Screen Africa February 2019 by Sun Circle Publishers

SAFTAS NOMINEES BROADCAST, FILM, TV, COMMERCIALS, NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

WWW.SCREENAFRICA.COM

VOL 29 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FEBRUARY 2019 R38.00

WE EAT, LIVE AND SLEEP THE MOVIE MAKING BUSINESS. Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and Layla Swart, Yellowbone Entertainment

Our love for movies doesn’t blind us to the fact that movies are a tough business. We approached the IDC to assist us with funding for our movie ‘Sew the Winter to My Skin’. What’s great about our partnership with the IDC is that they are as invested in our future as we are and have assisted us beyond this one movie. Because of the IDC’s involvement, we have been able to create more movies and collaborations, setting us up to tell authentic South African stories. The show must go on! To do business with us, visit www.yellowboneentertainment.com or call +27 78 633 99 67

Business Powered by

2054003

www.idc.co.za | tel: 0860 693 888

| IN THIS ISSUE

10 THE MAKING OF SPUR’S TOGETHER, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN WITH 99C AND 7FILMS

4 SHOWMAX’S FIRST ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES, THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES, IS A MUST-WATCH

VIRTUALLY REAL – STUDIOS FROM THE FUTURE

NEWS |

THE WILDER SIDE OF THERMAL IMAGING

ADCETERA |

National student television The making of Spur’s Together, network launches............................................. 3 Anything is Possible campaign with 99c and 7Films..................................... 10 Showmax’s first original drama series,

In conversation with renowned STUDIO TECHNOLOGY | casting director and Virtually real – studios from the future... 32 agent Moonyeenn Lee.................................. 24

DIGITAL CONTENT |

CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES |

The Girl From St Agnes, Director Speak: Cindy Lee......................... 12 DoP Buddy Gaylard on shooting is a must-watch................................................ 4 Nine advertising and marketing content for an online audience.................. 26 Femi Elufowoju Jr. to direct trends for 2019............................................. 14 UK/South Africa co-production.................... 6 CONTENT DISTRIBUTION | INDUSTRY REVIEW | SABC, Primedia and Ster-Kinekor Monetising Content in to pay millions for price-fixing...................... 6 It’s Time to Bridge the Divide: the Age of Freemium: Francophone & Anglophone Unite!.......... 16 The impact of distribution Three South Africans selected networks on the bottom line.................... 28 to participate in the FILM | 17th Berlinale Talents...................................... 7 “Extremely challenging and very OUTSIDE BROADCAST | rewarding”: an inside look at the TECHNOLOGY NEWS | LiveU on Track: film and television makeup industry......... 18 How Tellytrack’s Win A Dream Sundance filmmakers turn to Panavision The 13th annual South African Film campaign reached the nation..................... 31 for production and post services................. 8 and Television Awards nominees list......... 20 Avid Link revealed........................................... 9

WWW.SCREENAFRICA.COM

facebook.com/screenafrica

@screenafrica

The Wilder Side of Thermal Imaging........ 34 Lighting perfection........................................ 36

LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES | Lighting the Way: Tobie Smuts.................... 38 Telemedia’s Hangover Party 2019............. 39

REGULARS | Socials.............................................................. 39 Marketplace.................................................... 40 Upcoming Events.......................................... 40

za.linkedin.com/in/suncircle

screen_africa

FROM THE EDITOR

THE TEAM

EDITOR The year 2019 has gotten off to an exciting start for the local film and television industry, with three South African film professionals – Tamsin Ranger, Sydelle Willow Smith and Joshua Magor – selected to participate at the upcoming Berlinale Talents. Berlinale Talents, scheduled to take place from 9 to 14 February this year, is the annual summit and networking platform of the Berlin International Film Festival. Read all about it on page 7 of our News section. Excitingly, in our Adcetra section this month, we chat to The Girl From St Agnes co-director, Cindy Lee. Lee found her way from copywriting to the director’s chair many years ago. A heavyweight in the commercials industry, she’s racked up an impressive track record, directing spots for some of South Africa’s and the world’s most popular brands, including Coca-Cola. Get to know her on pages 12-13. Augmented Reality Advertising, Artificial Intelligence and Content Marketing are just a few advertising and marketing trends set to dominate the industry in the year ahead. Our resident marketing guru, Louise Marsland, unpacks these and more in her annual advertising and marketing trends piece on pages 14-15. In an article titled “Extremely challenging and very rewarding”: an inside look at the film and television makeup industry, David Cornwell takes us behind the scenes, where we get to know the film and television industry’s unsung heroes – makeup artists. David chats to film and television makeup professionals Maritsa Maritz and Sarah Blatcher about how they got their starts in the industry, technical difficulties and industry challenges. Check it out on pages 18-19. On the technology front, on pages 32-33 in an article titled Virtually real – studios from the future, Ian Dormer takes a look at how “AR gives broadcasters the tools they need to tell a complex story in a very visual way.” In our Cameras & Accessories section Jeandré Gerding, head of Camera Operations at WildEarth, presents an informative case study titled The Wilder Side of Thermal Imaging. While filming for their popular interactive show, safariLive, Jeandré and the WildEarth crew got to test drive the latest thermal camera technology for broadcasting wildlife action live. Get the scoop on pages 34-35. Until next month! – Chanelle Ellaya

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. 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.

JOURNALISTS

Lara Preston is a passionately committed marketer and strategist with a focus in promoting African content and events. Two decades of working across Africa have provided her with insights and experience that she puts to work for the projects she manages. In 2006, Lara founded, and still personally manages, Red Flag Content Relations, a full service below-the-line agency that also focuses on African entertainment and lifestyle brand marketing, strategy, and publicity.

SCREENAFRICA

WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR: Michael Lotriet: web@suncirclegroup.com

PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Tina Tserere: tina@sun-circle.co.za Delight Ngwenya: admin@sun-circle.co.za

EDITOR: Chanelle Ellaya: editor@screenafrica.com JOURNALISTS: David Cornwell: news@screenafrica.com DESIGN: Trevor Ou Tim: design@suncirclegroup.com

ACCOUNTS: Helen Loots: accounts@sun-circle.co.za ADVERTISEMENT SALES: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Graham Grier: graham@sun-circle.co.za

David Cornwell writes fiction, films and features for a variety of publications. His debut novel, Like It Matters (Umuzi, 2016), was long-listed for the 2017 Sunday Times Fiction Award and the 9mobile Prize for Best African Debut.

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.

Ian Dormer was born in Zimbabwe and 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.

SALES BROKER Emmanuel Archambeaud: earchambeaud@defcommunication.com Tel. +331 4730 7180 Mobile. +336 1103 9652 Sun Circle Publishers (Pty) Ltd Tel: 011 025 3180 Physical address: First Floor, Process House Epsom Downs Office Park 13 Sloane Street, Bryanston, Johannesburg, South Africa

www.screenafrica.com

Postal address: PO Box 559, Fourways North, 2086 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.

facebook.com/screenafrica

@screenafrica

za.linkedin.com/in/suncircle

| NEWS

screen_africa

Die Neelsie, Stellenbosch University

NATIONAL STUDENT TELEVISION NETWORK LAUNCHES Campus TV is a national student television network set to launch at leading South African universities in February 2019.

he new student media solution, including a campus television network, is the brainchild of BOO! Surprising Media Solutions – a leader in the outdoor media industry in South Africa and a digital out-of-home advertising specialist. BOO! Campus TV is powered by a world-class browser-based broadcast system developed in Switzerland, where content and advertising can be controlled and distributed remotely for brand advertisers. At each university, key locations have been identified to place the digital screens – of which the largest is 3.5 metres x 4 metres. The screens will be positioned in areas with high student traffic, such as food courts, dining halls, student centres, libraries and lecture hall entrances. Beyond this, the BOO! student media solution also includes a national, automated campus activations booking system, large format static media, campus radio and alternative media such as student bus branding and direct media drops to student residences (door hanger advertising, for example).

The innovative project has been in the works for three years and aims to give tertiary institutions a vital additional ‘third’ income stream, as well as providing brands with direct access to the all-important Generation Z demographic. BOO! CEO and founder, Dave McKenzie, along with his experienced team, has been assisting universities in identifying viable ‘third stream’ income opportunities, like harnessing brand advertising through potential opportunities on campuses. The first universities to sign up with BOO! and which are set to roll out the student media solution are: the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg. BOO! has already begun installation and trials at Wits, Stellenbosch and Rhodes Universities, and will officially launch the new student media network in February 2019, reaching over 150 000 students nationally. Commenting on the initiative, McKenzie says: “This project, dubbed

The Media Transformation Project, has been in development for three years. Learning how the universities operate, and building their trust in us and what this initiative stands for, took longer than anticipated. We had to learn their business, but the income that we will generate will be utilised by the universities for their projects, and will filter down into enormous benefits for students who cannot afford their tuition fees, as one example.” Waldi du Toit, BOO! general manager and executive producer of student media, says the company realised – through market research – that the booking, invoicing and management of on-campus activations was also a challenge for brands, particularly with national activations coordinated over multiple universities. “We implemented a centralised automated activation booking system and now BOO! is easily able to provide brands with quotes and availability for all university activation locations – and ultimately to book, invoice and contract these locations through the system. The system allows for a national activation booking through one invoice, and ensures that all the relevant notices and documentation are automatically sent on to both the universities and the advertisers.”

TARGETED CONTENT Content on the new national campus TV network will include general news and brand advertising, campus news, events and notices, as well as social impact campaigns to benefit and assist students – including opportunities for brands to

get involved in social responsibility initiatives. The main aim of BOO! Campus TV is to enable universities to reach their students via an internal communications platform that is positioned in areas of high student traffic, and which attracts students to the medium through local content partnerships that deliver short-form, engaging, youth-related content and up-to-date news, sports and entertainment. “Teams within each university also have access to this software, which allows them to create, manage and distribute their own university content, and even put out immediate emergency notices on their campus,” Du Toit explains. BOO! is actively training content managers at each university to ensure consistency of delivery, and that content remains interesting and relevant at each site. Generation Z – those born in 1995 or later – are variously known as the “iGeneration”, “culture creators”, “the hopeful generation”, “always on” and the “purpose-driven” generation. According to research, they seek uniqueness from the brands they do business with, and they will drive a massive shift in advertising and marketing messages in the coming years, reports Huffingtonpost.com. This is the demographic that BOO! will reach nationwide on campus, creating integrated, unique advertising opportunities for brands. – Sasha Kupritz

“The main aim of BOO! Campus TV is to enable universities to reach their students via an internal communications platform that is positioned in areas of high student traffic, and which attracts students to the medium through local content partnerships that deliver short-form, engaging, youth-related content and up-to-date news, sports and entertainment.

”

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 3

NEWS

WWW.SCREENAFRICA.COM

PHOTO BY PATRICK TOSELLI

SHOWMAX’S FIRST ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES, THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES, IS A MUST-WATCH

Jane De Wet as Lexi in a scene from The Girl from St Agnes

African subscription-video-on-demand platform, Showmax, premiered its first original drama series, The Girl From St Agnes, on 31 January 2019.

t St Agnes, a prestigious all-girls boarding school in the Midlands, the only saint is in the name. When a popular student is found dead at the base of the old mill, the school is quick to declare the death a tragic accident. But drama teacher Kate Ballard (Nina Milner) doesn’t believe it. The more she investigates, the more Kate realises that she didn’t know the dead girl, Lexi Summerveld (Jane De Wet), or the school at all. Behind the imposing walls of St Agnes, Lexi’s killer won’t be the only person exposed… Produced by the multi-award-winning Quizzical Pictures, here are four reasons to watch the eight-part whodunit.

IT’S A DRAMA IN SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH, FOR A CHANGE The Girl From St Agnes is a rare showcase of South Africa’s English-language acting talent. “English-speaking actors generally work internationally and they have to do American or British accents to make decent money,” says legendary casting director Moonyeenn Lee, who’s been nominated for two Emmy Awards in the past three years (The Looming Tower and Roots). “That was why it was nice when this came up, to do English – but South African English.” For her first South African series in a decade, she’s handpicked an incredible cast led by Nina Milner, named one of Model.com’s Top Newcomers at Paris

4 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Fashion Week in 2017; 24 Hours To Live star Tyrone Keogh, in his first local role since being named SA’s sexiest actor during his time on The Wild; District 9 and Chappie actor Robert Hobbs; and Monte Carlo Best Actor finalist Graham Hopkins (The Lab). They’re supported by more internationally-recognised South African talent like Tessa Jubber (Wallander), former Olympic swimmer Karl Thaning (Dredd) and Shamilla Miller (Troy: Fall Of A City); hot new talent like Jane de Wet, Paige Bonnin and 2018 Fleur Du Cap Best Student nominee Tristan de Beer; and local favourites like Strictly Come Dancing winner Zakeeya Patel (Isidingo), Makgotso M (Is’Thunzi), Celeste Khumalo (The Queen) and Jocelyn Broderick (Getroud Met Rugby: Die Sepie). “I’m still not sure how they put together a cast like this,” says Patel. “It was a masterclass on set every day.”

IT’S BEING DISTRIBUTED INTERNATIONALLY In a South African first, the dark drama is being distributed internationally by Red Arrow Studios International (Death and Nightingales, Bosch). It’s easy to see why: “Crime stories and twisted dramas taking place in different parts of the world have become a staple,” says Milner. “What this show does really successfully is set the formula in a fresh, contemporary South African context.”

IT’S ONLY EIGHT BINGE-ABLE EPISODES Look, we love soaps and telenovelas as much as the next South African, but sometimes it’s nice to watch something with a satisfying ending, like finding out who killed Lexi Summerveld and why. “The Girl From St Agnes has that formula that the whole world has gone mad for: shorter seasons of extremely binge-able criminal content,” says Milner. Just be warned: you’re going to want to stay up all night and finish it in one sitting. “I read the scripts all in one sitting,

so I’m so happy that all eight episodes will be released at the same time,” says Patel. “I binged; once I started reading them I couldn’t stop… I literally pulled my car over on the side of the road to finish them.”

IT’S LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE SEEN BEFORE ON SOUTH AFRICAN TELEVISION South Africans normally turn to HBO series on Showmax for edgy content, rather than local series, which tend to be a lot more conservative, with nudity and divisive topics generally avoided. But ‘conservative’ isn’t a word anyone’s going to use for The Girl From St Agnes. “The series is a first for South Africa,” says Hobbs. “When I read the scripts, I absolutely loved them. They go to the heart of the story. The fact that it’s on Showmax allows it to really go there. There’s no limitations in terms of broadcasting this, no old-school rules and regulations about what you can show. You don’t have to imply stuff; we can experience it. That is its strength. That’s what makes it unique.” “The style of writing on this is very different,” echoes Thaning. “What’s great about this show is it certainly pulls no punches, particularly for my character... We need a change in South Africa and I think everyone is hoping this sparks a television movement.” Binge-watch The Girl from St Agnes on Showmax now. – Kevin Kriedemann

A scene from The Girl from St Agnes

Blackmagic Video Assist 4K adds professional monitoring with HD and Ultra HD recording to any camera! Now it’s easy to add professional monitoring along with HD and Ultra HD recording to any SDI or HDMI camera! Blackmagic Video Assist 4K has a large super bright 7 inch monitor so you can see your shot clearly, making it easier to frame and get perfect focus! Featuring two high speed SD card recorders that save HD and Ultra HD video as 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes or DNxHD files, you get much better quality than what most cameras can record. The files are open standard which makes them compatible with all leading video software so you can start editing immediately!

High Quality Audio Recording

On Set Monitoring

Broadcast Quality Connections

The super bright 7 inch display is much bigger than the tiny displays built into most cameras and can be used to monitor HD or Ultra HD video. The touchscreen works with simple tap and swipe gestures, making it easy to set up and use! You can rig it directly onto your camera or pass it around to the crew so they can review shots on set!

Blackmagic Video Assist 4K includes HDMI and 6G-SDI inputs so you can record from virtually any camera or DSLR. The HDMI and SDI video outputs let you view shots on larger screens or even projectors! You also get a built in speaker, headphone jack, LANC, 12V power and two LP-E6 battery slots for non stop power!

Non-Stop HD and Ultra HD Recording Now you can bypass the lossy compression used on most DSLR and video cameras! With 2 high speed UHS-II recorders that use commonly available SD cards, you’ll never miss a shot because when one card is full, recording automatically continues onto the next! You get 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes or DNxHD files that work with all editing software.

Learn more at www.blackmagicdesign.com/sa *All prices subject to VAT, exchange rate fluctuation and import duties.

