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| IN THIS ISSUE
13 Get raw. Get trashy. Get extreme.
17
18 Elements of Cinema: Meet Cute
A re-envisioning of the creation
36
38
It was 40 years ago today, SABC asked the band to play!
SPECIAL FEATURE Studios Studios: the best of times, the worst of times.............................. 30 Studios........................................32 – 34
News Triggerfish Story Lab selects eight finalists.............................. 3 Nu Metro V&A Waterfront is home to Africa’s first 4DX cinema.... 3 Hot Docs and Blue Ice award
The future of sport
Sasani Studios selects Clear-Com Eclipse HX intercom
FILM
Television
from Jasco Broadcast............................ 8 Visual Impact becomes official ARRI distributor for
Best of African Cinema 2015........... 16 A re-envisioning of the creation...... 17
Food, Booze and Tattoos: South Africa.......................................... 35 It was 40 years ago today, SABC asked the band to play!......... 36
southern Africa.................................... 10 Monkey Banana active near-field studio monitors................ 10 Vislink HeroCast BacPac wireless transmitter........................... 10
ADCETERA
top African documentary projects..... 4
Five trends for SA advertising.......... 12
The Cape Film Commission closes... 4 Student Oscar candidate
Creative catch and release............... 13 Get raw. Get trashy. Get extreme... 13
discusses his film Homeless.................. 4 Netflix launches in SA: The good, the bad and
Make stories that move..................... 14 Admit One: finding the ‘truth’................................. 14
Elements of Cinema: Meet Cute..... 18 Director Speak: Thabang Moleya..... 20
SPORTS BROADCAST
DOCUMENTARY Documenting the visceral................. 21 e.tv local documentary slate uncovers local heroes........................ 22
The future of sport............................ 38
BUSINESS, POLICY AND LEGISLATION Content regulation in the online space.............................. 40
FESTIVALS & MARKETS Berlinale 2016: A bit of Africa.......... 23 Festival and market guide.................. 26 Towards a sustainable film industry: south vs international market demand.................................... 29
New Media Virtual Reality: a whole new world............................. 42
Regulars Production Updates..................... 45 – 47
the competition...................................... 6 Inala Broadcast and EVS partnership enriches live
Events................................................... 47 Social............................................................ 48
content in South Africa......................... 8
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From the editor Now that 2016 is well and truly underway, having left that temporal waiting room we call January behind us, there will be little time to take stock as we dive headlong into what looks set to be a challenging year. At the end of last year, it became apparent that South Africa was on the verge of an economic crisis. Our industry is in a particularly vulnerable position because we rely so heavily on imported equipment. With the exchange rate plunge in December 2015, in a mere blink, various facilities around the country saw their projected costs increase by around 20%. Added to the fact that the pool of funding and production budgets has been getting shallower for a long time, this does not bode well at all. In the month of January, there were more disconcerting signs: yet another scandal at the National Film and Video Foundation and, of course, the closure of the Cape Film Commission. Screen Africa is still assessing the implications of this last development. Expect a report in our next issue. If we had expected VOD/ OTT platforms to offer opportunities for growth, we seem to be heading for disappointment there as well. In the past month, yet another of South Africa’s VOD start-ups, VIDI, closed its doors. The outlook may seem gloomy, looking at events such as these. But I don’t suggest that this is the full picture. As we see in some of the articles in this issue, the situation is so volatile that it’s hard to see if we are on a downward spiral or on a slow, twisting upward road, or perhaps continuing on a level plane. The industry is multifaceted and contraction in one place could mean expansion elsewhere. South Africa is already in good standing as a provider of services to productions and broadcasters outside the country, and focusing on this area of our operations may provide the key to making up the shortfalls we could be about to experience. Our technical crews are already used to working in this area and our content creators are also starting to get used to the idea that they need to sell content abroad, since the local content market is simply not lucrative enough to sustain them. That means understanding foreign markets and making content that will suit them. Check out our guide to international content markets in this issue for some ideas about how to approach foreign content buyers. This is not to say that locally-aimed content should be sidelined. We can keep aiming to make the great South African film or TV series, by all means. But the money has to come from somewhere. Having said all of this, the survival instincts of those working in this industry are keener than those in other sectors and I’m sure we’ll all come through it. – Warren Holden
SCREENAFRICA
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Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com
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Editor: Warren Holden: editor@screenafrica.com
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DEputy Editor: Carly Barnes: carly@screenafrica.com
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Journalist: Chanelle Ellaya: news@screenafrica.com Contributors: Sherif Awad, Paul Blom, Claire Diao, Ian Dormer, Louise Marsland, Andy Stead
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The Team Editor Warren Holden is a writer and journalist whose lifelong love of film and television prompted him to study for his BA in Motion Picture Medium at AFDA Johannesburg, specialising in writing and directing. After graduating, he worked for three years in the television industry before following his aptitude for writing into the world of publishing. He then worked for five years as assistant editor on the arts and culture publication Classicfeel, before taking the helm of Screen Africa, where his experiences in the separate streams of motion picture and publishing have finally come together. In addition to his work on Screen Africa, he is also hard at work developing stories for film and television and studying for a second degree in economics and African politics.
Deputy Editor Carly Barnes is a writer, journalist and self-professed documentary geek. Before joining Screen Africa, Carly completed a BA honours degree in Live Performance at AFDA Johannesburg, was named one of Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans (2011) and wrote and performed a one woman show at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. She ran a small entertainment and production company for more than six years before she began a professional writing career – as a contributor to Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t blogging, exploring the local festival scene or dreaming about travelling abroad, Carly is connecting with creative leaders and filmmakers who are shaping the future of content creation on the continent.
JOURNALIST Chanelle Ellaya is a writer and a journalist. She completed her BA Journalism degree at the University of Johannesburg in 2011. While writing is her passion, she has a keen interest in the media in various capacities: In 2012 she co-presented the entertainment and lifestyle show Top Entertainment on TopTV and later that year she was handpicked as part of a panel of five dynamic young Africans to interview Winnie MadikizelaMandela on a youth focused television show called MTV Meets. Chanelle is an avid social networker and a firm believer in the power of social and online networking. Between writing and tweeting, she finds time to feed her love for live music.
CONTRIBUTORS Sherif Awad was born in Cairo. He is afilm/video curator who has plied his trade at the Luxor African Film Festival, among others. He has written for and edited numerous film-themed publications throughout the Middle East. Paul Blom is a Cape Town-based writer, musician, filmmaker and event organiser. His writing on film, music and gaming has been published in various outlets in South Africa and abroad. He has written and directed several short films, music videos and documentaries. He is a cofounder of Flamedrop Events, which organises six annual events, including South African HorrorFest. Claire Diao is a French and Burkinabe cinema journalist. She covers the African film industry for various international media and moderates the Afrikamera Festival in Berlin each year. In 2015, she co-founded Awotele, a digital magazine that focuses on African cinema. Ian Dormer – Born in Zimbabwe, Ian has been in the TV business since the 1980s, having served in various positions at the SABC, M-Net and SuperSport. Ian currently works and resides in New Zealand. Louise Marsland is a veteran editor and journalist with over 20 years experience in the advertising, media, marketing and communications industries. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, she worked as the editor of AdVantage magazine, as well as Bizcommunity.com. She is currently publishing editor of TRENDAFRiCA.co.za. Andy Stead is a broadcast industry professional with over 40 years’ experience in both South Africa and the UK, having worked at a number of leading industry organisations including the BBC and Chroma Television. Now retired, he is based in Cape Town.
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Editorial Disclaimer The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Screen Africa or any employee thereof. Sun Circle Publishers makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. Sun Circle Publishers reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable. All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
Triggerfish Story Lab selects eight finalists With support from the Department of Trade and Industry as well as the Walt Disney Company, Triggerfish Animation Studios’ Story Lab initiative aims to develop African storytellers to produce animated content for an international audience. “Stories are the lifeblood of our business,” says Anthony Silverston‚ who heads development at Triggerfish. “We know that there are many writers/directors on the African continent with talent who have not had the opportunities to create stories for the world market. Our aim is two-fold: to identify exceptional talent and to provide them with the right opportunities and support through our network and infrastructure – with the ultimate aim of going into production. We have a long-term vision to create a slate of original feature films and to expand into television series production.” After launching in July 2015, the initiative
South Africa
IDENTIFYING EXCEPTIONAL TALENT: The Triggerfish development team and most of the Story Lab shortlist along with international script consultant Pilar Alessandra garnered 1 378 entries from 30 African countries and produced a shortlist of 35 feature film and TV series projects. The selected project creators then attended a two week masterclass in Cape Town hosted by Orion Ross‚ vice president of Animation & Digital Content for Disney Channels Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Pilar Alessandra, a Hollywood screenwriting instructor and expert in pitching and story analysis. In December 2015 the final eight projects were announced. Silverston comments: “Picking the final projects was extremely difficult because there were a lot of factors to consider and our experts – both international and local – all had quite varied feedback. I think this pointed to the fact that there were a lot of worthy submissions, any of which could credibly be developed into a successful project. I’m excited by the final slate and I’m
still hoping that there are ways for us to remain involved in the development of the other projects too.” The final feature film participants are: Ian Tucker (South Africa) for Dropped; Wanuri Kahiu and Nnedi Okorafor (Kenya/Nigeria) for The Camel Racer; Naseem Hoosen (South Africa) for The Wild Waste; and Kay Carmichael (South Africa) for Lights. The final TV series participants are: Malenga Mulendema (Zambia) for KC’s Super 4; Mike Scott (South Africa) for Bru and Boegie; Lucy Heavens (South Africa) for Wormholes; and Marc Dey and Kelly Dillon (South Africa) for Ninja Princess. For 28-year old participant Naseem Hoosen the Story Lab process has felt like coming home: “So often creative people can be guarded about sharing our ideas (often rightfully so) but the Story Lab helped break down so many of
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those barriers.” Hoosen believes his project, The Wild Waste, made the final cut because the story is accessible and speaks to his personal experiences growing up in South Africa. “There’s a strong afro-futurism influence in there and I think it offers the animators a chance to do something original and beautiful,” he says. TV Series finalist Mike Scott, a 33-yearold seasoned animator, says the Story Lab is a fitting platform to take his project Bru & Boegie, which has been in development for about 13 years, to the next level. “I’ve been punting my own work for about 10 years now and this is a major opportunity to give an IP a great chance at becoming a fully-fledged TV show or movie.” Silverston says Triggerfish is aiming to have initial story pitches ready for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and then move into the next phase of development, but notes that the development of the features will take some time. “We’re likely to be working on the scripts for the next couple of years. In February we’re all getting together in Los Angeles for two weeks to workshop the projects with Disney experts,” he comments. – Carly Barnes
On 16 December 2015 the first 4DX cinema in Africa, housed at Nu Metro V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, opened its doors to the public. Africa’s very first 4DX cinema comes as the direct result of a partnership between Nu Metro Cinemas and ACJ 4DPLEX – the creators of 4DX. The partnership promises to ensure the successful rollout of 182 4DX auditoriums across 34 countries. 4DX is a multi-sensory, digital 4D movie experience which stimulates all five senses using motion, vibration, water, wind, lighting and multiple scents to provide moviegoers with the ultimate immersive cinema experience. Nitesh Matai, Nu Metro Cinemas’ general manager, says that implementing 4DX at Nu Metro Cinemas was initially considered about two years ago, but plans only fully materialised a year ago. “It is a strategic
Image credit: Anton Robert
Nu Metro V&A Waterfront is home to Africa’s first 4DX cinema
IDENTIFYING EXCEPTIONAL TALENT: Nu Metro VA Waterfront move, fitting our commitment to supplying customers with a fully immersive cinema experience by utilising the best, most up-to-date, world-class technology,” Matai explains. Nu Metro Cinemas’ head of technical, Johan van Staden, was sent to Seoul, South Korea, for three weeks specifically to train for certified status to manage the
installation of the 4DX technology locally. “The complete installation was completed by South African contractors and Nu Metro’s Technical department. CJ 4DPLEX supervised the final settings and did the final testing before signing off on the installation,” says Matai. The films screened in 4DX are projected in HD/2D and Digital 3D on a silver, curved wall-to-wall screen (9.7m wide x 5.2m high). Its audio system has been upgraded to a Dolby CP750 with 7.1 full surround sound. The Barco projector used in the 4DX cinema now also uses an upgraded lamp for brighter picture in both 2D and 3D. 4DX has the following effects: motion, wind, water, a range of 11 scents, smoke, lighting, bubbles, vibration and leg ticklers. Van Staden says that the movement/ vibration is so specialised and sensitive that the system can even simulate the sense of
flying through the air. “All the effects on the 4DX system work off a LTC (Linear Time Code) from a motion PC, the effect is triggered by the LTC and then gets sent to the equipment via a normal RMX signal,” explains van Staden. “The equipment gets a pulse via the LTC/ RMX with the duration and intensity needed, pre-programmed in the motion file for the movie. The codes/motion film are supplied via 4DX head office – which in turn are produced by CJ 4DPLEX in tandem with the film studio and filmmakers.” Matai confirms that the opening of the first 4DX cinema on the continent, at Nu Metro V&A Waterfront, has been a phenomenal success: “It has achieved sold out-status for most shows since inception. We are right on target to achieve our targets for revenue and return on investment!” – Chanelle Ellaya
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Hot Docs and Blue Ice award top African documentary projects
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the Blue Ice Group recently announced that eight African film projects have been chosen to receive a total of $125 000 in development and production grants from the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary Fund in its fifth round of disbursements. Five projects will receive development grants, and three projects will receive production grants, all selected from 94 submissions from 25 different African countries. Hot Docs industry programme director Elizabeth Radshaw says, “The selection process was very competitive and we are so pleased to support the talent and diverse stories that emerged from this round.”
Development and production grant recipients will also receive support to attend Hot Docs 2016, where they will take part in a creative filmmakers’ lab, attend Hot Docs screenings, conference sessions, the Hot Docs Forum and various networking events, and participate in a year-round peer-to-peer mentorship programme. They will also receive support to attend and participate in the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) and Durban FilmMart (DFM). Applications for the next round of disbursements will open in June 2016 and close in August 2016.
Student Oscar candidate discusses his film Homeless
Nathan Rice is a 26-year-old filmmaker from KwaZulu Natal, who has just completed a three year degree in Motion Picture Writing and Directing at AFDA Durban. His short film Homeless was recently nominated as a candidate for the 2015 Academy of Motion Picture Awards in the best short foreign student film category. The film tells the story of two brothers who live in an informal settlement and are forcefully removed. “Homeless was inspired by a newspaper article I once read about people who had been evicted from their shacks in an informal settlement. These people were left homeless, without possessions, and had nowhere to go. The story interested me a lot and I decided to
look up more about it. I found that there were many such stories in Durban and as I found more and more information about it, I realised that I needed to tell this story,” says Rice. While Homeless deals with a specific and current issue of vagrancy in the city of Durban, its relevance extends to a global audience as well: “More than a story about a physical homelessness, this film is about the homelessness of the soul. The film can be an encouragement to anyone as it is about finding a reason to keep going, even when you’ve lost everything…”
no say in. We were not consulted by many of these policy decisions and therefore could not influence the processes. This has left us in the situation we find ourselves. Serving the industry and undertaking this role for the past five years has been one of the highlights of my 38 year career. It has had its’ challenges and ups and
downs, but ultimately it has been a privilege to work with many of you to support and encourage the development of the industry…” The CFC will be continuing with its current commitments for the next two weeks to ensure that the filmmakers it is currently assisting have the support they need for their projects.
The Cape Film Commission closes After 15 years of working with the film industry, government and government agencies, the Cape Film Commission (CFC) is closing its doors. The decision is due to the lack of funding and support the organisation has received from local and provincial government in recent years. This lack of operational funding has made it impossible for the business
4 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
to continue. CEO Denis Lillie comments, “We believe that currently there is no organisation that offers the broad services we do as a one stop shop, this is core to the success of the organisation and the service we delivered. Government has had internal personnel changes and policy changes that we have
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Netflix launches in SA: The good, the bad and the competition
WITNESSING A BIRTH: Reed Hastings announces that Netflix was launched in more than 130 countries at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas
Nasdaq-listed online video-on-demand (VOD) giant Netflix, has launched itself into the fairly new but rapidly expanding South African streaming VOD market. The company expanded its reach to an additional 130 countries, including South Africa, on 6 January.
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t the launch event in Las Vegas, Netflix co-founder and chief executive Reed Hastings commented, “Today you are witnessing the birth of a new global internet TV network… With this launch, consumers around the world will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously, no more waiting. With the help of the internet, we are putting power
6 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
in consumers’ hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device.” To access the service, members will pay a monthly subscription fee of $7.99 – R131.73 according to the rand-dollar exchange rate at the time of writing – which allows them unlimited viewing of an extensive library of premium movies and series on any connected device. The news of the arrival of Netflix in the country set South Africa ablaze with excitement for a much needed alternative to the limited pay-TV options currently available in the market. However, it wasn’t long before users expressed their despondency regarding signing up for the service as internet speeds in South Africa are remarkably slow and the cost of data unreasonably high, and the service requires a relatively strong internet connection. According to the Internet Society’s Global Internet Report 2015, a mere 17 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa were using the internet. The report also specified that mobile internet penetration was at 8 percent, stating affordability of devices and data as critical to the growth of the field. The other factor halting film and TV fanatics from cancelling their pay-TV subscriptions in favour of Netflix is the issue of content licensing. While overseas Netflix users get access to an enviable catalogue of content, local users have complained that many of their favourite series are missing from the South
African catalogue. Netflix has acknowledged that geographical content rights prevent them from offering their entire range of content in all parts of the world. For example, M-Net possesses the rights to the popular shows Orange is the New Black and House of Cards in the region, prohibiting the online streaming service from including these shows in its South African library. Netflix issued a statement commenting on the issue: “We are making progress in licensing content across the world… but we have a ways to go before we can offer people the same films and TV series everywhere. Over time, we anticipate being able to do so. For now, given the historic practice of licensing content by geographic territories, the TV shows and movies we offer differ, to varying degrees, by territory. In the meantime, we will continue to respect and enforce content licensing by geographic location.” The arrival of Netflix in the country has raised questions as to what this might mean for competition in the South African online VOD and pay-TV industry. Economists have pointed out that while Netflix offers a purely on-demand streaming video service, pay-TV offers a combination of scheduled media. This means that sports fanatics, avid television news followers and lovers of local content won’t be in any hurry to cancel their DStv subscriptions.
