The Callsheet Issue 12

ISSUE 12 | 2014

+ TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Building a Healthy Film Industry

+ HOW TO FINANCE A FILM A Step-by-Step Guide

+ FEATURE ANIMATIONS Incubating an African 'Pixar'

CONTENTS | 01

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2.

4.

The 4th Jameson First Shot Namibia: Your Next Filming Destination

6. In Production 8. SA’s Open Air Cinemas 10. Training & Development: Building a Healthy Film Industry

16. How to Finance Your Film 18. A Chat with Kyle Lewis 20. Feature Animations – Incubating an African ‘Pixar’

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Training and Development

How to Get Film Finance

South Africa is home to some of the most cutting-edge training academies and film schools in the world. Take a look on page 10.

Kim Muller tackles one of the most difficult aspects of filmmaking. See her step-by-step guide on page 16.

22. DISCOP Africa 2014 28. A Chat with Jennifer Wheatley 29. A Chat with Arne Sack 30. AfricaCom: Transforming Africa’s Digital Economy

33. Props! Camera! Action!

34. Trash Review 35. Timbuktu Review 36. A Small Change in Thinking – Part Two

38. Zimbabwe: Breathtakingly Picturesque

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Long-form Animation

The Callsheet at DISCOP 2014

From Khumba to Moosebox, we’ve got some of the finest animators around. Go behind the scenes with the pros on page 20.

We were there for all the deals and big reveals. See the highlights from page 22.

40. Events 42. Opportunities 44. Directory

02 | NEWS

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Trigger Street Productions and Adrien Brody Launch the Fourth Year of Jameson First Shot Film Competition

All images © Jameson First Shot

Adrien Brody will play the lead in this year’s winning films

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he Jameson First Shot film competition is back for a fourth year. In partnership with Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti of Trigger Street Productions, Jameson is on the hunt for the globe’s most gifted, undiscovered filmmakers with compelling stories to tell. Three talented winners will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have their scripts turned into short films and to direct Adrien Brody in the lead role.

The winning shorts will be premiered in LA with the acclaimed team in attendance.

At the heart of the Jameson First Shot competition is the knowledge that for the wealth of filmmaking talent out there, getting a first shot in the industry is notoriously difficult. It is this insight that has compelled Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey

and Trigger Street Production President/ Producer, Dana Brunetti to champion the project since 2010.

Knowing just how difficult it is to get a break in the industry, Kevin Spacey sees it as his duty to help young talent: ‘If you’ve been successful at the career you wanted to have, it’s your obligation to spend a good portion of your time sending the elevator back down.’ The Jameson First Shot team are harnessing their collective power to do just this. Dana Brunetti, a world-class producer who will be making the winners’ films with his experienced crew, concurs: ‘Any time you can open a path for people who actually have talent to demonstrate’ says Brunetti ‘It’s a wonderful thing. Hollywood doesn’t have a monopoly on talent.’

Adrien Brody will play the lead in this year’s winning films. His own journey from unknown actor to Oscar-winner was far from easy, making him a natural match for the competition. ‘Jameson First Shot affords talented writer/directors an important gift’, affirms Brody, ‘the confidence to exercise fearlessness and the opportunity to materialise their dreams’.

Such was the overwhelming response to last year’s competition; Jameson is expanding its catchment area to give more unearthed talent the chance to enter their work. Entrants living in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia and Canada, in addition to SA, Russia and the US, are now eligible to enter.

The rules, including length and theme, can be found at www.jamesonfirstshot.com/.

04 | NAMIBIA FILM COMMISSION

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Namibia: Your next filming destination Mad Max: Fury Road stars Charlize Theron

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he Namibia Film Commission (NFC) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to develop local filming in Namibia while marketing the country as a preferred filming destination.

Through the NFC, International Film Production Companies are informed about Namibia as a film friendly country, with unique and unexploited film locations, low crime rate, professional and experienced film crews and state-of-the-art infrastructure. As a result, big budget films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Flight of the Phoenix, and 10 000 BC, were successfully filmed in Namibia.

The NFC issues film permits and assists international film-production companies with the facilitation of their work visas. It also provides information on local crew and technical services, location scouts, aviation services, catering, transport, accommodation and telecommunications facilities.

Namibia – Africa’s best kept secret.

What are Namibia’s unique selling points in terms of a film location?

Mad Max: Fury Road was filmed in Namibia

Namibia’s unique selling points are its unique exotic locations, infrastructures, law and securities and ever-improving skilled cast and crew.

The other attribute is the current film profile that Namibia enjoys: Beyond Borders (Angelina Jolie), The Cell (Jennifer Lopez), Flight of the Phoenix (Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi), Zulu/City of Violence (Forest Whittaker, Orlando Bloom), The Priest (Jim Caviezel, Ian McKellen) and the forthcoming attraction Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.

Please tell us about some of the productions that filmed in Namibia recently?

We had a lot of wildlife documentaries and travel and food TV shows. Our biggest show was the reality TV series, Amazing Race.

Which productions have been confirmed for 2015?

There are number of big productions interested in filming in Namibia, but haven’t confirmed yet. But there will certainly be big productions next year.

All images © Warner Bros Entertainment 2014

Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road

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Big budget films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Flight of the Phoenix, and 10 000 BC, were successfully filmed in Namibia.

NEWS | 05

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Thank You

inkomu ngiyabonga dankie enkosi ngiyathakoza SIYABONGA ke a KE A LEBOHA ro livhuwa ndo livhuwa leboha

for an amazing three years!

