Gray Matter Media secures rights for The Apprentice South Africa 2021:
Cape Town, 17 June 2020 – The reality of life during and post-COVID-19 has not fully sunk in yet, and its consequences for our businesses, organisations, economy, and society will play out over the rest of 2020 and beyond. We have probably all heard this many times by now, but the world is in unprecedented times.
In the midst of lockdown Gray Matter Media has secured the rights to produce a South African version of the hit reality TV show The Apprentice, distributed by MGM Television.
Magda Wierzycka, CEO and co-founder of Sygnia Limited, a publicly listed financial services company, has agreed to join the show as the CEO the role previously held by Tokyo Sexwale in the first South African series.
Magda Wierzycka, one of the wealthiest and most successful business women in South Africa, has spent more than 20 years managing money and building companies.
“There’s this whole very exciting world of investing for the good of humanity. I want to invest in people and companies that can potentially change the world for the better, this is why I am excited to play the role of executive chair in the new series of Apprentice South Africa.” Says Magda
Wierzycka is proud to chair “this important educational programme” for the stimulation and development of business ideas and entrepreneurship as many South Africans turn to business post Covid-19. Magda’s forthright approach and her commitment to the fight against corruption and the promotion of ethics in business will make for riveting South African entertainment.
Magda says “This new South African Apprentice has its own importance for the enhancement of entrepreneurship in South Africa and the redesign of the South African economy post Covid-19. We need people to stay here, to contribute, to work, to grow the economy to create jobs”.
Executive Producer, Matthew Gray, part of the team that produced the first South African Apprentice in 2005, has always been attracted to the show for the way it combines nail biting entertainment with real social value.
“I see The Apprentice as a vehicle to raise awareness and sharpen the skills of home-grown entrepreneurs and look forward to unearthing some bright young talent filled with social consciousness” say Matthew Gray of Gray Matter Media, “We are moving into a new era, the changing of an age, a journey into the unknown, a virgin landscape bursting with unlimited opportunity, it’s the perfect time for a new Apprentice, one determined to challenge the backbone of the past to build the spirit of the future.”
The Apprentice, one of the most watched reality television shows on the planet, produced in over 24 countries across the globe, will see selected candidates from across the country converge on the mother city, Cape Town, to face the biggest business challenge of their lives with the hope of winning a sizeable salary and a leading position in one of Wierzycka’s companies, or start-up capital invested by Magda into their own.
The long awaited new season of The Apprentice South Africa is expected to go into pre-production in September 2020, shoot early-2021 and be on screen mid-2021.
-ENDS-
About The Apprentice
Billed as “The Ultimate Job Interview,” The Apprentice features fourteen to eighteen business people who compete over the course of a season, with usually one contestant eliminated per episode. Contestants are split into two “corporations” (teams), with one member from each volunteering as a project manager on each new task. The corporations complete business-related tasks such as selling products, raising money for charity, or creating an advertising campaign, with one corporation selected as the winner based on objective measures and subjective opinions of the host and his advisors who monitor the teams’ performance on tasks. The losing corporation attends a boardroom meeting with the show’s host and their advisors to break down why they lost and determine who contributed the least to the team. Episodes ended with the host eliminating one contestant from the competition, with the words “You’re fired!”
About Gray Matter Media
Gray Matter Media is a production company offering a full range of services for all forms of entertainment-based content development. Gray Matter Media develops and produces all these formats and content for local and global audiences alike, also creating bespoke branded content formats to maximise impact for clients immediately.
Gray Matter Media is a multifaceted media production company dedicated to excellence, with representation in the two major creative hubs in South Africa, Cape Town and Johannesburg. The powerhouse team of Matthew Gray and Justine Solomon are the dynamic duo that lead the creative energy of the Gray Matter Media team.
Collectively, Matthew and Justine have been producing high quality visual content for over 15 years, both locally and internationally, for the likes of Fremantle Media, Mark Burnett Productions, National Geographic, BBC, Endemol and Turner International to name a few.
For more information www.graymattermedia.co.za
ABOUT MGM TELEVISION:
A multiple Emmy-winning leading producer and global distributor of premium content for television and digital platforms, with distribution rights to original productions and a robust catalogue of television episodes and feature film titles including such premiere entertainment franchises as James Bond, Rocky, Stargate and The Hobbit trilogy. Current scripted projects include Fargo (FX); Vikings( HISTORY); The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu); Get Shorty (EPIX); Condor(AT&T AUDIENCE Network) and Clarice (CBS). As part of their Spanish language joint venture with Gato Grande Productions, the studio also produces Luis Miguel: The Series (Netflix). Current unscripted projects include The Voice (NBC); Survivor (CBS); Shark Tank (ABC); Beat Shazam (FOX) and World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge (Amazon); and through its distribution entity, Orion TV Productions, the syndicated daytime courtroom series Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court, Couples Court with The Cutlers and Personal Injury Court. In addition, MGM owns Evolution Media and Big Fish Entertainment, the prolific unscripted television producers who respectively produce The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Vanderpump Rules (Bravo); Botched and Meet The Frasers (E!); Live PD, Live Rescue, and America’s Top Dog (A&E); Love & Hip Hop: New York, Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Black Ink Crew: Chicago and Black Ink Crew: Chicago (VH1). MGM’s television programming airs in more than 100 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.
Video: Gray Matter Media secures rights for The Apprentice South Africa 2021:
CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za.
More Info on Gray Matter Media secures rights for The Apprentice South Africa 2021 here: http://www.graymattermedia.co.za/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheFriedTomato
Facebook:
Source: MyPR.
Port Elizabethan
Latest posts by Port Elizabethan (see all)
- Why Fewer People Are Being Convicted for Commercial Crimes - 15 May 2026
- Urgent Call for South Africa to Support and Join Global Efforts to Phase Out Fossil Fuels - 15 April 2026
- Unfenced 6 SAI Army Base Outside Makhanda Claims Another Life - 20 November 2025
- Death Toll Rises From Makhado Bus Crash - 21 October 2025
- Law Clinics Flooded as Home Affairs Blocks Asylum Seekers From the System - 15 October 2025