MultiChoice commented saying that it “welcomes competition in the pay television and entertainment industry – we believe it is good for consumers as it gives them more options and the ability to compare services.” While Netflix may not pose an imminent threat to satellite-TV platforms, local VOD players, such as Naspers’ Showmax offering, are in direct competition with Netflix. Showmax’s head of Communications, Richard Boorman, said that, “it’s good news that we have another major player in the market who’ll generate additional interest in internet TV… In all likelihood, the more people talk about the subject, the more we’ll see the potential customer base grow.” Boorman added that content varies across the different providers, often causing people to subscribe to more than one service, “so it’s not an either-or situation.” “We’ve also got a number of key product differentiators developed specifically for the South African market such as the ability to download content, which helps broaden access to people who don’t have a great internet connection,” said Boorman. Additionally, Showmax possesses exclusive international content from studios such as HB0 as well as ample local content. – Chanelle Ellaya
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Inala Broadcast and EVS partnership enriches live content in South Africa As the demand for quality sports content has grown in the African market, so has the need to install fast and reliable broadcast production workflows. To provide this, producers and broadcasters in the region employ EVS technology to ingest, manage and playout live content. EVS has been at the forefront of the sports broadcasting industry for over 20 years. Introducing the live slow motion replay in 1994, EVS has built a reputation on the delivery of high-end, reliable solutions that enhance and enrich live sports. EVS’ live production solutions are consistently used in the production of the
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Some of the EVS solutions used by South Africa’s broadcasters world’s biggest sporting events, including the FIFA World Cups in Brazil and South Africa, Formula 1 Grand Prix, grand slam tennis tournaments and multisport tournaments such as the SEA Games. Leveraging its experience and knowledge of live environment, EVS also provides customers with an awardwinning cloud-based multimedia delivery platform to directly connect to audiences through their mobile devices. Due to the popularity of this solution, C-Cast has quickly become a key part of the live broadcast workflow. One of its regional customers in South Africa, SuperSport utilises EVS technology in both its OB and studio facilities. Across its outside broadcast fleet there’s more than 40 XT3 live production servers as well as a number of live production tools, including
MultiReview, LSM Connect and XFile3. Its studios are fitted with an XT3 server as well as IPDirector, EVS’ content management system and another XFile3. This ensures that both SuperSport’s OB and studio facilities are able to quickly and easily ingest and manage live content with the most reliable solutions available. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is another local customer that takes advantage of EVS technology, having used the Epsio Paint tool for its coverage of the Rugby World Cup. The inclusion of this tool in their live production workflow allowed LSM operators to easily add graphics, spotlights and name labels to live content. It makes for faster, richer and more informative replays. To continue to build its presence in the region, EVS has partnered with Inala
Broadcast, an African systems integrator, to allow it to support sales and services of its technology. Since the inception of this partnership, Inala Broadcast has broadened the implementation of EVS technology around the region. It worked with client SuperSport to replace one of its gallery’s existing newsroom management system with an XS live ingest, management and playout server and Nano Air playout software controller from EVS. This implementation offers a scalable option for multichannel playout capabilities with EVS’ signature reliability. Known worldwide for solutions that provide fast and reliable enrichment of live content, this partnership between EVS and Inala Broadcast allows for those systems to be more readily available in the region.
Sasani Studios selects Clear-Com Eclipse HX intercom from Jasco Broadcast Sasani Studios recently implemented a Clear-Com Eclipse HX matrix mainframe intercom system to enable communications for new productions on its recently refurbished Stage 5. The advanced digital matrix intercom system is a strategic investment for Sasani, allowing the studio to increase its capacity while also providing customers with leading edge IP-based control and technical capabilities. The studio complex, based in Highlands North, Johannesburg and home to the production units of several leading South African soap operas, including Isidingo and 7de Laan, opened its newly rebuilt Stage 5 for business near the end of 2015, complete with several state-of-the-art installations, of which the Eclipse HX intercom is only one. Eric Lawrenson, solutions architect and engineering manager at Jasco Broadcast, believes that Sasani’s choice of technology is a crucial element of its success. “Sasani Studios is one of the biggest and busiest production facilities in the country with five stages and two studios. An important part of its value 8 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
proposition is its ability to provide its customers with a full house of technically superior infrastructure to stage, shoot and produce shows. The selection of the Clear-Com Eclipse HX intercom system completes the setup on Stage 5, the latest addition to its offering.” The Eclipse HX digital matrix intercom system enables critical intercommunications among production teams who need direct (point-to-point) and one-to-many (group and partyline or conference) connections. The Eclipse HX family was designed and engineered to be highly flexible and extensible for addressing the intercom needs of the global production community. These intercom systems offer ease of operation, high system performance for enabling rapid changes and high capacity for accommodating a large number of users and audio connections. Says Lawrenson: “Built on the Eclipse intercom range, the HX offers a step up in
Clear-Com Eclipse HX intercom performance, including faster software processing speed for real time systemwide updates; multi-frame linking to create a single communication network; intelligent integration with IP-based user panels for remote access over standard IT networks; and seamless digital wireless beltpack integration, allowing intercom users to roam freely. “It creates a reliable, flexible communication backbone for nonblocking distribution of audio and data signals across thousands of users within an intercom system network. The HX range caters for small to mid-size, and large production environments, from outside broadcast vans to theatres, studios, worship and sports facilities, and
theme parks and large broadcast facilities.” Clear-Com solutions are known for their reliability and longevity. They are currently being used in SABC’s OB vans, by Urban Brew and Red Pepper studios, and by the South African Airforce, among others. Sasani Studios also makes use of Clear-Com systems on its other Stages. Notes Lawrenson: “The Clear-Com Eclipse HX intercom system was installed in late 2015 by the highly skilled in-house Engineering team at Sasani, with specialist assistance from Jasco on engineering and configuration. Implementation went smoothly and Sasani is pleased with the performance of the system.”
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Technology
Visual Impact becomes official ARRI distributor for southern Africa
www.screenafrica.com
Monkey Banana active near-field studio monitors
Monkey Banana active near field studio monitors Arri’s Alexa cinema camera
Johannesburg and Cape Town based equipment rental and sales company Visual Impact South Africa, announced in January that it has been appointed an ARRI Distributor for southern Africa. This entitles Visual Impact to sell ARRI’s full range of cameras, lenses, lighting equipment and accessories. A press release from the company said: “We are proud to be associated with ARRI, which is synonymous with quality and permanence. Visual Impact’s reputation in the broadcast arena is a great match for ARRI’s increasing range of innovative digital products.”
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10 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
Recently introduced in South Africa, by way of audio equipment supplier Viva Afrika, Monkey Banana is a German speaker brand that has launched two ranges of studio monitors to suit various needs for facilities specialising in the recording and mixing of sound for broadcast, at a much lower price than competing brands. The Turbo series, in particular, is marketed by the company as able to reproduce sound of the same quality as names such as Genelec or Focal – but at a fraction of the price. Monkey Banana’s Daniel Bruskowski says that the company began designing speakers for their own studios over a decade ago when they realised that high-end speakers which could give them the sound quality they wanted were too expensive, while cheaper speakers did not offer the necessary quality. There are two ranges in the series: the Turbo range, which is designed to be used by professional audio mixers, and the Gibbon range, which is intended to offer high fidelity sound reproduction for home studios operating on a limited budget. Currently used in broadcast studios around the world, the Turbo range includes the Turbo 6 (power output of 60W) and 8 (80W), with matching subwoofer, for larger studios; and the compact ‘4’ (30W) for outside broadcast vehicles and smaller studio set-ups. Monkey Banana products are distributed in South Africa by Viva Afrika (www.vivaafrika.co.za).
Vislink HeroCast BacPac wireless transmitter Action cameras have long since proved their capacity to add dynamism to sport coverage and capture the action from angles that large cameras could never achieve. What is still being perfected, however, is effective and reliable wireless uplinking from these cameras for live coverage. Vislink’s HeroCast BacPac is among the best devices currently available for this purpose. It is currently the smallest and lightest COFDM transmitter on the market and is designed to be fully integrated with a GoPro (Hero3+ Black, Hero4 Silver and Hero4 Black models) and can also be fitted into a dive housing for underwater shoots. It uses H.264 encoding for the highest possible picture quality and low latency. Features: • Extremely lightweight • Integrates fully with GoPro cameras • H.264 encoding • Low delay • Low power consumption (4.1W) • Rugged, hardwearing design Vislink products – including the HeroCast BacPac – are available from Telemedia (www.telemedia.co.za 011 803 3353/4)
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ADCETERA
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Five trends for SA advertising
By Louise Marsland
For the advertising and marketing communications industry this year, there are five distinct trends that every creative and strategist need to focus on, to be prepared to deal with the tougher economic times predicted for 2016 and 2017.
1. Content: The way we strategise content, present content, produce content and distribute content has changed the entire communications industry. While media downsizes, ad agencies and PR firms are establishing newsrooms and 24 hour teams to manage client content channels. It’s not just about content marketing and how that has changed marketing communications, but the way consumers consume content. Video is the big focus this year and everything needs to have an interactive, visual element, incorporating multiple social media channels. The fact that we humans now apparently have an attention span of eight seconds – less than that of a goldfish – also leaves marketers scrambling to get and keep our attention. The way to do this is through authentic content, storytelling, giving brands a purpose and tapping into the values that consumers hold dear. What are brands doing to enrich their lives, and add value? This will be even more important as the drought and poor rand result in steep increases in food and basic necessities prices during the year. It will be a tough year. Brands need to empathise with the consumer and help ease their hardship to keep consumers loyal.
2. Integration: Advertising agencies have been searching for a new business model for a good few years as the digital revolution made every consumer an opinion waiting to be aired and changed the marketing communications landscape from a communications channel influenced by marketers, to a “demand-based media system” led by the consumer (Source: 12 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
David Smythe, FCB Cape Town) . The move to true integration of all services, including business services, for clients, will position advertising agencies as innovation shops to guide brands in new product development, brand strategy, and mapping their future strategy based on mega-trends. The leaner, meaner, more focussed agencies will be able to deliver business and product solutions to clients, at the faster turnaround time demanded in this digital age.
3. Africa: Africa remains the continent with a middle class showing growth to rival India; the youngest population; and abundant resources. Lacuna Radar reports in its ‘African Foresight and Trends Radar 2020’, that Africa has the potential to construct more wealth in the next 35 years, than the $1.3-trillion that it has amassed in all of history: “This impetus will be driven by technological innovation that is enhancing intelligence, reducing costs and accelerating performance capability to create value 10 times faster than 100 years ago.” Africa may double its economy every 12 years to reach $2.6-trillion by 2027; and $13-trillion by 2050, predicts Lacuna Radar, citing the following reasons: “A
forecast of 5.2% growth, an estimated $13-trillion in extractable energy, a comparative advantage in solar energy, a young and fast-growing middle class, the rapid absorption of mobile connectivity and communication technologies enabling sophisticated tracking and interpretation of big data.” This is certainly the place to be!
4. Youth: From the Millennials to Generation Z, the youth are influencing consumer culture and brand decisions at a rate faster than their parents and the baby boomer generations before them. The Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y, are the first truly digital generation, living in a world with the internet and instant communication devices that their parents (my generation) only read about in sci-fi novels when they were young. They have given us a consumer-led generation that is comfortable with seeing their own identity and aspirational values tied up in a brand’s image. Social media has become their ‘social life’ and they are embedded in technology to the extent that their platforms are an extension of their personality. Because their brands are so tied up in their sense of self, authenticity is demanded from
brands across the board. Be true, don’t ‘manipulate’ or they will destroy you (Source: Brian Mitchell & Evan Mitchell, Love & Wine agency, Australia).
5. Purpose: Purpose-driven marketing and sustainability. It is no longer a paragraph in the annual report or a scorecard imperative, but a consumerled, brand enabled, revolution. More and more, consumers want to know product source; product ingredients; and how the community which made or sourced the raw materials for the products, have benefited. This will become even more important as a weak rand, coupled with our worst drought in decades, sees food prices and many other consumables rising dramatically this year. Cash strapped consumers will be influenced largely by price and value as food shortages and high prices bite. So in order to keep consumers loyal, brands need to be seen to meet their needs and those of the communities they serve. This is a time for honesty and authenticity in brand building, for brands to show their purpose in aiding consumers and their families during these tough times.
PROMAXBDA 2015 REPORT
| ADCETERA
Creative catch and release defeat. But Spinfluence went on to be published and distributed globally and it was this creative endeavour that led McFarlane to Liam Howlett of The Prodigy.
Ah the elusive creative process – gutwrenching and glorious all at the same time. Nobody knows this better than Nick McFarlane, a graphic designer and author from New Zealand who delivered a session at the recent PromaxBDA Africa on ‘Hunting the Killer Idea’. McFarlane’s work ranges from a series of illustrations of pinball machines portraying different views on contemporary society; to iconic album artwork for British electro band The Prodigy; a published book, Spinfluence, and a book in progress, Hunting the Killer Idea. His journey is one dotted with amusing anecdotes and life lessons – a few of which he shared with the eager audience of South African creatives.
Don’t accept ‘no’ When McFarlane was working in London and keen to get his work shown, he approached the Ap-art Gallery where the owner immediately rejected him, stating they were not looking to take on any new artists. He left the gallery, only to return moments later: “I turned around and marched down the road back to the smarty pants gallery owner and again he said no. I was totally bummed out after being rejected twice in 20 minutes,” he remembers. But McFarlane persisted and when he emailed the owner pictures of
Get back up
The Prodigy The Day is my Enemy album cover
his art the following day he was asked to bring it in. Two days later it was sold. This would be the start of a long-term relationship with the gallery and a defining point in McFarlane’s creative career.
Anger is energy When McFarlane started crafting Spinfluence, a book about propaganda
and how it is used to control the masses, he realised that creative momentum is powered by emotionally invested energy. “You need energy or passion to push you. It pushed me to work late at night, to construct the book, to research and to create the illustrations and copy,” says McFarlane. The book took two years to write and after another five years, and numerous rejection letters from publishers, McFarlane was ready to admit
Two years ago The Prodigy was in the early process of writing a new album: The Day is my Enemy. Howlett, a member and main composer of the band, walked into the Ap-art Gallery where Spinfluence was on display and approached McFarlane to design their upcoming album cover. The concept underwent an extensive evolution over the next six months, and became a creative beast in its own right. McFarlane presented 166 ideas – involving hammers, megaphones, snakes and cars on fire – before Howlett settled on the final alluring and rebellious fox image. “It was a wicked achievement,” says McFarlane. “But I took a hiding on that project – that creative process was crazy.” In closing, McFarlane quotes a line from a poem he has written for his new illustrated book Hunting the Killer Idea: “In the wild there will be crossroads and dead ends – you’ll have to pick yourself up and keep going.” – Carly Barnes
Get raw. Get trashy. Get extreme. According to trend specialist Tom Palmaerts of Belgian trend and marketing agency Trendwolves, there is no crystal ball to tell us what will be cool and edgy in the years to come. There is no single vision of the future – anyone with an idea for the world-to-be has the potential to make it happen. But while speaking at PromaxBDA Africa 2015 Palmaerts pointed out that in order for creatives and TV marketers to hone in and capitalise on some possible future styles, they need to start with cultural perspectives and be fluid and open to what they might inspire. Here are some of his future forecasts…
Raw As women become more empowered in contemporary society, they are drawn more to that which is untamed and tough. Palmaerts used the example of Disney’s Frozen which forwent the traditional format of ‘boy saves girl’ and instead featured two lead heroines. Rawness is
power. Rawness also celebrates the idea of proud imperfection, as can be seen in the ‘Nobody is Perfect’ campaign run by German supermarket Edeka, geared at eliminating food waste by offering customers oddly shaped B grade fruits and veggies. This theme translates to architecture, design and colours too – with earthy colours and textures placed in juxtaposition to high tech modern environments and initiatives.
Trash “It’s a bit weird but I love this idea: beauty is mainstream,” remarked Palmaerts, who said that websites in the future may not be laid out in the same neat and crisp format. There may not even be an ‘About us’ or ‘Contact’ tab amid a collage of mismatched colours and images. According to the trend guru, ugly is the new pretty. There is a new wave of rebellion towards traditional style emerging – from chocolatiers cashing in
Tom Palmaerts speaking at PromaxBDA Africa 2015
on kitsch-cool with madly coloured gourmet chocolates to graphic designers and fashionistas opting to distinguish themselves with eccentric trashy prints and patterns.
Intox/detox Palmaerts predicts that people increasingly have more ambitious bucket lists. They want to do a lot, see a lot and experience a lot. This binge-like behaviour results in a see-saw of intox/
detox. Give it horns for a few days in a TV series marathon or extreme warrior race and then crash in recovery with voluntary Wi-Fi withdrawal. “This means we are going to do a lot of working hard and then doing nothing,” explained Palmaerts. “We are going to therefore need food and drinks to get us past these levels.” This translates to bars without alcohol (Seriously? Yes), power foods, breakfast raves and nourishing recovery juices and waters. – Carly Barnes February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 13
ADCETERA | PROMAXBDA AFRICA 2015 REPORT
Make stories that move Amie Mills, senior digital producer at Saatchi & Saatchi London, was drawn to the idea of interactive storytelling at a young age. At seven years old she flipped through a pick-a-path book with delightful fascination and thought: “I can read this story five ways and it’s different every time!” Mills presented a session at the 2015 PromaxBDA Africa conference titled: ‘Interactive Storytelling and the Power of the Prototype’. Mills referenced Jeff Gomez, a US writer and transmedia producer, who explains that interactive storytelling is about creating an “architecture for dialogue” for fans to engage with the
narrative. This engagement involves giving the viewer an opportunity to influence the story as they choose. “It’s about how your engagement as a viewer impacts the narrative,” says Mills. “The audience feels they are contributing to the story themselves.”