To all our producers and their teams: Amanda, Andea, Andre, Anel, Angela, Annelie, Anton, Barbara, Barend, Barry, Berdene, Bianca, Binge, Brad, Brett, Bridget P, Bridget S, Brigit, Bronwyn, Candice, Carolyn, Cheryl, Christianne, Christine, Cindy, Claire, Craig, Damon, Dan, Danie B, David k, Danie v R, David F, David MB, David S, Deon, Duba, Dumi, Dylan, Eduan, Edward, Edwin, Elizabeth, Elmaire, Fatima, Fidel, Floris, Florian, Frank, Gail, Genevieve, Gill, Grant, Gray, Helena, Kagiso, Kealotswe, Ken, Ilze, Irina, Isaac, Jacky,

Jennifer, Jeremia, Jeremy, Johan, John, JP, Judy, Kalumbu, Katinka, Kethiwe, Kim, Koos, Lance, Laura, Lerlynn, Leon, Llewelynn, Loraine, Louis, Lucia, Mandlakaysle, Marlow, Matsobane, Maynard, Mayra, Marvin, Melinda, Michael, Moroba, Nicola, Niel, Nodi, Nompumelelo, Odette, Oliver, Paulo, Petrus, Philo, Pushpinder, Ramadan, Ras, Robert, Rory, Ross, Sallas, Sara, Saskia, Schalk, Sean, Sharon, Sone, Starlyn, Stefan, Stefania, Tendeka, Thebogo, Theresa, Thierry, Tiaan, Victoria, Vlokkie, Walter, and Zaheer.

To our legals eagles: Amy, Sarita, Anchane, And our HQ network of amazing people: Paulo, Rob, Carol, Denise, Francis, Mogana, Mookgo, Johnny and Sushi From all of us at:

American Film Market 2014

Global buyer attendance sees increase from Latin America and the Middle East

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he 2014 American Film Market (AFM®) wrapped its 35th edition after 7,946 attendees visited the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica for the eight day market.

The AFM again was host to a truly global market, with 1,670 buyers coming from over 70 different countries. Of the 794 registered buyer companies, 90 were new to the AFM. The market saw a 3% increase and an uptick in overall buyers from last year, with a notable growth in buyers from Latin America (up 34%) and Asia (up 8%). Overall exhibitor attendance was up 1% from last year with 2,825 executives from exhibiting companies from over 40 countries, with the largest number of exhibitors coming from the United Kingdom, France and Japan, after the USA. Overall industry attendees, the non-buyers and sellers that include Attorneys, Bankers, Festivals, Film Commissions, Filmmakers, Financiers, Post Production Facilities,

Producers, Studio Facilities, and Writers finished at 2,624, up 1% from last year’s numbers. The repetition of strong attendance reflects the AFM’s expanded programs for production community including the Conference Series, Roundtables, Conversations, and Producers Forums. The AFM screened 432 films with 352 Market Premieres, 85 World Premieres and a total of 654 screenings across the AFM Campus in Santa Monica.

The popular five-day AFM Conference Series showcasing sessions on Financing, Pitching, Production, Marketing and Distribution featured global industry leaders including: Brett Ratner (producer), Cassian Elwes (Independent Producer), Tobin Ambrust (Exclusive), Mark Damon (Foresight Unlimited), Mark Gill (Millennium), Rena Ronson (UTA), Emanuel Nunez (Paradigm), Russell Schwartz (Relativity), John Sloss (Cinetic), and Nicolas Gonda (Tugg). The AFM Conference Series, which launched four years ago, hosted

international audiences of more than 700 daily.

The second year of the AFM Producers Forum brought together experienced producers from around the world, to learn and network at the AFM. The 16 forum sessions touched on a wide range of topics from working with sales agents to digital delivery to the future of independent film financing, led by experts including: Ben Browning and Aaron Ryder (FilmNation), Stephan Paternot (Slated Inc), producers Ted Hope and Clark Peterson, and Clay Epstein (Arclight Films).

This year’s Roundtables and Conversations featured notable industry elites including Wei Han (Bliss Media), filmmaker and comedian Adam Carolla, Meyer Schwarzstein (Brainstorm Media), Caroline Stern (Kaleidoscope Film Distribution), and many more.

06 | IN PRODUCTION

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IN PRODUCTION December 2014 Thanks to ever-present confidentiality clauses, no one is ever allowed to officially talk about what’s in production in Africa, so this monthly section is an unofficial overview of the industry’s worst-kept secrets.

Dias Santana, Eye In The Sky, Homeland, The Last Face and Tremors 5 all wrapped in November, but there’s still plenty of work to go round.

Black Sails The pirates are coming back to Cape Town Film Studios for season three of Black Sails, which premieres on Starz on 24 January 2015, according to Deadline.

The first season of the Treasure Island prequel set a viewership record of a Starz original series and won two Emmy Awards. Film Afrika is producing.

of the dumbest, worst-acted, most poorly written series I’ve seen in ages.”

So the South African industry will be relieved to know that it still screened to over two million total viewers in June, according to Deadline, and has been renewed for a 13-episode second season, expected to start filming in January 2015.

Film Afrika is producing.

Bluestone 42

Mohenjo Daro

Out in Africa has been shooting the third season of Bluestone 42, a comedy drama series following the lives of a bomb disposal detachment serving in Afghanistan. The BBC Three series has an impressive 79% rating on IMDB.