Get better quality sound recording than your camera! Blackmagic Video Assist 4K features two mini XLR inputs with 48V of phantom power and an extremely low noise floor of -128dBV so you can bypass poor quality camera audio. Audio is embedded in the same file with the video so you don’t have to worry about syncing separate files!

Blackmagic Video Assist R8,800* Blackmagic Video Assist 4K R15,850*

Camera not included.

NEWS

WWW.SCREENAFRICA.COM

FEMI ELUFOWOJU JR. TO DIRECT UK/SOUTH AFRICA CO-PRODUCTION Award-winning British/Nigerian theatre director Femi Elufowoju Jr. is set to direct his first feature film – a UK/South Africa co-production entitled Incensed.

ritten and produced by UK-based writer/producer Dapo Oshiyemi, and co-produced by Mickey Dube (South Africa), Incensed – set in South Africa, Nigeria and the UK – tells the story of Taira Lutomi, a happily-married wife and mother whose life is turned upside down when her husband is arrested for multi-million dollar fraud. Her husband’s arrest drags Taira into a world of crime, corruption, deception and murder as she fights to save her family. Oshiyemi says that, as writer and producer of the film, it was very important to him to have a director on board who had an in-depth understanding of the cultures and the worlds (South Africa, Nigeria, UK) that the film is set in. Additionally, the director needed to have a sound knowledge of the people who inhabited these worlds, as well as “the ability to bring all these elements together to tell a fresh, exciting contemporary story.” For him, Femi was the right man for the job, but – due to this being Elufowoju Jr.’s feature film directorial debut – his investors and fellow producers needed

some convincing. “For our investors, the director for Incensed needed to have some experience in working on an action crime-thriller film of this scale and complexity… and I can tell you, this is not easy to do at the best of times, so just imagine the look on their faces when I presented a theatre director to them who had never directed a feature film before,” he quips. “However, I was convinced Femi was the right man for the job, first because many great directors – for example, Sam Mendes (Skyfall & American Beauty) and Danny Boyle (Trainspotting & Slumdog Millionaire) – had made the transition from accomplished theatre director to film director, so why not Femi? Furthermore, I had worked with Femi for over six months on an earlier, yet-to-be-made film project, so I knew he had a solid hold on all the aspects of storytelling through the lens of a camera, as well as the experience of handling actors, as he is an accomplished actor himself, having appeared in films such as Mechanic: Resurrection and the 2017 reboot of The Saint, to name a few… Needless to say, I am delighted and privileged to have him on board as

director for Incensed.” The film is scheduled to shoot in the second quarter of 2019 with a strong line-up of talent from the USA, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK, both in front of and behind the camera. Executive producer Jezz Vernon comments: “Femi is a revered theatre director in the UK but also has extensive experience as a film actor. He provides the perfect combination of talent and experience for Incensed. His appointment is representative of our manifesto as producers – to bring different worlds together to produce a brand new film experience. Authentic, but with a high degree of craft that can travel far and wide internationally. Femi has also brilliantly demonstrated through his theatre work how to reframe African and international stories for Western audiences to huge acclaim, but without any compromise to the source material. It’s essential to us that Incensed is not a film made by people ‘looking in’ on Nigeria and South Africa, but by authors who have grown up within African cultures.” “I am ecstatic and feel extraordinarily

SABC, PRIMEDIA AND STER-KINEKOR TO PAY MILLIONS FOR PRICE-FIXING The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Primedia and SterKinekor have reached settlement agreements with the Competition Commission of South Africa. This comes after the media companies admitted to being involved in price-fixing and the fixing of trading conditions in contravention of the Competition Act.

ccording to the SABC News website, in terms of the settlement agreements, the SABC will pay an administrative penalty of close to R32 million and will also provide 25% bonus advertising

6 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies, over a period of three years and capped at R40 million annually. This will amount to R120 million for the whole period, during which the corporation will further contribute close to R17 million to the Economic Development Fund (EDF). Primedia has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of more than one million and will also provide 25% bonus advertising space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies (over a period of three

years and capped at R24 million annually), amounting to a R72-million settlement. The company will also contribute more than R3 million to the Economic Development Fund over a three-year period. Ster-Kinekor, finally, has agreed to pay a fine of more than R400 000. It will also provide 25% bonus advertising space for every rand of advertising space bought by qualifying small agencies, over three years and capped at R 1 million annually, totalling R3 million. The company will, moreover, contribute more than R150 000 to the EDF over a

Femi Elufowoju Jr lucky to be gifted Incensed as my feature debut,” says Elufowoju Jr. “This exciting, albeit ambitious, action thriller will allow me to share with global film audiences my imaginative appetite for storytelling against a rarely-exhibited contemporary African backdrop. I eagerly look forward to the challenge ahead, but most especially to bringing to the screen the deftness of Dapo Oshiyemi’s fantastic screenplay,” he concludes. Talking Drum Entertainment will handle the international distribution strategy for Incensed. – Chanelle Ellaya

three-year period, with this organisation being managed and administered by the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). The case relates to an investigation that was initiated in November 2011, which found that – through the non-profit company Media Credit Co-ordinators (MCC) – various media companies agreed to offer similar discounts and payment terms to advertising agencies that placed advertisements with MCC members. MCC-accredited agencies were offered a 16.5% discount for payments made within 45 days of the statement date, while non-members were offered 15%. In addition, the commission’s investigation found that the implicated companies, as MCC members, employed the services of an intermediary company, Corex, to perform risk assessments on advertising agencies for the purposes of imposing a settlement discount structure and terms on them. The commission found that this practice restricted competition among the competing companies, as they did not independently determine the discounts, and thereby fixed the price and trading terms in contravention of the Competition Act. The settlement agreements have been raised to the Competition Tribunal for confirmation.

facebook.com/screenafrica

@screenafrica

THREE SOUTH AFRICANS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 17TH BERLINALE TALENTS From 9 to 14 February 2019, 250 up-and-coming film professionals – 141 women and 109 men, from 77 countries – will gather at Berlinale Talents to share ideas, network and further develop their latest projects. This year’s group is socially, culturally, and artistically extremely diverse.

za.linkedin.com/in/suncircle

| NEWS

screen_africa

advantage of mentoring support at the Project Labs to develop their documentary, feature film and short film projects. Finally, eight Talent Press film critics will discuss the films and themes of the Berlin International Film Festival, and – together with guests – will analyse the new roles played by journalists in the film festival landscape. Joshua Magor

Tamsin Ranger

he selected Talents are not beginners. Many of them received their film school degrees a decade ago, have gathered professional experience since then and are regular festival guests. The Berlinale Talents international selection committee not only evaluates the applicants’ individual artistic pedigrees, but also takes into account how social and economic contexts in their countries of origin are reflected in their work and how their films feed into debates about the future that are taking place there. The compelling and artistically outstanding works of the Talents, therefore, reflect central topics of our times. Prominent themes include participation in society, active involvement in political issues and, increasingly, climate and environmental protection. Many Talents are also committed to sustainability at a professional level, and they demonstrate how to promote change in concrete terms – a particular focus of

Sydelle Willow Smith

SOUTH AFRICA

interest for the Berlinale Talents programme in general. This especially applies to the pressing themes of gender equality and diversity. Additionally, Berlinale Talents also supports innovative concepts launched by participants and alumni, such as blockchain-based distribution technologies and the increasing digitisation of the market.

BERLINALE TALENTS 2019 2019’s Talents come from the fields of directing (108), producing (49), acting (14), screenwriting (6), cinematography (16), editing (13), production design (11), sales and distribution (10), score composition (7) and sound design (8). Among them are a particularly large number of Talents who innovatively explore digital workflows, from production to distribution, and who increasingly choose hybrid formats and narrative styles. Forty-two Talents, meanwhile, will take

This year’s Talents selection includes two film professionals who are working and living in South Africa: Tamsin Ranger and Sydelle Willow Smith. Tamsin Ranger is a producer and distributor from Cape Town who focuses on African stories. She co-produced Rafiki, which was screened at Cannes Film Festival in 2018. Sydelle Willow Smith is not only a distributor of documentaries, such as Strike a Rock, but also an award-winning photographer, filmmaker, NGO director and lecturer. She co-founded Sunshine Cinema, a solar-powered mobile cinema that hosts off-the-grid screenings in diverse spaces. In addition, South African-born director Joshua Magor has also been selected. Magor is currently splitting his time between South Africa and London, and his first feature film, Siyabonga – We are Thankful, was selected for the Official Competition at Locarno Film Festival 2018.

ConCilium Partners with Vsn Concilium Technologies is delighted to announce our recent partnership with VSN Innovation & Media Solutions. VSN is a global technology company specialised in providing advanced solutions for the broadcast and media sector. VSN offers solutions based on standard IT infrastructure solving the needs of creation, distribution and management of audiovisual content in TV channels, public institutions, IPTV, universities, content distributors and news agencies.

Cutting-edge technology for

unlimited automation.

VSNExplorer MAM with Al for automatic metadata detection Inbound News Production, all in one single workspace Unlimited scheduling with the new VSNCrea HTML 5

012 678 9200 info@concilium.co.za www.concilium.co.za ScreenAfrica_FEB 2019_Concilium Partners with VSN 2.indd 1

1 Stanford Office Park 12 Bauhinia Street Highveld Techno Park Centurion

www.vsn-tv.com

28-Jan-19 4:29:32 PM

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 7

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

WWW.SCREENAFRICA.COM

SUNDANCE FILMMAKERS TURN TO PANAVISION FOR PRODUCTION AND POST SERVICES Panavision and Light Iron (Panavision’s post production subsidiary) collaborated with filmmakers on more than 25 projects that screened or competed at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

he independent filmmakers behind these unique stories leveraged the innovative services of Panavision and Light Iron to provide a full range of offerings from gear to final deliverables. “We’re honoured that independent artists join forces with us to achieve their vision,” says Kim Snyder, president and CEO of Panavision. “We are dedicated to delivering the tools and expertise that content creators need, wherever they are in the world, from pre-production to post.” This collaboration illustrates Panavision’s enduring commitment to supporting the creative community and reinforces the importance of fostering filmmaking around the world. Across a number of titles, Panavision provided camera, lens and accessory packages, as well as dailies, offline editorial, and final colour services from Light Iron. The comprehensive and single-point offerings underscore the company’s dedication to meeting the individual needs of independent filmmakers and their budget demands. Snyder adds, “Panavision’s vast portfolio of cameras and lenses, coupled with our technical expertise, present filmmakers with a phenomenal mix of options to creatively assemble the right equipment for any job. Additionally, the workflow savvy and creative services from Light Iron provide critical components that ensure quality imagery throughout the entire process.” Here’s a look at some of the productions that screened or competed at Sundance, supported by Panavision and Light Iron:

8 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

SPOTLIGHT •

The Nightingale (dir. Jennifer Kent, DoP Radek Ladczuk) – Camera rental, PVintage lenses, Panavision Sydney.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION •

Judy and Punch (dir. Mirrah Foulkes, DoP Stefan Duscio) – Camera rental, C Series lenses, Panavision Sydney.

PREMIERES •

•

DOC PREMIERES •

Ask Dr. Ruth (dir. Ryan White, DoP David Jacobson) – Colour by Nick Lareau. Light Iron Los Angeles.

MIDNIGHT •

U.S. NARRATIVE SHORTS •

Lockdown (dir. Celine Held and Logan George, DoP Caleb Heller) – Rental package, Panavision Woodland Hills.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION •

•

Big Time Adolescence (dir. Jason Orley, DoP Andrew Huebscher) – Camera rental, Superspeed lenses, Panavision New York. Brittany Runs a Marathon (dir. Paul Downs Colaizzo, DoP Seamus Tierney) – Camera rental, Primo prime lenses, Panavision New York. Colour by Sean Dunckley, Light Iron New York. Hala (dir. Minhal Baig, DoP Carolina Costa) – Camera and optics package, Panavision Chicago. Honey Boy (dir. Alma Har’el, DoP Natasha Braier, ASC, ADF) – Camera and optics package, Panavision Hollywood. Luce (dir. Julius Onah, DoP Larkin Seiple) – Panavision XL2 camera, G Series lenses, Panavision New York. To the Stars (dir. Martha Stephens, DoP Andrew Reed) – Camera rental, Primo Prime lenses, Panavision Dallas.

•

Corporate Animals (dir. Patrick Brice, DoP Tarin Anderson) – Colour by Nick Hasson, Light Iron Los Angeles. Little Monsters (dir. Abe Forsythe, DoP Lachlan Milne, ACS) – Camera rental, anamorphic lenses, Panavision Sydney.

NEXT COMPETITION •

•

Selah and the Spades (dir. Tayarisha Poe, DoP Jomo Fray) – Camera and optics package, Panavision New York. Colour by Steven Bodner, Light Iron New York. The Wolf Hour (dir. Alistair Banks Griffin, DoP Khalid Mohtaseb) – Camera rental and T-series, MAP55, and AWZ2.3 lenses, Panavision New York.

INDIE EPISODIC •

It’s Not About Jimmy Keene (Dir. Caleb Jaffe, DoP Noble Gray) – Colour by Ian Vertovec. Light Iron Los Angeles.

•

SPECIAL EVENTS •

•

Lorena (dir. Joshua Rofé, DoP Ronan Killeen) – Dailies by Light Iron Los Angeles. Colour by Nick Lareau, Light Iron Los Angeles. Now Apocalypse (dir. Gregg Araki, DoP Sandra Valde-Hansen) – Camera rental, Primo Prime lenses, Panavision Hollywood.

•

Animals (dir. Sophie Hyde, DoP Bryan Mason) – Camera rental, Superspeed lenses, Panavision Ireland. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (dir. Joe Berlinger, DoP Brandon Trost) – Camera rental, C Series anamorphic lenses, Panavision Hollywood. Late Night (dir. Nisha Ganatra, DoP Matthew Clark) – Camera rental, Primo Zoom lenses, Panavision New York. Dailies by Light Iron New York. Colour by Sean Dunckley, Light Iron New York. Paddleton (dir. Alex Lehmann, DoP Nathan M. Miller) – Colour by Corinne Bogdanowicz, Light Iron Los Angeles. Photograph (dir. Ritesh Batra, DoP Ben Kutchins) – Offline editorial rentals, Light Iron New York. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – Opening Night Film (dir. Chiwetel Ejiofor, DoP Dick Pope, BSC) – Camera rental, Primo Prime lenses, Panavision Johannesburg. The Tomorrow Man (dir. and DoP Noble Jones) – Colour by Corinne Bogdanowicz, Light Iron Los Angeles. Top End Wedding (dir. Wayne Blair, DoP Eric Murray Lui) – Camera and optics package, Panavision Sydney. Troop Zero – Closing Night Film (dir. Bert & Bertie, DoP Jim Whitaker) – Dailies by Light Iron New Orleans. Colour by Corinne Bogdanowicz, Light Iron Los Angeles. Velvet Buzzsaw (dir. Dan Gilroy, Robert Elswit, ASC) – Panavision Millennium DXL2, SP lenses, Panavision Woodland Hills.

facebook.com/screenafrica

@screenafrica

za.linkedin.com/in/suncircle

| TECHNOLOGY NEWS

screen_africa

AVID LINK REVEALED Avid, has released the full version of Avid Link, the one-of-a-kind free app for content creators.

vailable in the Apple App Store and Google Play, or as a direct download from the Avid Link product page, Avid Link enables anyone working or aspiring to work in the film and television industries – whether a novice or a pro and whether an Avid user or not – to improve their ability to promote their skills and get discovered; connect with the creative community; manage their projects, products and workflows; and expand their creative capabilities all in one place. Avid Link allows users to connect with anyone whether they use Avid or third-party tools, and anywhere on the go via an iOS and Android mobile device or on macOS or Windows systems at home. For the millions of Avid creative tools users, Avid Link is the perfect complement to their working style since they can conveniently open the app through Pro Tools, Media Composer and Sibelius, and access their Avid Master Account information by just logging in. “The Avid Link app is for everyone in the creative community to share content and ideas, connect with other artists, engage in collaborations, and stay up-to-date on news, events and products – all from one interface,” said Rob D’Amico, director of Audio Solutions Marketing at Avid. “Avid Link appeals to a diverse, passionate community of users because it offers so many benefits from managing product licenses, updates and installations to easily accessing and purchasing the tools needed to expand creative potentials.”