Interactive documentaries In 2013 the film Hollow revolutionised the way in which an audience could interact with documentary content. Presented on a web-based platform, Hollow examines the effect of rural migration in America, using the residents of McDowell County in Virginia as a case study. The design of the site is simple and immersive and allows for participation from both the subjects and viewers. Mills commented that this form of storytelling lends itself to audience interactivity: “With documentaries there is so much source material, sound and audio, that you only really see the tip of the iceberg when you watch the film.”
Pick-a-path
Amie Mills
Using an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, players of the interactive game Lifeline are made the sole point of contact for a spaceship crash. The game, which lasts
three days, unfolds in real time and the actions and outcomes of the protagonist are dependent on the choices of the gamer. An open source prototype tool was used to let players map out the story themselves. “In the saturated games market, where there are plenty of high level graphics and images, this experience is very unique,” remarked Mills.
Locked narrative In 2015 Mills was involved in an interactive campaign for the launch of ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder which appeared on TV 2 in New Zealand. A six-week iOS and Android murder mystery game was created to encourage fans of the show to participate as part of a criminal defence team tasked with clearing a client of a murder charge. The game received 8,800 downloads, a 94% return rate and the players got so involved that they began generating their own Facebook pages and fan sites. “The design of the story matters and you have to figure out ways to do it well,” said Mills. “You need to make room and allow space for people to do their own thing and put their thoughts into the mix, and you need to accommodate a diversity of voices. This is crucial to a wide appeal.” – Carly Barnes
Admit One: finding the ‘truth’ At the recent PromaxBDA Africa Awards, held at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton in November 2015, Johannesburg-based production house Admit One took the gold for Best Sports Campaign. This latest accolade came in recognition of its SuperSport Rugby World Cup promo. Driven by the tagline, ‘Our hearts are in it’, the simple and emotive campaign featured a montage of notables – from international rugby players both past and present, to the likes of Trevor Noah and Princess Charlene of Monaco – simply placing their hands over their hearts in that most recognisable gesture of patriotic commitment. “There were a lot of eyes on this campaign,” says Admit One executive creative director Henre Pretorius. “For the client, the Rugby World Cup is a major driver for anti-churn and decoder sales. So we put a lot of effort into that. What we wanted was something emotional, something that would stand out from the World Cup clutter. SuperSport had to show, as a broadcaster, how they supported the Boks in a unique way that complemented SA Rugby’s message without just piggybacking off it.” The crew travelled around South Africa, as well as to the United Kingdom, France 14 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
and Monaco in order to get all the necessary shots. The logistical and bureaucratic challenges of international travel, as well as scheduling complications, were the most difficult part of the production. With the shots in the can, all that was required to bring the spot to life was a powerful music track, minimal graphics and a skilled editor. The campaign is the epitome of the oftencited, not always fully realised dictum, ‘less is more’. The conference sessions at PromaxBDA are always primarily concerned with ways of refreshing creativity, finding new ideas, staying relevant. The ‘Our hearts are in it’ campaign proves that there is often no need to overthink it and that the simplest ideas are often the best, provided there is a strong emotional hook for the audience. “For me the most important consideration is that there should be some kind of truth in what you’re doing,” Pretorius explains. “In any marketing campaign, what you’re trying to do is form a connection with the audience. The only way, to my mind, that an audience connects with something is if there is that central truth, something that speaks to them on the most basic emotional level,
Admit One’s award-winning SuperSport Rugby World Cup promo
copy that makes sense to them. As creatives in the industry, it’s great to look at what the international market is doing and what brilliant new work is out there – but if your audience doesn’t understand your work or doesn’t hook into it, then it’s not going to be a successful campaign, no matter how clever the concept may be. There are a lot of campaigns on at the moment, where you sit there after having seen it and think, ‘what exactly was that trying to say to me?’” Having sport as a subject makes finding that connection much easier, Pretorius believes, as it inspires responses on the most basic levels of team support and (in this case) national pride. People
support their teams with incredible emotional attachment. Once a creative taps into that link between team and supporter, much of the work is already done. “All aspects of the medium are just tools,” Pretorius concludes. “The copy, the graphics, the performers, the music, the voiceover… We sometimes rely on them too much, they become a crutch. We become more concerned with creating something that is novel just for novelty’s sake, or something that looks good. A good promo doesn’t have to be the slickest, most visually stunning piece as long as it has truth.” – Warren Holden
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FILM
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Best of African
Cinema 2015
Year after year, films shot across Africa by African or non-African filmmakers, prove to be favorites at film festivals, at award ceremonies and now also on streaming media. The year 2015 was a good period for African cinema as the number of films produced increased and new filmmakers were discovered.
AFRICA – A FAVOURITE FLAVOUR: Independence (Mario Bastos, Angola)
A
fter great acclaim worldwide, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu was a big winner at the French César Awards. And in early 2016, Netflix, which started to operate this month in North Africa and the Gulf region, as well as a number of sub-Saharan countries, acquired five African-related films including Confusion Na Wa (Kenneth Gyang, 2013); Concerning Violence (Goran Olsson, 2014); B For Boy (Chika Anadu, 2013); The Forgotten Kingdom (Andrew Mudge, 2013); and Fifty (Biyi Bandele, 2015). Netflix plans to expand its services across Africa this year. Early in 2015, Sundance showed a documentary on the father of African Cinema, Ousmane Sembène, by directors Samba Gadjigo and Jason Silverman who told the story of the self-taught novelist and filmmaker’s long battle to make African stories by Africans. Gadjigo, who was Sembène’s colleague and biographer, used rare archival footage and more than 100 hours of exclusive materials, that made the documentary a must-see. From Ethiopia, Yared Zeleke’s Lamb became the first Ethiopian film to make it to Cannes as an official selection. The drama focuses on the story of Ephraïm who loses his mother to famine but still takes care of his pet lamb – although his uncle sees the animal as food for an upcoming feast. Shot in Ghana, Beasts of No Nation by Cary Joji Fukunaga chronicles the life of a young boy named Agu (Abraham Attah) who lives with his parents, older brother and two younger siblings in a small village where civil war ignites. When militaryaligned rebels take over, the commandant (played by Idris Elba) adopts Agu and makes him a soldier. Necktie Youth by Sibs Shongwe-La Mer
16 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
Beasts of No Nation (Cary Joji Fukunaga, USA/ Ghana) revolves around adolescents living in the affluent suburbs of Johannesburg, looking for answers around the death of their beautiful friend, yet being distracted by drugs and crime. The documentary Independence by Mario Bastos was born out of the need to preserve the stories of those people who struggled for the liberation of Angola. Many are still alive and lucid but few have documented their journey or had the opportunity to talk about what they experienced outside of their circle of family and friends. The documentary The Siren of Faso Fani by Michel K Zongo premiered in Berlinale 2015. The director retraces the story of the Faso Fani textile factory in Koudougou, Burkina Faso’s third-largest city. Zongo, who grew up in this city, reopens the case of this legendary factory that was shut down in the year 2001. He visits former employees and some of the city’s inhabitants, including his uncle, who once owned a much admired modern cult object thanks to Faso Fani: one of the first refrigerators in town. Zongo digs through radio and TV archives and pieces together the factory’s proud history, which produced so much more than just textiles.
The Siren of Faso Fani (Michel K Zongo, Burkina Faso) Hundreds – if not thousands – of African migrants died this year while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. This perilous journey has been
the focus of a number of recent documentaries and narrative films. Spanish director Gerardo Olivares’s 2007 drama 14 Kilometres tells the story of two Nigerien men and a Malian woman stranded in the desert as they attempt to reach Spain. In the 2010 documentary Adrift: People of a Lesser God, undercover French reporter Dominique Christian Mollard sails with 38 African migrants on the dangerous journey from Mauritania to the Canary Islands. German director Miriam Fassbender’s 2011 documentary Foreign follows a young Malian man on one of the oldest migration routes from Algeria and Morocco to Spain. The focus of all of these films, however, is on the unsuccessful attempts of Africans to cross the borders to Europe. Last year, a new film emerged at Cannes that considers a different scenario: what is the fate of those who do, in fact, reach Europe? The docudrama Mediterranea followed two men who had already made it through the dangerous journey from Africa to Italy. Once they arrive, however, they face hostility and violence in this shocking look at the life-and-death struggles of migrants in Europe. The film’s director is Jonas Carpignano, the son of an African-American mother and an Italian father. When the first racial riots took place across Rosarno in southern Italy in 2010, Carpignano went to Calabria to get a better grasp of the situation. This inspired him to make a short (A Chjàna, 2012) based on the true story of Koudous Seihon, an immigrant who helped the filmmaker to recreate his migration from Burkina Faso to Italy. Months later, the short was expanded into a full-length feature. In Mediterranea, Seihon recreates his story once again, this time playing the character of Ayiva, who travels with his younger brother Abas from Burkina Faso to Algeria and into Libya before crossing the Mediterranean. Upon arrival in Italy, the two brothers discover that their new living conditions in Europe are worse than what they left behind in Burkina Faso. At the start of the 20th century, New York and Chicago welcomed immigrants from Calabria, including Carpignano’s ancestors. Right now, Europe is unwilling to welcome migrants, though millions of refugees from Iraq, Syria and a number of African countries cannot live in their own homeland. Ultimately, we are left with many unanswered questions, perhaps not unlike the fate of our two protagonists. – Sherif Awad
A
re-envisioning of the creation
| Film
In the biblical book of Genesis, God creates Adam and sometime later produces Eve from his side. But according to Jewish folklore, Adam’s first wife was not Eve but a character named Lilith who was made from “filth and sediment, instead of pure dust”. This was the inspiration behind the short film Lilith Genesis One, directed by André Coetzee and produced by Anri Coetzee.
CAST IN CEMENT: Behind the scenes of Lilith Genesis One
T
he concept was originally pitched as an entry to the PPC Imagination Awards, an art and design competition which challenges emerging talent to create artworks through the medium of concrete. The Film category, which was introduced in 2014, requires entrants to pitch their concepts to a panel of judges and if selected are given a R35 000 budget to produce their films. In 2013 Anri and André, who had just finished studying Drama and Film at the University of Pretoria together, saw the competition as an opportunity to take on a new and interesting challenge. Lilith Genesis One went on to win the top prize in the PPC Imagination Award Film category in 2015, which earned them a prize of R50 000. The film was also selected to screen at the Phoenix Film Festival in Melbourne as well as the Tanzrauschen International Dance on Screen Festival in Germany.
Raw quality Without dialogue, and incorporating elements of dance and physicality, the narrative of the film focuses on a single event in Lilith’s universe: the creation of Adam and ultimately his release into Eden. André explains: “In the film Lilith
exists in a universe of cement and brick, of which she is a part and from which she creates. She spends her infinite time alone sculpting figures and searching for a partner within her material and herself.” The roles of Lilith and Adam are performed by Nicola Haskins and Gopala Davies respectively. Wanting to steer away from choreographed dance, the performers were given creative freedom to express themselves spontaneously through unrehearsed movement. Anri guided Haskins and Davies in ‘structured improvisation’ while communicating the style or feeling envisioned for each story segment. “We were looking for versatile performers in both the field of acting and physical theatre who were willing to bare it all for the film. They had to be comfortable with their naked bodies being covered in clay and body paint, while engaging in structured improvisation,” says André.
Cinematic cement It was important to André and Anri that the content and cinematic techniques in the film complemented one another. Anri had completed an honours dissertation on Sergei Eisenstein’s theory of
intellectual montage, a technique which edits together two or more images to portray complex ideas, and this became a source of inspiration for the delivery of Lilith Genesis One. “We approached the camera work and editing as a sort of choreography; we felt it needed a certain structure that informed and harmonised alongside the narrative and emotion of the characters. We wanted to make a film where the audience felt they could only take a breath once the film was over. This is why we made use of frequent rapid cuts, extremely close and wide shots and camera movements that complement the movements of the performers,” André explains. Lilith Genesis One was filmed over one day in December 2014 at The Sheds in Pretoria. The film was shot using a Sony A7 for practical reasons: it can be mounted on a DJI Ronin, provides continuous focus, contains a mirrorless sensor with good lowlight capabilities and can shoot in APS-C mode.
Smooth bonds Finding the right team to work on the project was the most challenging aspect of the production for Anri and André. “You have to work with people who share
your vision, and who are capable in their respective fields. Once we found all the right collaborators on the film, everything went smoothly,” remarks André. “We were only a handful working on the project, thus everyone involved was essential to the completion and the success of the project.” The team included visual artist Corné Joubert, who crafted the unique sculptures featured in the film. Hannes Greyling was responsible for the make-up design and application; Michael Wright composed and recorded the original score after being briefed on a general feeling of the music by Anri and André, and the emotions they wanted the film to evoke. The film was lensed by Leslie van Wyk and Timo Crane was the postproduction producer. Brandon Engelbrecht helped with the conceptualising of the film and also worked as the production assistant. Wessel van Huysteen guided the production team and, in addition to directing, André also edited and executed some of the camera work. “It is difficult to imagine what a person will take from the film. All we can hope is for it to be an experience or to spark discourse,” concludes André. – Carly Barnes February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 17
FILM
|
Elements of Cinema: Meet Cute A ‘meet cute’ is a fictional scene, in film or television, in which a future romantic couple meets for the first time in a way that is thought to be charming, ironic, entertaining or just generally amusing. Screen Africa chatted to some of the key crew members of Tell Me Sweet Something – one of 2015’s most popular local romantic comedies – on how to craft the perfect ‘meet cute’.
Akin Omotoso on directing:
Akin Omotoso and Robbie Thorpe on writing: The ‘meet cute’ was very challenging to write because it’s the point where the audience wants the characters to meet and the promise of the relationship to blossom. Everything hinges on it. What we tried to do was to explore different possibilities of ‘meeting’. Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha) first sees Nat (Maps Maponyane) outside her bookshop on a billboard; this sets up his celebrity status and also the perceptions she has of him… When they actually meet in real life, we tried to keep it light as well as awkward. The scene ends on a question: “how will he rectify the situation and eventually ask her out?” Some of the best romantic comedies have this beat and it was important for us to respect the genre. 18 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
There were three things that provided my visual realisation of that scene. The first was the four week rehearsal process that all the actors went through to build chemistry and create the ensemble. The second was the quote that starts the film: “I was looking back to see if you were looking back at me to see me looking back at you.” In the film, Nat starts looking at Moratiwa and she isn’t looking at him at first but then their eyes meet. The third was one of the lead songs on the soundtrack – ‘Lovey Dovey Lovely’ performed by Love Glori – and the line goes: “Oh lover about that other night, you know I fell in love at first sight.” Nat falls in love with her at first sight. Moratiwa takes a little longer and the film is about the journey to love, but the idea of the eyes and who is looking informed the scene. In terms of shooting it, we shot ‘the looks’. It was about the characters and who was looking at whom and who was not looking that made this awkward scene into hopefully a memorable ‘meet cute’ scene.
Paul Michelson on cinematography and lighting: I shot on the Red Mysterium with Zeiss t1.3 lenses. The ‘meet cute’ scene was shot in a nightclub on one of the hardest days because of the number of scenes we had to shoot. Fortunately the club had a lot of practical lighting including a discotheque so I could put most of my effort into lighting the artists. I did this using soft light (mainly Kine Flos) and small incandescent lights, relying on the club’s lighting, to take care of the background. I used medium focus lenses (50 and 85mm) to highlight the cast without totally losing the background. The biggest challenge of the shoot was time. Using soft Kino Flos and slightly harder backlight and kick lights made the artists look particularly beautiful. To help them perform I had to light in such a way as not to limit their movement. I also paid a lot of attention to wardrobe (especially colour and texture) and make up.
| FILM
Sue Steele on production design:
Vuyani Sondlo on editing: When editing the ‘meet cute’ scene, I had to constantly keep in mind the original idea and intention and then investigate the possibilities of what the director shot on set. It was very important to remember where the story was at that moment, where they were in their individual journeys and most importantly where they hoped to be which is what the film is about. I generally try and avoid techniques. The story and the director’s vision informs my editing choices, everything else is just a process using my sensibilities and experience to find the best possible way to contribute towards that vision.
Unfortunately in a small budget film the first thing to consider when planning a scene is what part of the budget has been allocated to the specific scene. This may restrict creativity or encourage a more creative approach. The performance of the actors involved in the ‘meet cute’ scene is the first consideration and for this reason wardrobe needs to be chosen carefully to allow the actors to feel attractive and confident. Light and colour are always important production design choices. Maps wore red shoes and jacket, red was chosen so that those items were visible and dominant. The location was a functioning club with its own interior design. Other items that were specifically sourced were Nomzamo’s sequined strappy top, and practical lights which added to the romance and intrigue. Wardrobe has an influence on the actors’ performance and it often fills a large percentage of the frame giving the colour or texture. Light is the most successful creator of romantic ambience. Glass, liquid in glasses, small beaded practical lights, Nomzano’s sequined top, all these items contribute to the ambience. Compiled by Chanelle Ellaya February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 19
FILM
| Director
Speak
When Thabang Moleya, the director of South African romantic comedy Happiness is a Four Letter Word, discovered what the role of a director was, he was instinctually drawn towards it. The shoe fit and now the 34-year-old is set on storytelling and making a difference.