Variety says Ashutosh Gowariker (Oscarnominated crossover hit Lagaan) is directing Mohenjo Daro, an epic period adventure and love story set during the Indus Valley Civilization. Disney Studios India is producing, while Hrithik Roshan and Miss India Universe 2010 runnerup Pooja Hegde will co-star. Digital Spy says the film will start shooting in January after a six-week delay caused by Roshan injuring his shoulder.

Colonia

Emma Watson © Marco Bond

Emma Watson stars in this love story set against the backdrop of the 1973 Chilean military coup. Directed by Florian Gallenberger, the film has finished its shoot in Luxembourg and is moving on to Germany and South Africa before the end of the year, according to Movieweb.

Dominion Season one of Syfy’s Dominion had mixed reviews, with a 70% rating on IMDB, a 47% metascore on Metacritic, and a brutal review in The Hollywood Reporter, where Tim Goodman called the angels versus humans drama “one

Twee Grade van Moord The Afrikaans crime drama Twee Grade van Moord wraps mid-December. Sandra Prinsloo and Marius Weyers co-star in a story of love, death and euthanasia.

“Two women, two murders. One reflects the ultimate act of self-centredness, the other the greatest selfless act of them all.” Gerrit Schoonhoven is directing and Barry Strick is producing through Inverse Films.

Wallander The fourth and final season of Wallander will be shot partly in Cape Town. Based on Henning Mankell’s bestselling novels, the BAFTA-winning TV series stars Kenneth Branagh as the titular detective.

The Cape Town episode will be based on the novel, The White Lioness, which is set in South Africa at the time of our transition to democracy.

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IN PRODUCTION | 07

08 | SPOTLIGHT

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LET'S GO OUTSIDE! A Roundup of SA's Open Air Cinemas

by Kim Muller

The Galileo Open Air Cinema at Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town ©The Galileo Open Air Cinema/Retroyspective

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here’s nothing better than enjoying a beautiful summer evening outside… and what better way to explore the warm night than with a cinematic outdoor experience? Just a few years ago Johannesburg closed the last of its drive-ins and open air cinemas were practically unheard of. But no more! A number of theatres have popped up over the summertime and beyond to bring you the best in classic, independent and just plain awesome movies.

1. The Galileo The Galileo is well-known for its annual summer shows in Kirstenbosch Gardens in Cape Town and most recently for its additional open air cinemas at the V&A Waterfront, Hillcrest Quarry in Durbanville and the Cape Winelands in Somerset West and Stellenbosch. Line-ups include romantic comedies, cult classics, adventure sports, doccies and action flicks such

as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Notting Hill, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Avatar and The Breakfast Club. The cinemas will be open most evenings throughout the summer holidays, with screenings between 8pm and 10pm. For the full line-up, visit www.thegalileo.co.za.

2. Wavescape Surf Film Festival Nothing beats the beach in the summer – and Wavescape knows this. The annual surf film festival is now in its 11th year and takes place in Durban in July and in Cape Town in December.

Although it travels to venues across the city, Wavescape is also set to host a number of free, open-air screenings at Clifton Beach on 6 December. Some of these include Ode to Simplicity, Disguised by Nature, Edges of Insanity, as well as the launch of the new Mill Park Series.

For more info or to attend other screenings, visit www.wavescapefestival.com.

3. Epic Cinemas Epic Cinemas is the premier open air cinema company, providing a full outdoor movie service with giant, inflatable screens, projectors, sound systems and generators to clients wanting to host their own theatre under the stars. The operation is completely mobile so can be set up in any appropriate open space. The cinema also hosts regular screenings at Northridge Mall in Bloemfontein; the most recent one being Magic in the Moonlight on 31 October 2014. To subscribe to their newsletter with upcoming events, visit www.epiccinemas.co.za.

4. The Bioscope Independent Cinema The Bioscope is an innovative, indoor, independent cinema located in downtown Johannesburg. It screens films every night of the week, with an aim to increase the diversity of content on South African cinema screens. The

SPOTLIGHT | 09

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© The Bioscope Outdoor Cinema

venue has become an important cultural space since its inception. The Bioscope currently helps play a fundamental role in growing new markets for films and developing local audiences. The 62-seat theatre holds special outdoor cinema screenings on occasion during warmer weather. Visit www.thebioscope. co.za/outdoorcinema for details.

5. Short & Sweet Full Moon Drive-Ins and SunsetCinemas

©Michael Currin

Short & Sweet host Full Moon Drive-Ins and Sunset-Cinemas

6. Pink Flamingo at the Grand Daddy Set amongst seven vintage Airstream trailers on the rooftop of the Grand Daddy Hotel, the Pink Flamingo Cinema is a celebration of the silver screen. It is open all year round – although certain shows are cancelled in bad weather – and includes a gourmet picnic with bubbly and blankets to those who want an opulent film experience. Films for the

A still image from seachangeproject.com

summer include There’s Something About Mary, Tombstone, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, The Lion King, The Grinch that Stole Christmas and The Untouchables. Visit their website for the full line-up: www.granddaddy.co.za/ pinkflamingo.

7. PopUp Cinema PopUp Cinema is a reinvention and reliving of the magic of the drive-in days. It’s a rather family-friendly event with popcorn, slushies and other refreshments available from vendors.

Their last event for 2014 is a screening of Home Alone on 12 December, but those interested in attending at a later date can subscribe to their regular updates for upcoming events. More information at www.popupcinema.co.za.