AVID LINK FEATURES AND BENEFITS: •

•

Access latest news through the Home page – Users can get informed and inspired with access to the latest industry news, customer stories, blogs, and product info. They can also filter the news feed to suit their interests; discover great tips and tricks; and be among the first to hear about new products. They can also gain workflow insight from creative pros. Showcase and get discovered through the Profile page – Avid Link gives users a powerful platform to tell their story and promote their work through the Profile tab. Users can get discovered and increase their creative opportunities by tagging their profile with specific skills, specialties and expertise, making it easier for others to find and connect. Connect with like-minded creators using Find Talent – Avid Link integrates with the entire Avid Community, making it easy for users to search for and find

•

other artists, musicians, composers, video editors, producers, mixers, filmmakers and media professionals to collaborate with and follow. Users can select “Find Talent” to view the profiles of available talent, review their work, invite them to connect and send messages about working together. Gain wisdom in the Lounges – Users can hang out in the Lounges and start or join a conversation, exchange ideas, and contribute to discussions about products, workflows, and the industry – all in real time. Communicate with others in Messages – With the ability to message connections right within Avid Link, it’s easy for users to stay in touch with one another. They can share ideas and discuss projects in real time with a group of collaborators, seek advice and give it by forming mentorships within their own network. Access projects anywhere in Pro Tools Projects – In the Pro Tools Projects tab, users can easily

•

invite and add any of their contacts to collaborate on projects. They can accept or decline invitations to collaborate on others’ projects; view what content and changes have been shared; send messages to fellow collaborators; and get notified when others have done the same. Manage products with ease in Products – Users can easily manage, download, install, update, redeem and renew their purchases and plans – and view all applications, licenses, plug-ins and account info – all in one space. Users can also get access to the latest installers and documentation – or set up automatic software updates. Shop in the Marketplace – Users can further expand their creative capabilities by shopping the convenient, accessible Marketplace for new tools and add-ons.

Avid Link is available now from www.avid.com/products/avid-link.

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 9

ADCETERA

THE MAKING OF SPUR’S TOGETHER, TECH CHECK ANY THING IS POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN WITH 99C AND 7FILMS EQUIPMENT Cameras:

• Arri Alexa

• GoPro/DSLR • Super 8 film camera • HDV camera

Spur Steak Ranches, Ninety9cents (99c) and 7Films have collaborated to produce a proudly South African story about how working together in the face of adversity can make the impossible, possible.

itled Together Anything is Possible, the campaign tells the emotional true story of how Team Spur’s mountain biker Alan Hatherly overcame adversity – with the support of his team – on his journey to achieving a World Championship win in Switzerland last year. Just eight months before the big event, Hatherly fell off his bike while participating in another race and broke both of his wrists.

A scene from the Spur commercial

With this in mind, the agency and the brand made a joint decision to utilise Spur’s sports sponsorships as the vehicle to convey this message. “The crux of the concept came from the marriage of two elements – reflecting Spur’s passion for community upliftment through sport and its ethos of bringing people together,” Strydom comments. “This led us to the concept of how unity in the face of adversity can make the impossible, possible.”

CONCEPTUALISATION Cape Town-based full-service, integrated advertising and communications agency, 99c, was appointed creative lead on the account, giving the agency the mammoth task of overseeing the campaign from conceptualisation right through to execution. The aim of the campaign was to strengthen the brand’s positioning as a unifying force within South Africa, as authentically as possible. Morné Strydom, creative director at 99c, says that the story offers an inspiring and evocative reflection on Alan’s journey: “We wanted his story to bring to life how the Spur Schools Mountain Bike League has developed and supported children just like Alan in achieving their goals. And to further reiterate how, working courageously together in the face of adversity, anyone has the potential to make the most daunting of goals possible.” Strydom adds that Spur is moving away from storytelling in the traditional advertising sense, and more towards reflecting the brand’s community impact “in an authentic and hyperreal manner.” 10 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Director SJ Myeza shot with four very different cameras to depict the different eras and stages of Alan’s life and journey.

PRODUCTION Keeping with the brand’s newlyimplemented ‘authentic and hyperreal’ position on advertising, the commercial was shot documentary-style, using an assortment of action cameras including GoPros, Drones, Handi-cams and Arri cameras. “We used a lot of point of view and bird’s eye shots as well,” adds Strydom. Director SJ Myeza shot with four very different cameras to depict the different eras and stages of Alan’s life and journey. Namely, a Super 8mm film camera, an HDV camera, a DSLR/GoPro and the Arri Alexa. “We recreated Alan’s challenges along his life journey, capturing the raw emotion of his World Championship victory. It was crucial for the story to feel authentic, and for us to tell his tale as unobtrusively as possible.” Filmed over three days at various locations within the Western Cape, including Stellenbosch and Grabouw, the commercial includes actual footage from Spur Schools Mountain Bike League events – the Wines2Whales race and the

Magaliesberg Spur MTB League Race – as well as shots from the 2018 World Championship. Strydom says that the commercial will resonate with most South Africans because it demonstrates the process of overcoming adversity – “something which will resonate with people in general, and South Africans in particular.” Sacha du Plessis, group head of marketing at the Spur Corporation, says: “Sport plays a pivotal role in bringing communities together and giving children early life skills; something that is entrenched in Spur’s DNA. We sponsor over 500 events annually in a multitude of sports across the country and are particularly proud of the 70 000 children that have participated in the Spur Schools MTB League over the last 10 years.” Du Plessis adds, “We chose Alan’s inspiring story as it captures the essence of a very authentic message: that together, anything is possible. A message supported by our company since the inception of our brand by Allen Ambor in 1967.” Strydom makes special mention of director SJ Myeza, who sadly passed away last month on 14 January. “This was the last job he completed. Our condolences go out to his friends and family. He was an incredible director and a talented man, and we are honoured to have had the opportunity to work with him.” – Chanelle Ellaya

KEY CREW

99C:

Executive creative director: Marius van Rensburg Creative director: Morne Strydom Agency TV producer: Stacey Hardy Account director: Annika Slabbert

7 FILMS: Director: SJ Myeza Co-director: Lourens van Rensburg Executive producer: Nina van Rensburg Producer: Sasia Finlayson DOP: Mike Ellis Junior producer: Tinyiko Mvelase

ADCETERA

DIRECTOR SPEAK

CINDEY LE

Star Films director Cindy Lee has, over the years, brought South African audiences some of their mostloved commercials. Most recently, she co-directed Showmax’s first original drama series, The Girl From St Agnes. The daughter of legendary casting director Moonyeenn Lee, Cindy chatted to Screen Africa about her love of storytelling…

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW HAS IT SHAPED YOU AS A DIRECTOR? Once upon a time – a long, long time ago – I started out as a copywriter at Hunt Lascaris. For 12 years I wrote commercials and slowly became that creative, the one whom directors hate, the one who sits right on top of them and tells them how they should be doing their job. The one who has to be kindly removed by a few words from the producer. When I realised that I wasn’t going to be kindly removed, I decided that I may as well try and direct myself. WAS A CAREER IN TELEVISION/FILM PRODUCTION ALWAYS THE PLAN? No, not in the beginning. Writing was always the plan. But I’m a television junkie. I love a good drama, a good mystery. And slowly I realised that telling a story in 30 seconds just wasn’t going to satisfy my need for drama. I don’t do anything in small measures.

12 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DO YOU ENJOY CREATING AND WHY? I love a good story that moves people. A story that gives us hope, that makes us want to stand up and do something. That makes us talk and debate and question. I love stories about people who defy the odds and come out triumphant. I love sad stories with happy endings. It’s hard to get my hands on these kind of commercial boards. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of them out there. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE COMMERCIAL PROJECTS THAT YOU HAVE WORKED ON? I directed a PSA commercial for Orange Babies that I really loved. It was beautiful, raw, compelling, heartbreaking and had an important message behind it – one that could make a difference to the lives of hundreds of people. I also love a commercial I directed for Capfin. It was about real people and how a small loan can change the course of their lives. I recently directed a commercial

for Coke for the FIFA World Cup that was about a young boy who was desperate to find his final sticker for his Nigerian Super Eagles team collection. Again, it was moving and uplifting and made you warm all over. APART FROM DIRECTING COMMERCIALS, YOU WERE THE SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR ON THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED TV SERIES BLACK MIRROR – WHAT EXACTLY DID THAT ENTAIL? Joe Wright directed the episode entitled Nose Dive which was all about social media. There was a lot of social media involved in the story, like the character’s Facebook and Instagram pages, social media videos, etc., and they needed someone to conceptualise the pages and videos for the characters and then direct them. So not only did I get to work with Joe Wright, but I also got to work with Alice Eve, Bryce Dallas Howard, Alan Ritchson and Cherry Jones. And when I wasn’t working, I was on set watching these masters in action.

YOU HAVE RECENTLY CO-DIRECTED YOUR FIRST SERIES, THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES. WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR YOU IN MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM COMMERCIALS TO TV? Actually, it’s my second series. I also directed three episodes of Sober Companion a couple of years ago. The biggest challenge has been time. There just isn’t enough of it. We are really spoilt with commercials. We get time to treat, time to craft, time for pre-prod, time to craft, time for post, time to craft. If I need four edit approvals to get it right, I get four edit approvals. Television in South Africa is very different. It’s a fledgling industry and hasn’t been mined yet. Because of that, budgets are tight, so we have to shoot very quickly – which means not enough time for pre-production, shooting or post-production. So less time to craft. But I feel that it’s changing. This production had more time than the last one. And Showmax knows what they’re doing and keeps pushing to get the best out of you. But it has taught me to think quicker, act quicker, think on my feet more – especially on set. I’m very proud of this show. I believe that even with time against us, we have produced a fantastic show that everyone will be talking about.

enough and that’s a good sign. The show doesn’t pull any punches. For once, it’s not your typical South African cookie-cutter content. It’s not afraid to discuss anything, to broach any subject. The themes are diverse, and the characters are damaged. In other words, they’re real. We have such talented actors and actresses in this country and I was excited to work with them on a project that lasted more than 30 seconds.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES? First of all, it was a Showmax production so I was excited to do a local drama with them. I was also excited to work with Harriet Gavshon, the producer from Quizzical Pictures. Not only was the show close to her heart, but I knew I would learn a lot from working with her. So I knew that this time round, I would be in good hands. And then there was the script, which I thought was great. It had me from the moment I started reading it. I couldn’t wait to find out who did it. The scripts couldn’t come fast

WITH CONSUMERS OF ALL AGES FAVOURING BINGE-WATCHING ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS, WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT LEAVES TRADITIONAL BROADCAST MEDIA CHANNELS? I don’t believe they’re in trouble just yet – only because of the debilitating data costs of digital streaming. But audiences are tired of paying for things they don’t want to watch. And they don’t want to wait a whole week to watch the next episode. And they want to be able to watch whatever they want, when they want. So unless

WHAT VALUE DO VOD & SVOD PLATFORMS, LIKE SHOWMAX, HOLD FOR THE AFRICAN FILM INDUSTRY AND EMERGING FILMMAKERS IN PARTICULAR? I think it’s a very exciting time for the African film and television industry. Audiences can now dictate what they want to watch and are able to customise their viewing preferences and hopefully that is skewed towards local stories. Because the average attention span is down to eight seconds, we have to be able to produce material that is interesting enough to keep the audience hooked. And we need to adapt as we go. Because of the demand, emerging filmmakers will have more opportunities to tell their stories. But for [these platforms] to be as successful as [they are] in the rest of the world, we have to improve our internet speeds and get our data costs down.

ADCETERA

traditional broadcasters adapt and adapt quickly, by making their material more interesting, less regulated and more local – and by making their content ondemand, on all devices – they will soon be in trouble. ANY PLANS TO DIRECT A FEATURE FILM IN THE NEAR FUTURE? I would love to. I just need to find, or write, the story I want to tell. It will have to be something close to my heart. That kind of commitment isn’t a job, it’s a love affair. I have realised that the amount of time and energy that goes into doing long-form work means that you have to love what you’re doing, and want to tell that story with every ounce of your being or else you’ll never do it properly. It may even be the death of you. WHAT NEXT FOR CINDY LEE THE DIRECTOR? I would love to do more television. Especially with more money. More time. But in the meantime, I’m back to directing commercials. I have started an initiative called Shadow Us, which gives emerging female filmmakers the opportunity to shadow me, or anyone on the Star Films team, on a commercial I am directing. They shadow us from the second we go into production, right through to when we hand over final material. It’s a fantastic opportunity for women wanting to get into the industry. I want to get other directors to follow suit so that we can give more women more opportunities. The South African industry is still very male-dominated. And, as they say, #TimesUp. IF YOU WEREN’T A FILMMAKER, YOU WOULD BE? Very depressed. – Compiled by Chanelle Ellaya

“I have realised that the amount of time and energy that goes into doing longform work means that you have to love what you’re doing, and want to tell that story with every ounce of your being or else you’ll never do it properly. It may even be the death of you.

”

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 13

ADCETERA

NINE ADVERTISING AND MARKE You can’t research any trend any longer without the word “digital” in it. It’s a given that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has impacted every facet of society, work and business. The only question remaining is: How prepared are you and your business to compete?

hese are the top trends for 2019 in marketing and advertising, shaped to a large extent by the digital trends reconfiguring the world of content and entertainment.

OMNI-CHANNEL MARKETING STRATEGY

Providing a seamless, integrated customer experience across all channels, from brick-and-mortar stores to advertising and social media engagement, to purchasing online via a desktop or via mobile, to delivery… Globally, according to AdWeek, 62% of all companies either already implement, or plan to implement, an omni-channel marketing strategy – and 70% agree that omni-channel strategies are critical to their success.

14 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

OUTSTREAM VIDEO

A heads up to publishers and advertising agencies – there’s a new video ad format that will allow publishers to drive additional revenue streams and, what’s more, won’t annoy your users as much as those campaigns that brands run before or during video playback (without any revenue accruing to the content producers). According to Instapage.com, Outstream video is a new type of ad format that allows publishers to show video ads outside of actual video players – in text line breaks, for example, or in the corners of the webpage. Publishers can also now monetise video ads, and advertisers can ensure their videos actually get watched.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

What artificial intelligence will do for marketing is give us smarter marketing automation. According to Voy Media, as marketing becomes more data-driven, marketers need intelligent systems to help them make sense of the data accrued in real-time and allow them to act immediately on the results. Examples include “customer profiling, using chatbots and advanced performance tracking for ad campaigns.”

CONTENT MARKETING

Forbes reports that 30% of all internet users will be using ad blockers by 2019. This doesn’t mean the death of advertising online, it just means that formats like content marketing and influencer marketing will receive more revenue. Consumers want value, and advertising that works will be advertising that offers value to the consumer. Video content will, of course, increase, as is obvious from all the trend reports: Cisco reports that 80% of global internet traffic will be video content in 2019. Instagram TV, meanwhile, is a new channel for marketers to explore vertical video, as Instagram reaches over 1 billion users. YouTube is still holding its own, with over 1.9 billion users every month watching over a billion hours of video each day.

| ADCETERA

ETING TRENDS FOR 2019 5

VIDEO CONTENT AND NATIVE MARKETING

The rise of video content in our visualdominated world has been documented in all our trend reports over the past couple of years, but what is evolving is video advertising. Capitalising on the principles of native marketing, this trend creates content that provides entertainment and fulfils the viewer’s need for content that adds value, while – at the same time – advertising a product or service through brandbuilding. The advice Voy Media gives to marketers is to start working with influencers and independent video creators to come up with great content, while making sure your digital platforms are optimised for video on all devices. This will ensure that your video content can be integrated throughout your marketing and advertising strategies in 2019.

AUGMENTED REALITY ADVERTISING

We’ve mentioned AR as a trend before, and it will only increase in use as more brands begin using augmented reality technology in clever advertising campaigns that essentially “add digital properties to physical objects” (Source: Voy Media). Marketers like these kinds of campaigns as they provide multi-channel interaction, fitting in well with an omni-marketing strategy. Consumers like these campaigns as they provide a similar experience to that of video games, where the user becomes part of the narrative.

VOICE SEARCH

Most digital trend blogs are focusing on voice activation as a top trend for 2019. The stat everyone is quoting is that, by 2020, half of all searches on Google will be conducted by voice. According to Juniper Research, the number of American homes with a smart speaker will increase from 13% to 55% by 2022.

AI is also influencing the rise of voice searches as it increasingly becomes a valuable tool on smart devices to find information. This means that marketers and advertisers now need to ensure that their content is optimised for voice searches. “Marketers need to research what questions buyers are asking and provide content in formats that are easy for voice search technologies to deliver,” reports Lee Odden of TopRank Marketing.

SOCIAL MEDIA AD SPEND

Marketing Week reports that most ad spend will shift from Facebook to Instagram. Facebook’s news feed has irritated users as well as advertisers, and Instagram’s Stories function is looking like a more attractive proposition, particularly in terms of “creative innovation” and user engagement. Brands invested 212% more into Stories in 2018 than the previous year, and this trend is predicted to become even more pronounced through 2019.

