly tenacious to survive in this market. I would say that when we tried to bring the show out the market wasn’t ready. But now with the advent of more localization and content there is a huge demand for African made content.
What is the general structure of a Bino and Fino episode?
It depends on the subject matter being covered in the episode. Usually the episodes revolve around some issue/situation that the children have to resolve. For example, in the episode about the Great Benin Walls, the children had decided to separate their play space after a fight. Their mom then begins to tell them the story about the Great Benin Walls. After the story the children decided to take down their walls and suddenly they are met with their friend Zeena, the magic butterfly, who takes them back in time to show them the walls. They then proceed to count all the gates of the wall.
Who are the voices behind Bino and Fino? Are they children or adults?
Yes they are children. We hired them through our network of lovely creatives. Their names are Glight and Victoria.
(Glight) (Victoria)
What other languages do you plan on adding to the show?
I’m currently looking into adding the languages Twi, German, and Japanese.
Where do you see Bino and Fino in the next 5-1o years?
Interesting question. We see Bino and Fino as one of the leading African voices in children’s media. Our goal is to make our brand as accessible as possible to as many children around the world as possible!
Do you see Bino and Fino making it’s way to US channels such as Disney Channel and Nick Jr.?
Hard to say. We are certainly open to talk with bigger networks in the U.S. like the ones stated. The children’s sector is in a state of flux with new players coming into the market like Hulu, YouTube Kids, and Netflix. We are available to watch in the US Amazon Prime which is a big step for us in bringing the show to a wider audience.
Bino and Fino is an excellent way of tying the two worlds of enjoying a fun childhood and gaining knowledge about your culture together! Before we know it, Bino and Fino will be at the forefront of children’s media and will be educating our youth at the same time!