8. Areena Areena Riverside Resort, a four-star holiday escape along the Wild Coast of the Eastern

©Wavescape Film Festival

©Wavescape Film Festival

Short & Sweet introduced itself to South Africa not too long ago, but has already found a home in movie-lovers’ hearts. Since its launch in SA, it has pioneered the now massively popular open air cinema trend, with dozens of patented Sunset-Cinema screenings across the country. Its Full Moon Drive-In in Cape Town has revived a much-loved sector of the market that died along with the last of the drive-ins in 2011. According to Founder and Curator Julia Stephenson, the plan is to host weekly outdoor cinema experiences, drive-ins and silent sunset screenings from February to April 2015. See www.shortandsweet.tv for the next event.

The Bioscope Outdoor Cinema in Johannesburg

Wavescape Surf Film Festival at Clifton Beach

Cape, hosts its own Open Air Cinema and Night Market annually. Although the event takes place only once a year, turnout is usually great, with lots of family fun to be had. Areena hosts a number of other open-air cinema screenings; the next few are set to take place in late February or early March and details can be found on their official website (www.areenaresort.com).

9. Darling Country Darling Country Open Air Cinema is a great chance for families and friends to enjoy a night of classics and comedies under the stars. Held in the garden at Darling Lodge, this cinema is only opened on two days of the year – the 23rd and 24th of January 2015. It is ideal for an evening away from the city in the real outdoors, and if you’re planning a week-long holiday, you can catch the Darling Music Experience just one week later. For more information, visit www.darlingtourism.co.za.

10 | FEATURE

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The Cape Town Campus © AFDA

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

The Building Blocks of a Healthy Film Industry by Kim Muller

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outh Africa’s creative economy has grown immensely in recent years, partly as a result of the many training courses and development programmes currently available to prospective students. Another reason for rapid growth in the sector – specifically in filmmaking and performance arts – has

been the increased amount of productions shooting on location. This, in turn, has led to an increase in demand and as such has also spawned a number of multimediafocused institutions offering courses in film production, screenwriting, animation and others.

One of the main establishments in

South Africa is AFDA, The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance, which has campuses in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban; while SAE, the School of Audio Engineering, has recently launched a number of film courses for those interested in studying creative media. Other well-known educational

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© SAE Institute

Students doing practical film training at SAE Institute in Woodstock, Cape Town

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facilities include The Animation School in Cape Town, the Centre for Fine Art, Animation and Design (CFAD) based in Cape Town and Durban, CityVarsity, School of Media and Creative Arts in Braamfontein and Cape Town, and a number of other tertiary institutions with fully fledged media and technology courses – Vaal University of Technology, University of Cape Town, Wits University and Rhodes to name a few.

AFDA was not always the upstanding school we know today, says Garth Holmes, Chairman and Founder. “AFDA was conceived 20 years ago on the wave of optimism created by the 1994 democratic elections and the earlier fall of the Berlin Wall,” he says. “We started out – myself, Deon Opperman and Bata Passchier – with a broken VCR, a rented TV and six students.

A friend of mine, Irma Sergeant, managed to get a friend of hers, Des Laubscher, to give us a small store room from which we operated in the very early days.” Since then, AFDA has become synonymous with filmmaking and performing arts through “an absolute desire to be nothing but the best,” says Holmes. These days, the school offers one of the most diverse and integrated number of disciplines available to students across the globe. “Most importantly,” he continues, “we offer these disciplines in a collaborative and integrated learning system which we have devised to encourage research, thinking and the acquisition of conceptual and perceptual thinking and doing for our graduates. We are not an industry focused institution (although we understand that this is important), but rather an audience focused institution.”

Franco Human is a living, breathing example of AFDA’s success in the industry.

Not only is he a proud alumnus of the academy, but he is also the current Dean and COO or their Durban Campus. After graduating he became a junior lecturer and over the years grew with AFDA. “I am now part of the bigger picture with creating and growing our industry and the South African economy at large,” he says. He believes that it is vital for youth to be exposed to the entertainment industry because “it is the industry that feeds our nation and our global community with information and entertainment that can make you cry, smile, laugh and learn.

“We have a well of stories to tell in South Africa and this well is deep and full of water,” he continues. “We need to tell these

AFDA was conceived 20 years ago on the wave of optimism created by the 1994 democratic elections and the earlier fall of the Berlin Wall.

stories to our nation first and then the globe.

We use our medium and craft to educate as well as to entertain… an interesting fact is that many believe that being a ‘creative’ or wanting to study ‘the arts’ is a meaningless and worthless degree, which is a misconception of the past.”

AFDA Chairman Garth Holmes echoes his sentiments: “Filmmaking or motion pictures is the literature of the future – it is how we communicate on local and international platforms. Local film defines our local culture, our dreams, aspirations and fears. We are in the infancy of discovering our unique South African voice and cultural

relevance,” he explains. “South Africans are always going on about how many stories we have at our disposal – this is true, we do have a treasure trove of cultural relevance and strong emotional relevance. The difficult part is shaping it into an engaging screenplay and then fashioning that into a great movie.”

Thinus Mathee is Course Coordinator and Senior Lecturer in Photography & Multimedia, in the Department of Visual Arts & Design at Vaal University of Technology.