What is your background and how has this shaped you as a director? TM: I majored in art during high school and focused on painting and photography as my majors. I fell in love with photography and some friends and I started writing and shooting our own short films. Describe the moment when you decided you wanted to become a director. TM: I’ve always been a storyteller, I just didn’t know there was something called ‘directing’ but when I learned that I could do it as a career I didn’t even second guess it, it was impulsive. Where do you find inspiration? TM: I draw inspiration from everything and anything – from the good and the bad. I have a close circle of friends and my family keeps me motivated and inspired too. Do you have any mentors? TM: People I look up to that have nurtured my growth and I still seek advice from are Desiree Markgraaff and Roy Zetisky. They both played a vital role in my youth and I still ask for their advice and assistance when I feel lost. What are your personal career milestones? TM: Two milestones stand out for me, the first was winning Best Short Film at the Cape Town World Cinema Festival (Sithengi) and the second was when I received an iEmmy nomination under Best Drama Series – the festival in New York was an unforgettable experience. Which projects are you currently involved in? TM: I am a commercials director at Bouffant, so that keeps me busy. I am working on my next feature film but I’m still in the early stages of scripting. I’m also setting up an NGO aimed at empowering the youth through film and TV. What are your least favourite parts of the job? TM: Not being able to bring my dog on set. And an unprepared actor. What has been your hairiest moment on set? TM: By the time you’re on set everything is worked out. It’s the time during the preparation that can be hairy. ‘People management’ is the strongest quality a director can have; listening to ideas and taking
20 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
what’s valid without letting your ego get in the way. An ego is the greatest enemy to an idea.
glossy world was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about taste and of course shoes.
What are your all-time three favourite films and why? TM: City of God: they shot that film with raw, first-time actors. Heat: Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in one movie is the ultimate dream for most directors. Raging Bull: I’m a Martin Scorsese fan.
Do you feel any pressure directing a movie based on an award-winning book? TM: It was challenging but Cynthia Jele laid a beautiful foundation for us to work with, we had to take what would work cinematically and adapt that into the story. The final script draft was a collective contribution of different ideas we had, but keeping the core ideals of the book in mind helped us narrow down what was really important and necessary.
What’s it like directing a chick flick? TM: Directing any genre is challenging, the most important thing I had to keep in mind was the story and to get great performances, the ‘chick flick’ genre is only a backdrop of the world we are in. Capturing a high-end
What is the most challenging genre to direct (TV series, commercials, long form)? TM: They are all different beasts to tackle. I don’t think one can compare them. Endurance though is vital on long form; your mind and body need to be prepared for the long haul and maintaining that focus over a lengthy duration can be very challenging and tiring. What location would you really like to shoot at? TM: I want to shoot all over the world, places that are rich with texture and have interesting people. I love faces and how people’s faces can tell you a story in only an image; the hardships, the trails, tribulations and victories. Describe yourself in five years. TM: I have a really deep passion for empowering young minds through the medium of film and TV and I believe there’s a great percentage that can’t afford these institutions. The only way to leave a legacy is by teaching others. So with that said I want to open a film school in Tembisa; I want to make films that will make people cry and fall in love; and I want to do great commercials and win awards that I will forget about. I just want to make a difference. Compiled by Carly Barnes
| Documentary
Documenting the
visceral
UK-born Calum Waddell went from film-fan and academic to documentary filmmaker, delving into the more obscure movies and genres of our time (from Horror to Grindhouse). In October 2015, he delivered a horror master class at the SAE Institute in Cape Town as part of the annual HorrorFest.
W
here DVD extras are often just promo bits thrown in to artificially enhance a release, Calum Waddell’s work takes the form of independent documentaries that are often more fascinating than the movie being supplemented! Several of these documentaries got their African premieres at the South African HorrorFest film festival, and in 2015 Waddell attended the event with his documentary 42nd Street Memories and a linked seminar on the Grindhouse phenomenon (at the SAE Institute). His fascination with ‘odd’ movies started at an early age. “I was an accidental child to a 40-year-old woman whose husband had terminal cancer – but one thing my mother did notice was that I seemed to go quiet if I had a VHS movie to watch. I remember my early loves (at age four or five) were Jaws and An American Werewolf in London. I was censored to some degree, but by age ten I was dining out on the likes of the Friday the 13th series. But I got a remarkable film education. I tell people that and they seem surprised. “The only movie that really upset me during this time was Watership Down. It mortified me and it made me very aware of loving animals. When I first saw Cannibal Holocaust I taped over the movie – I didn’t want anything to do with that because horror, to me, was about escapism and not actually hurting live mortal beings.” Calum produced the documentary Eaten Alive, exploring Italian cannibal films; he has an upcoming book on the subject. “That’s why it took me so long before seeing any ‘mondo’ movies – I needed to be older to allow myself to endure something like Africa Addio, a horribly racist film that also happens to be well made. “Now I love to find context for these odd films, the odder the better, but my
tastes in horror are more escapist than outright brutal or savage.” A love for the medium is
DELVING INTO THE OBSCURE: Calum Waddell
paramount and sometimes, conventional study is not always a prerequisite. “As a kid I was also watching The Godfather, Hitchcock, Disney… I really went to film school when I was a brat. It is all I knew – movies every night from the video store. Now I get to be responsible for bringing stuff like Slaughter High back to the home video shelves in the UK!” Literature played a big role in Waddell’s collision of his inherent scholar and film buff soul. “I read a lot. Books on film theory, politics, history – man, visiting Cape Town was great because the bookshops on Long Street are the bomb… I only went into film studies when I did my masters. But my main interests are politics, history and film – and Korean pop music (laughs). I think studying what you love is inevitable. It was a massive honour to get my PhD research funded at Aberdeen. I am currently adapting my thesis into a book and I am very proud of it. “My PhD might have lasted three years but I was putting a lot of time and effort
into Arrow Video, which I regret enormously… ” In addition to sourcing forgotten titles for re-release, Waddell produced many documentary subjects on strange or just plain fascinating genres and cinematic movements, which kicked off at British distributor Arrow. “They gave us hardly any budget and at the time of working for them I was basically paying my partner Naomi almost all of what we earned as I had my PhD funding and also slogged it out as a film critic. I was doing a lot during this time. I formed High Rising Productions, produced numerous documentaries, including feature length ones such as Scream Queens and Slice and Dice (earning Best Documentary at the .. HorrorFest), worked for other companies too, filmed in Europe and around the world, and was frequently published in many magazines. I’m not patting myself on the back here – well, much – but tell me one other person who got so much done in four years?” That also opens the door to armchair critics. “I laugh at trolls who come online and give me crap – one recently said: ‘I hate you because you are incompetent’ – I mean what does that say about him? I’m so incompetent I did all this in four years and got a doctorate too? “If you want to do something you really need to put your heart and soul into it and I didn’t sleep for a four-year period, man! I was non-stop – boom, boom, boom and I did our documentaries on crappy budgets. Having that burst of creativity was a pro. The cons were often working for people who don’t love this stuff and just want to know that what you are producing will sell units.
“High Rising came about as an accident. I was starting my PhD and Arrow Video came around as a ‘Criterion of Cult’ type idea. We got cash to do a new edition of George. Romero’s Day of the Dead and one thing led to the next. We were all like a little family back then. I thought of them as friends, which seems very strange to say now.” Arrow backtracked on promises and alienated Waddell to the extent that he felt compelled to move on, ending up transferring his expertise to 88 Films. Arrow’s loss, 88’s gain! “Everyone wants the best value product for the smallest payout. That’s corporate capitalism. As a Marxist myself, I always tried to do the best work and just try to have fun with whatever I was given. Sometimes I did some stuff for mere pennies, just because the final product meant more to me than the pay-off. Arrow Video was okay to deal with for a while and then things turned sour.” Besides tracking down forgotten gems, documentary subjects are far from tapped-out for Dr Waddell. “Well there is one you know about which I don’t want to talk up here in case anybody else copies it! There is stuff I wish I had done. Man, I would have loved to film Ian Smith back when he was alive – those last days of Rhodesia haven’t been given good documentation. Colonial history fascinates me. I want to do political documentaries, ideally!” – Paul Blom For more on Calum Waddell’s work visit www.highrisingproductions.com. For more information on SA HorrorFest, visit www.horrorfest.info.
February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 21
Documentary
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e.tv local documentary slate
uncovers local heroes
JOURNEY OF A MUSE: Still from Strings featuring Violinist Bonolo Kgaile
On 24 January 2016, e.tv began airing a new season of their popular, local, thematic, regional documentary series. This season features distinctively unconventional stories, about dynamic people or groups of people unique to each of South Africa’s regions, but with national appeal and resonance.
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“W
e believe that we have interesting stories about our country that need to be told… This documentary strand is also part of the channel’s commitment to develop young filmmakers across the country,” explains Monde Twala, MD, e.tv. e.tv launched a call to action inviting local filmmakers to submit their proposals for regional documentaries. The channel then made a final selection using narrative richness and unique perspectives as the main judging criteria for each of the stories submitted. “These are incredible stories about South Africans, our rich and layered cultures, our heart, and our tenacity,” says Twala. The eight commissioned proposals were thereafter allocated a production budget and provided with guidance, where necessary, to make their film come to life onscreen. “… we want the stories to remain authentic to the filmmakers’ perspectives,” says Twala. The new documentary slate features something to pique South Africans’ interest: Ingoma is a celebration of indigenous music through the eyes of the youth; Forging Ahead looks at how positive relationships helped springboard an underprivileged young man to work toward a better future; VenRap is about two young men who start up a digital radio station to support up-and-coming Venda hip-hop artists; Durban City Explosion celebrates the talent of Durban street performers; Ikhankatha, seeks to uncover the failures, successes and secrets of the Ikhankatha through the initiation period; Mama Notofi looks into the life of an extraordinary 74 year old,
female boxing promoter in Port Elizabeth; Ukuthomba features an in depth look into Ukuthomba, a controversial initiation process proudly upheld by the Ndebele culture; Strings ventures into the life of a young, successful violin player from the Free State. Twala stresses that with this slate of documentaries, the channel wanted to highlight the importance of owning and celebrating our stories, and our culture: “It’s important for broadcasters to show content that tells stories which resonate with audiences, content that makes South Africans proud of our heritage, and stories that remind us of the beauty of our country and its people.” Bloemfontein resident, Charlene Stanley – a 42-year-old filmmaker from production company Storytown Productions and director of Strings – expressed her joy at having her and husband Eddie’s documentary commissioned, “For a small production company… it is quite risky to tackle any project without being commissioned by a broadcaster or a corporate client. Nowadays, it is of course quite easy to simply publish on YouTube or Vimeo for the whole world to see. But if you want to earn an income from your work, like we have to do, it’s a little more difficult,” comments Stanley. “Production costs are high, and you have to be ensured of at least covering your expenses before tackling a project. The regional documentary initiative by e.tv is really a wonderful opportunity for filmmakers like us to get our work broadcast. One wishes there were more like it.” Strings tells the story of the young, internationally acclaimed violinist Bonolo
Kgaile; it is above all a story of hope – the hope that if you dedicate yourself fully to something you love, it will ultimately open wonderful doors for you, even if it is something that’s seen as unorthodox or unusual. Stanley expands: “The story of the Mangaung String Programme and it’s American founder, with his dream to teach township kids from the Free State the violin, was one of the first news stories we covered while we worked as TV journalists in our province… I kept track of the project’s development and of the exciting musicians it eventually produced over the years. I always thought the project’s impact, as related by someone who successfully came through it, would be a story worth telling. When I learned about Bonolo Kgaile, who is seen as one of the most promising young violinists in the country at the moment, I knew we had found an ideal case study.” Stanely says that her biggest hope for Strings is that it will take viewers of all ages on a truly inspiring journey. South African viewers are at a place where they are hungry to see themselves and their way of life reflected in the content they engage with, it is stories like that of Bonolo’s that make up part of our heritage: “We are at a place where we are reclaiming our culture and our stories, and it’s exciting to see this sense of self and pride manifest in different ways,” comments Twala. “We are targeting South Africans of all ages and races. These documentaries aim to tell stories that educate, entertain and enlighten South African audiences about each other’s cultures and unique experiences!” – Chanelle Ellaya
| Festivals & Markets
Berlinale 2016:
A bit of Africa This year, the Berlinale will have few African titles in its official selection. Founded in 1951, this A-list festival supports African projects through its World Cinema Fund and promotes emerging talents, thanks to its Berlinale Talents programme.
A
t Berlinale, Africa is generally represented at the Forum, a non-competitive section where most of the World Cinema Fund projects end up – with a few famous exceptions that have occasionally had the chance to shine in the main competition.
Senegal and Tunisia at the Forum Rama Thiaw’s documentary The Revolution Won’t Be Televised, coproduced by Boul Fallé Images (Senegal), Vrai Vrai Films and TV Rennes 35 (France), will premiere at the Forum. Following two hip-hop activists from the band Les Keur-Gui – part of the Y’en A Marre (‘We Are Fed Up’) movement – Rama Thiaw analyses how hip-hop artists mobilised Senegalese people against president Abdoulaye Wade’s wish to be re-elected. Mohamed Ben Attias’ feature Hedi, produced by Nomadis Images (Tunisia) with support from the Doha Film Institute (Qatar), will also be part of the Forum. The story depicts a male character, Hedi, who endures his mother’s pressure to get married but falls in love with an activity leader full of insouciance and frivolity. Previously selected at the Locarno Open Doors programme the feature was removed by Nomadis Images because of the Israeli/Maghreb polemic (see Screen Africa, September 2015 issue).
Panorama features South Africa, Algeria and Morocco In the Panorama section, Oliver Schmitz will come back with Shepherds and Butchers, a South Africa-USA-Germany co-production starring Steve Coogan and Andrea Riseborough, about a hot-shot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a prison guard who has killed seven men. French-Algerian filmmaker Rachid
Rama Thiaw’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Bouchareb is also selected with Road to Istanbul, an Algeria-French-Belgium co-production about a mother looking for her 20-year old daughter on her way to do jihad in Syria. Moroccan filmmaker Hicham Lasri will also screen his fourth feature Starve Your Dog which had its World premiere at Toronto in 2015.
Chad and Ghana at Berlinale Shorts Out of the 26 international shorts selected this year, two are representing the continent. Co-produced by Chad, Canada and Saudi Arabia, Oustaz by American director Bentley Brown, is representing Chad. Based on the director’s documentary feature Khawadjat which re-visits his childhood in Chad, Oustaz relates how a filmmaker returns home to Chad in the 2000s after the death of his Arabic teacher, who first introduced him to the world of filmmaking. Winner of the 2014 AMAA Best Short Film for Kwaku Ananse, AmericanGhanaian director Akosua Adoma Owusu presents Reluctantly Queer, an eightminute short film constructed in epistolary Super 8 form. In this Ghana/US production, a Ghanaian son struggles to reconcile his love for his mother with his attraction to members of his own sex, amid the increased tensions incited by same-sex politics in Ghana. Both filmmakers were Talent alumni in Berlin (2008, 2014) and Durban (2011, 2015).
21 Africans at Berlinale Talent Berlinale Talent (previously known as Talent Campus) is a six-day training programme which unites 300 emerging film professionals divided into different film disciplines: writers, directors,
FOSTERING CULTURAL DIVERSITY: Akosua Adoma Owusu’s Reluctantly Queer producers, cinematographers, actors, editors, distributors, production designers, composers, sound designers and film journalists. In 2016, 21 Africans will travel to Germany to enter the programme: Four from Kenya – actor Paul Ogola; directors Se’ydou Mukali and Philippa Ndissi-Herrmann; and editor Taabu (nominated for Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best Editing). Two from South Africa: directors Sibs Shongwe-La Mer (Best South African Filmmaker at the Durban International Film Festival 2015 (DIFF 2015) and Mpumolelo Mcata. Two from Ethiopia: director Hiwot Getaneh (selected at Toronto in 2015 with her short New Eyes) and editor Hende Birhanu. Two from Ghana: directors Sam Kessie (selected at Locarno Open Doors 2014) and Juliet Asante (nominated for Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards for Best African Film in 2016). Two from Uganda: producer Fibby Kioira, (from Maisha Film Lab) and actor Lot. Two from Nigeria: screenwriter Oluwakemi Adesoye and film critic Isabella Akinseye. Two from Egypt: film critic Rasha Hosny and distributor Ahmed Sobky.
Then one each from Sudan (Hajooj Kuka, awarded at Toronto 2014 with Beats of the Antonov), Cameroon (Christa Eka Assem), Morocco (Rim Naïr), Ivory Coast (Kamso) and one from Burkina Faso (Koudous Seihon).
Three projects for next year? Supported by the Federal Foundation for Culture and in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, the Foreign Ministry and German producers; Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund works to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas. Last November, two African films received a World Cinema Fund grant: Suhaib Gasmelbari’s documentary The Waiting Bench (Sudan), produced by Mahamat Saleh-Haroun’s company Goï Goï Productions (Chad), received €30 000 while French-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis’ fourth feature Felicity, produced by Cinekap (Senegal) was awarded €40 000. Earlier in July – just before receiving a grant from the Locarno Open Doors programme – Narimane Mari’s project Madmen’s Fort (Algeria), produced by Allers Retours Films (Algeria) also received €40 000. – Claire Diao February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 23
Festivals & Markets
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Festival and market guide TAPPING THE MARKET: Locarno Film Festival
Few creators of film or television content in Africa’s various markets would deny that the local market for homegrown content is severely limited in terms of paying audiences, distribution channels and revenue generation. It is essential that international markets are tapped. However, these are numerous and often daunting. Screen Africa offers a guide to some of the world’s essential festivals and markets.