BRAND PURPOSE

The Gillette ad released in January which targets toxic masculinity is the latest in a series of high-profile brands taking a stand against social ills. The term ‘brand purpose’ has been bandied about for several years now as a way for brands to prove their social responsibility credentials and the value they add to customers. But, beyond this, taking a political or social stand against a controversial topic has become a way for brands to stand against injustice or give voice to a cause. Marketing Week says that, in a world where consumer trust in brands is dropping, the risk of not taking a stand is greater than taking one (even when the issue is divisive). – Louise Marsland

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 15

INDUSTRY REVIEW

It’s Time to Bridge the Divide: Francophone & Anglophone

Unite!

As we head into 2019, and with FESPACO right around the corner, it is well past time that we address the so-called divide between Francophone and Anglophone Africa within the film and television industries.

his issue is one of many that seems to alienate African from African, and it must be overcome, along with other geographic and cultural divides, in order for our industry truly to thrive. In terms of the particular Anglophone vs Francophone issue, one would think this divisive colonial remnant would be fading away – but instead it is having frightening present-day ramifications, as recent events in Cameroon attest. Perhaps fuelling these on-going divisions are interventions, such as those by the French government, to expand the use of French in Africa. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly made this call, even while on a visit to Burkina Faso, calling on Africans to help make French “the first language in Africa and maybe even the world in the coming decades!” According to the UK’s Daily Mail, “The International Francophonie Organisation has forecast that because of explosive population growth in Africa, over one billion people will live in French-speaking countries by 2065, second only to countries that speak English. In Africa, it predicts that French will overtake English by 2050, given stronger population growth in former French colonies that speak the language.” It is another interesting development that, across the continent, there is also the emerging call for Swahili to become the acknowledged Pan-African language, with South Africa even proposing to start teaching the language in schools. Whether or not it is necessary or desirable for Africans to speak the same

16 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

language is arguable. What is clear, however, is that language does not need to be a tool for separating people, and that through creative collaboration, Africans across language and cultural groups have the power to achieve self-expression and representation. The 26th edition of FESPACO, taking place in February, has a welcome diversity of films from across Africa, with 16 countries represented: Mali, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mozambique, Morocco, Sudan, Rwanda, South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria. Often criticised for failing in its Pan-African mandate by focusing too strongly on Francophone films, the festival’s selection this year is refreshingly diverse, with nearly half of the 20 features in competition being non-French language films. Whether this more representative selection has to do with increased support from countries such as Algeria and China – in addition to France, the long-time major funder of the event – is not clear. The Embassy of China in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, has reportedly provided electronic equipment and financial support to the tune of 36 million CFA Francs (about $62,000/R865,000) for this year’s event, and the festival’s on-going partnership with Algeria has been strengthened. FESPACO therefore represents a unique opportunity for filmmakers from across Africa to create lasting and meaningful networks across language, cultural and geographic divides.

FRANCOPHONE

There are also other projects aimed at bridging the language divide, one of the most recent being STEPS’ Generation Africa initiative. This new documentary project aimed at young filmmakers has been hosting workshops across Africa in order to create a series of films –in both French and English – that will change the dominant narrative on African migration. DISCOP Markets, which hosts a Francophone-focused event in Abidjan, has also strongly put cross-language cooperation on the agenda. A number of panel discussions will concentrate on this issue, including a panel specifically focused on Unblocking Co-Productions Between Anglophone and Francophone Africa. This importance of inter-African cooperation within the film and TV industries will be an integral part of the process of breaking down linguistic and cultural barriers. It is, furthermore, clear that the long-time reliance on European funding for African films has also fueled the apparent divide between Francophone and Anglophone films. With African producers needing to rely on European donors or funders (often French- or English-language donors), a certain level of autonomy is lost. Although these films often do well internationally, in Africa they are rarely dubbed or sub-titled so that they can be viewed across the language divide, and the funding of these projects may get caught up in

ANGLOPHONE

neo-colonial agendas such as Macron’s desire to promote French across the continent. In a recent QZ article, Steven Markovitz (producer of Rafiki, amongst many other African films), Rafiki director Wanuri Kahiu and Etienne Kallos, director of the film The Harvesters (Die Stropers), all agreed that if African countries could work together – through co-production treaties, for example – there would be more control over not only what stories are told, but also how they are told. Discussions in this direction have been taking place, and were furthered late last year at the Cape Town International Film Market and Festival, when representatives from the Nigeria Film Corporation, the Kenya Film Commission and South Africa’s National Film & Video Foundation met during the Work Café sessions. It is clearly incumbent on all the players within the film, TV and content industries to look across Africa, across borders, and across cultural, language and ethnic differences in order to collaborate and develop a sustainable Pan-African industry. I believe that it is only through this kind of collaboration that the industry will ever take its place on the global stage, and it is high time that we start moving in that direction. – Lara Preston

FILM

“Extremely challenging and very rewarding”: an inside look at the film and television makeup industry

Makeup artists fulfil one of the most important – and certainly one of the most underappreciated – roles on any film or television set. These professionals are responsible for distinctively styling our favourite characters; for bringing them to life and transforming them as we experience their hardships and victories; and for maintaining crucial continuity as the narrative unfolds.

n Screen Africa’s first feature on this aspect of the industry, we spoke to film and television makeup professionals Maritsa Maritz and Sarah Blatcher about some of the job’s most interesting quirks, its key challenges and rewards.

STARTING OUT IN THE INDUSTRY Both respondents describe similar paths into the professional makeup world, characterised by intensive training, hard work, grit and persistence. After majoring in makeup and props building, Maritz left Pretoria Technikon (now the Tshwane University of Technology) and immediately stepped into “a three-month unpaid internship on Isidingo.” Her good work on set was noticed, and from there she “ended up working for Endemol for two years on a live show called Play TV” before being snapped up Makeup by Sarah Blatcher

18 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

by Red Pepper Pictures on a full-time basis. Now a freelancer, Maritz can reflect with pride on a 15-year career that has seen her work on “countless TV shows, music videos, corporate and photo shoots,” and – just in the last two years – act as makeup and hair HOD on three films: Vuil Wasgoed, Thys & Trix and the highly-anticipated remake of Fiela se Kind. Similarly, Blatcher was “a fresh graduate of Performing Arts Technology” when she started out, a process she describes as follows: “In between my full time job at the time, I was trying to build my experience and portfolio on my days off and weekends. I took every single job that I could get. My very first job was an M-NET short film called André Metstrepie. Eventually, one makes a name for oneself – and by word of mouth, the jobs became more frequent.”

FILM

MILESTONE TRANSFORMATIONS

Makeup by Maritsa Maritz

INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

TECHNICAL FEATS

As Blatcher puts it: “I have always been a drawer and a painter and I swung towards makeup as it fulfils my creative needs. I love film and, in the same breath, I often get to help woman feel more confident in their own skin – which has always been a huge job satisfaction point for me.” But what do these professionals wish that outsiders understood about the role of makeup artists within the industry? “Makeup as a career in South Africa is not really taken seriously,” Maritz says. “People outside the industry usually think it is a hobby and not something that actually pays the bills. But it is a sustainable career; you can make a living from it. We are workaholics with lots of stamina who can stand on our feet for more than 10 hours a day. Usually we carry our own body weight in makeup boxes. We can survive anything, from freezing cold to sweltering heat, trekking through impossible locations, ADs breathing down our necks, all the while still doing amazing work.” Blatcher adds: “I wish people outside of the industry realised just how much prep goes into each movie for a makeup artist, as well as all the other crew members. Studying the scripts, researching the characters and developing their ‘looks,’ as well as ensuring your makeup inventory is correct for the specific roles or characters or scenes, all takes a lot of prep work which people don’t always know about.” And Maritz points out that, “Aside from doing transformations with makeup, we are also the emotional support to the cast. We see them at their most vulnerable – first thing in the morning and last thing at night. We are the ones who wipe away tears, provide comfort and reassure them.”

We’ve all witnessed convincing transformations on screen – as a recent example, Christian Bale’s astonishing embodiment of Dick Cheney in Vice – but what makeup tricks are the most difficult to pull off? And how do makeup artists manage continuity in appearance over long shoots, where scenes are more often than not captured in a non-linear fashion? Blatcher says: “Reverse ageing is the most difficult application to overcome. Reverse ageing requires a significant budget – and in reality, the budgets in South Africa are marginal, a lot less than what you would get overseas. We are often asked to make a very well-known actor a lot younger without being given the necessary amount of time to prepare prosthetics, even if the budget allowed for them. “I manage my continuity by maintaining detailed face charts and constantly taking photos throughout the day of the specific characters and categorising them. As you can imagine, the paper work also becomes quite a challenge; however, if you are diligent and stay focused it is manageable.” Maritz echoes these thoughts, saying: “Every different aspect of makeup comes with its own set of challenges. The key is to identify and plan for those challenges to the best of your ability in preproduction. Eighty per cent of the time your plans go out the window on set and

you need to troubleshoot and adapt on the fly. I think anything realistic, like ageing, is challenging. Doing realistic ageing on a young actor takes a lot of skill and practice. Anything in the fantasy realm usually gives you a bit of leeway.” Maritz also agrees with Blatcher about the need for thorough preparation to ensure continuity on set. “Pre-Production is key for makeup continuity. Making sure you know your script off by heart, doing a complete breakdown of every scene. Sourcing and fabricating everything you will need for every actor in every scene. Liaising with the continuity supervisor and director. Checking shooting schedules to see when you need to do what on a specific actor. It takes a bit of brainwork and juggling to make sure you think of everything, so that the day you start principle photography you are well prepared. There are not really many programs or systems you can use for makeup continuity. The most popular one is Makeup Pro, but it only works on iPads. So we usually create our own systems by logging digital and written data of every scene and taking a million photos.” She concludes by adding, “You also need to surround yourself with an incredible team of assistants and standbys that you can trust. Film is a team sport. They need to be able to keep the wheels turning without you there.”

To wrap up our discussion, we asked the respondents to share their proudest makeup transformations with us, as well as some key pieces of advice for those looking to make their way in this unique industry. For Blatcher, her highlight to date was “In 2014, when The Avengers sequel was filmed in the Johannesburg CBD. I was one of the lucky makeup artists to be selected to work every day of the 10 days of filming. The scene is only eight minutes long in the film and is mostly shots of the South African Police Service trying to keep the peace in the city streets as the Incredible Hulk tears up the tar beneath him. During this time, we had approximately 25 stunt men that could do the job, and each day we had to transform them to look like new police men with limited coloured wigs and hair pieces. But we managed to transform them each day to look like completely new police men by flocking on moustaches, flecking freckles and changing hair colours with the use of our airbrushes and other techniques. It was a first-class set and I was very proud to be a part of it.” “One that really stands out for me is a film I worked on last year,” says Maritz. “A remake of Fiela se Kind written and directed by Brett Michael Innes. We had the same vision of where we visually wanted to go with the characters. Creating the dirty, weathered Knysna woodcutter characters was definitely a highlight, as well as changing their ages for the different timelines. Also, a couple of years back the rapper EVE was in SA for a tour and I was her personal makeup artist. That is also a fond memory.” For Maritz, the secret to a successful career in the industry centres on “continuous education. Never stop learning and bettering your techniques. Do a business or entrepreneur course. Learn how to manage yourself , your money and your career. And be a team player, it takes a village to make a film.” And in Blatcher’s view: “If I could give anyone starting in make-up some advice it would be to keep a thick skin and stay humble. Some jobs will be extremely challenging, and others will be very rewarding. Working in a country where the film industry is still developing, one can’t be too fussy about which job you take, especially when you are still starting out. You never stop learning in this life so get out there and paint some faces!” – David Cornwell

“We are workaholics with lots of stamina who can stand on our feet for more than 10 hours a day. Usually we carry our own body weight in makeup boxes. We can survive anything, from freezing cold to sweltering heat, trekking through impossible locations, ADs breathing down our necks, all the while still doing amazing work.

”

– Maritsa Maritz

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 19

SAFTAS 13

| NOMINEES

THE 13TH ANNUAL SOUTH AFRICAN FILM AND TELEVISION AWARDS NOMINEES LIST The 13th annual South African Film and Television Awards (#SAFTAs13) – managed by the National Film & Video Foundation – will take place at the Sun City Superbowl over the weekend of 1-2 March 2019. The primary objective of the SAFTAs is to honour, celebrate and promote the creativity, quality and excellence of the South African film and television industries, and to encourage entrepreneurship and the development of new talent. Clive Morris Productions (CMP) has been awarded the tender to execute and deliver the live-to-air production of the awards ceremony, which will be broadcast on SABC 2 on the 2nd of March 2019, starting with the red carpet at 19h00 and the main awards event at 20h00.

This year’s nominees represent an exciting, dynamic selection of the best films and shows to have graced our screens in 2018, including Kanarie, Nommer 37, Five Fingers for Marseilles and Sew the Winter to My Skin. Congratulations to the nominees, who will compete for the coveted Golden Horn Trophy: a three-headed prize symbolising collective effort, community and the recognition of the individual as part of a team – “an experience inherent to the film and television industry, where collaboration is the cornerstone of successful productions.” Follow Screen Africa on Twitter (@screenafrica) for live announcements from the Awards Ceremony taking place on 2 March.

BEST SHORT FILM

Best Achievement in Sound – TV Comedy

Best Short Film

Programme Title Bedford Wives Die Kasteel The Bantu Hour

Programme Title Production House Stillborn Yellowbone Entertainment Measure Of A Woman Spier Films Die Maan Val Bewusteloos IdeaCandy BEST STUDENT FILM

Best Student Film Programme Title Institution Scarlet’s Tale University of Cape Town The Water Dancers University of Cape Town Doreen AFDA TV COMEDY

Best Achievement in Directing – TV Comedy Programme Title Tali’s Wedding Diary Bedford Wives Hotel

Practitioner Ari Kruger Catharine Cooke & Krijay Govender Bennie Fourie

Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – TV Comedy Programme Title Tali’s Wedding Diary Thuli noThulani Thandeka’s Diary 3

Practitioner Julia Anastasopoulos, Ari Kruger & Daniel Zimbler Rethabile Ramaphakela, Mpho Osei, Karabo Lediga, Anne Davis, Julian Koboekae, Tshegofatso Monaisa, Meren Reddy, Bradley Katzen & Katleho Ramaphakela Reabetswe Moeti

Best Achievement in Art / Production Design – TV Comedy Programme Title Taryn & Sharon AboMzala 3 Tali’s Wedding Diary

Practitioner Massiomo Bastiotto Lerato Pitso Keren Setton

Best Achievement in Makeup and HairstyIng – TV Comedy Programme Title Thandeka’s Diary 3 Die Kasteel AboMzala 3

Practitioner Regentse Munyai Carmin Olwage Regentse Munyai

Best Achievement in Wardrobe – TV Comedy Programme Title Abomzala 3 Bedford Wives Taryn & Sharon

Practitioner Gisellah Mcleod Bryce Bowers Melissa Van Eck

20 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Practitioner Janno Muller Sizwe Msibi Jeremy C Elwell

Best Achievement in Cinematography – TV Comedy Programme Title Tali’s Wedding Diary Bedford Wives Hotel

Practitioner James Adey Justus De Janger Craig Maarschalk

Best Achievement in Editing – TV Comedy Programme Title Tali’s Wedding Diary Hotel Bedford Wives

Practitioner Richard Starkey Johan Cronje & Regardt Botha Sandra Vieira & Arti Gopal

Best Actress – TV Comedy Real Name Nqobile Sipamla Julia Anastasopoulos Talitha Ndima

Character Name Thuli Tali Shapiro Talitha

Programme Title AboMzala 3 Tali’s Wedding Diary The Bantu Hour

Best Actor – TV Comedy Real Name Character Name Hannes Brummer Benny David Isaacs Mac Wright Ngubeni Thulani

Programme Title Elke Skewe POT 2 Die Vlieënde Springbokkie (The Flying Springbuck) Thuli no Thulani

Best Supporting Actress – TV Comedy Real Name Nomsa Buthelezi Carien Botha Marisa Drummond

Character Name Thandi Lulu Wilma

Programme Title AboMzala 3 Elke Skewe POT 2 Elke Skewe POT 2

Best Supporting Actor – TV Comedy Real Name Warren Masemola Tshepo Maseko Muzi Mthembu

Character Name Anthony (Care Taker) Samson Fabian

Best TV Comedy Programme Title Thuli no Thulani Tali’s Wedding Diary

Production House Burnt Onion Productions Sketchbook Studios

Programme Title Single Galz Skwizas Taryn & Sharon

NOMINEES TV SOAP

TELENOVELA

Best Achievement in Directing – TV Soap

Best Achievement in Directing – Telenovela

Programme Title Practitioner Isibaya Phiwe Mkhanzi & Sthembiso Mathenjwa Isidingo (The Need) Nthabiseng Tau, Michael Sebonego & Keke Mphuthi Isithembiso Zeno Peterson, Shaft Moropane, Itumeleng Mohlabane & Darryl Fuchs

Programme Title The River Ring of Lies (Season 2) Hope

Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – TV Soap Programme Title Isibaya Isithembiso Binnelanders

Practitioner Paul Rowlston, Mpumelelo Grootboom, Jacob Ntshangase, James Whyle, Zolisa Sigwanda, Chris Blomkamp, Byron Abrahams & Mbalizethu Zulu Charleen Ntsane, Chris Blomkamp, Daniel Zimbler, Sayitsheni Mdakhi, Iain Paton, Catherine Muller, Libby Dougherty, Andrew Petersen, Mbasa Tsetsana, Thabo Boom & Matthew Jankes Mitzi Booysen

Best Achievement in Editing – TV Soap Programme Title Isithembiso Uzalo Scandal!