The school has been offering commercial photography education for over 30 years, building an audio-visual section onto that course five years later, which has since

12 | FEATURE

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© SAE Institute

morphed into a full production facility in the following 10 years. “Monitoring the changes in the photography education landscape, we decided to make a drastic change to our course direction,” Mathee explains, “The DSLR technology matured, not only in stills technology, but also in video or motion capture and sound. Three years ago we decided to reconceptualise the course towards a media-inclusive course which will provide seamless education in stills, motion and sound.”

Mathee says that all media fields are particularly important because they provide strong platforms for expressions and for creating awareness. “Whether it is a commercial product or a personally motivated communication piece, the combination of visual and sound media remains the most powerful communication available. Expressing yourself through your media is also becoming more and more paramount to delivering a message that is more honest and transfusing,” he explains.

At the forefront of audio and visual message delivery is SAE. The school has been around since the mid-seventies, although the Cape Town branch is a rather recent

development. The institute currently has over 50 campuses across 27 countries and has set the benchmark for post-secondary education in creative media technologies the world over. “SAE is constantly engaged with the film industry and our colleagues across the globe to ensure currency of our curriculum and equipment, to facilitate authentic employment pathways and graduates that are humble, astute and prepared for hard work,” says Bryce Hepburn, Head of SAE’s Film Department. Although their focus was originally on audio, they currently offer a BA in Film Production, a Higher Certificate in Digital Film Production and most recently, the Guerilla Video Production course – a snappy, eight-week module for anyone wanting to expand their motion-capture capabilities.

One of the many ways in which SAE has been successful is in its use of digital technology to ensure students are on par with current trends. “The digital era of filmmaking has presented an ever-changing evolution of the expected standards of gear – there is a new, better and faster camera body released every year. We approach the gear selection for our teaching and learning

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Whether it is a commercial product or a personally motivated communication piece, the combination of visual and sound media remains the most powerful communication available. Expressing yourself through your media is also becoming more and more paramount to delivering a message that is more honest and transfusing.

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Editing suites at SAE Institute in Woodstock, Cape Town

© SAE Institute

SAE Campus in Woodstock, Cape Town

Name of Institute

Location

Practical Training?

Website

AFDA

Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban

Yes

www.afda.co.za

The Animation School

Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban

Yes

www.theanimationschool.co.za

Boston Media House

Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town, Durban

In Non Linear Editing

www.boston.co.za

CFAD

Durban, Cape Town

Yes

www.cfad.co.za

CityVarsity

Cape Town, Johannesburg

Yes, 16mm and 35mm

www.cityvarsity.co.za

F.I.L.M.

Cape Town

Yes

www.filmsa.co.za

NFVF SEBIDA Programmes

Johannesburg

Yes

www.nfvf.co.za

Rhodes University

Grahamstown

No

www.ru.ac.za

SAE

Cape Town

Yes

www.capetown.sae.edu

The Wits School of Arts

Johannesburg

Yes

wsoa.wits.ac.za

Tshwane University of Technology

Tshwane

Yes

www.tut.ac.za

Vaal University of Technology

Vereeniging surrounds

Yes

www.vut.ac.za

through scrutinising the workflows we believe will become standards in the near future, and adjust our equipment and curricula accordingly,” says Hepburn. A focus on content is also a unique way in which they have approached the digital era. “With the dramatic lowering of barriers to entry to filmmaking, we have chosen to concentrate on content. Access to affordable equipment has never been easier; many people are now fortunate to have a camera at the flick of a button on their mobile phone! What has not become more accessible is the knowledge of what makes a film or visual production a good one.”

CityVarsity, another well-known tertiary institute in the Cape Town area with an

additional campus in Joburg, houses state of the art sound facilities, film studios including an infinity wall, a photography area with a dark room and casting rooms for art direction, labs for animation and more. Established in 1996, the institution rapidly cemented itself as one of the go-to creative arts schools in South Africa. “Our students’ lifestyles are enriched by the proximity to media and creative industries surrounding these campuses. With a strong emphasis on practical work across all media disciplines, our graduates walk out of our doors with a portfolio of relevant work to prospective employers. This constant handson approach provides our graduates with a distinct advantage in the career market,” their website says.

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Access to affordable equipment has never been easier; many people are now fortunate to have a camera at the flick of a button on their mobile phone! What has not become more accessible is the knowledge of what makes a film or visual production a good one.

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According to Donovan Cook, CityVarsity’s Head of Animation, the course is set for a revamp in the near future. Cook is a pioneer in Cape Town’s animation community.

With bucket loads of experience, he was at one point very involved with starting the animation curriculum at CFAD Cape Town along with the current Campus Principal Wynand Lens. “CFAD is actually a Durban company and TouchVision is a sales company so they were selling the software and that’s why they needed technical experts,” he says of CFAD Cape Town’s beginnings. “So we came in and said, let’s teach this [animation] course during the day, and answer the clients in the evening. Then when the global financial crisis happened, they said, ‘we have to let you guys go because we’ve got to concentrate on sales’.

During that process, CFAD in Durban decided that they wanted to open a Cape Town branch and bought the school.”

Growing the local talent pool is no easy feat, but one most lecturers and industry leaders are positive about. Many believe that South Africa now has a healthy film industry, despite many challenges along the way.

“There is substantial growth in the South African film industry through the abundance of local and international productions being shot locally, the affordability of quality film equipment, and content for online delivery,”

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Student life on all of AFDA’s campuses© AFDA

Alumni Wall of Fame With so many students opting to study multimedia, it’s difficult to keep track of what everyone has done after graduating…but there are a few former film and multimedia students that have hit the big time.

