M-Net’s ‘Summertide’ Director Corné Van Rooyen Gets Candid About Bringing the Script to Life

• The highly anticipated series Summertide is currently in production in the Western Cape and is set to premiere on M-Net in January 2024
• The show, directed by Corné van Rooyen, is based in Cape Town and focuses on the story of a marine biologist, Martin Field and his family
• Monique Rockman, who plays Rebecca Solomons in the series, noted that her character is feisty and multi-layered, with a unique love interest role that differs from her previous roles

M-Net's highly anticipated series Summertide is currently in production in the Western Cape. The upcoming series from Red Letter Day Pictures is set to premiere on the channel in January 2024.

Briefly News chats to Summertide director Corné van Rooyen on the Summertide set

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Briefly News visited one of the sets of the show in Kommetjie and spoke to the director Corné van Rooyen who opened up about how they came about with the location and cast. Corné said they decided to shoot the story in Cape Town because the story is based on a marine biologist. He said:

"All our locations are on the sea. We said from the beginning that every single location, even the school will be a stone's throw away from the ocean. So, I wanted to connect the ocean constantly to the family and how this ocean also binds the family and the community together."

Corné also touched on some of the challenges that they have faced working with nature and having to manage the weather. The famous producer gave an example of when their set was destroyed by the floods in Simon's Town, and they had to rebuild the set again.

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"We realised when we chose False Bay or Simon's Town that first tourists would be a big thing, but I think the elements are our biggest challenge. We decided to lean into the elements to make it a part of the story. Styling the hair to accommodate the wind and realising that it's not Pretoria."

Monique Rockman opens up about playing Rebecca Solomons

Briefly News also caught up with Monique Rockman who plays one of the lead characters Rebecca Solomons. She also spoke about her experiences shooting the show.

The actress said the character is different from all the characters she has portrayed. She also noted that the character has been challenging to portray because of the water scenes. She said:

"Rebecca is a nice feisty character with a lot of layers. She has some dark secrets which makes her quite interesting. She is feisty and very strong. It's a very different character from what I have ever played. I am used to playing very weird out-of-the-box characters, so this is a love interest role and I have never been the girl the boys wanted.

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"Also, some of the water stuff that I had to learn and being in the ocean a lot."

The show follows the story of Martin Field, a marine biologist who relocates to False Bay with his two children following his wife's death.

Summertide will show at 18:00 on Sunday nights, followed by the popular program Carte Blanche at 19:00, and conclude with the Sunday night blockbuster movie at 20:05.

Lebo M takes over production of Lebo M: Coming Home Season 2 without Carol Bouwer: “Almost done”

In more entertainment news, Briefly News reported that good news for fans of musical producer Lebo Morake, is allegedly making an onscreen comeback with his reality show on Mzansi Magic's Lebo M: Coming Home.

The composer of the international musical has taken over the production of the second season of Lebo M: Coming Home, ZiMoja reported.

Source: Briefly News