Practitioner Kirsten de Magalhaes, Rian van der Walt, Jeremy Briers, Molatsi Molefe, Martin Mosala, Sphiwe Nhlumayo, Matodzi Nedmungadi, Tshepo Kgatsoetsoe & Brett Anolik Nhlanhla Mngadi Chad Snell, Harriet Makgatho, Nandi Mehlomakulu, Karabo Modikwane & Charlene Pietersen

Best Achievement in Sound – TV Soap Programme Title Isibaya Isithembiso Uzalo

Practitioner Vaughan Phillips & Mark Phillips Vaughan Phillips & Mark Phillips Timotheus Du Preez

Best Achievement in Cinematography – TV Soap Programme Title Isithembiso Uzalo Imbewu

Practitioner Sevatian Maslamoney & Zeno Peterson Sanele Mgobhozi Marc Brower

Best Achievement in Wardrobe – TV Soap Programme Title Uzalo Suidooster Getroud met Rugby

Practitioner Kagiso Malefane Michelle Cronje Jessica Kleinhans

Practitioner Ula Oelsen, Bongi Malefo & Matodzi Nemungadi Maryke Kruger, Ambonga Abednego Mfundisi, Talya Kahan & Tanya Von Abo Sandra Vieira, Hlumi Tlale, Matodzi Nemungadi, Nonhlanhla Nxumalo & Susan Thabethe

Best Achievement in Sound – Telenovela Programme Title The River Broken Vows Ring of Lies (Season 2)

Practitioner Ben Oelsen, Lele Seate & Tladi Mabuya Shawn Smith Stash Couvaris & Vanoesjka Franzsen Practitioner Gaopalelwe Kabe, Trevor Brown Michael Goba Ntobeko Dlamini & Marc Brower

Programme Title Broken Vows The River Hope

Practitioner Princess Morodi Nombulelo Sithole Rochelle Selling

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hair – Telenovela Practitioner Mmabatho Seema Bongi Mlotshwa Gaserongwe Ramatapa

Character Name Jabu David Genaro Sbu

Programme Title Isibaya Rhythm City Isibaya

Best Actress – Telenovela

Programme Title Isibaya Isibaya Isibaya

Best Actor – Telenovela

Programme Title Isibaya Uzalo Isibaya

Best Supporting Actress – Telenovela

Character Name Qhaphela Ngwenya GC Bekhumuzi

Best TV Soap Programme Title Isibaya Uzalo Rhythm City

Programme Title The River Ring Of Lies (Season 2) Hope

Best Achievement in Art/Production Design – Telenovela

Best Supporting Actor – TV Soap Real Name Abdul Khoza Khaya Dladla Melusi Mbele

Best Achievement in Editing – Telenovela

Programme Title Isibaya Scandal Uzalo

Character Name Khanyi Beauty Ngwenya Lillian Nyandeni

Production House The Bomb Shelter Stained Glass Productions Rhythm City Drama PTY LTD

Practitioner Brendan Jury Ngane Sikobe Abe Sibiya

Character Name Thandeka Yvonne Langa MaNgcobo

Best Supporting Actress – TV Soap Real Name Gcina Mkhize Nokuthula Thabethe Linda Sebezo

Practitioner Gwydion Beynon & Phathutshedzo Makwarela Neo Sibiya, Caroline Doherty, Bongi Ndaba, Margaret Goldsmid, Peter Goldsmid, Tristram Atkins, Raffaella Delle-Donne, Lerato Khanye, Shirley Johnston, Thulani Cekiso, Paul Crilley, Philane Ndaba, Tina-Louise Smith, Sinovuyo Jwacu & Roberta Durrant Sunni Faba, Shemane Harris, Henrietta Plattner, Lwazi Mvusi, Justine Loots, Brad Katzen, Genna Lewis & Thabo Kolatsoeu

Best Achievement In Original Music/Score – Telenovela Programme Title The River Ring of Lies (Season 2) Hope

Programme Title Broken Vows The River Hope

Best Actor – TV Soap Real Name Pallance Dladla Jamie Bartlett Sdumo Mtshali

Programme Title The River Ring of Lies (Season 2) Broken Vows

Best Achievement in Wardrobe – Telenovela

Practitioner Stella Johnson Angelic Tait Lucy Ngwira

Best Actress – TV Soap Real Name Nomzamo Mbatha Kgomotso Christopher Dawn Thandeka King

Practitioner Johnny Barbuzano, Catharine Cooke, Zolani Phakade & Ferry Jele Darryl Fuchs, David Golden, Thabo Khambule & Mandilakhe Yengo Zuko Nodada, Pheelo Makosholo & Beauty Masvaure

Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – Telenovela

Programme Title The River Hope Ring of Lies (Season 2)

Best Achievement in Art/ Production Design – TV Soap Programme Title Rhythm City Getroud Met Rugby Suidooster

SAFTAS 13

Best Achievement in Cinematography – Telenovela

Practitioner Nokubonga Ngobeni Pippa Heimann Elke Beukes

Best Achievement in Hair & Makeup – TV Soap Programme Title Uzalo Getroud Met Rugby Rhythm City

Programme Title Broken Vows The River Ring of Lies (Season 2) Real Name Moshidi Motshegwa Sindi Dlathu Jo-Anne Reyneke

Character Name Malefu Lindiwe Thandi

Real Name Presley Chweneyagae Hlomla Dandala Siyabonga Radebe Real Name Nthati Yolisa Vele Manenje Ferry Jele

Practitioner Sam Dell Amanda Scholtz Edward Liebenberg & Vincent Moreki

Character Name Cobra Zweli Gazini Mbatha

Character Name Pula Daswa Shanduka ”Shandu” Mukondelel Veronica

Programme Title The River The River Broken Vows Programme Title The River The River Ring of Lies (Season 2) Programme Title Ring of Lies (Season 2) Ring of Lies (Season 2) The River

Best Supporting Actor – Telenovela Real Name Warren Masemola Lawrence Maleka Zenzo Ngqobe

Character Name Elias “Stukkie” Madima Zolani Percy

Programme Title Ring Of Lies (Season 2) The River The River

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 21

SAFTAS 13

| NOMINEES

TELENOVELA

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Best Telenovela

Best Achievement in Directing – Documentary Feature

Programme Title Production House The River Tshedza Pictures CC Broken Vows CMP Ring of Lies Penguin Films / Paw Paw Films

Documentary Title Whispering Truth to Power Goldblatt Everything Must Fall

TV DRAMA

Best Achievement in Cinematography – Documentary Feature

Best Achievement in Directing – TV Drama Programme Title The Herd Tjovitjo Side Dish Dilemma 1

Practitioner Ernest Nkosi, Denny Miller & Thabang Moleya Vincent Moloi Mandla Ngcongwane

Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – TV Drama Programme Title Lockdown 2 Emoyeni The Herd

Practitioner Reabetswe Moeti Thishiwe Ziqubu, Karabo Lediga, Tshenolo Mabale, Nozipho Nkelemba & Mmabatho Montsho Gwydion Thomas Beynon & Lebogang Mogashoa

Best Achievement in Editing – TV Drama Programme Title Emoyeni Ambitions Tjovitjo

Practitioner Itumeleng Nkabinde Eugene Lombaard Mokweikaye Masisi

Best Achievement in Editing – Documentary Feature Documentary Title Tribe Versus Pride Whispering Truth to Power Amira Documentary Title Whispering Truth to Power Tribe Versus Pride Ons Botha Documentary Title Whispering Truth to Power Everything Must Fall Goldblatt

Practitioner Sizwe Msibi Stef Albertyn Matthew James

Best Documentary Short Documentary Title Follows The Gun Someone to Blame – The Ahmed Timol Inquest Scences From a Dry City

Practitioner Braam Du Toit Adrian Kritzinger Kurt Slabbert

Best Achievement in Art / Production Design – TV Drama Practitioner Vivienne Mahloko Annemarie Jacoba Erasmus Ilze Van Den Berg, Richard Rehbock & Nazo Maloyi

Best Achievement in Wardrobe – TV Drama Practitioner Honey Makwakwa Gisellah Mcleod Mncedisi Mbombo, Talya Smith & Thuli Mlangeni

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling – TV Drama Programme Title Lockdown 2 Knapsekerels The Docket

Practitioner Carol Djieutcheu Angi Boshoff Wendy Klassen & Kayla Morris

Best Achievement in Cinematography – TV Drama Programme Title Emoyeni Tjovitjo Side Dish Dilemma 1

Practitioner Marc Rowlston Motheo Moeng Gaopie Kabe & Tiyane Nyembe

Best Actress – TV Drama Real Name Dawn King Zola Nombona Thuso Mbedu

Character Name Ma-Z Monde Winnie

Programme Title Lockdown 2 Lockdown 2 Is’thunzi (Season 2)

Character Name Bhekisizwe Mthethwa MaFred Phakamile Dladla

Programme Title The Herd Tjovitjo Emoyeni

Best Actor – TV Drama Real Name Sello Maake Ka Ncube Warren Masemola Mothusi Magano

Best Supporting Actress – TV Drama Real Name Lorcia Cooper Pamela Nomvete Zikhona Bali

Character Name Tyson Governor Deborah Banda Londiwe

Programme Title Lockdown 2 Lockdown 2 Is’thunzi (Season 2)

Best Supporting Actor – TV Drama Real Name S’dumo Mtshali Thulani Shange Terence Bridgett

Character Name Mandla Lwazi Adam Davids

Best TV Drama Programme Title Lockdown 2 The Herd Tjovitjo

Practitioner Black Brain Pictures Seriti Films Puo Pha Productions

22 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Practitioner Stef Albertyn Beverly Joubert Chad Snell Practitioner Undercurrent Film and Television CC Uhuru Productions Pty Ltd A4 Art Foundation

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Programme Title Fynskrif Knapsekerels Side Dish Dilemma 1

Programme Title Emoyeni Lockdown 2 The Docket

Practitioner Jolene Van Antwerp Francois Verster Christelle Parrot

Best Achievement in Sound Design – Documentary Feature

Best Achievement in Original Music/Score – TV Drama

Programme Title Tjovitjo The Herd The Docket

Practitioner Dereck Joubert Theodor Crouse Christelle Parrott

Best Documentary Feature

Best Achievement in Sound – TV Drama Programme Title Emoyeni Fynskrif Ambitions

Documentary Title Tribe Versus Pride Amira Christiaan Barnard: Deurbraak

Practitioner Shameela Seedat Daniel Zimbler Rehad Desai

Programme Title Is’thunzi (Season 2) Is’thunzi (Season 2) Knapsekêrels

Practitioner Combined Artists EMS Productions cc SaltPeter Productions CC

WILDLIFE PROGRAMME

Best Wildlife Programme Programme Title Incredible Bats Africa’s Super Snake Grift: Honey Badger Tough

Practitioner Earth Touch Earth Touch Earth Touch

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME

Best Children’s Programme Programme Title YOTV Live Career Thursday Hectic On 3 Restyle My Style 4

Production House Urban Brew Studios Okuhle Media Quizzical Pictures (Pty) Ltd

REALITY SHOW

Best Reality Show Programme Title Koekedoortjie Ultimate Braai Master (Season 5) My First

Production House Homebrew Films Cooked in Africa Films Mirror Effect Media

GAME SHOW

Best Game Show Programme Title Noot vir Noot (Series 43) Op die Spel Parlement Parlement

Production House Stemmburg Television Homebrew Films Both Worlds

INTERNATIONAL FORMAT SHOW

Best International Format Show Programme Title Production House Survivor South Africa: Philippines Afrokaans Film & Television My Kitchen Rules – South Africa (Season 2) Picture Tree Dancing With the Stars South Africa Rapid Blue FACTUAL & EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME

Best Factual & Educational Programme Programme Title Kick it Cishe Ngafa (Season 1) Case Closed, Justice Served, The Teenage Serial Killer

Production House Engage Entertainment Nldovukazi Concepts Okuhle Media

NOMINEES

SAFTAS 13

Best Achievement in Editing – Feature Film

CURRENT AFFAIRS PROGRAMME

Film Title Practitioner Meerkat Maantuig Warwick Allan Programme Title Production House Sew the Winter To My Skin Layla Swart Dr Sello Of Ikhageng Health-e Nommer 37 Simon Beesley Iskebhe eNCA Darryn August A selfless Hero Combined Artists Best Achievement in Production Design – Feature Film Film Title Practitioner BEST VARIETY SHOW Five Fingers for Marseilles J Franz Lewis Meerkat Maantuig Waldemar Coetsee Best Variety Show The Recce Pieter Bosman Programme Title Production House

Best Current Affairs Programme

Jan DStv Mzansi Viewers Starlight Classic Johanesburg 2017

Brainwave Productions Don’t Look Down Production and Agency (Pty) Ltd. Freshly Minced

BEST MAGAZINE SHOW Production House Clive Morris Productions Cheeky Media Production et al

Best Youth Programme Production House Francois Odendaal Productions Red Pepper Pictures (Pty) Ltd What Box

TALK SHOW

Best Talk Show Programme Title Republiek Van Zoid Afrika Trending SA Thando Bares All – Polyamory

Production House Brainwave Productions Topina (PTY) LTD Oxyg3n Media

MUSIC SHOW

Best Music Show Programme Title The Rockets 50ste Herdenking Konsert Klavierkuiers met Pedro (Season 2 Episode 3) Die Kontrak (Season 1 Episode 5)

Production House All Star Productions Red Pepper Pictures Red Pepper Pictures

BEST MADE FOR TV MOVIE

Best made for TV Movie Film Title Hartstog Thembi’s Trial Mbalenhle

Practitioner Deon Opperman Produksies Chocolate Milk and Cookies Leburugraphy Pictures

FEATURE FILM

Best Achievement in Directing – Feature Film Film Title Five Fingers for Marseilles Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie Sew the Winter To My Skin

Practitioner Michael Matthews Daryne Joshua Jahmil X.T. Qubeka

Best Achievement in Scriptwriting – Feature Film Film Title Kanarie Wonderlus Nommer 37

Practitioner Christiaan Olwagen & Charl-Johan Lingenfelder Johan Cronje Nosipho Dumisa

Best Achievement in Cinematography – Feature Film Film Title Meerkat Maantuig Five Fingers for Marseilles Nommer 37

Practitioner Willie Nel Shaun Harley Lee Zenn van Zyl

Best Achievement in Sound Design – Feature Film Film Title Five Fingers for Marseilles Sew the Winter To My Skin Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Stories

Practitioner Morne Marais, Simon Ratcliffe, James Olivier & Richard David West Barry Donnelly Jean Niemandt

Best Achievement in Original Music/Score – Feature Film Film Title Five Fingers for Marseilles Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie Raaiselkind

Practitioner Pierre Vienings Carike Nel Pierre Vienings

Film Title Five Fingers for Marseilles Nommer 37 Stroomop

Practitioner Babalwa Carol Djieutcheu & Julene Paton Babalwa Carol Djieutcheu Minuche Bridgette Snyman

Best Actress – Feature Film

YOUTH PROGRAMME Programme Title Siyaya-Wildest Cape Sistahood Mi Kasi Su Kasi

Film Title Five Fingers for Marseilles Susters Sew the Winter To My Skin

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling – Feature Film

Best Magazine Show Programme Title 50/50 The Man Cave (Season 6) Nisboere (Season 1)

Best Achievement in Costume Design – Feature Film

Practitioner James Andrew Matthes Quinn Lubbe Quinn Lubbe

Real Name Jill Levenberg Monique Rockman Diaan Lawrenson

Character Name Ellen Pakkies Pam Ismael Ingrid

Film Title Ellen: Die Ellen Pakkies Storie Nommer 37 Raaiselkind

Best Actor – Feature Film Real Name Character Name Jarrid Geduld Abie Pakkies Irshaad Ally Randall Hendricks Schalk Bezuidenhout Johan Niemand