Here they are: Vaal University of Technology • Media 24 senior photographer Felix Dlangamandl • Advertising top dog Michael Lewis • Renowned war photographer Joao Silva • Internationally acclaimed press photographer Herman Verwey AFDA Johannesburg • Ca van Aswegen • Danie Bester • Henk Pretorius • Mandla Ndimande and Tumi Masemola (Black Brain and Gang of Instrumentals) • Marc Sidelsky • Norman Maake • Robert Malpage • Tapelo Moekena • Terence Neale • Tom Marais • Tristan Holmes • Zee Ntuli

says SAE Film Department Head, Bryce Hepburn. “We believe these aspects are very positive evidence for young filmmakers wanting to enter the film industry to pursue exciting and lucrative careers.”

Franco Human is excited about the prospects in South Africa. “Where better to be, overseas fighting for a job or in SA where there are many opportunities to grow. I believe SA has a lot to offer our current industry and our graduating students. It is a very healthy place to be if you see the opportunities that present themselves to you and embrace them.”

Thinus Mathee of VUT has a more guarded

opinion on what’s in store in the next five to 10 years for the film industry, saying that there are too many stories and too few dedicated and skilled media producers to share them.

“However difficult it might be, I think is time for South Africans to care and look after their heritage in a respectful yet truthful way. Our painful past is embedded in the fundamental flaw of humanity – a perpetual cycle of making mistakes. Reminding us of this without inciting more racial or political hatred might help future generations to not look at the ‘other’ suspiciously and critically, but rather realise that we are part of the same and bigger story.”

AFDA Cape Town • Corne van Rooyen (Hollywood in My Huis) • Etienne Fourie (Die Windpomp) • Jacques Koudstra and Letisha Duarte • Jozua Malherbe (Donkerland) • Keenen Arrisson • Kyle Lewis • Shimmey Isaacs SAE International • Daniel Abbot • Georgia Ardill-Walker • Kieran Harris • Steefan van Jaarsveld • Tabata Piccinelli

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© Steve Woods

HOW TO FUND YOUR FILM A Step by Step Guide

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o you’re a filmmaker and you’ve just written your screenplay. It’s an amazing, action-packed adventure that you’re sure the world will adore.

But where to from here? How do you go about financing a film? Who offers funding and what are you required to show them in order to procure said funding? The financing of any production can be an arduous process, so it’s incredibly important to have at least an idea of what to expect.

“Raising financing for a film has become such a hair-raising and complex task, it’s almost as creative and difficult a process as making the damned film itself,” Luiz de Barros writes in an article on SA Film.org.

“Ultimately it all depends on your film’s budget. Generally, if it is a very low-budget project, then financing it is fairly easy. If it’s a medium-sized budget, it may actually more difficult to finance than a higher budget film.”

There are many different types of funding for films but two main types encompass them all: non film industry sources and film industry investors. Non-industry investor could be your rich Uncle Sam, credit cards, or even a bank loan, while film industry sources are, as the name suggests, a person or company that finances films as part of its usual business. This includes investors, distributors, broadcasters, studios and individuals – not to mention applying for grants, deferred payments and other strategies.

Step 1 Know Your Product “It’s important to think beyond the creative value of the film,” says Rafeeqah Galant, a filmmaker at Echo Ledge Productions. She recently pitched her film Nyanga Sky at the Durban FilmMart along with her production partner Matthew Griffiths. “As filmmakers we are wholly invested in our projects and stories, but funders are looking at the bigger picture – what the life of the film will be and where the film will fit in the South African as well as global film world. When applying for funding you must be able to objectively see what the funders are looking to support, and structure your projects to fulfil that need,” she explains.

Wesgro is the official Investment and Trade promotion agency for the Western Cape. Monica Rorvik, who manages Film and Production, agrees that films are difficult to sell to investors. “When matching projects to prospective investors, there is the challenge of getting the film project to speak the language of equity finance.”

Step 2 Plan Ahead Applying for funding of any sort can be a long and laborious process, so be sure to plan ahead for it. “For funding, in my experience, the greatest challenge is time,” says Galant, “It takes lot of time to do, and applications can become quite costly – especially if you are

running on nothing. Then, once submitted, and even successful, it can take a long time to be realised, to get the money into the bank.”

Galant goes on to say that the timing factor is particularly difficult because most film projects have an ebb and flow – a momentum that as a creative you might not want to lose.

“The way I try to counter this is to know what to apply for, and when,” Galant says. “As a producer you need to do the research, you must know what funds you qualify for and what sort of projects those funds are looking for. Then you need to structure how you are going to apply for things and know how you will use the wins or the losses for your next decision. So there’s always a plan for how you are going to get to 100% funded.”

Step 3 Get Help Rorvik says that Wesgro offers filmmakers help during the funding application process.

“There is a project mentoring facility that helps projects plan their approach to regional, national and international funding markets,” she explains. “Some projects are considering approaching equity funds and that can be an area where Wesgro’s experience can help.

Wesgro also offers a number of upskilling programmes to companies wishing to become more export ready such as EDP2, 3 and EDP PUM, as well as Wesgro Connect, which is a significant mentoring project.”

A number of production companies like

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© FFWC 2014

Moonlighting and ZenHQ also offer support and help throughout the application process, particularly for filmmakers who are on their own. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has also recently issued a tax guide to film production incentives. It provides for the exemption from normal tax of income derived from the exploitation rights of approved films. Simply put, the filmmaker’s receipts and accruals of income are tax exempt if the NFVF has approved the film as a local or coproduction, or if the income is received by or accrues to an investor.

