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APPIE MATERE
| NAME | APPIE MATERE |
| AGE | N/A |
| GENDER | FEMALE |
| OCCUPATION | FILM PRODUCER, CEO, LECTURER |
Appie Matere was a Kenyan filmmaker, television producer, and entrepreneur.
She was the founder, CEO, and Executive Producer of Zamaradi Productions, which is an independent studio established in 2011 to create authentic African content for global audiences.
Matere rose from extreme hardships, having started her working life at age 19 as a street hawker selling pencils, knives, and household goods door-to-door in Nairobi, after running from home to avoid joining a teacher’s training college, as she never wanted to be one.
Despite lacking formal film education due to financial constraints, Appie broke into the industry through sheer persistence, starting as an assistant and working on international productions like the German film The White Maasai.
Appie’s Educational Background
Details of Appie’s primary school education are not publicly available, but the film producer attended Chogoria Girls’ High School in Tharaka Nithi County for her secondary school education.
Appie didn’t attend college or university for further studies, but was self-taught in film production while working various jobs.
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Her mother pushed her into joining a Teachers’ Training College, which Matere declined as she had no desire to be a teacher, but wanted to be a nurse, a dream that never came true due to financial limitations.
Despite not having a formal degree, she contributed mainly to the education sector after she was recognized for her mastery of the craft and served as a lecturer at the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI) from 2017, teaching certificate and diploma courses in Film and TV production.
Career Background
Sales and marketing – Before entering film, Appie Matere worked in several sales roles and companies, hawking goods door-to-door and later at a real estate firm that closed abruptly due to authenticity issues, an experience that provided the business knowledge she used to run her production company.
Industry breakthrough – She broke into the film industry in the early 2000s, starting as an assistant and working on major international productions like the German feature film The White Maasai in 2005.
In 2011, Appie Matere founded Zamaradi Productions, which became one of Kenya’s most successful independent studios. Under her leadership, the studio produced over 120 hours of local digital content within five years, creating jobs for more than 200 young creatives.
Appie Matere’s Achievements
She was the executive producer of several highly popular series, including Kina (530 episodes), Kona, Jela 5-Star, and Nyumba 10.
Appie produced the 2019 film Dream Child, which won Best East African Film at the 2021 Uganda Film Festival.
Her projects received numerous Kalasha Awards, including Best Short Film, which was awarded to the film Killer Necklace, and Best Feature Documentary for Headlines in History.
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Appie was a chief juror for the Riverwood Awards in 2015 and 2016, serving on the selection panel for the Multichoice Talent Factory (MTF), where she ran masterclasses across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.
From 2017, she also served as a faculty member at the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI), teaching certificate and diploma courses in Film and TV production.
Matere was widely recognized for her contributions to elevating African narratives through film.
Family background
Appie was raised by a single mother who struggled to provide for her three children after her husband passed away.
She was one of three children, as she mentioned in an interview, who, due to limited financial resources, her mother could only afford higher education for one child, which was their elder brother.
She also has supportive aunties who, at some point, took care of her when she ran away from her rural home to avoid joining a teachers’ training college.
Appie was a mother of one child, whose name and age are not publicly known.
Appie’s Death
Appie Matere rested forever on December 15, 2025, after battling breast cancer for some time.
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