Unsuccessful in convincing the South African Television Company to pursue such a series, he decided to change the medium to that of film. He secured a large amount of his funding by convincing Taye Diggs to fill the lead role. American screenwriter Jason Filardi was asked to write the script by production company Armada and subsequently "fell in love" with "Drum"'s plotline. In preparation for this task, he read books on Nxumalo and the history of South Africa, and stayed for a month in Johannesburg. Filardi said that his work on the film was his fondest experience with the medium. Filming began in May 2004 and lasted for six weeks. On 29 May, producer Dumisani Dlamini died after being shot in the head at his home in Johannesburg. The soundtrack was written by Terence Blanchard and Cédric Gradus Samson. Much of it is a jazz score, which has been called "strong". This is a reflection of the music that was popular during the movie's place and time. "Drum" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2004. It was the lead film in the festival's Spotlight on South Africa program. The Sundance Film Festival picked up the film, for its US premiere in January 2005, as did the Cannes Film Festival in May. On 21 June, "Drum" was screened at the Boston International Film Festival during its first session. The film opened the 2005 Filmfest München on 25 June. For his work with "Drum", Maseko received the top prize at FESPACO, the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, in addition to a cash prize of 10 million CFA francs (US$20,000) at its closing ceremony in March 2005. He was the first South African to do such. In addition, "Drum" is only the second English language film to have won the Golden Stallion at FESPACO, the first being Kwaw Ansah's "Heritage Africa" in 1989. The film premièred in South Africa at the 26th Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) on 17 July 2005 where it won the Best South African Film Award. It was released at 29 South African movie theatres on 22 July. Events to help promote the film included toyi-toyi dances in various South African market places, and the production crew holding a contest in which South African schoolchildren would have to research a lost community and the winners would get to meet the actors.