T
he world of international festivals and markets for the film and television industry is a multifarious one that is by no means as straightforward as it may appear. While it is certainly a big step forward in a filmmaker’s career to have a film accepted into a festival – any festival – it’s possible that the festival in question may not be the best platform for a given work. By the same token, it is no use spending your energy trying to sell an idea for an uncompleted screenplay at a market that is primarily concerned with catalogues of completed work, or for an independent producer to attend a market that is actually meant for sales agents with extensive catalogues. French film producer Lucas Rosant, who has considerable experience at various markets and festivals, says that the fundamental point to consider when choosing a market is to “…be sure that it is a market (or territory) that suits the
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catalogue, film or project – either in terms of the audience (for example, comedy does not travel well due to cultural and language issues), genre (some markets are highly specialised in this regard), tastes and identity (world cinema versus commercial versus art house).” While there is no fool-proof method to choose the right market, it helps to do extensive research into the nature and preferences of each one before making the decision to go there. “While you should never rely entirely on the internet,” Rosant says, “going through the respective websites of all the festivals and markets is very helpful. Look at their programming and delegate lists over the past few years – which films were screened, which directors were discovered or awarded? How do these past films relate to yours? Are there similarities? Rosant offers some general pointers: “I would say that, in terms of cinema, some
markets are hard to avoid and become annual ‘musts’ – like Cannes or Berlin. Any others you attend would depend on your interests – target territories, genres and so on, and which part of the business you are in. Sales agents tend to travel far more than producers, for example. But I should emphasise that, whichever ones you choose, you should attend two or three regularly every year. This is the only way to build that all-important network, gather information and make your business stronger.” While the kind of content you are able to sell depends entirely upon the market, the buyers and their respective audiences, there is one important trend to take into account as things currently stand. According to Mayenzeke Baza and Pascal Schmitz of the Association for Transformation in Film and Television (ATFT), the market for feature films is shrinking rapidly and any African content owner looking to make successful sales
overseas would be wise to avoid the format and opt for long-form instead. “Unless you have a really exceptional feature film,” Baza explains, “buyers won’t really be interested. What they want is TV content – scripted or unscripted – that has potential to fill a programming slot for several months. From the seller’s point of view, you’re getting the same deal for one episode of your show as you would for one feature film, so it generates better revenue and is more worth your time.” Below is a quick guide to the major events on the international film festival and content market calendars. Many thanks to Mayenzeke Baza and Pascal Schmitz of the ATFT for contributing their extensive market experience to help create the event summaries that follow. This is by no means an exhaustive list but the events listed are the most notable ones or those most relevant to African content buyers and sellers.
| Festivals & Markets JANUARY/ FEBRUARY Sundance Film Festival Where: Utah, USA Focuses: US independent cinema is the main focus but a selection of international independent films is also featured. Predominantly arthouse – both dramatic and documentary films. Business/ presentation style: No formal market, generally only films selected for the festival are under discussion. Relatively small attendance with industry insiders accessible on an informal basis. Foreign filmmakers are unlikely to sell films or secure partnerships or distribution here unless they have a film in the festival.
NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) Market and Conference Miami Where: Miami, Florida, USA Focuses: Television content from and for the North, South and Central American markets, open to global buyers and sellers. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: A formal, exhibition-style content market. African content sellers should note the large contingent of Latin American TV representatives who are always on the lookout for new dramas and reality formats. The rule of thumb for foreign content is that Mexican buyers are the ‘gatekeepers’ to the rest of the Spanish-American market, and it is best to sell to them first.
Göteborg Film Festival Where: Gothenburg, Sweden Focuses: There is an emphasis on films from the Nordic region (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Finland) with a ‘Five Continents’ section dedicated to a selection of films from across the globe. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: The festival is attended by both the public and industry professionals and is the key showcase and meeting point for the Nordic film industry and its products. An industry event, the Nordic Film Market, runs alongside the festival. The focus here is the sale of Nordic cinematic content and there are few opportunities to sell content from elsewhere unless your film is included in the programme.
The Draken Cinema, home of the Göteborg Film Festival
International Film Festival Rotterdam/ Rotterdam CineMart Where: Rotterdam, Netherlands Focuses: European art cinema, co-production Business/ presentation style/ strategies: The CineMart is a platform for the development of new cinematic projects, not for the sale and distribution of completed work. Filmmakers submit their projects to the selection panel prior to the event. If selected, they attend the Mart to pitch to potential funders, co-production partners, etc. There is little point attending the Mart unless you have a film in the festival or Mart programmes.
Realscreen Summit Where: Washington DC, USA Focus: International documentary and reality content. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Realscreen offers both formal and informal platforms for networking, meeting potential production partners, and the sale and purchase of content. Meetings can be arranged through the organisers of the summit itself. It is advisable to have either a full slate of well-presented completed content or a well-planned pitch for a proposed project.
Kidscreen Summit Where: Miami, Florida, USA Focus: TV content for children. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Much like Realscreen, Kidscreen is a specialised event offering formal market and networking facilities, as well as a conference to keep practitioners up to date on latest industry developments. Meetings with international broadcasters and networks can be scheduled. Wellplanned sales and pitching strategies are a must.
Berlinale/ European Film Mart (EFM) Where: Berlin, Germany Focus: Festival favours arthouse content, while the Film Market is less prescriptive – here all manner of cinema (and increasingly TV) content can be bought and sold. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Berlin marks the start of the European production cycle. Here, deals are set in motion, which will be concluded a few months later at Cannes, before the summer production window opens. EFM is the most extensive market for film in Europe, where a broad range of deals are initiated, from high-end, studio-driven co-production agreements to distribution deals on niche product. Buyers for most content can be found here but prior research is essential in order to sell on target.
The Theater am Potsdamer Plabz, where the Berlinale is held
Park City’s Egyptian Theatre, one of Sundance’s prime screening locations
February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 27
Festivals & Markets
| AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER Locarno Film Festival Where: Locarno, Switzerland Focus: International cinema. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Perhaps the most attractive part of Locarno for Africa’s filmmakers is the Open Doors Co-Production Lab. Focusing on a specific region each year, Open Doors selects projects for funding and co-production from among several applicants. Previous focus regions have included southern Africa and the Maghreb region.
Venice Film Festival Where: Venice, Italy Focus: International cinema with an emphasis on Italian films. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Venice, along with Cannes and Berlin, forms the ‘Big Three’ of international film festivals. Like the other two festivals, it includes a substantial market element and can be approached in much the same way. The Final Cut programme offers partnership and support opportunities to filmmakers from Africa and the Levant.
Toronto International Film Festival (September) Cannes’s famous Palais des Festivals
MARCH
MAY
South by Southwest Film Conference (SXSW)
Cannes Film Festival
Where: Austin, Texas, USA Focus: The event has a focus on American film but is increasingly open to international content. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: SXSW is very similar in feel to Sundance and Tribeca. There are no formal market structures but industry players are available on a more informal basis. One thing to bear in mind: this event takes place prior to the announcement of the Cannes Film Festival programme. As a result, buyers are holding back on their budgets until they see what will be available at Cannes. Don’t expect any immediate sales or deals.
APRIL MIPTV Where: Cannes, France Focus: TV content for and from the global market; includes MIPDOC and MIPFormats. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Although based in France, MIPTV is a truly global market, with buyers and sellers from anywhere in the world able to meet one another. Although readymade content can be sold here there is also an emphasis on pre-sales, co-production and development.
Tribeca Film Festival Where: New York City Focus: International dramatic and documentary cinema. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Tribeca is in the same vein as Sundance and Toronto, although more accessible to the public than the former and smaller than the latter. It is very much a festival – rather than a market – opportunities for deal-making are generally of an informal nature. A benefit for content sellers is that the festival takes place after the announcement of the Cannes programme. Buyers therefore have a good idea of what funds they have left to play with.
28 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
Where: Cannes, France Focus: High-end, cinematic content with an arthouse bias, but increasingly featuring more big-budget, commercial work. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: The world’s biggest film festival is where the northern hemisphere’s festival cycle wraps up before the summer shooting period. A large market takes place alongside the festival, as broad in scope as EFM and separate from the festival programme. Cannes is an ideal launchpad for new filmmaking talent. It also offers two highly beneficial programmes for producers: the Producers’ Network and the Producers’ Workshop. These offer workshops, talks and networking opportunities. The ATFT takes delegations of around 15 producers to these programmes each year.
JUNE/ JULY DISCOP Africa Abidjan Where: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Focus: Television content for the francophone African market Business/ presentation style/ strategies: An exhibition style market on a smaller scale than the Johannesburg event, which takes place later in the year. Content sellers from around the world set up stands to present catalogues of work that is either made for the francophone market or can be repurposed for it. Co-production and pre-sale agreements are also made.
Durban International Film Festival/ Durban FilmMart Where: Durban, South Africa Focus: International cinema with an emphasis on work from South Africa and elsewhere on the continent. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: The festival takes its cue from Cannes and Berlin in emphasising arthouse films, although it has recently begun to include work with more commercial appeal. The DFM is modelled on Rotterdam’s CineMart, and is not so much a platform for content sales as for coproduction partnerships, development and pre-sales.
Where: Toronto, Canada Focus: International cinema with a North American emphasis Business/ presentation style/ strategies: North America’s biggest film festival is extremely comprehensive in terms of its content selection. Films from all over the world are screened but the approach is unique: there are sub-sections of the festival for films from particular regions. The festival is well attended by the general public and it does not have the kinds of formal industry programmes one would find at Cannes or EFM. Sales agents, distributors, funders and studio executives are in attendance but meetings with them generally have to be scheduled privately as there is no exhibition or official meeting space.
OCTOBER/ NOVEMBER MIPCOM Where: Cannes, France Focus: A broad range of global entertainment content across all major visual media, including cinema and TV. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: Probably the world’s biggest content market – an exhibition-style setup. Since many markets are represented here, it is vital that content sellers and buyers do their research and determine which exhibitors/ potential buyers are best suited to the content they are offering or looking to buy.
DISCOP Africa Johannesburg Where: Johannesburg, South Africa Focus: Television content for the South African market and other (predominantly English-speaking) African markets. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: An exhibition-style event similar to the Abidjan one but on a much larger scale.
American Film Market Where: Santa Monica, California Focus: International film markets. Business/ presentation style/ strategies: AFM is on a par with the likes of Cannes or EFM but there is no festival element and the event is very businessoriented. Although based in the US, it is very much a global market. It is essential that sellers have a catalogue of ready-made content. This is not so much a market for pre-sales or production partnerships. Compiled by Warren Holden
Towards a sustainable film industry: south vs international market demand
| FESTIVALS & MARKETS
Compiled by Mayenzeke Baza, director of International Relations for the Association for Transformation in Film and Television (ATFT), and Pascal Schmitz, founder and director of AAA Entertainment. Over the past five years, we have travelled to over 20 different festivals and markets in various capacities, which also includes as a sales and marketing company. During extensive interactions with literally dozens of international content buyers, we have learnt volumes about the supply-and-demand tug-ofwar for independent content. Content, of course, covers a very broad spectrum, as do the markets and festivals we attend. From feature films to telenovelas, from social impact documentaries to reality series, there are different markets constantly demanding specific content. Each type of content, as well as each territory and platform, has specific requirements. However, it is clear that the biggest challenge for us as distributors is that by the time we encounter the content to take on for international sales, it is completed and cannot be adapted to the market’s demand. Producers and
filmmakers in South Africa almost never work with an international sales company during the development of their content and are not encouraged to do so by the various funding agents that fund development and production. Filmmakers are developing in a ‘South African Bubble’ and speculating on what the rest of the globe wants with no real data or input from these markets. South African content has some key advantages however; firstly South African content has extremely high production value, mostly due to the quality of crew and gear we have readily available. We can produce on par with any country up to studio standards of quality and due to the current exchange rate, we can offer this quality at a fraction of the price the markets are used to. A relevant lesson from the American Film Market is that internationally, the ideal production budget trend for independent films is $1 million or below and most top theatrical productions
A RELEVANT LESSON: Mayenzeke Baza and Pascal Schmitz coming out of South Africa fall in that budget range. With an average of only 25% of films presented at market securing distribution, production budgets are an important determining factor which stands in our favour. Secondly we have fresh stories and untapped creative minds which can offer something new that isn’t a rehash of a story already told before to global audiences. What locally produced films and content need, however, in order to sell internationally is a more global and less colloquial perspective. If filmmakers want to sell their content outside of the African continent and diaspora, which only makes up a small fraction of the total global
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audience and, more importantly, a tiny fraction of the global buyers, then our content needs to be developed with the global market in mind. Most US buyers and distributors for example, will not even consider content that has even the slightest amount of subtitles and the US generally does not dub any content. It is also very clear from markets like MIPTV and MIPCOM that multiple episodic content, such as scripted and unscripted series are making far more money than once-off films. Buyers and broadcasters want to fill as many hours in their programming schedules as possible with a single meeting and acquisition contract. For example, many Scandinavian buyers and broadcasters will not take a meeting with a content provider if the desired sale is less than 10 hours. Festival success and accolades do not necessarily mean commercial success for a film, and although festivals and accolades do assist in boosting the careers of those individuals behind the film, our sector will never be taken seriously by government and investors until we create sustainable independent content production companies that are creating jobs and paying taxes. It is only then that our sector will see consistent funding and – only then – will the demands of producers and filmmakers for support be met.
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February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 29
Studios
|
Studios:
the best of times, the worst of times Trying to gauge the current state of the South African studio facilities sector can be tricky. On the one hand there are signs of the recession that is plaguing the industry at large. On the other hand a number of facilities have also taken some expansive measures. So where does the sector stand?
A
t a current estimate, there are around 30 film and/or TV production studios operating around South Africa, mostly in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The majority of these are long-standing facilities that have not seen much change in their business over the past year. There are some, such as Sasani Studios in Highlands North, Johannesburg, that have expanded or upgraded their facilities in the past year. There are also newer, smaller facilities entering the fray, bringing competitive rates and a touch of diversity. On the whole the outlook expressed by the operators of these studios is guardedly optimistic. Three trends present themselves. On the one hand, there is talk of complete contraction as funding dries up, leading to studios having to accept lower fees or let their production spaces stand empty. On the other hand, there is a second trend, which indicates that an increase in business is expected as the demand for content continues to rise. This will mean more work but the lower fees problem will remain. A third trend, already an entrenched part of some studios’ business models, while others are only adopting it now, is that the weak rand will result in a considerable increase in outlay which can really only be covered by raising foreign currency revenues, ie. marketing to foreign production units as well as – or perhaps, rather than – local ones. Increased demand… is it enough?
30 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
Eileen Sandrock, CEO of Sasani Studios, describes the studio market over the past year as ‘volatile’. “While there has been a lot of interest from the market, budgets are tight, and a number of new studio complexes are emerging which are giving us a healthy run for our money,” she says. The emergence of new players, in combination with shrinking budgets, may lead to studio facilities being in the same boat as several other sectors in the industry, most notably post-production, where the work continues to come in but lower budgets and increased competition means lower revenues all around. However, in Sasani’s case, the outlook must have been sufficiently bright to encourage expansion. After the company’s oldest sound stage burnt down in September 2014, it was decided, not only to rebuild the facility, but to do so in style. The new Stage 5 is an impressive space to say the least. Currently being used for production of the music competition show The Voice, the state-of-the-art building can accommodate productions on a large scale. It is currently complete with 12 Grass Valley HDX cameras, a 16-camera capacity control room, Soundcraft Vi3000 digital audio mixing desk, 32 audio channels and 12 video channels, collaborative editing on a shared storage system, flawlessly designed and installed soundproofing, production offices, green rooms, dressing rooms and space – lots of it. The ideal situation for any facility is to source long-term clients, ensuring that
studio spaces remain occupied for months, even years. This approach has worked well for Sasani, which hosts a good number of the country’s major soap operas, and for the likes of Telemedia, in Rivonia, Johannesburg which, according to national sales manager Quentin Barkhuizen, kept the majority of its studio spaces occupied for much of last year. Barkhuizen agrees that increased demand for content should lead to steady business for studios. Trevor Stonebank, acting head of facilities at Urban Brew Studios, is less reserved in his positive forecast for 2016 than Sandrock and Barkhuizen. “This year started with a bang,” he says. “A period that was relatively slow in past years has really been booming for us, with some good long-format prospects, as well as our ventures into the African market with some of our licensed shows. We are really looking forward to a good year ahead.” Stonebank notes that the booking of long-form productions has its pros and cons. “It is a challenge as one has to weigh up the costs and benefits of removing the studio from sellable inventory for a while, versus the financial stability and the impact it will have of remarketing the space once the long format production has left. At present urbanWorx has a good mix across genres. We do tend to tailor-make each budget to a client’s needs as the broadcasters seem to be really putting pressure on production houses to produce at lower and lower cost per minute.” While all the comments from Sandrock, Barkhuizen and Stonebank point to the securing of long-term, long-form clients as a saving grace of the studios business, Stonebank’s remarks also touch on another vital survival measure for South African facilities – sourcing business outside of our borders.