Step 4 Apply, Apply, Apply This is the point that’s arguably the most gruelling – the official paperwork. There are a number of government initiatives in South Africa that offer funding, the main ones being the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). There are also film commissions in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape that offer some finance or can facilitate various funding options.

The DTI offers industry-specific incentives to encourage local content generation and to attract international productions. These consist of the Foreign Film & Television Production and Post-Production Incentive, the South African Film & Television Production and Co-Production Incentive and the South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive, which aims to assist, nurture and grow local talent.

“It is important for producers to appoint an experienced production accountant as poor financial management could result in the DTI not paying out the full rebate amount,” Andre Pietersen, Organiser of Film Finance World Conference warns. He has a similar warning for non-governmental applications: “Basically, the devil is in the fine print,” he says, “It is important that producers pay attention to the small print in the agreements they sign. Financiers require a completion bond to be in place before committing funding and therefore it is important for producers to know that completion bond agents have the right to take over a production and replace key talent like the director should they feel it is in the best interest of the production and the financiers.”

Paul Raleigh of Hollard Film Guarantors

The Film Finance World Conference 2014

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Soft Money – This comes in the form of grants offered through various agencies like the NFVF and others. Soft Money generally does not require repayment by filmmakers.

Rebates – This is the biggest financier in SA. The DTI offers 35% rebates for local productions and co-productions that fall under a treaty. Emerging black filmmakers can receive a 50% rebate for the first R6-million of qualifying expenditure.

Crowd Funding – This is a very popular avenue for low-budget films. Here, producers raise funds through public offerings, family and friends.

Equity Funding – These are investors who put money in a film to have a stake in the production. There is very little equity or debt finance available to filmmakers in SA, although it is a widely

says that these bonds or completion guarantees essentially ensure that the film is finished and delivered in terms of the contract. “Hollard will provide finishing funds if required, but we are not a blank cheque,” he says. “We are a safety net for the producers when production problems outside of their control cause cost overruns. The bulk of these films have budgets under R10-million and we underwrite internally.” Hollard has a checklist of required documents which changes depending on the finance structures for the film, Raleigh explains. “Finance structures should be in place before we

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recognised phenomenon internationally.

Unfortunately this is mainly due to the lack of commercial viability of most SA films.

Pay TV Windows – Filmmakers can fund a portion of their production by pre-selling the pay TV rights to broadcasters.

Commissioning – Certain channels such as SABC1, eTV and Mzansi Magic fund films by commissioning them – although the broadcaster will retain all the film’s rights.

Investment – These are equity investors who invest money in a film to have a stake in the production.

Loan – Not a popular option for filmmakers as it carries high interest rates and often requires collateral.

Bridging Finance – This is a loan taken against funds guaranteed such as DTI rebates, pre-sales to distributors or product-placement funding.

proceed, however in the spirit of growing the film industry we try to stay close to the producers while they build their production.”

Hollard isn’t the only company offering completion guarantees and other funding. A number of companies such as South Africa Media Capital (SAMCAP) offer interim or bridging finance, rebate finance and gap finance, while renowned companies like Film Finances provide financiers with a service that gives them assurance that the film will be delivered on time – and that overbudget costs wouldn’t be the financier’s responsibility.

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Interview with

KYLE LEWIS

on Tumi's In Defence

of My Art

by Carryn Gabriels © Bryce Lewis

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n Defence of My Art (IDOMA), by Tumi ft Reason and Zyon is in simple terms a music video creating waves in the industry, created by a director doing the same.

SAMA award winner for his previous works, Sleepwalker by The Parlotones, Kyle Lewis stretches the boundaries of visual stimulation in his latest masterpiece IDOMA. With rather harsh visual imagery communicating poignant social commentary, this music video transposes time and reality both in the direction of the cinematography, as well as the world we live in today.

Gabriels: What goes in to the CGI to create such a visually stimulating video?

Lewis: In fact IDOMA has not a single CGI shot in it; all the effects and lighting were done on camera. My incredible cinematographer Roscoe Vercueil is like me: he wants to test boundaries and play around with old techniques. I’m a strong believer in doing as much on camera as possible to get an organic surreal shot, rather than relying on CGI. Gabriels: Would you say it is your signature to incorporate high res slow-mo’s, time lapses, and blurs as seen in Parlotones - Sleepwalker and Toya Delazy – Forbidden Fruit?

Lewis: I always have tried to avoid a signature but I think these things happen naturally. I love surreal, dream-like photography; it inspires me greatly. Playing around with crystals and old

Kyle Lewis, conceiver of In Defense of My Art

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Carryn Gabriels: What inspired the idea, imagery, and ultimate feel for this video?

Kyle Lewis: What inspired me at first was Tumi himself and his direction to me: “Make it big and make it bold.” I could let my imagination run free with this one. I think what makes a strong video is if you truly have something to say. With IDOMA I could express a side of me that wants social change and has darker thoughts. The look has strong juxtaposition elements which I think make them more powerful. We have a visual movement happening in our country at the moment; it feels political and revolutionary and that’s what inspired my video. A South African voice.

With rather harsh visual imagery communicating poignant social commentary, this music video transposes time and reality.

old microscopes in front of lens is my thing.

move forward and break our past ties.