Film Title Ellen, Die Ellen Pakkies Storie Nommer 37 Kanarie

Best Supporting Actress – Feature Film Real Name June Van Merch Ilse Klink Anna-Mart van der Merwe

Character Name Miriam Diona Arlene Louw

Film Title Raaiselkind Stroomop Kanarie

Best Supporting Actor – Feature Film Real Name Character Name Alex van Dyk Pieter Zolisa Xaluva Black Wyatt Earp Germandt Geldenhuys Ludolf Otterman

Film Title Die Stropers (The Harvesters) Sew the Winter To My Skin Kanarie

Best Feature Film Film Title Kanarie Sew the Winter To My Skin Nommer 37

Production House Marche Media Yellowbone Entertainment Gambit Films

TELEVISION

Best TV Presenter Presenter Nico Panagio Katlego Maboe Sthembiso Dliwayo Waldimar Pelser Kabelo Mabalane Bonang Matheba Melo Moloto Johan Stemmet Thando Thabethe Siyuvile Ngesi Katlego Maboe

Programme Title Survivor South Africa: Philippines In Die Kollig Met... Katlego Maboe (Series 1) Mi Kasi Su Kasi kykNET Verslag in gesprek Kick It DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Award Hectic On 3 Noot vir Noot (Series 43) Thando Bares All The Man Cave (Season 6) Tropika Island of Treasure Maldives

Most Popular TV Soap/Telenovela Programme Title Production House Uzalo Stained Glass Productions Suidooster Suidooster Films Isidingo (The Need) Pomegranate Media Binnelanders Stark Films Skeem Saam Peu Communication Solutions Isibaya The Bomb Shelter Rhythm City Rhythm City Drama PTY LTD Imbewu Grapevine Productions (Pty) Ltd Getroud Met Rugby Overberg Produskies Scandal Scandal! Isithembiso The Bomb Shelter Hope Moja TV Channels (trading as Siyaya Free to Air TV) Broken Vows CMP The River Tshedza Pictures CC Ring of Lies (Season 2) Penguin Films / Paw Paw Films

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 23

FILM

In conversation with renowned casting director and agent

Moonyeenn Lee Moonyeenn Lee is a legendary South African casting director and agent, who’s been nominated for two Emmy Awards in the last three years (for The Looming Tower and Roots).

he’s received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the South African Film and Television Awards and Rapid Lion, among others; judges the International Emmy Awards; and is a member of both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes for the Oscars, and the Television Academy, which votes for the Emmys. She’s cast or helped cast the Oscarwinning Tsotsi; the Oscar-nominated Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, Hotel Rwanda and Blood Diamond; the Oscar-shortlisted Black Panther and Life, Above All; the Golden Globe nominees Machine Gun Preacher and Mandela and De Klerk; and Emmy-winning series like Homeland, as well as nominees like The Prisoner and No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, among others. We caught up with her to chat about why she thinks South African TV is “worse than when we started 40 years ago”; why she hates actors who talk about “building their brand”; and why she agreed to cast Showmax’s first original drama, The Girl From St Agnes – her first TV series in a decade…

24 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

WHY HAVEN’T YOU DONE MORE LOCAL TV WORK RECENTLY? Most of the work I do is international and the local work is mostly film work. Before The Girl From St Agnes, the last local series I cast was The Lab. I loved doing series like that and Hopeville and Yizo Yizo. We did some good things. But most local TV is terrible today. When I received an Mbokodo Award for my contribution to film in South Africa, I said that, in my opinion, TV today is worse than when we started 40 years ago. At least then we had great stories, told by really interesting filmmakers like Manie van Rensburg. I always tell my actors to watch a film called Phantom Thread. The story is not told with the words; it’s told in the silences, and no one is frightened to be quiet with each other. But in South African television, they tell you what you’re about to see, then you see it, then they tell you what you’ve just seen. They believe that the majority of their audiences are idiots. All the countries in the world that make television are doubling or tripling their budgets to compete for a world

Moonyeenn Lee (middle) with her children David and Cindy, and her dog Hitchcock audience, except us. Most of our budgets are lower than they were 10 years ago. And there’s no room for me. They cast people dependent on how many Instagram followers they’ve got... SO HOW DID THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES LURE YOU BACK? Harriet [Gavshon, the producer] phoned me and said she really needs my help, because this is a project that’s very close to her. I love her and have enormous respect for her so we started on this journey. She said all we have to do is cast three or four of the main parts. But when I read this, I said, “No, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it all.” I thought the premise was really interesting. It’s very different to anything

else that we’ve done here and I thought a lot of the characters were really well drawn. I also knew so many of the people who were involved in it. My daughter, Cindy, is one of the two directors. So this was close to my heart. ARE THERE LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THIS FOR ENGLISH ACTORS IN SOUTH AFRICA? No, English-speaking actors generally work internationally and they have to do American or British accents to make decent money. That was why it was nice when this came up, to do English – but South African English.

FILM

on set in the morning straight from a party, have no idea about the scene and haven’t learnt their lines – and they don’t care. I’m not saying they’re all like that; there are a lot of actors who are really good. But the basic values have changed and it’s just become rubbish. Sometimes we’ve taken them on by mistake but we get rid of them deliberately. I don’t have the patience. Being an actor is incredibly hard work and I have enormous respect for real actors, not pretend actors. You have to stay well and you have to stay focused and you have to stay fit. It’s a hard life. It’s not your own. You have no privacy and everything you do, someone is going to talk about. You can’t do normal things like other people can. WHAT DO SOUTH AFRICAN ACTORS NEED TO WORK ON? A lot. I don’t think that young actors read enough and they don’t watch old films and they don’t watch or do theatre. When they work with great directors, the directors make references to things and the kids don’t know what they’re talking about. When I was doing Class Act [a reality TV talent search for South Africa’s next big actor], I worked with those finalists and I used to bring my DVDs in to show them, because they didn’t know who half the actors were that we used to talk about. I told someone they reminded me of a young Marlon Brando and he did not know who Marlon Brando was. I went out and bought him a box set of Marlon Brando films. They don’t read enough; they don’t know about the history; they don’t have enough respect for the craft. They only know the glamour and the glitz; they need to become more knowledgeable about what they do. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN CASTING THE GIRL FROM ST AGNES? The Girl From St Agnes was difficult because we had to find actresses who were not 17 or 18 in real life, because then they would have been writing matric when we were shooting. So we had to find actresses who look 18 but are in their 20s. But the whole thing just fell into place. Some of the younger actresses we cast could stand out anywhere. HOW DID YOU FIND WORKING WITH YOUR DAUGHTER, CINDY LEE? Exhilarating. Exacting. She worked for me for a year, before she started as a copywriter. I told her, “If you’re going to write and direct, you need to understand actors and how they work and what you

can get out of them.” She’s been brought up with actors and used to go to the theatre with me from when she was tiny, so she gets it. You see that in her commercials – most of them are performance-driven. This is the first time we’ve ever been able to work together and I loved it. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO CASTING? For me it’s about taste. When I watch television and film, if somebody puts me off as an actor, I can’t watch the rest of it. But someone else may say they’re fantastic. I’ve been really lucky. I’ve worked with some of the greatest directors in the world. We nearly always become really good friends and stay friends, but it’s

because we have the same taste. If I meet a director and don’t get on with them, I won’t do the project, because it’s pointless if we don’t have the same taste. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHICH ACTORS YOU REPRESENT? When I meet actors who want us to represent them, I’ll tell you in five minutes whether we’ll work or not. They don’t have to audition; I know immediately. If they come in and say, “I want to build my brand,” I have a big hissy fit and say, ‘”Out and goodbye. Have a good life.” A lot of it has become about how little clothing you can wear and get away with. There is this whole thing about, “How many followers can I have? Can I be the next Kardashian?” The kids today come

IS SOUTH AFRICAN TALENT BECOMING AN EASIER SELL ON INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS? Unless they’re playing a South African, or an African, if they can’t do American or British accents, they can’t do international work. American is a totally foreign language: the pronunciation is different, the emphasis is different, everything is different. When we first started doing international films in South Africa, they used to bring all the cast in. Now they’re starting to trust us a lot more. With a lot of our actors, their American or their English accents are so good, audiences don’t know they’re even South Africans. – Compiled by Kevin Kriedemann

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 25

DIGITAL CONTENT

A still from Lorna With a Pinch of Salt

DoP Buddy Gaylard on shooting content for an online audience Buddy Gaylard is a veteran of the South African television industry, having been a director on shows such as Top Travel and Top Billing before developing his career further as a director of photography (DoP).

creen Africa caught up with the experienced filmmaker to learn more about his new collaboration with TV personality Lorna Maseko – the charming, insouciant YouTube cooking series Lorna With a Pinch of Salt – and the key differences between shooting for broadcast and shooting for online. Reflecting on his somewhat unconventional move from directing into cinematography, Gaylard says: “Directing has always come naturally to me, and the transition to DoP came equally as naturally, as I felt it to be a further extension of my storytelling craft. At the time, the industry was populated with either unimaginative, tired cam operators, or videographers who were young and

26 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

enthusiastic, but who had no concept of how to tell a story visually, or how to give an editor what they needed to cut a story together – and the problem was usually arrogance, of not wanting to learn. So, taking over the camera work helped me focus all my time on what I needed to.” Gaylard then shares some insights into his working relationship with Maseko, which stretches back nearly a decade. “Lorna and I started working together on Top Billing, probably around 2010, and I think part of the success of our longstanding working relationship is that I was there in the beginning, when she was still learning and growing as a presenter. She was always talented and full of personality, but the early days in front of camera are nerve-wracking – and so it’s

important to have someone around that you trust.” Gaylard explains that, as Maseko has gained prominence as a public personality, the challenge has also evolved. “She is now a brand – and every time she steps in front of the camera, she either builds that brand or runs the risk of letting it all slip away. So, having me there, she knows she has the support and the professionalism to match, and we are going to produce the best possible content on the day.”

LORNA WITH A PINCH OF SALT When asked about the new YouTube venture, Gaylard says: “It’s 2019, we can’t deny the fact that online content is king. And as much as working on broadcast

content or sponsored online content is safe and controlled, we knew we needed to start building on Lorna’s online profile. She has a massive social media following and they want content that is just her, no frills.” He underscores the point about feeling liberated from the ‘control’ and ‘safety’ of traditional broadcasting, adding that – as a DoP – he “was attracted to the freedom we would have to play and to be a little cheeky with the content. Lorna With a Pinch of Salt still has a lot of potential and we are going to grow and keep changing content. It’s about keeping it short and fun, and it’s about content that could live on all platforms and all devices, reaching the biggest possible audience.”

DIGITAL CONTENT

“These days, there are no differences in terms of quality for online versus TECH broadcast; for both, the highest production quality is important. The online audience is no longer happy with a low-res budget video. Viewers have high-quality phones, computers and tablets, and so online content has to be able to shine on any platform and any device.

FILMING FOR AN ONLINE AUDIENCE Speaking about the specific challenge of filming cooking shows for an online audience, Gaylard points to some important considerations – drawn from his own experience as an editor – to keep in mind. “Filming food is about variation. We don’t want to watch someone cook a meal from start to finish from the same three angles. It’s about variety and then a change of pace, either with a top-down jump-cut sequence, or a fun beauty montage with some slow-mos thrown in to vary things up. People have access to whatever they want online, so keeping them entertained and giving them a reason to keep watching your video instead of clicking to anything else is so important.” However, while the approach to the new show may be refreshingly different, Gaylard points out that – from a technical perspective – the challenges he faces as a cinematographer are much the same. “These days, there are no differences in terms of quality for online versus

”

broadcast; for both, the highest production quality is important. The online audience is no longer happy with a low-res budget video. Viewers have high-quality phones, computers and tablets, and so online content has to be able to shine on any platform and any device.” He continues: “So when it comes to shooting it for online compared to shooting for TV, my technical approach is not much different. I will still make sure I have the best gear with a beautiful, cinematic shallow depth look and feel. What really changes for me is the ‘pace.’ I shoot for the edit, so I have to make sure it can be cut together fast and short – but it must still carry that beautiful look, without feeling like it’s been rushed. For TV, I know I can let shots live a little longer – or have a longer drone shot to establish a scene or transition – whereas for online I know I need a one-second shot to move me onto the next scene. For TV, it’s all about the narrative and keeping people entertained (while making sure the story is told); for online, it’s about making the

– Buddy Gaylard

audience keep up, there is no time to worry about if someone might miss something because there are more people that would get bored if you dragged it out. Short, sharp shots are required – and lots of different shots, so the cutting-points (to shorten a scene) become seamless.” The DP also shared some of his favourite pieces of equipment at the moment. “I must say, at the moment, my favourite combination of equipment for my online shoots – and in particular my cooking shoots – is my Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K, shot flat with the Blackmagic Film to Rec709 LUT applied in post. The end product coming out of this camera set up beats even some of the most expensive cams out there. I pair the cam with Sigma Art range lenses, which are as sharp as you get, and – where possible – some CP2 primes. The Sigma 18-35mm T1.7 lens is probably the one I use 90% of the time, as I like that wide close-up feel, especially for food and beauty shots. The last thing, which also helps save time and budget, is a video ring light. I like to match my background in terms of lighting so I don’t have to start over-lighting everything. Once I match that, then I start fill (or beauty) lighting my subject and, lastly, I create some separation with back lighting.” Looking back on his career trajectory and successes to date, Gaylard says that although technologies and broadcast mediums may have changed, “The job is always the same. As long as you get the shot and you get it perfect, that’s all that matters.” He concludes by recalling the best piece of advice he was given as a young professional starting out in the industry. “I was told by an old school filmmaker to start at the bottom and learn every job along the way. And I did that – so now, if there’s ever a problem with sound or a light that needs repairing, I know how to fix it. I can work within the team, and if there is someone new on set the pressure doesn’t fall on them: it actually becomes a teaching moment. Experience is key so I’d tell young filmmakers to take their time and work on as many of the different positions on set as they possibly can.”

CHECK

EQUIPMENT • Camera: Blackmagic URSA MINI Pro 4.6K • Lenses: Sigma Art range lenses

“…at the moment, my favourite combination of equipment for my online shoots – and in particular my cooking shoots – is my Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6K, shot flat with the Blackmagic Film to Rec709 LUT applied in post. The end product coming out of this camera set up beats even some of the most expensive cams out there. I pair the cam with Sigma Art range lenses, which are as sharp as you get, and – where possible – some CP2 primes.”

“The Sigma 18-35mm T1.7 lens is probably the one I use 90% of the time, as I like that wide close-up feel, especially for food and beauty shots.”