Looking abroad Aside from shrinking funds within the South African industry, one of the biggest challenges to face the industry in the past year has been the devaluing of the rand. “The exchange rate is the biggest challenge to us at present,” Stonebank
says. “One day you can place an order and a few days later the price has increased by 30% or more due to the exchange rate fluctuation. The majority of the new technology that we require is not kept in stock here in SA, so we have to put ourselves at the mercy of the exchange rate fluctuations whenever making new purchases.” Quentin Haffern of Realtime Pictures echoes this sentiment. Haffern recently took the risk of constructing an upgraded, state-of-the-art studio at his base of operations in Linden, Johannesburg. The decision to do so rested on the decreasing returns experienced in the post-production sector, which had previously made up the larger part of his business, despite studio directing being his first love. It was as the building project neared completion, at the end of 2015, that the rand took its notorious nosedive, driving up the costs of the essential gear he needed. Haffern’s proposed solution to the problem is to try and ensure that a sizeable part of Realtime’s future business comes from abroad – and in hard currency. “Budgets here are just not enough,” he says. “I need to make sure that a good part of my business comes from offshore to cover the unavoidable costs we experience in running a studio.” Perhaps easier said than done but well within the realms of possibility. South Africa is already a favoured destination for international film and TV creators and the low costs and high standards of production here – relative to the US and Europe – will continue to make it attractive. Facilities such as Cape Town Film Studios and Waterfront Studios have been basing their business on the servicing of offshore productions for a long time already. With the double-edged sword of increased demand and decreasing budgets, the pros and cons of the weak rand and the mixed blessings of booking long-term studio ‘tenants’, the fortunes of the studio sector – like much of the rest of the industry – are hard to forecast. This truly could be both the best and worst of times. – Warren Holden
SOUNDSTAGES & EVENTS www.atlasstudios.co.za • +27 [11] 482 7111
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Studios
|
STUDIOS Atlantic Studios Cpt
Foghound Studios
Media Film Service
Address: 7 Montague Drive, Montague Gardens, Cape Town Size: 8 studios: 3 x 500m2, 2 x 200m2, 1 x 3600m2, 1 x 1200m2. Mainly used for: TV, films and commercials Contact Person: Marius Maritz Tel: 083 634 4460 Email: info@atlanticstudios.co.za
Address: 24 Richards Drive, Midrand Halfway House. Size: 198m2, 35m2 Mainly used for: TV game shows, music videos, vehicle packshots, panel discussions, lighting gantry and aircon and diesel generator available. St 2. used for packshots, photography, etc. Website: www.foghound.co.za Contact Person: Lara Gildenhuys Tel: 011 541 0000 Email: lara@foghound.co.za studios@foghound.co.za
Address: Cape Town: 52 Paarden Eiland Road, Paarden Eiland. Joburg: 17 Eastern Service Road, Eastgate Ext.8, Eastgate, Sandton 2148 Size: 540m2, 462m2 Mainly used for: Commercials, music videos. Stills, features. Website: www.mediafilmservice.com Contact Person: Brad Schmitt, Hayley Chater Tel: 083 261 1904 / 078 115 6727 Email: brad@mediafilmservice.com hayleyc@mediafilmservice.com
Atlas Studios
Global Access
Address: 33 Frost Ave, cnr Owl Street, Milpark Johannesburg Size: 4 studios: 440m2,460m2, 320m2, 270m2 Mainly used for: TV drama, sitcoms, soapies, game shows, commercials, events and daylight shoots. Website: www.atlasstudios.co.za Contact Person: Jonathan Gimpel Tel: 011 482 7111 Email: info@atlasstudios.co.za
Address: Broadcast House, 169 Fox Street, Johannesburg Size: 234m2, 250m2, 565m2 Mainly used for: Sitcoms, soaps, dramas, talk shows, game shows, corporate videos, broadcasts Website: www.globalaccess.co.za Contact Person: Amelia Thiart Tel: 011 350 6111 Email: Amelia@globalaccess.co.za
New Vision Film Studios (Open Sky Film Studios)
Cape Island Studios
Gold Island Studios
Panalux
Address: Unit 3D, Sanlam Business Park, Racecourse Road, Milnerton, Cape Town Size: 500m2, 6.2m(h), 418m2, 6.2m(h), 500m2, 6.2m(h) Mainly used for: Commercials. Conveniently located north of the city. Website: www.islandstudios.net Contact Person: Michele St Arnaud Tel: 021 529 4200 Email: michele.starnaud@panalux.co.za
Address: 79 Reedbuck Crescent, Corporate Park, Old Pretoria Road, Midrand Size: 617m2, 8m(h), 420m2, 7m(h) Mainly used for: Commercials, conveniently located, north of the city. Website: www.islandstudios.net Contact Person: Regan Cesroe Tel: 011 314 5700 Email: regan.cesroe@panalux.co.za
Address: 79 Reedbuck Crescent, Corporate Park South, Midrand Size: 617.7m2, 420.5m2 Mainly used for: Commercials, game shows and events. Website: www.islandstudios.net Contact Person: Regan Cesroe Tel: 011 314 5700 Email: regan.cesroe@panalux.co.za
Clive Morris Produtions
Magnatude St (Okuhle)
Q Studios
Address: 8 Grove Street, Randburg, Johannesburg Size: 72m2,, 3 HD cameras Mainly used for: Post-production services Website: www.cmproductions.co.za Contact Person: Daniel Black, Daniel Taitz Tel: 011 886 9366 Email: danielt@cmproductions.co.za daniel@cmproductions.co.za
32 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
Address: Building 14, Waverley Business Park, Wyecroft Road, Mowbray, Cape Town Size: 270m2 Mainly used for: Live shows, live links, magazine shows, greenscreen shoots, talkshows, multicam productions. Website: www.magnatude.co.za Contact Person: Pamela Arendse Tel: 021 486 2900 Email: Pamela@magnatude.co.za
Address: The Farm, 154 President Steyn, Harmony, Welkom, Free State Size: 20ha back lot, 680ha open land consisting of a variety of different landscapes, 3000m2 sound stages. Mainly used for: Features and television series Website: www.opensky.sa.com Contact Person: Jaun De Meillon Tel: 083 957 9967 Email: jdm@ourtimeproductions.co.za jdm@opensky.sa.com
Address: 137 10th Road, Kew, Johannesburg Size: 900m2 – not sound proof, 700m2 fully sound proof, 70m2 sound treated Website: www.q-studios.co.za Contact Person: Ilse Sprenger Tel: 011 882 4311 Email: ilse@q-studios.co.za
A leading African content creator providing innovative, global entertainment solutions and services Realtime Pictures Address: 34 7th Street, Linden, Randburg, Johannesburg Size: 150m2 Mainly used for: Soundproof TV studio Website: www.realtimepictures.com Contact Person: Quentin Haffern Greg Licence Tel: 083 267 5578 / 071 491 4559 / 011 912 7777 Email: Quentin@realtimepictures.com
8 STUDIOS Biggest 600m² | Smallest 35sqm
3 CONTROL ROOMS HD / SD
Red Pepper Pictures Address: 58 4th Avenue, Linden, Johannesburg Size: 255m2, 450m2, 150m2, 360m2. Mainly used for: Game shows, magazine shows, virtual studio, youth and music shows. Website: www.redppepper.tv Tel: 011 446 7000 Email: jhbsales@redpepper.co.za
POST PRODUCTION 29 edit suites (FCP & Premier Pro)
LOCATION CAMERA KITS 20 Various kits
BACKLOT SETS Roodebloem Studios Address: 27 & 43 Roodebloem Road, Woodsock, Cape Town Size: 2 x 200 m2, 2 x 160m2 Mainly used for: Church studio, hall studio, drive in studio, jett studio (daylight/black). used for: photographic/film studios and event venues/locations Website: www.roodebloemstudios.co.za Contact Person: Niel Botha Tel: 021 447 6326 Email: info@roodebloemstudios.co.za
20 Backlots available
BROADCASTING Broadcast 8 channels ( Soweto, 1KZN, ED, Star Gospel, Dumisa, One Gospel, VIA, Glow )
Sasani Studios Address: 2 Johannesburg Road, Highlands North, Johannesburg Size: 12 Studios, ranging from 64m2 to 1 057m2 Mainly used for: Soaps, commercials, large extravaganzas Website: www.sasanistudios.co.za www.sasani.co.za Contact Person: Eileen Sandrock, Linda Titus, Kgolo Sekati, Neil van Heerden Tel: 011 719 4200 Email: info@sasanistudios.co.za
www.urbanbrew.co.za 011 285 6000 Urban Brew Studios February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 33
Studios
| Salt River Studios
Telemedia
Address: 19 Voortrekker Road, Transnet Rail, Salt River, Cape Town Size: 4 000m2 Mainly used for: Film, commercials, stills, music videos Website: www.saltriverfilmstudios.com Contact Person: Lynette Ely Tel: 021 510 2598 Email: info@salftiverfilmstudios.com
17 9th Avenue, Cnr 9th and Wessels Road, Rivonia, Johannesburg Size: 196m2, 30m2, 98m2, 100m2 Mainly used for: Live productions Website: www.telemedia.co.za Contact Person: Deewesh Maharaj Tel: 011 803 3353 Email: d@telemedia.co.za
Urban Brew Studios
Visual Impact – South Africa
Waterfront Film Studios
Address: 28 Harley Street, Randburg, Johannesburg Size: 8 studios (biggest 600m2; smallest 35m2). Post-production facilities Mainly used for: Various TV productions Website: www.urbanbrew.co.za Contact Person: Romy Schneigansz 011 285 6000 Email: romy@urbanbrew.co.za
Address: Media Hive Building, 1 Glynville Terrace, Gardens, Cape Town Size: 120m2 Mainly used for: TV productions, small game shows, pack shots, car shoots. Website: www.visuals.tv Contact Person: Marius Van Straaten Tel: 021 468 6001 / 082 855 0077 Email: receptions@mediahive.tv
Address: 1 Port Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town Size: 1 110m2, 795m2, 400m2 Mainly used for: Television programmes Website: www.waterfrontfilmstudios.com Contact Person: Steven Harris Tel: 021 409 2000 Email: steve@waterfrontfilmstudios.com
STUDIOS
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34 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
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Food, Booze and Tattoos:
| Television
Image credit: Nic Hester
An unconventional look into contemporary South Africa
‘CHOW FOR NOW’: Brett Rogers and his love for Food, Booze and Tattoos!
The new counterculture show, Food, Booze and Tattoos, which premiered on SABC3 on 21 January, gives the viewer an unconventional take on the popular food, beverage and travel format currently on the rise both locally and internationally, and follows presenter Brett Rogers on an epic road trip across South Africa. The 12part series sees Rogers on a quest to uncover the country’s finest purveyors of food, the edgiest tattoo parlours and the best spots to get the best booze!
E
xecutive producer Rebecca Fuller-Campbell says that the idea for the show came from the young and talented producer Larney De Swardt. “I saw the title and immediately needed to know more; I knew instantly that it had global appeal,” Fuller-Campbell says. De Swardt, Fuller-Campbell and the rest of the team at the now disbanded production company Hey!Fever developed the show idea further and took it to MIPCOM where Cineflix Rights came on board as the distributer. Already having screened in Sweden, Italy and Poland, Food, Booze and Tattoos is due to air in Latin America next, as well as
Czechoslovakia, India and Canada. “The show is doing really well internationally… It has sold in a lot of territories. We’re very proud of it and grateful to Cineflix who are still selling the series worldwide.” In each episode, Rogers travels to a new town and examines the best of each of the title elements in that area – getting fed, getting drunk and getting tattooed along the way! “Each episode features a new location or microcosm in South Africa that has Food, Booze and Tattoos at its heart. We discovered some incredible places around the country… We have the joy of vineyards, microbreweries, and the most amazing food,” says Fuller-Campbell. “One of the
blessings of the series was discovering what beautiful produce people are working with in South Africa… For me discovering all these unbelievable entrepreneurs who have turned their passions for food, booze or tattoos into their career was wonderful, the love they put into their art, their food and their craft of wine or beer blew me away.” Director Nic Hester says that it took approximately 40 shoot days, across several locations in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Soweto, Durban, Nieu Bethesda, Knysna, George and the Garden Route to shoot the entire season: “I worked on the show as a director from when it was just a kernel of an idea and helped develop it into a living, breathing thing. It was an exciting process to see it all the way through to the end… ” To shoot a series of this calibre – where the crew is always on the move – cameras that were optimal for handheld operation, but still met the technical requirements for international distribution, were essential. “We settled on the Sony a7S… the camera had several attributes which made it work for this – the right bit-rate, impressive low light capabilities and a small body,” explains Hester. “We modified the cameras slightly to suit our needs. It was essential to have ND filters when shooting in daylight as the sensors are so light sensitive.” With the show’s contemporary subject matter lending itself to a more unconventional look and feel, Hester says that as a director he wanted to create something fresh and distinctive which had not been seen before. “… It made sense to have a gritty contemporary style.
This was achieved through a variety of techniques. We shot with an unusual lens selection for a TV show. Camera A predominantly used a 45mm Tilt-Shift and Camera B predominantly used a 100mm macro lens. As unusual as this lens selection is, it created a distinctive look and they worked really well in combination.” With the rise of digital and subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), it has become increasingly important for traditional television channels to revamp their content and offer fresher, more innovative programming in order to compete. Fuller-Campbell says that this “need for more and new” has opened the door for high-end South African content: “Content that is locally relevant and globally viable and that’s the type of content we love making. That’s Food, Booze and Tattoos. Because platforms need more content they also need to get more for their money, which makes South Africa attractive at the current exchange rates.” As well as the emerging platforms and value for money, importantly audiences have changed the way that they view content, “we no longer are stuck on just content from the US or the UK where we’ve historically consumed from – we still love shows from those territories but we’re global viewers now,” explains Fuller-Campbell. “We want to watch programming from everywhere in the world and South Africa is very appealing in terms of culture, landscape, creativity and great quality!” Food, Booze and Tattoos airs Thursdays at 21h00 on SABC3. – Chanelle Ellaya February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 35
Television
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40
It was years ago today, SABC asked the band to play!
Camera crew at work on the SABC’s first ever outside broadcast
In January this year, South African television celebrated its 40th anniversary. Andy Stead was there when that famous test pattern first appeared on black-andwhite screens around the country and knew many of the then young, brighteyed technicians who helped found and develop the South African TV industry. An early SABC variety show, The Knicky Knacky Knoo Show
An early SABC crew 36 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
| Television
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here were you when this test pattern was first broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in 1975? This image was the start of it all: television in South Africa – albeit several years after many other countries in Africa had already switched on. I can tell you where I was. Broadcast television in South Africa was my goal when, in late 1972 and with little experience in the field, I made the decision to travel to England and study television technology in advance of the commencement of broadcasts. Southall College of Technology in London was to be my home for the next three years, and systems technology, studio design; transmission engineering and general principals were studied and learnt on a full-time, no-nonsense basis. Before completion of the course I was fortunate enough to be accepted by the Independent Broadcasting Authority as a network operations and maintenance (NOM) technician operating from their Brompton Road premises. The function of NOM was to ensure that the standards of all commercial television stations in the United Kingdom met the standards required, as well as to broadcast an engineering programme on a weekly basis from an OB van parked in the basement. This programme went out live from either a Rank Cintell Mk11 telecine machine or an RCA TR70 Quadruplex VTR machine, and woe betide if there was a fluff on air – I mean after all we were the blokes setting the standards! On completion of the courses I returned to South Africa full of knowledge and enthusiasm. Did I get a job at the SABC? Afraid not. Lack of Afrikaans was a factor, as well as other reasons – but we won’t get into that. I ventured immediately into the commercial arena.
Breeding ground for talent The SABC was however the breeding ground of many great technicians and engineers, some of whom remained with the corporation in senior roles up until retirement. Others made their mark on the commercial and production industry. Most have extremely fond memories of the start-up 40 years ago, and also of the
THE START OF IT ALL: The SABC test pattern, which became familiar to all South African TV owning households between 1976 and the 1990s. introduction of commercial television in 1978 when the first locally produced TV spot the Big T Burger TV aired. The SABC did in fact commence its own in-house training and most who underwent this course agree that the standards were extremely high. One such trainee was Dave Keet, who went on to make a name in the private facilities business. Keet recalls that the SABC began training technicians for TV at their then brand new premises in Auckland Park. “I was on the third training course, which started in April 1975,” he says. “Training instructors were brought out from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to train personnel. For the first three months trainees were trained in all disciplines such as camera, sound, lighting, telecine, editing and even set building. After your initial training you specialised in your particular area of expertise. “I did studio sound on the first broadcast – 5 January 1976. It was an amazing adrenaline rush after such anticipation and incredible nerves. I think things went pretty much as planned. Commercial TV started about two years later and the whole country sat in front of their TVs at 6pm to see the first TV commercial! The start of commercial TV heralded the beginning of facility companies which provided services to independent film companies for the production of television commercials and indeed programmes – the SABC commissioned a lot of series and one-offs.” I remember the advent of commercial television well. By this stage I worked for an advertising agency – Van Zijl, Schultz, Lund and Tredoux – that had several large accounts, including SAB, Lever Brothers and Transnet. All their commercials were shot on 35mm film and these had to be transferred to tape for broadcast. While the SABC had telecine machines, they were photo conductive and the quality was deemed not equal to the result one got from a flying spot scanner. There was however a Rank Cintel Mk11 telecine at Lintas advertising on the 11th Floor of Sandton City. An OB van with a 2-inch VTR was hired from the new commercial facility
company Video RSA and feeds were laid from the OB van parked in the basement of Sandton City, and the 11th Floor. All Van Zijl and Schultz’s commercials were transferred via this route. The resulting commercials, when shown on the SABC, certainly showed the superior quality achievable from the flying spot technology – a technology which was to become a bye-word in the industry.
SA’s first post facilities Video RSA was in fact the first of many commercial facilities companies in South Africa, and became the home to well known industry player Mike Smit. “Kavalier Films started the first video post facility, Video RSA, mainly to finish television adverts for the launch of commercial television in 1978,” explains Smit. “They had a few technical challenges and approached the SABC for help. I was the lucky guy to be seconded to Video RSA by the SABC where I ended up being employed. Although I enjoyed my tenure at the SABC, a significant increase in salary was the main reason for leaving along with the opportunity to be part of the commercials industry. In 1980 I started discussions with Trevor Hill of The Film Editors, who had the backing of Gallo and Argus, to start a new post facility which we called Video Lab. I do however have very fond memories of my time at SABC and it was a privilege to be working in television at the very beginning of this new industry.”
