Likarion Wainaina on Kenya's first sci-fi series, Subterranea

No Kenyan filmmaker loves unconventional and experimental ideas more than Likarion Wainaina. Like Supa Modo, his multi-award-winning 2018 film and Kenya’s first superhero film, even though not in the conventional sense of the genre. Or The Maasai Mara Phenomenon, about a Maasai woman who is visited by an other-worldly monolith and must now battle her deity and humanity, an ambitious project you’ve probably never heard of because Likarion is waiting for the right circumstances to tell it. Or Subterranea, Kenya’s first-ever sci-fi series, which he describes as “Big Brother meets Survivor meets Silo.”

The Showmax Original series follows eight participants of a psychological experiment who are placed in an underground bunker to test the effects of close-quarter, secluded relationships in humans.

Subterranea is Likarion’s most ambitious project yet, one he hopes will inspire more Kenyan storytellers to be bold and crazy. “We’re hoping that Subterranea will show what’s possible and open doors to more genres that will give Kenyan audiences diverse options,” he says.

Watch the trailer for Subterranea

In the interview below, Likarion shares more about the making of Subterranea, including a humorous tale of how he pitched the series behind show creator Brian Munene’s back before the idea was complete.

How does it feel to direct the first sci-fi series in Kenya?

I have a delayed response so the feeling hasn’t hit me yet. I am excited, of course, because no one has done it before but I also understand the pressure that comes with it. A lot of eyes are on us to see whether we will succeed or fail so it’s an adrenaline rush of both positive and negative. How the audience responds to it is what I’m really excited about.

How did you convince Showmax to pick up a TV genre that has never been done before in Kenya?

When the show’s creator, Brian Munene, shared an incomplete treatment of Subterranea on our production company’s WhatsApp group, we thought he had copied it somewhere online to just show how treatments are made. One of us asked him, “Where did you get this story from? It’s really interesting. Where can we read more about it or watch it?” He said he came up with the concept but I couldn’t believe him so I called one of our business partners (Bruce Makau) on the side to verify if it was really Brian’s idea. Once Bruce confirmed it, I went behind Brian’s back and sent the pitch deck to Showmax even though it was still incomplete. The concept was just too good not to be made before someone else had a similar idea. And as Kibanda Pictures, I knew we had to go for it. After Showmax picked the project, of course, we had to develop the idea further and flesh it out. I’ve been so fortunate to be part of the whole process with Brian, from the pitching to writing to pre-production to production to post-production. It really helps me as a director to prepare well for a show, and there’s no other project in my life that I’ve been as prepared for as Subterranea.

Subterranea is a monumental project. What are some of the key challenges of bringing such a project to life?

I think the biggest challenge was pitching the show to Showmax and convincing content executives to pick it up, especially trying to paint the picture for them to believe in the idea. I had the same challenge when I was pitching my feature film, Supa Modo, which was a superhero film. You find that sometimes, people have these misconceptions brought about by Hollywood. Therefore, during Subterranea’s pitch, it was important to us that the content team understood exactly what we were trying to do. The first thing was convincing them that sci-fi can happen in Kenya. The second was the spectrum of sci-fi we were going to bring to life because investors can be scared about the scope and scale of it. We wanted to tell a story that is believable for Kenyans to ingest by creating a phenomenon that could happen in this country and also by creating characters that are very believable, the ordinary Kenyans you’d meet on the streets.

Another big challenge was finding and building the perfect set. For two months, we searched for the perfect location that the world of Subterranea could exist in and we just couldn’t find what worked, until we got a studio at M-Net, which in itself still presented another challenge. We needed about 13 000 sq feet to build the set but the studio was only 7 500 sq feet. We contemplated building the first part of the set, film, take it down and then build the second part before Brian (Munene) came up with the idea of building two floors instead. I laughed, the architect laughed but Brian wasn’t really laughing and that’s how we built a one-storey set inside the studio. I’d say this was a happy challenge.

Before Subterranea, you directed Supa Modo, Kenya’s first superhero film. Would you say you’re mostly in your element when directing such unconventional or experimental projects?

I’m always keen on experimenting with genres. And Subterranea is the whole point of me getting into television. I’ve directed sitcoms and other genres for TV but that has always been to lead up to this moment. I’m very happy with how this project turned out, and how my career brought me here. I want to be able to direct more experimental genres that are not common on Kenyan TV, like horror, thrillers, mystery and action. There are so many sub-genres apart from drama, which is what we are used to, and I want to be either the pioneer of it or be part of the revolution.

Subterranea is now streaming on Showmax, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.