– David Cornwell Buddy Gaylard on set

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 27

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

| OPINION

Monetising Content in the Age of Freemium: The impact of distribution networks on the bottom line Written by Clint Brown,

Vice President of Sales and Market Development for SES Video in Africa

Getting video content to viewers can be a minefield of possibilities. Whether a company is a content developer, rights holder, broadcaster, live events producer, OTT provider, or mobile operator, the path they choose will define their revenue and potential for growth.

istribution. Many see it simply as the headache in between getting noticed by customers and making money. However, if the correct calls about distribution are made, a business model can thrive, even in this age of Freemium content. Traditional linear TV is broken down into three models: Pay TV, Free-to-Air (FTA) and Free-to-View (FTV). Then, on top of this, there are a host of new models developing. The most prominent are subscription-based Over-the-Top (OTT) services like Netflix, but Video-OnDemand (VOD) services come in many forms. Less well known is transactional OTT, for example, where a viewer can pay for only what they watch on an OTT platform. Choosing between all of these options isn’t getting any easier. These models are developing in response to consumer demand and everyone needs to consider their strategy. Incumbents, such as broadcasters with a distribution system already in place, might need to look at doing things in a different way. Yet it is also crucial for new entrants, from content developers to OTT providers, to find that perfect approach. More and more

28 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

companies are offering Over-the-Top (OTT) services for Video-On-Demand (VOD) options, giving audiences all the power, but what makes the most sense is a complex question, complicated by technical infrastructure. Traditional TV models – whether Pay TV, FTA, or FTV – can maximise infrastructure and deliver content to large numbers of people at minimal cost. According to Dataxis’ latest figures from 2017, in sub-Saharan Africa there were 94 million ‘TV homes’ in 2017, 24.2 million of those being Pay TV homes. Of these TV homes, the majority make use of either terrestrial infrastructure (55.7 million homes) or satellite connectivity (36.5 million). Other models require internet connectivity and related technologies for viewing. While smartphone users number 287 million, homes with fixed broadband lines only come in at 6.4 million, and in 2017, Digital TV Research’s latest numbers reported only 1.5 million subscribers to VOD services. These numbers are important, because to achieve economies of scale it is crucial to consider the reach any technology has, and how it impacts affordability for the

end consumer. Payment methods can give a window into affordability. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database of 2017, that year the majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa made their payments for utility bills using cash only; 24% used mobile phones accounts; and only 16% used an account attached to financial institution. Once the possibilities offered by infrastructure have been considered (and balanced with affordability), the next step is to look at the consumer experience. Each of the choices offers their own end result in terms of user experience. OTT gives consumers more choice and convenience, while traditional TV, particularly satellite, provides a dependable service with high picture quality. Finally, any company looking to maximise their content to the fullest extent will want to consider the back-end interface that any of the choices imply. Transmitting content securely might not be a top concern for the end-consumer, but defending against content theft is always a priority for the rights holder. An equally hot topic of any back-end

interface is analytics. Getting information about content consumption can offer valuable insights for decision-making. OTT services allow for massive amounts of data concerning viewing habits and preferences to be collected, opening up the opportunity to customise content production to suit particular audiences (as Netflix does). As the world’s leading satellite operator, SES understands how important data about consumption habits is, and this is why the company conducts its satellite monitor study. In this annual market research study, SES looks at how many homes in specific countries receive their television service from satellite, terrestrial and IPTV infrastructure. In 2018 we published results showing that satellite serves 95% of TV homes in Ethiopia, 65% in Ghana, 55% in Tanzania, 48% in Uganda and 28% in Nigeria. In this study, SES is also able to measure the reach of our satellites – which deliver TV channels to 30 million TV homes in Africa, including over nine million Direct-to-Home (DTH) households across West Africa. That might seem like a small piece of data, but it’s just the kind of key

Broadcast Services • Video & IP Connectivity • Studios • SNG • Fibre Services • Data Centres

information that can define a business plan. AfricaXP, the continent’s leading independent channel network, content distributor and producer, saw the reach of nine million homes from our 28.2 degrees East geographical position as a great opportunity. It was a ready-made audience for an FTA channel bouquet – and audience is everything for any FTA model, as they always rely on advertising revenues. Therefore, by offering a massive audience ready to receive new channels, SES provided AfricaXP with the reach it needed to monetise their content efficiently and with little upfront cost, as set-top boxes would not have to be distributed. The resulting FTA channel bouquet, PREMIUM.FREE, now brings attractive local and international content to audiences across Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Each company is different, though, and the situation in each country complex. Insights into how to make a business model work for content developers or broadcasters can be vital when starting a new venture or entering a new market. And, when the conditions are right to set-up an OTT business model, operations can get even more complex. This is why SES goes beyond satellite broadcasting with a video services subsidiary, MX1, that provides end-to-end media services. With MX1 solutions, broadcasters and media companies are easily able to aggregate, manage and deliver their content to multiple platforms. This gives SES unique experience of the complete spectrum of distribution models.

A good example of this is how, together with Vubiquity and Cell C, we’re bringing live and linear content to the South African market. With over 16 million subscribers, Cell C is one of South Africa’s leading mobile operators. The company focuses on providing their customers with new solutions that are different from anything the market has seen before. This was seen when Cell C wanted to build a stand-alone platform and networkagnostic brand that would consistently enable them to bring to market new services that match how South Africans consume on-demand entertainment, and what they want to watch. Within this strategy, Cell C were the first to offer subscriber-centric solutions for Facebook and Whatsapp, and were eager to develop an on-demand entertainment solution: black. Black goes beyond typical video-on-demand packages to combine live and linear TV, movies, sports, betting, gaming and more – in a wide variety of content packages that can be purchased via a pre-paid air-time account. Cell C chose Vubiquity to create black because of its relationships with premium content providers and its global reach, and the company also elected the right partners – in SES and MX1 – to deliver content on any platform or device. Vubiquity supplies the content, while SES and MX1 take care of the delivery – with the technical capabilities to get the content from anywhere in the world to Johannesburg, and to seamlessly deliver that content to consumers on multiple devices.

WITH THREE DECADES OF EXPERIENCE PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FOR THE RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCAST INDUSTRY

PO Box 1853, Rivonia, 2128, South Africa Tel: +27 (0)11 803-3353/4 | Fax: +27 (0)11 803-2534 E-mail: sales@telemedia.co.za | www.telemedia.co.za

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 29

OUTSIDE BROADCAST

PICTURES COURTESY: TELLYTRACK/BET WORLD

LiveU on Tr

Tellytrack, Win A Dream campaign 30 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Track:

OUTSIDE BROADCAST

How Tellytrack’s Win A Dream campaign reached the nation In the words of Wesley Lloyd – outside broadcast production manager at Tellytrack – the company wanted to “do something special” to commemorate its Win A Dream campaign, a nationwide initiative that capped off a successful 2018 for the sports betting giant.

“W

in A Dream was one of last year’s biggest marketing campaigns – it ran over six weeks – and our goal was to have remote broadcasts from betting centres all over the country for every single day of the promotion. From Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, KZN and Thohoyandou in Limpopo – we wanted to get out there and broadcast stories from every corner of South Africa.” Lloyd explains that: “In the past we’ve done satellite uplinks, but – once we started to factor in the cost of renting SNGs and MPUs for the duration of the campaign – we realised we’d be looking at a multi-million rand production budget.” This is when Tellytrack called in the services of Telemedia, who – as Lloyd puts it – “have been great partners to us for many, many years. Our first move out of MultiChoice was to [Telemedia’s] facilities, and we’ve just grown and grown since then. We started off with one channel – we’ve now got six – and they’ve provided all the technical support along the way. We’ve got OBs and race courses all around the country, and Telemedia provides all the connectivity infrastructure for us.” “When we travel to IBC,” Lloyd continues, “we usually spend a couple of days there with Telemedia and our other suppliers, and they introduced us to a bonded 3G broadcasting system called

LiveU. Andy Louis [Director at Telemedia] demoed it for us, and – although I’ve been a bit hesitant about the technology in the past – it fit the bill for what we were looking for perfectly. So I told Andy that we have one problematic site out in Midrand, where our cellular comms are always a bit iffy – and if the unit worked out there, we’d go for it.” After the LiveU system aced this initial test, Lloyd explains: “From there, we literally sent a cameraman out into the field with a backpack, some batteries, a LiveU unit and a camera. We did a whole live content production with this equipment, where in the past, we’ve brought in an MPU with three or four cameras, microphones, uplink – compare that to one cameraman, one presenter, one microphone, one LiveU unit. The difference is incredible, and it was as effective as a multi-camera production.” Moreover, despite concerns about connectivity in some of the more far-flung areas visited by the campaign, Lloyd reports that: “Every single day it worked, without fail. And it worked beautifully: the picture quality was amazing, the data usage was minimal – it was a very successful first run.” Quentin Barkhuizen, National Sales Manager at Telemedia, comments that: “The LiveU brand is the most widelyaccepted in the industry at the moment. While Live Bonded Cellular Video Transmission technology is still quite new in South Africa, it’s been used extensively

in the news industry in other parts of the world – especially for rapid deployment and ENG situations, because of the ease of use and the cost-saving involved.” Both Barkhuizen and Lloyd estimate that an effective LiveU set up can be achieved at a cost of about “ten times less than that of a traditional SNG rig.” For those enticed by what this kind of accessible broadcasting technology could offer their own content production strategies, Barkhuizen explains that: “Telemedia offers two versions of the solution: one is that we can supply the mobile units and the receivers – and then the company who rents them can handle the entire production themselves. Alternatively – what often happens with customers outside of South Africa, for example – is that they come in with a portable unit and then we have a receiver in our MCR. Because we’re a registered ISP, we have an excellent internet connection – and so we could provide connectivity to customers on our internal network through the LiveU system, should it be required.” Lloyd concludes by outlining some future plans that Tellytrack has for the LiveU system. “The Win A Dream

campaign was a first test for us. We’re now in the midst of the Cape Season, so we’ve got another two-week campaign coming up for The Met and we’re going to use it again – but this time, on an even bigger scale. We’re going to bring in three LiveU units from Telemedia, and we’re going to have a crew in Limpopo, one in Joburg, one in Cape Town, and we’re going to go for an interactive broadcast between the three centres in a live scenario. I think this is really going to show the versatility of the LiveU unit, and – again – it’s a massive cost-saving exercise for us.” Telemedia (Pty) Ltd is an accredited LiveU equipment reseller and service provider. – David Cornwell

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 31

PHOTO CREDIT: VIRTZ

PHOTO CREDIT: AVID

STUDIO TECHNOLOGY

An AR broadcast from a virtual set

Advanced design and production tools that enable broadcasters to create virtual objects that appear as if they’re actually ‘in the studio’ have been available for a few years now, but have only become a mainstream feature of major TV networks over the last 12 months. Political elections, weather updates, news coverage and major sporting events – from the Olympic Games to the FIFA World Cup – have all made augmented reality graphics one of the broadcast industry’s hottest trends, and there is a wide range of solutions to enhance the viewing experience.

roadcasters are increasingly adopting augmented reality (AR) graphics for enhanced storytelling, allowing for better interaction between presenters and graphics objects (or even remote locations) to get the story across. For example, the BBC’s coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup took advantage of the latest in augmented reality tools to help further its Match of the Day broadcast, featuring AR graphics to help experts and hosts tell the story of each match with stats and team news. Denmark’s TV 2 built a new studio for coverage of the Tour de France, featuring on-air personalities, virtual backgrounds and a large touchscreen tabletop that displayed 3D content to aid the analysis

32 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

of the race. In the US, Fox Sports has just completed building a massive new state-of-the-art, multi-purpose augmented reality studio set to become the new home of the 2019 NASCAR Racing Hub and the 2019 Daytona 500. AR gives broadcasters the tools they need to tell a complex story in a very visual way, with the presenter driving the narrative by presenting visually-engaging representations of data. With a few years of experimentation behind them, broadcasters now have a much better idea of where AR makes sense, how to use it and what kind of AR elements are effective. Recently, the Weather Channel in the US showed off its augmented reality

PHOTO CREDIT: EPIC GAMES INC

– studios from the future

Weather Channel augmented reality

broadcast prowess, taking viewers inside a virtual version of Hurricane Florence. Guided by a host surrounded by ‘virtual peril,’ the network employed the approach to show residents in the path of the hurricane why they should evacuate their homes. The insert went viral and the internet couldn’t stop talking about how immersive the presentation was and the impact it had on viewers. Although nothing like the kind of immersion one experiences while wearing an AR headset, or even using an AR app on a smartphone, what The Weather Channel’s technique achieves is getting viewers accustomed to consuming content in the context of immersive environments. Moreover, the growing maturity of the industry has helped graphics vendors develop better solutions. As technology develops, costs decrease – and we’re now seeing more realistic graphics, with the introduction of hyperrealism, using more cost-effective render engines that are

bridging the gaps and removing barriers to entry. Denmark’s TV 2 Tour de France coverage used 3D graphics software from Vizrt for their visual content. The Viz Engine platform produced the studio’s virtual backgrounds, AR content and touchscreen board, while Viz Pilot enabled the production team to create 3D content using journal templates. Viz Virtual Studio gave TV 2’s producers the ability to tell stories easily without worrying about the limitations of physical studio facilities. AVID has also moved into the market, offering a full solution for virtual studios, camera tracking, augmented reality and video wall control – enabling the broadcaster to work within a single unified workflow. Maestro | Designer is a tool for real-time graphics creation which seamlessly integrates with Maestro | AR, a suite of augmented reality tools, which – when paired with the new Maestro | Engine real-time graphics and video

of a green screen, AR now gives the likes of TV news presenters and weathercasters, sports broadcasters and documentary makers incredible new tools and technologies that can enhance storytelling capabilities and permit them to engage more deeply with viewers.

STUDIO TECHNOLOGY

PHOTO CREDIT: BBC

“After decades of just presenting in front

”

Avid Maestro | Virtual Set Powered by Unreal Engine

BBC’s FIFA World Cup 2018 studio

rendering platform – gives broadcasters the power to manage their entire production process simply and easily. The race to perfect virtual environments and AR production solutions has largely centered on games engines, like the Unreal Engine from Epic Games – the technology behind the mega-popular online video game Fortnite. The Unreal Engine is what Fox Sports are using to power the graphic elements in their new NASCAR studio. This is because graphics packages tied to game engines give you better animation and higher-quality content, and create a level of realism unrivalled by any broadcast character generator.

Therefore it’s no surprise that VR solution providers like Ross Video and Vizrt are currently integrating the Unreal Engine into their products. XPression is Ross Video’s line of real-time motion graphics systems, clip servers, workflow tools and software applications that power its augmented reality offerings. The Canadian company’s solutions have impressed the audiences and marketing partners of NBC Sunday Night Football, Eurosport, BBC World, Google, YouTube, Space London and China’s eSports powerhouse VSPN with their AR solutions, virtual studios, real-time motion graphics and robotic camera systems. Recently, CBS announced some big

plans for its Super Bowl LIII broadcast in February, including 8K cameras and the use of augmented reality. The network will have 115 cameras at the game, with “multiple” 8K cameras intended for “dramatic close-up views” of the action: a first for any US network. In addition to these Ultra HD 8K shots, CBS plans to use augmented reality graphics as a major part of its Super Bowl feed. Four cameras will be used to present live AR images, with a total of 14 cameras being used as part of its virtual graphics strategy. After decades of just presenting in front of a green screen, AR now gives the likes of TV news presenters and weathercasters, sports broadcasters and

documentary makers incredible new tools and technologies that can enhance storytelling capabilities and permit them to engage more deeply with viewers. As TV audiences become more distracted (and distractible), broadcasters should look to use every device available to them to secure the viewer’s attention and loyalty. Augmented Reality is an ever-evolving and exciting way for TV stations to meet the audience’s desire for differentiated big screen experiences, and to do so without really breaking the bank. – Ian Dormer

IMAGINE IT. CREATE IT. Seamlessly integrate stunning graphics Engaging visual elements are vital for effective storytelling. Production teams rely on vivid, eyecatching graphics to inform and entertain viewers. But as graphics production technology advances, so does the complexity of truly integrated graphics workflows. With Avid’s Maestro™ family of broadcast graphics solutions you can: • Create more sophisticated 2D and 3D content faster with Maestro | Designer • Meet all your graphic needs, including authoring, managing, distribution and playout of graphics with Maestro | News • Controls and manages multiple studio displays from a single touch user interface with Maestro | PowerWall • Create high-end virtual environments with realistic detail, depth, and perspectives with Maestro | Virtual Set • Enhance your production with augmented reality using Maestro | AR Avid Maestro’s end-to-end graphic solutions: the power to create and inform at your fingertips. Find out more at: avid.com/maestro

YO U R PL ATF O RM TO ENTERTAIN

AVID ELITE PARTNER

© 2019 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, Maestro, and MediaCentral are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

www.jasco.co.za

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 33

THERMAL IMAGE BY DAVID EASTAUGH

CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES

The Wilder Side of Thermal Imaging Written by Jeandré Gerding,

WildEarth – Head of Camera Operations

THERMAL IMAGE BY DAVID EASTAUGH

The WildEarth crew are veterans when it comes to bringing unbelievable live wildlife experiences to audiences around the world. Their popular interactive show, safariLIVE, has kept viewers glued to their seats for years, with virtual safarigoers tuning in daily to follow the lives of their favourite leopard, lion or elephant characters.

A male lion posing regally

34 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

ust in case the technical and editorial challenges of broadcasting a live, interactive, unscripted, wildlife show from the middle of the African bush weren’t befuddling enough, another challenge is often thrown into the mix… darkness. The team recently had to broadcast a weekly safariLIVE prime time special to Nat Geo Wild in the USA. This meant live filming on location in Kenya and South Africa would be in the wee hours of the morning, before the sun had risen on the continent of Africa. While using normal white light might seem like a straightforward solution, the team was uncomfortable with the ethical

challenges it would present. Shining visible light onto the scene of a hunt would alter the outcome: a hapless gazelle could be temporarily blinded by the light and not see an approaching lioness. Illuminating the lioness may allow the gazelle to spot her stalking, allowing the cat’s dinner to run off and see the light of another day. In general, artificial light profoundly changes the conditions in which animals live. Nocturnal animals have a whole suite of physical adaptations, behaviours and survival strategies to cope with darkness – as have diurnal animals. Shining bright lights on any animal completely alters their natural conditions. Unobtrusively observing nature’s spectacles is at the core of the safariLIVE ethos. Infrared lights, which are invisible to both humans and wildlife, have been used by the team for a number of years in an effort to have zero impact on animals. However, for the team’s camera operators on location in South Africa’s Sabi Sands (within the greater Kruger National Park), infrared technology is far from an ideal solution. Despite having sensitive cameras capable of picking up low lux levels, the bushy terrain means that the invisible infrared light reflects off trees and shrubs. This makes it near impossible, in many situations, for the infrared camera rigs to capture the action unfolding behind the foliage. Fortunately, FLIR has provided the safariLIVE team with technology that was once only reserved for elite military operations. Unlike traditional cameras, which depend on reflected light to produce an image, FLIR’s thermal cameras detect the heat energy radiated by animals (or any other objects), and this translates visually into animals becoming their own light sources. Thermal technology has been around for a long time. In 1947, the first thermal line scanner was developed for use on bombers and cargo ships at the start of the Cold War. The camera was bulky and took an hour to produce a single frame.

CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES

PHOTO BY GERALDINE KENT

Camera Operator David Eastaugh ready for action with the the FLIR T1K mounted on top of an infrared camera rig

THERMAL IMAGE BY SEBASTIEN ROMBI

A leopard about to scent mark a tree

THERMAL IMAGE BY DAVID EASTAUGH

A male leopard known as Hosana having a snooze

An elephant herd quenches their thirst

Even today, most thermal cameras are limited to nine frames per second (9Hz), with extremely low resolutions such as 320x240 or even 160x120 pixels, making them unattractive options for the broadcast industry. Further complicating things, thermal cameras can’t use traditional glass for producing lenses because it reflects thermal radiation. Instead, exotic materials such as germanium, zinc selenide or sapphire are used to produce thermal optics. This means that most thermal cameras have a fixed prime lens that is not ideal for filming live wildlife. This is where FLIR’s technology really stands out. SafariLIVE is now able to capture high-definition thermal imagery with the company’s masterpiece – the FLIR T1K (T1020) camera. This camera is capable of producing 30 frames per second (30Hz), has a choice of three interchangeable lenses and packs the most pixel resolution into any thermal handheld camera on the market, producing stunning images of resolutions up to 2048x1536. With the help of WildEarth’s engineering department, a dual camera night rig was created with the FLIR T1K top-mounted on a low-lux infrared camera. This allowed the team’s talented cameramen the option of either camera, depending on the sighting. In many situations they operated both simultaneously, allowing the show’s director to cut between the two feeds. David Eastaugh, a senior camera operator at safariLIVE, can’t throw enough superlatives

at the T1K: “I’ve really enjoyed using this camera, as it not only has tremendous practical uses but is also great at producing images with cinematic quality. Thanks to its large sensor [uncooled microbolometer] and array of advanced FLIR OSX Precision HDIR lenses, we are able to achieve a shallow depth of field and make our subjects really pop with the camera’s fine temperature control. This allows us to see what’s beyond the bush and stick with the action, without interfering.” The team’s senior director, Kirsten Mclennan-Smith, shares a similar view: “As a director, I love cutting to the FLIR when an animal is on the hunt and the action is heating up. The FLIR ensures we have great content on the screen. This way, you’re not interrupting [animal behavior] and it’s more engaging for viewers.” The team at safariLIVE is immensely excited about the future possibilities of thermal technology, as it allows viewers to connect and fall in love with nature in a new way, which might help to create future conservationists. Importantly, this technological advance also allows anti-poaching units to protect the animals that the crew and viewers love more effectively. For readers living in South Africa, you can catch a new season of safariLIVE every Sunday night on SABC3 from 18h30 to 19h30. Those outside of South Africa can catch the action on natgeo.com/safarilive.

FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 35

PHOTO COURTESY LITEPANELS

LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES

Lighting perfection Not many production tools have had a more profound impact on the television broadcast industry than set lighting. Not only does lighting enable the audience to see clearly what the director wants them to see, it creates mood, focuses attention and – more technically – affects and controls the colour temperature, quality and intensity of the broadcast image, making lighting a powerful element of any television production.

tudio, stage and production lighting has recently undergone the most significant transformation in the technology in over a century thanks to the development of the blue LED. Relatively low cost, low-power portable light-emitting diode (LED) lighting

solutions have been on the market for more than 10 years now, but have been more of a compromise than an improvement on existing lighting. LEDs have traditionally been limited by power requirements, size and inaccurate or poor spectral performance. Just four years ago, Japanese scientists

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura were jointly awarded the Nobel prize in physics for their 1990s research and subsequent invention of the blue light-emitting diode, a technology that has touched society in innumerable ways and which has enabled technologies in the broadcast industry that we didn’t think were possible. As you all know by now, LEDs are devices that emit light when subjected to an electric current. Green and red versions have been around since the 1950s, but creating blue-emitters was a technical challenge that stumped industry efforts for decades. It wasn’t until the 1990s that engineers Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, both at Japan’s Nagoya University, in tandem with electrical engineer Shuji Nakamura, then working at Japanese chemicals firm Nichia, succeeded in creating a blue LED. LEDs are sandwiches of semiconductor materials. The layers are ‘doped’ with other elements, which provides some

Arri SkyPanel range 36 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

layers with extra electrons and others with a surplus of ‘holes,’ where missing electrons leave behind a positive charge. When an electrical current is applied, the electrons and holes combine at the junctions between the layers and emit light as a result. From the 1980s, physicists focused their efforts on the material gallium nitride as a target for making high-power blue LEDs, but they were faced with several technological hurdles. One was creating thin, high-quality crystals of the material, which are notoriously difficult to grow. Another was ‘doping’ gallium nitride in such a way that it emitted light efficiently. However, Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura persisted with gallium nitride long after their competitors had moved on to other materials, and so the blue LED was born and led to a revolution in the lighting industry. Blue LEDs, in combination with red and green LEDs, make it possible to produce white light. In more recent times, the development of RGBW (a four-in-one LED chip made up of red, green, blue and white chips) and RGBWW (a five-in-one solution with an extra white chip) has allowed us to make truly accurate, and fully colour-tunable LED lights offering significant power output in the form of large and small studio lights. Although RGB and RGBW can produce a colour close to white, a dedicated white LED in a RGBWW array provides a much purer white tone and allows you the option of an extra warm or cool white chip. The additional white chip also provides extra scope for colour mixing with the RGB chips to create the huge range of unique shades necessary for film and television productions. Using software to map and control individual red, green, blue and white LED chips, it has become possible to

LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES

Red, green and blue LEDs

Blue LED

“RGBWW technology has led to a revolution in the lighting industry, so we – and the environment – must thank the research efforts of the three Japanese scientists who successfully developed blue LEDs. It is predicted that by the end of this year, nearly 20% of all power generated worldwide will be saved by people adopting LED lighting solutions in their homes, streets and offices…and, of course, their studios and film sets.

”

implement truly accurate correlated colour temperature (CCT) curves over a wide colour temperature range by adding or subtracting (+/-) green in an LED lighting fixture. CCT is a specification of the colour appearance of the light emitted by a lamp, relating its colour to the colour of light from a reference source when heated to a particular temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin (K). It is also possible to precisely factory-calibrate every light individually to match a target profile, which means that every light performs identically. It has also become possible to dial in any colour within the gamut of the light, and so imitate entire gel libraries. Special effects and any number of control protocols can be enabled entirely in software. This kind of precision and control is the future of lighting whether in studio or on location, and has never been possible before. German motion picture and lighting giants Arri were early adopters and perfectors of LED lighting technology when they formed a subsidiary postproduction and creative services company, Arri Media, back in 2015. Their LED lighting technology dominates the market these days, especially their SkyPanel range, which includes the S360 – the largest and most powerful LED soft light available. The SkyPanel is a compact, ultra-bright and high-quality LED soft

light that has set new standards for the industry. With a design focused on form, colour, beam field and output, it represents the culmination of more than a decade of research into and development of LED technology at ARRI. Not to be outdone, US-based Litepanels, a company foundered by a group of Hollywood-based lighting designers, released their flagship RGBWW lighting rig, the Gemini, late last year. The company claims that the Gemini has been designed to give users a daylight-to-tungsten light foundation that then enables them to finely adjust colour shades throughout the full, 360-degree colour wheel. The philosophy behind doing it this way is that users should be able to match a broad range of ambient lighting conditions with more ease. Another plus to the Gemini is the multiple control offerings, through standard DMX, Wireless DMX or Bluetooth control, via an app on your iOS device. These lights have been designed to be stackable and also daisychained together, allowing a single

designated “master” light to control the others. There are numerous other players entering the RGBWW field, such as Kino and Cineo Lighting – who produce the Kino Flo Celeb 250, Kino Flo Select 20 and Cineo HSX range, among other offerings – but these battle to compete with Arri and Litepanels on the technical front. If you don’t need all the features like Effects Mode, Colour Mode or even CCT adjustment, then there are plenty of other more value-friendly alternatives available. If you are simply just after a two-by-one soft light that is highly portable and provides pretty accurate colour rendition, then something like the Aladdin BI-FLEX 2 or Westcott Flex Bi-Color LED Mat make a lot more sense.

RGBWW technology has led to a revolution in the lighting industry, so we – and the environment – must thank the research efforts of the three Japanese scientists who successfully developed blue LEDs. It is predicted that by the end of this year, nearly 20% of all power generated worldwide will be saved by people adopting LED lighting solutions in their homes, streets and offices…and, of course, their studios and film sets. Arigatou gozaimasu, guys! – Ian Dormer

Litepanels Gemini range FEBRUARY 2019

SCREENAFRICA

| 37

LIGHTING & ACCESSORIES

Lighting the Way:

Tobie Smuts TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND IN LIGHTING AND HOW YOU GOT INTO IT. From a very young age, I was fascinated with photography and my dad gave me his Pentax camera to use. I guess it all started there with seeing light for the first time while taking pictures. In high school I started playing in a band and I helped with the stage sound and setting-up of lights like all small bands do. Later I started assisting the sound and stage crew for extra cash. I helped in some big stage productions for Johnny Clegg, Ammapondo and the MACUFE shows. My love for lighting grew from there. I qualified as a construction electrician and wire man after school (my dad said I could go study film or anything else after that). I saw in the credits at the end of films that electricians could work in movies, and I was sold. I started working in theatre lighting part-time in between my apprenticeship, and that’s where I really fell in love with lighting. I did a lot of freelance theatre work for the Barnyard Theatre Group along the Garden Route. Then I left for the UK for a two-year working holiday and landed a great gig at the Edinburgh Arts Festival, where I ran two fringe stages for an American stage company called Rocket Productions. I came back to South Africa after two years, landed in Cape Town and phoned every production company I could find in the Yellow Pages for work. I called a gaffer just to try my luck and, to my surprise, he said to join them the next day. And the rest is history. I quickly moved from one job to the next, my photographic, stage and electrical background paved the way to where I’m today and I’m still on the journey. Always learning and improving. WHY LIGHTING? WHAT ABOUT IT CAPTURED YOU? I really enjoy the creative collaboration in achieving the vision of the cameraman and the mood of the film. I also enjoy working in a team and attacking problems on the fly creatively. AS A GAFFER, WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? In summer we have an overflow of international and local commercials being shot in Cape Town. I also will be starting a small film with Out of Africa in February.

38 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

Gaffer Tobie Smuts chats to Screen Africa about when he fell in love with lighting and how he got into the industry…

WHAT ONE LIGHTING INVENTION OR TREND OF THE PAST 10 YEARS HAS, IN YOUR OPINION, CHANGED INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR THE BETTER? By far it would be DoPChoice lightshaping tools. Additionally, I’d say the advent of LED technology has had the biggest effect. Pixel mapping and pixel fixtures have opened up possibilities never before explored, like LED screens for lighting effects and reflections. WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CURRENT TRENDS OF THE STUDIO LIGHTING INDUSTRY, AND WHERE DO YOU SEE IT HEADING? LED fixtures, without a doubt, have helped budgets. They’ve also given the DoP instant control over his or her lighting rig. The wireless approach on set speeds up the process if you have a competent operator. Giving the DoP a Mini Desk, or tablet, to control their lights on-set next to his or her camera makes for a great working environment. IF THERE’S ALMOST NO BUDGET FOR LIGHTING ON A PRODUCTION, WHAT CAN YOU NOT DO WITHOUT? I have an LED light that is IP52 (rain proof) called the EXALUX Wide Rock with a V-lock battery. It is wirelessly controlled from my phone, bi-colour and battery operational. And if there is really nothing, a Riffa 80 tungsten light. WHAT HAS BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR CAREER IN LIGHTING TO DATE? To date it would be having the pleasure to work with DoP John Seal on Mad Max: Fury Road. I was next to him for 10 months and learned so much about telling the story with light.

Tobie Smuts DO YOU PREFER LIGHTING ON LOCATION OR IN STUDIO, AND WHY? Both scenarios have their pro and cons. If I have to choose I’d say location shooting – it’s definitely more work but it is also more fun. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVOURITE PIECE OF LIGHTING EQUIPMENT TO USE? WHY? I’d say The Gaffers Control from Belgium and DoPChoice products from Germany. With budget constraints, we are often forced to find innovative solutions in order to be more efficient. I run my sets mostly wirelessly and The Gaffers Control is amazing, as it controls most of my lights

wirelessly. DoPChoice has also sped up the way we shape and control soft light, eliminating the need for a forest of stands and flags. HOW ELSE DO LIMITED BUDGETS AFFECT YOUR DEPARTMENT AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THIS? The only way is automation: you have to replace the guys you need to do the job with technology, unfortunately. Wireless technology like The Gaffers Control, Cinelex, Exalux, Lumen Radio and W-DMX.

WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF ADVICE, PRACTICAL OR OTHERWISE, THAT YOU WOULD GIVE TO A NEWBIE IN THE INDUSTRY? I think it would be attitude: have a humble, hungry and happy attitude. Always keep improving on yourself and your skills, and know that rejection is part of life.

| SOCIAL

TELEMEDIA’S HANGOVER PARTY 2019 PHOTOS BY GRAHAM GRIER

On 18 January 2019, Telemedia held their annual Hangover Party at their offices in Johannesburg. Seen there were…

Trufi’s Richard Fulton and Leonard Matjila with Peter Bretherick (Telemedia)

Global Access’s John Stevens, Hlobisile Sigasa, Thabisa Mangisa and Deyasha Sukdeo

LBS’s Patsa Khotsi, Masole Motjolopane, Refiloe Taoli and Napo Rafitsoele

Victor Pereira (MultiChoice) and Richard Dawkings (Irdeto)

LNBS’s Ncheme Sekhokoane, Teboho Rangoako, Tsietsi Mohohla and Ntima Molete

Quentin Barkhuizen (Telemedia) and Anil Ranchod (Irdeto)

Urban Brew’s Sam Clark and Michael Dembousky

Jan Pienaar (Irdeto) and Andrew Louis (Telemedia)

FEBRUARY 2019

| SCREENAFRICA |

M A R KET PL AC E

UPCOMING EVENTS FEBRUARY 7 – 16 EUROPEAN FILM MARKET Berlin 7 – 17 BERLINALE Berlin 16 CANADA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL Montreal

MARCH 1 – 10 MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL Miami 8 – 10

CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL Cape Town

8 – 17 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL Texas 15 – 21 LUXOR AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL Egypt 30 – 1 APR VANCOUVER SOUTH AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL Canada

What’s your Case? The Case Connection Manufactures a range of custom made products: • Aluminium Flight Cases • Cordura Nylon Padded Bags and Covers • Wooden Flight Cases • Honeycomb Polaypropylene Cases • Polyethylene Tubes • Design and Fitting of bespoke foam interiors in any case No request is too large or too small. The Case Connection will manufacture any case to suit your requirements.

Contact David Livesey on: Cell: 083 381 4685 Tel: (011) 794 9588 Fax: (011) 794 9597 e-mail: info@caseconnection.co.za Web: www.caseconnection.co.za 1464 Vragboot Street, Laser Park, Honeydew

40 | SCREENAFRICA | FEBRUARY 2019

BROADCAST - TV & RADIO

PRO AUDIO - LIGHTING - STAGING

FILM & VIDEO PRODUCTION AUDIO VISUAL INTEGRATION

DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIO - RECORDING - DJ

TICKETPRO DOME

17-19 JULY 2019

www.mediatech.co.za

BOOK YOUR STAND TECHNOLOGY TRADE SHOW SHAPING THE WAY CREATIVITY PLAYS. CREATES. LIVES.

Organised by:

Reed Exhibitions

Publishing partners:

Â®

INTEGRATION

Technical sponsor:

AG-CX350

Memory Card Camera Recorder

High-End 1.0-type Handheld Camcorder with 4K/HDR/10-bit Capabilities. Supports IP Control, NDI | HX and RTMP Streaming.

* Future support

www.pansolutions.co.za Contact: Sean Loeve Cell: 083 677 4917 Tel: 010 449 0000