Perfecting outside broadcast Outside broadcasts (OBs) were an essential part of early television and the SABC was able to meet the challenge. Former head of OBs Nick Bonthuys reminisces: “When I finished my studies I chose to go to OBs and luckily was accepted. I probably would have left if my application was not successful since TV OB was where I saw my future. “When I arrived at the beginning in 1976 they had just completed a number of training productions. Ex-employees of the BBC were contracted to do the training and they did an excellent job to get the SABC OB teams up to speed. Names like
Ron McHardy, Alan Joy, Charles Mickey and Brian Taylor come to mind. Many of them stayed on to play roles in SA broadcast history. “SABC TV OBs started with three four-camera units and one three-camera unit. The three-camera unit had a handheld camera which was a nightmare to get to work. The OB units had to be running for at least three hours before one could attempt to line them up to produce broadcast standard pictures. Each unit had two Ampex two-inch video tape recorders housed in a separate truck since they were so big and needed special air conditioning and used noisy air compressors to guide the video tape. The equivalent and more of what those tape recorders could do can now could fit on a single USB stick!” Others who spent time in the OB department included former head of Sony Broadcast South Africa Jess Goedhals. “In 1973 the SABC had advertised, looking for trainee operators for the upcoming television service, so I applied, was accepted and started on 2 January 1974, two years ahead of the commencement of television,” says Goedhals. “Among my listed skills, which I’m sure made me successful, was my passionate Super 8 filming of the motor racing at Kyalami. “The SABC trained groups of 40 operators over an intensive four-month course using experts from the BBC. My original position was trainee cameraman and after the training course, I moved to the OB department, where we covered many events prior to the launch of TV in 1976. Going live on air was always a thrill and things did usually go wrong but, because the viewers were new, nobody really noticed! “I left the SABC in 1981 after rising to the position of principal cameraman and not seeing a future by staying on just as an operator. The emerging television facilities company market had started and they were offering substantially better salaries than SABC could pay. I joined Trillion Video in Kramerville where I came across the production of TV commercials for the first time.” There are countless other people, involved in pioneering South African television, who are still in the industry or have since left and retired – too many unfortunately to list here. Most will, I am sure, agree that the grounding they received at the SABC was the catalyst for long and successful careers during a time when a spirit of bold curiosity and a sense of adventure were probably the best requirement. Things have changed a lot since those formative years, and the fortunes of the SABC have been overtaken by subscription television services and streaming. Indeed the SABC has missed its deadline for the switch over to digital with this year 2016, being the absolute final deadline. Will they meet it and if not what are the repercussions? Time will tell. But in the meantime, nothing can detract from that historical launch back in 1976 and the keenness and enthusiasm of the dedicated staff that helped to make it happen. – Andy Stead February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 37
SPORTS BROADCAST
The
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future of sport
Without broadcast technology, many sports fans around the world would not be able to share in the excitement of their favourite sporting events. Broadcasting technologies have transformed the spectator experience, making the many thrilling performances featured in top-tier sporting events available on multiple platforms and in multiple formats.
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s technology develops and new methods of broadcast are devised, the rights holders of major sporting enterprises are also looking at new ways of licensing their product. A lot happened in the world of sport in 2015 but the focus now is on Brazil as the country prepares to take center stage in the sporting universe in the run up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
4K in the lead 2015 was a momentous year in the world of sport; we witnessed some amazing coverage of many great events. Sport is a vital lifeline for traditional TV broadcasters; globally 97% of all sports programming is watched live and the public’s insatiable desire for more keeps fueling the fire. Because of this sport broadcasters are at the forefront of technology and, more importantly, experimenting with new technologies. 4K has to be the big-ticket item driving the industry at the moment. In August last year, BT Sport Ultra HD was launched, giving Europe its first paid 4K channel. BT TV is a subscription IPTV service with, close to 1.4 million subscribers and their decision to go 4K was based on 18 months of research, surveys and test trials. While BT Sport was able take the terrestrial route, this is not feasible for everyone. In the case of 4K, where a significantly large amount of bandwidth is needed to deliver the high quality content for all TV homes, satellite will be a key transmission. This is when the adoption of the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard becomes crucial, as satellite then is able to cost-effectively distribute Ultra-HD content to the largest number of households among all broadcasting infrastructures. In 2015 France Télévisions not only filmed every match on the centre court of Roland Garros in 4K but also broadcast the events via both terrestrial and satellite channels using HEVC codecs, so that any French homes with 4K TVs could receive it. This was a successful 38 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
test that saw increased sales in 4K TV sets nationally. American satellite Pay-TV services giant DirecTV launched two new satellites into orbit in the last year for the sake of developing direct 4K video and live content transmission services for subscribers and is now moving ever closer to being a major leader in this growing content landscape. DirecTV has completed the process of testing ultra HD 4K sportscast transmissions via satellite as a run-up to a formal launch of this service at some point in early 2016. DirecTV is already offering a limited OTT service of 4K-entertainment distribution and has been doing so since late 2014 but the existing service is available to only some consumers and comes with a very limited selection of content. ESPN has long been at the forefront of broadcast technology, and the network has many of the necessary technical assets in place for a 4K migration whenever it chooses to make the move. The studio where SportsCenter is filmed, for example, can support 4K and even 8K broadcasts. Also, ESPN already shoots some content using 4K cameras, although the footage is largely used for zoom-in shots of game-changing plays. The real question for viewers in the US is
Dodeca 2360 camera
when will sports network ESPN take the UHD plunge or at the very least, when will viewers have an opportunity to watch games from the American sports franchises in Ultra HD? ESPN comments that while they have the technical capacity and capability to make the move to UHD broadcasting, “they are looking into it and will make a decision about 4K when the time is right for them”. This attitude is probably because of the failure of 3D TV. After launching a standalone channel with much fanfare in 2010, ESPN quietly folded up its 3D TV experiment in 2013, added to which they feel that much of the US has lacked the necessary infrastructure for widespread 4K video distribution, and there’s still a limited
ecosystem for 4K technology. They are watching the BT TV model with much interest as well as Canadian cable operator Rogers Communications Inc. which has been involved in the expansion of the gigabit networks in Canada and announced that they are ready to start broadcasting sport coverage in UHD this year, promising over 100 live events to their subscribers. OTT broadcasters are at the forefront of native Ultra-HD productions followed by an increasing number of linear broadcasters that are producing in 4K as
| SPORTS BROADCAST SPORTY TECH IN PLAYING FIELD: Rio de Janeiro. Home of the 2016 Olympics.
Microsoft HoloLens
Oculus Rift VR headset
well. This trend, coupled with the high number of 4K TVs at end-consumer homes, gives us good reasons to believe that adoption of Ultra-HD could go quicker than expected. It may well be that 4K becomes mass market by 2016/2017.
HDR a close second 4K is not the only technology in sport broadcasting to get excited about. Keeping fingers on the technological pulse is in the broadcaster’s DNA… and that’s why most broadcasters are also looking at High Dynamic Range (HDR) to see how this can be incorporated into our 4K delivery, especially in the sport arena. In recent months Virtual Reality (VR)
and 360 degree video, has been a big talking point. Particularly with the release Microsoft’s HoloLens and more recently the new Oculus Rift VR headset, now owned by Facebook. 360-degree video is possibly the next big breakthrough for sport broadcasting and we have seen great examples of its potential from the Red Bull Formula 1 racing team. While 360-degree video is currently not available as a live stream, the amount of investment going into the technology surely means that it is inevitable. Trials are currently being conducted at football stadiums and cricket grounds in Europe and Australia. Sporting organisations are all too willing to experiment with new technologies. This is evident by the recent virtual reality content filmed for
Samsung’s Gear VR at the NBA’s all-star weekend. The National Hockey League (NHL) also experimented with using GoPro cameras for its all-star weekend to give viewers a live point-of-view perspective.
OTT enters the game While the 2012 London Olympic Games provided one of the most connected global experiences ever, 2016 in Brazil could see some much-anticipated new technology unleashed. The International Olympic Committee’s broadcast unit has a history of using the Olympic Games as a launch pad for new viewing experiences. In the past, TV networks covering the Olympics delivered only prime-time evening coverage of what happened that day, with taped highlights of various events tightly packaged into several hours of programming. That approach changed dramatically with the 2008 Beijing Olympics when NBC
Universal, the provider of Olympics coverage for American audiences, offered not only hours of TV and cable coverage but also thousands of hours of coverage online. Internet online broadcast of sporting events has not only increased the total hours of airtime, but more importantly, the number of viewers at any one time – a great dangling carrot for TV station advertising revenue streams. While Japanese broadcaster NHK will be conducting transmission tests for 8K broadcasts, the broadcast division of the International Olympic Games has said that, as the entire broadcast ecosystem will be a 4K workflow, there are no plans for TV broadcasting in 4K Ultra HD at Rio 2016, but have shown interest in trials of virtual reality technologies. The technology is maturing quickly. There is real interest in virtual experiences to mobile phones. One VR application that they are exploring is around viewing aspects of the games after the event. As the methods of sport broadcast delivery diversify, sporting bodies and federations are looking at alternate ways of licensing their wares. The online video market is estimated to be worth US$200 billion to US$400 billion, with YouTube having the largest share. YouTube currently has more than 1 billion users, has more than 300 hours of video uploaded to its site every minute, and is localised in 75 countries and available in 61 languages. It was recently reported that in the US YouTube reached more Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 than any cable channel, including ESPN. There has also been a 50% growth in the amount of time users spend watching videos on YouTube year over year, of which 50% of viewing is via mobile. The live streams on YouTube have the potential to far outweigh the highest audience ratings of most television broadcasters. It is reasons like this that have attracted Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) and the Australian Football League (AFL) to enter into discussion with Google to have their games broadcast via YouTube from 2017. YouTube has made a shift toward professional sports media over the past few years. In 2010 it secured the live-streaming rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket. Three years later, YouTube began to experiment with major American sports, including Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Is it possible therefore that YouTube has the potential to lead the way in new forms of sports broadcasting? In the current media environment it seems that it may not replace the current broadcast of sport, but what it will do is allow sporting disciplines like the NFL and AFL to be internationalised by making it available to people outside Australia increasing the viewer and fan base. In addition to providing a liner stream, YouTube could be a potential platform for sporting organisations to experiment further with new broadcast and viewing technologies. Watch this space… – Ian Dormer February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 39
BUSINESS, POLICY AND LEGISLATION
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Content regulation in the online space On 4 March 2015 the Draft Online Regulation Policy was released by the Film and Publications Board (FPB) and was published for public comment in the Government Gazette. According to the FPB the policy was brought about to establish a framework for content which is distributed online.
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s described in the draft, this content includes films, games and publications as defined in the Films & Publications Act of 1996. The Act also defines publications to include content uploaded on the internet through social networks and this includes self-generated content uploaded or posted on social media platforms. A backlash reaction from the public as well as a number of organisations ensued, resulting in petitions against the policy and accusations that it would threaten South Africans’ right to freedom of speech. The Draft Online Regulation Policy will soon go before cabinet and, according to the FPB, a final draft will be released before July 2016. Though some may agree that there is a need for some kind of content regulation in the digital space, the terms in the policy have been criticised as being too broad, and with video and film distributors looking more and more to the online space as a primary platform for distribution there are concerns as to how this will affect content creators in the industry. Filmmakers and video content creators operate in a very competitive environment where if the release of their work is delayed it may no longer be relevant or compelling. Consider breaking news footage or a film with a time-dependant plot. FPB chief operations officer Sipho Risiba says these factors have been taken into consideration. “We took the decision to come up with co-regulation, which will allow registered and accredited filmmakers, distributors and producers to self-classify their material using our act and classification guidelines, under the regulatory oversight of the FPB. From time to time we will conduct industry audits to check that indeed our guidelines are being used in accordance with the Act and to ensure that publishers are registered because not everyone will
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have access to our logo,” he explains. As the Act already exempts content published by Press Council members the draft policy has since been amended to extend this exemption to online publications by such publishers. But Micah Reddy, an organiser with the Right2Know campaign, says that distributors could face heavy registration fees in order to have their content classified and believes that any classification which takes place prior to publishing is censorship. “If our constitutionally-enshrined freedom of expression and freedom to impart and receive information are to be respected, then publishers should be free to publish and be damned. There are instances where prior restraint of publication is legitimate – for example through a court interdict – in order to prevent a grave injustice, but this is something that must be used in an extremely circumscribed way,” comments Reddy. With regard to social media and pre-classification Risiba refers to the controversial YouTube clip posted by Rabboni Ministries, which showed congregation members eating grass. Following complaints about the video, the FPB submitted a compliance notice to Google requesting that the video be rated as unsuitable for children under the age of 13 or removed because it
contained imitative acts, and the video was taken down. “Section 16 of the Act basically says that you don’t have to submit for pre-distribution before you post for classification but that if you post something and the next person is offended, that person would have a right to lay a complaint with the FPB. Then, if we feel the complaint has merit, we can put together a committee that would look into the complaint,” comments Risiba. Section 16 of the Act also outlines certain restrictions such as the propaganda of war or the incitement of violence and hate speech, which require publishers to submit content for pre-publication classification as it is outlawed and prohibited – unless it is a documentary of scientific or artistic merit or is matter of public interest. Risiba further remarks, “In the main, there is no obligation for any person to submit any posts for Twitter for instance – that would be a restriction to the right to freedom of speech and we don’t want that. People should be able to engage.” The new policy could have additional consequences for distributors and filmmakers, who according to Risiba will no longer be able to claim ignorance on issues of regulation and classification as they will now be clearly outlined. Without wanting to create barriers to market entry or impede their entrepreneurial
endeavours, the FPB aims to hold more content creators responsible for what they produce online. “I think over the years we have been soft on distributors mainly because we felt that we hadn’t done enough in terms of advocacy, public awareness and education,” says Risiba. “With this policy no one can be ignorant and say they don’t know. By now it has been widely publicised. We’ve now opened up channels for communication and engagement that will create a lot of access.” Reddy maintains that there is already a regulation framework for online content. Websites like YouTube have community guidelines which are quite effectively enforced and illegal conduct online is prosecutable. He adds: “Any regulation of the internet itself must be light touch regulation and must meet the test of not unjustifiably infringing on free expression.” Risiba concludes: “The FPB has never claimed to have a magic wand to address all online challenges hence the policy strongly advocates cooperation and co-regulation. To this end, the FPB welcomes the efforts and technological contributions by industry to ensure protection of children from harmful online content. That being said, the FPB still has a responsibility to create a regulatory framework for content regulation in the country.” – Carly Barnes
NEW MEDIA
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Virtual Reality: a whole new world
THE WORLD IN 3600: A New Dimensions guest using Samsung’s Gear VR headset
Gaming may have been the gateway, but virtual reality (VR) storytelling is now entering an arena of its own. Affordable tech such as Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Cardboard can now easily convert a smartphone into a VR viewing headset, lowering the barrier of entry to this cool medium for entertainment and all kinds of content. Another guest using Google’s Cardboad headset 42 | SCREENAFRICA | February 2016
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hat’s even more exciting is that the avenue is new and open to discovery and development, giving filmmakers and innovators anywhere in the world the opportunity to excavate the possible potential of a world in 360 degree view. South African producer Steven Markovitz of Big World Cinema had the idea to bring together African creatives and experts in the field of VR to explore this emerging form of storytelling and the technology which enables it. In October 2015 Markovitz’ production company, Big World Cinema, together with the Goethe-Institut South Africa and with support from Blue Ice Docs and SDK Digital Lab hosted a VR exhibition ‘New Dimensions’ and various workshops involving Jessica Brillhart, the principal filmmaker for VR at Google; as well as director Oscar Raby and producer Katy Morrison from Australian VR focussed digital production company VRTOV. According to Markovitz, the time is ripe for open minded content creators to play in this space: “We are now at a point in filmmaking where there is an oversaturation of film and images in the world. There are too many films to find a theatrical release and even less so in the US and China. In the documentary world budgets are generally not going up and it’s very difficult to find a stable way to survive in the industry. VR creates an opportunity for a new audience and a new market for storytelling.”
A new form of expression VR is already being used in other industries such as the health, corporate and mining sectors because of its ability to change the way people experience different types of content. And the experience in itself is unique to each person, as they play a role in how the content is received. “VR requires the audience to be active
| NEW MEDIA in the way they consume the content. They literally can’t sit like a couch potato – they have to move, they have to look around in order to experience the story. I think that simple factor will have a tremendous effect on the way that storytellers craft narratives for VR, and for audiences,” says Morrison. “No-one else will see the story exactly that way, because no-one else will look at exactly the same points they did, in the same order, for exactly the same amount of time. It’s a very personal medium.” Though essentially still in its infancy, VR as a storytelling platform is already being explored by a number of creatives across the African continent. The ‘New Dimensions’ exhibition featured work from Ghanian duo Jonathan Dotse and Kabiru Seidu, co-founders of NubianVR who built their own VR rig and viewing system to show their content. “These are the kind of people we need to encourage and start working with. There is some VR being produced but very little around storytelling and narrative – that’s what we are really interested in and there is huge potential to do it,” says Markovitz. “There is nothing like being at the forefront,” remarks Paul Sika, a software engineer and photographer, who was invited to attend ‘New Dimensions’. “Being introduced to such new technology which is going to profoundly change human experience, feels like being in a transition from one era to another. The kind of transformation that amazing technology can create. A paradigm shift is coming and it is coming fast.”
Accessibility The multidisciplinary group invited to attend the workshops was handpicked by Markovitz along with guest curator and senior consultant for the Tribeca Film Institute Ingrid Kopp and Lien Heidenreich, head of cultural
programmes at the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg, with the idea that by bringing together people from different artistic and technological backgrounds a cross-pollination of ideas and skills could be fostered, encouraging participants to think outside the box of their normal world. “Filmmakers are not always the best people to make VR because they think in a frame not a 360 degree space,” comments Markovitz. “We wanted people who are innovating within their fields, who are accomplished to some degree already and have an open enough mind to want to try a new format in the artistic realm.” The technology behind virtual reality, much like modern filmmaking, ranges in price and capability. Just as filmmakers across the globe and the African continent are now able to produce a film using DSLR cameras or even smartphones, a VR content creator could set up a 3D scanner with an iPad and with a good enough computer, start producing work in a 360 degree CGI space for as little as $1 000. “I think Africa is a big place – every country has its own dynamic and within every country there are different levels of economy and infrastructure skill so I think within all the countries of Africa there will be pockets of people who have the aptitude and access to resources,” Markovitz remarks. But while VR has the ability to transcend both the creator and audience experience, it may run the risk of being perceived as limiting in other terms. Kopp comments: “Nnedi Okorafor made a great comment during a panel at African Futures (which ‘New Dimensions’ was part of) about how you need a plurality of stories to get the truth and I absolutely agree with her. I don’t want VR to become an exclusive, techy space that discourages participation and part of the reason for this workshop and exhibition was to make sure this doesn’t happen in Africa.”
New Dimensions guests
Ingrid Kopp using Samsung Gear VR headset
A New Dimensions workshop participant executing a 3D scan
3D scan on an iPad
Immersive stories There are a few ways to create VR content. One way is the full 3D method – using a 3D scanner objects can be imported and placed into a game engine such as Unity. The viewer is then able to inhabit that 3D space in the VR experience. Another method is to take footage from an array of cameras positioned in all directions and stitch it together into a sphere which the audience member stands in the centre of. Many people assume that VR has the ability to generate empathy purely because of its nature but Kopp believes this perception needs to be challenged. “Just because you put someone in a VR environment it does not mean they will automatically feel empathy. I’d like to see more critical discourse around craft and ethics in VR.” Morrison adds that VR instils in viewers a sense of themselves within a story or a narrative and believes that it’s less about an ability to empathise with other characters but rather about imagining yourself there with them in a particular situation. VR could potentially mean a revolution of experiences – viewing devices could become household necessities and we could soon be sitting beside our favourite characters while the action unfolds around us in a film. The possibilities are quite limitless and as the rules are formed there will be creative frontrunners working out ways to break them. Sika concludes, “What I love about VR is the great proximity we can create for the user and the capacity to represent universes that are interesting in many ways rather than having one single point of view and path like in 2D filmmaking. This is the closest we have to the ‘immersiveness’ of dreams and it can evoke very strong emotions.” – Carly Barnes
February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 43
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Touchvision
Tel: + 27 11 886 8572 • www.touchvision.co.za
01-20-16_HP_ScreenAfrica_KiProUltra_Feb_EN.indd 1
1/21/16 2:00 PM
PROD U CTION
UPDATES
FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com
Those productions in red are newly listed this month Production Updates Order of Information 1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre
IN PRODUCTION 3 TALK Urban Brew Talk Show 20 and Free X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Documentary 50/50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs 53 EXTRA M-Net Inhouse Productions Dir: Navan Chetty Magazine A BROTHER’S LOVE 1300 Pictures (Pty) Ltd Dir: Elvis Nkosi Feature A CALENDAR OF EVENTS – MEDUPI & KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Documentary A MAN OF HIS OWN PRINCIPALS Sekgopha Productions Prod: Buhle Mofulatsi / Thapelo Hlagala TV movie AQUELLE’ MIDMAR MILE 2015 Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman Documentary AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music ArtsCulturex Talent 1000 Championships Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni Series
CARTE BLANCHE (inserts) Modern Times Prod: Sophia Phirippides News
Faith Today Impact Christian Media Prod: Carl Schultz TV Series
Carte Blanche shorts TIA productions Prod / Dir: Tarryn Lee Crossman News
FOX NEWS CHANNEL Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig News
CLAASENS DESIGNS MARKETING VIDEOS Panache Video Productions Prod/Dir: Liesel Eiselen Marketing videos
Free State Toursim Indaba Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Corporate
CLASH OF THE CHOIRS Endemol South Africa Prod: Josh Feldman Talent / Reality COOL CATS Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video COME DINE WITH ME SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality CUTTING EDGE SABC News Current Affairs Debra Deel Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Series DIAMOND BROKER OF CONGO Bendimir Productions PTY LTD Prod: Dede Tshibangu Documentary DIMENSION DATA Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Natalie Varoy Corporate DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Series DISHONEST Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Nhlapo Feature Film Ditokelo tsa Medupi LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature
FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Morena Sefatsa Variety GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Prod: Mfundi Vundla Series GOOD MORNING AFRICA Planet Image Productions SA Prod/Dir: Wale Akinlabi Magazine GOSPEL GOLD Engage Entertainment Prod: Sthembile Mhlongu Music Got It Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife HEAT WAVE Ruby Rocket Media Dir: Eddie Edwards TV Series HECTIC 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine HITACHI POWER AFRICA MEDUPI AND KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary HOUSE CALL Izwe Multimedia / Urban Brew Prod: Annalie Potgieter Talk Show IGNITE Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Reality
Auditor General Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery/Natalie Varoy Corporate
DIY MET RIAAN Prod: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine
IHAWU LE SISWE Provoke Entertainment Dir: Sechaba Morojele TV Series
BACKBONE PROJECT Global Access Creative Agency Prod: GA Creative Agency Documentary
EARTH BEAT Tekweni TV Productions Prod: Sandra Herrington Series
iParent training clips Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate
BIG BROTHER MZANSI Endemol South Africa Prod: Terja Beney, Liza Kleitman Reality
EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Prod: Saira Essa / Mark Corlett Magazine
IMIZWILILI Ukhamba Productions Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music
BINNELAND Stark Films Prod/Dir: Friedrich / Elsje Stark Series
END GAME Fireworx Media/ Tunc Productions Prod: Bridget Pickering Dir: Akin Omotoso/ Thandie Brewer/ Thabang Moleya Feature
INKABA Urban Brew Studios Prod: John Kani Telenovela
BRAVO! Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine BONISANANI Grounded Media Talk Show Bugatti Together Lucky Fish Productions Dir: Raphaël Crombez Commercial CAINE’S LEGACY Media Navigation Prod/Dir: Dan Akinlolu Short Film
EXPRESSO (Season 2) Cardova Prod: Paul van Deventer Series FACE OF GEMINI Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Series Facility Management Lectures (A4FM) Panache Video Productions Dir/ Prod: Liesel Eiselen Educational
In search of our own Open Window school of film arts Prod: Adriaan De la Rey Documentary ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Prod: Pumla Hoppa, Leo Phiri Soap JOBURG TAXI Xcut Studios Prod: Dave Kaminer Documentary JOU SHOW Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Talkshow comedy
1464 Vragboot Steet Cnr Vooraadskip Streets Laserpark, Honeydew
PRO DU C T I O N
U PD ATES
KOKKEDOOR 2 Homebrew films Prod: Jaco Loubser and Paul Venter Cooking reality series
MASHELENG1 LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature
MY GENERATION Current Affairs Films Dir: Jane Lipman TV Series
Shreds and Dreams Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series
THE TECH REPORT Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Technology Magazine
KOLLIG Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine
MASHELENG 2 LMOL Production Dir: Jonny Muteba Feature
My name is Funeka Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary
SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Global TV Commercial
TOP BILLING Tswelopele Productions Prod: Patience Stevens Magazine
KONA The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd Prod/Dir: Laurence Lurie / Cathy Sykes Series
MassTalk Global Access Creative Agency Prod: Brad Montgomery Corporate
MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Magazine
SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod/Dir: Kee-Leen Irvine Talent show
TOP TRAVEL (Season 3) Cardova Prod: Bradley van den Berg Series
KOOLCON CORPORATE VIDEO FiX Post Production/ Marketing AV Marketing Video
MATRICS UPLOADED Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational
NEILL ANTHONY – THE PRIVATE CHEF Okuhle Media Prod: Grant Flynn Cooking Show
SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Prod: Romano Gorlei Soapie
Transnet Financial Results Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery Corporate
MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Grant Paul Roy Talk Show
NET1 – SASSA Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Corporate
SCHOEMAN BOERDERY – MOOSRIVIER Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott / Wynand Dreyer Documentary
Troopship Tragedy (working title) Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary
MCA Training Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate
NEWS NIGHT eNews Prod: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs
M-NET SHORT FILMS Current Affairs Films Prod/ Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman Film
Oscar Pistorius Documentary Inserts TIA Productions Dir/ Prod: Tarryn Crossman
MURDER OF A FORMER FIRST LADY Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary
Documentary
LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Series Light Girls South African Unit White Heron Pictures Prod: Themba Sibeko Documentary LIVE Urban Brew Music LIVE LOTTO SHOW Urban Brew Game Show Mandela’s Gun DV8 films Dir: John Irvin Feature Marang Estate: Mixed Used Development Nov/ Dec Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Documentary
MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature
Lights; ignition; action.
PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Dir: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer Magazine PAWN STARS SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine, Ed Worster, Johan Naude and Kat Weatherall Reality PHUNDEKA READING PROGRAMME SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Phundeka (NGO) Documentary POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport PROJECT MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Rands with Sense 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myersin Education RHYTHM CITY Quizzical Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie
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RHYTHM CITY INTERACTIVE Quizzical Pictures / e.tv Prod: Viva Liles-Wilkin Interactive Platform Media RIVONINGO Asi-B Films Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Children’s Show ROLLING WITH KELLY KHUMALO Red Pepper Prod: Cecil Barry Reality ROOTS Ukhamba Communications Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music SAINT AND FREEDOM FIGHTER Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary SA Top Model for a Day Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni TV Series SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER SEASON 5 Dirk Mostert Camera Production Prod/ Dir: Dirk Mostert Series SAUBA IMAGOFILM Prod: Tam de Vries Reality TV Series
Unit C5 RobeRtville Mini FaCtoRies 255 nadine stReet RobeRtville RoodepooRt 1709
SELIMATHUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira Variety
TSHIPE BORWA MANGANESE MINE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary
SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety
Vaseline Experience Xcut Studios Dir: Lee Anne Theron 4D AV production
SHIFT Urban Brew Talk show
VELDKINDERS Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach Documentary Series
SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Andy Leze Variety SIYAKHOLWA – WE BELIEVE X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment Slender Wonder Doctors Conference Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Slender Wonder Corporate Video
VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dir: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit Series Volkspele South Africa Grey Cloud Productions Dir:Jacques Brand Prod: Bertie Brink Documentary WARD 22 TIA Productions Prod/Dir: Tarryn Crossman Documentary
Slender Wonder Patient Testimonial Videos Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Corporate Videos
WEEKEND AM LIVE SABC News Current Affairs
SOCCER ZONE SABC Sports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine
WIZARD OF ZIM Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary
SODA AND Mayoral Awards Global Access Creative Agency Guy Sclanders Corporate
YILENGELO LAKHO Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs
SPRINGBOK STORIES Angel Music Studio Productions Dir: Chrissie Rossouw TV Series STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational SUPERSWIMMER Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman TV Series THE CHAT ROOM Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show THE COMMUNIST REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary THE JUSTICE FACTOR eNews Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs THE REAL GOBOZA 7 Urban Brew Entertainment The Revolution Betrayed Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Documentary THE RUDIMENTALS Periphery Films Prod: Simon Taylor Feature
ZOOM IN Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Talk show
IN POST-PRODUCTION A BUSHMAN ODYSSEY Onetime Films Prod: Richard Wicksteed Documentary A DIFFERENT COUNTRY Sabido Productions Dir: Lisa Henry Documentary series A FATAL ENCOUNTER – THE MARLEEN KONINGS STORY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Johann Abrahams Documentary A Love Letter to Luxor Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Short Film A MOTHER’S MADNESS Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Ayesha Ismail Documentary A STOLEN LIFE – THE SASHA LEIGH CROOK STORY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Catherine Rice Documentary AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video
PROD U CTION I AM… CRAIG Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary
PLAY MORE GOLF FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercials
AFROX RAU INSIGHT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video
IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature
Pushi- Passion LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Series
ALL FOR NOTHING – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRUNO BRONN Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary
Joyous 18 RM Recording Prod: Lindelani Mkhize Other
THE QUIET BOY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Charlene Stanley Corporate
BEAUTY CONTEST Phoenix TV Productions Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film
JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions,Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary
ROSA 3 Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature
CAESAREAN COMPLICATIONS SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Professor Eckhart Buchmann Documentary
KADARA Media Navigation Prod: Dan Akinlolu/ Biola Karonwi TV Drama
SAFE BET Sukuma Media Producer: Nokuthula Sakhile Mguni / Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature Film
Challenge SOS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Reality
Kerels wat Kook Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant Reality TV Series
SAMURAI KILLER Sabido Productions Dir: Catherine Rice Corporate
Collide Media Village Productions Prod: Ardeen Munnik TV Series
KNYSNA West Five Films Prod/ Dir: Maynard Kraak; Andre Velts Feature Film
SECRET PAIN #1 Makoya Entertainment Prod/Dir: Prayer Ndlovu TV Drama
CROSSBOW KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary
LINCOLN CLAN Total Recall Media Ltd Dir: Adebanjo Oluseyi TV Series
SHALLOW GRAVE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Meggan Raubenheimer Documentary
DEBRA DEEL Khaki Productions Prod: Christelle Parrott TV Series
THE MIME ARTIST Phoenix TV Productions Prod: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film
SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video
DIE WASGOEDLYN Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach TV Series
MURDER ON MILLIONAIRE’S MILE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary
SLENDER WONDER MJ LABS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video
FASHION GURU SA Pro Media & Spider – Co Productions Prod/Dir: Dee Vanzyl Reality
MY SIGHT FOR SORE EYES Enigma Ace Films Prod/Dir: Ryan Kruger Feature Film
FORMIDABELE VROUE: CISSY GOOL Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott/ Wynand Dreyer Documentary
NEW LAND Plexus Films/ Four Corners Media Dir: Kyle O’ Donoghue TV Series
SWARTWATER Quizzical Pictures Prod: Bianca Isaac Dir: John Trengove/ Jozua Malherbe/ Denny Y Miller Series
HAD BETTER DAYS Uniquely Novel Productions Prod/Dir: Deon VD Merwe Feature Film HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES: KIMBERLEY: SOUTH AFRICA Spike Productions Prod/Dir: Steve Muller Documentary THE HOCKEY STICK KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Melanie Rice Documentary HOPE NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary HOUSE OF ENCOURAGEMENT Panache Video Productions Dir/Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate
NIGHTCLUB KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Nobathembu Stefane Documentary NORTH WEST KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Ayesha Ismail Documentary Nyaope Gangsters LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature PERFECT SHISHEBO Quizzical Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena Series
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
AFROX FINANCIAL RESULTS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video
NIGHT OF THE MASSACRE Tshepo Lesedi Projects, Mathope & Izibuko Films Dir: Charles Khuele Documentary
UPDATES
FEBRUARY 11 – 19 EUROPEAN FILM MARKET
Berlin www.efm-berlinale.de
11 – 21
BERLINALE
Berlin www.berlinale.de
18 – 21
CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
Cape Town www.ctiaf.com
MARCH 8 – 10
CABSAT
Dubai www.cabsat.com
11 – 12 PAN-AFRICAN FILM CONSORTIUM: WORLD CONFERENCE ON AFRICNA CINEMA
Kigali www.theafricanfilmconsortium.org
11 – 19 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL
Texas www.sxsw.com
12 – 19 RAPID LION FILM FESTIVAL
Johannesburg www.rapidlion.co.za
THE CODE BREAKER NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary THE FAMILY PUZZLE Site et Sons media productions Prod/Dir : Zamo Missie Feature
SUPERDAD Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature SURVIVOR Endemol South Africa Prod: Anton Burggraaf, Josh Feldman Reality TELKOM: BUSINESS INSIGHTS WEBSERIES UZI Films Prod/Dir: Steven Hall Corporate
THE LAST GREAT TUSKERS NHU Africa Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Documentary The Message Reel Edge Studios Dir: David Golden TV Drama Series THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary TOWNSHIP TERROR Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Melanie Rice Documentary
TESSA BEETGE – A Life Interrupted Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Meggan Raubenheimer Documentary
TROOPSHIP TRAGEDY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary
The calling LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature
Traffic Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series
UNDER THE MOUNTAIN Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys,/ Lauren Groenewald Short film UNSOLVED – THE STORY OF THE CAPE RIPPER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Johann Abrahams Documentary VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video When I Was Water Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary XJ-1 Eternal Film Productions Prod: Marius Swanepoel/ Dana Pretorius Feature You Deserve It Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Game Show
Screen Africa relies on the accuracy of information received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. E-mail production updates to: online@screenafrica.com
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February 2016 | SCREENAFRICA | 47
Social and Behind the Scenes
|
Telemedia client spit braai
Esmeralda Mile, Gary Beasley and Nomvuyo Nibe
Ryan Bretherick (Telemedia), Amelia Thiart and John Stevens (Global Access)
Sam Clarke (Urban Brew), Ferris Boyd (Telemedia), Divesh Maharaj (Telemedia) and Quentin Barkhuizen (Telemedia)
From Siyaya TV – Sam Nakedi, Lele Senosi and Arthur Brookes
Dudley Kotzen (Phumelela), Quinton Schmidt and Steve Bretherick (Telemedia)
Beverley Silwalivhathu (Telemedia), Pieter van der Walt (Viacom) and JP Meeser (Telemedia)
Shirley Ngobeni (Ferrotrade Africa), Vusi Nogwebu (Phumelela) and Martina Chabant (Ferrotrade Africa)
The Voice South Africa launch
Claire Mawisa
Leandra Engelbrecht and Liam Joyce
48 | SCREENAFRICA | January 2016
Rea and Chris Mocks
Lesley Mofokeng and Lira
Garth Brown and Leandre Heslop
Helen Desbois
Jacques and Alani Coetsee
Masego Serape and Matshelane Mamabolo
G O L F
D A Y
2 0 1 6
The Annual Screen Africa Golf Day will take place on Thursday 12 May 2016 at CMR Golf Club in Maraisburg, Roodepoort.
A cocktail party and prize-giving is held at the CMR Clubhouse following the competition, which provides great networking opportunities. Secure your sponsorship and 4-ball by 12 April 2016. Date:
Thursday 12 May 2016
Venue:
CMR Golf Course
Sponsorship:
Hole 1 – R7 500.00 (ex vat)
Halfway House:
All other holes – R5 750.00 (ex vat) For your own account
Green Fees:
R300.00 per player (inc vat), cocktail snacks and prize giving
Start:
Shotgun Start @ 11:45am
Contact: Ellen Oosthuizen Cell: +27 (0)83 268 6868 Fax: +27 (0)86 670 6809 e-mail: ellen.oosthuizen@pixie.co.za