Gabriels: Was it deliberate to spark controversy with the imagery in the IDOMA music video (the massive guns, bullets, women chained etc.)?

Lewis: We didn’t want controversy, more than just creating awareness. The song has themes of defending what you believing in, no matter if it shakes tail feathers or not.

All these elements in the video express my concern about Africa’s influence from the West. Elements of war and anarchy are being glamourised and that is what we are trying to say. The girls in chains represent the exploitation of woman in hip hop. I wanted the images to be hard-hitting to give the viewer a call to action.

Gabriels: What would you like audiences to take from the display of cultures in the video (gumboot dancing, tribal men, army general)?

Lewis: That it’s a visual celebration of iconic African elements. There’s the good, the bad and the rough, and I love it. There is so much beauty in our country visually and I wanted to celebrate that in my own artistic way.

Gabriels: Is there comment directed at the countries whose flags are on Reason’s cloak? Or is there any other significance of these?

Lewis: The flag represents a past oppression, where not everyone was awarded the rights of freedom of expression. By discarding it, we

Gabriels: Now a SAMA award-winning director, how did you first get into directing music videos? And what advice do you have for aspiring directors in Africa?

Lewis: I started in my first year of film school. I would take anything and everything under the sun, you name it. When you are in film school, you can afford to make mistakes and learn.

Start now and you will see that eventually you get the budgets and creative freedom you want. I was very lucky in that my first ever video was Locnville Sun in my Pocket, which turned into a massive hit, so you never know where your successes might come from!

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Khumba © Triggerfish

FEATURE ANIMATIONS Incubating an African 'Pixar'

by Kim Muller

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outh Africa has long had a handle on the continent’s animation industry, although much of it has been in the commercial and shorts fields until just a couple of years ago. It wasn’t until Triggerfish released Adventures in Zambezia and subsequently the hugely popular Khumba that the world sat up and took notice. Since then, the animation industry has been a hive of activity.

Phiroza Gorvalla is Production Manager at Bubblegum, a relatively new company that’s making waves in local circles. She says that although the industry is in its infancy, there are so many exciting things going on right now. Not least of these is the fact that Bubblegum will be launching a new kiddie channel as a 24-hour platform for local animated content on the back of the digital switchover. “This means now that we can get

all the companies that are here to change their focus from [predominantly] international to local [content creation],” she explains. But there are challenges to ramping up on staff and equipment, one of those being a lack of voice-over artists and storyboard artists. To combat this and to grow the talent pool in South Africa, Bubblegum is on outreach. “You go to UCT’s drama school [for example] and you tell them, ‘listen guys, animation needs brilliant voice artists. Why don’t you come over and let us record you for a few sessions?’

And you know, the kids are so excited and we’re excited to work with the kids because there are so many young, talented guys out there. Real gems.”

Anthony Silverston, one of Triggerfish’s founding partners and co-writer and director of Khumba, says the goal for them is to create an animation hub for the continent.

“We built up our pipeline and started with a 12 minute piece, then a 30 minute piece,” he says of Triggerfish’s beginnings. “At the time in South Africa, I think that was the longest single piece of animation ever done. Then in 2009 we got our funding for Zambezia, and we started that and overlapped with Khumba.

We finished that in May last year and released it in October, and since then we’re trying to really focus on creating a proper development pipeline so that we can release one film a year.

Because it’s such a long process, we realise that it’s great to have more than one project in development at one time so that pressure is not put on only one project.” Triggerfish now has a few projects in development, as well as some service work including Stickman, a 24-minute Christmas special. “We want to focus on premier quality animation – we don’t want to do the sweat shop, we don’t want

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We want to focus on premier quality animation – we don’t want to do the sweat shop, we don’t want to churn out stuff.

future for the nation’s animation industry.

“South Africa’s animation, visual effects and post-production industries all appear to be booming at the moment. With a number of successful feature films under our belt, a healthy production rebate in place and a vast improvement in the quality of local animation education and training, there is plenty of work at the moment. I would say we are definitely ready to take on more featurelength animations and visual effects intensive feature work. In fact, this is already happening in pockets in Johannesburg and Cape Town.” © Mike Scott

Mike Scott’s 8-bit short Moosebox © Mike Scott

Moosebox's heroine, CatBox

Mike Scott and Anthony Silverston developing characters © Bubblegum

to churn out stuff. Stickman is an 18-month project, a very prestigious project based on one of the most widely read children’s books in the world, probably.”

Another development in the works is Mike Scott’s Moosebox. This short was part of an international competition and was picked up

by Nickelodeon, who asked for a two-minute pilot. The short is completely pixelated in true, 8-bit video game format, making it incredibly unique and absolutely adorable. Although 8-bit animation seems to be a favourite style for Mike (see his music video for local band The Kiffness), it remains to be seen as to whether the entire show would be done like this or just certain parts. The main reason for this is that each pixel has to be drawn in in Photoshop before it can be animated, whereas creating a series presents the problem of obvious time constraints. “They tested it with kids and they seem to like it,” he says nonchalantly.

“I’m developing it for an 11-minute show so I’m getting all the characters sorted out, the worlds, so that we can come up with a bible to give anyone – then they’ll have an idea of what the show’s about.”

Animators have also been showing their chops at the 48 Hour Film Project, which took place in late November. Cape Town participants had the following brief: create a film between 4 and 7 minutes in length that includes a detective character named Adriaan Stemmet or Amy Stemmet, a wet sponge and the line, “I thought it was you.” Triggerfish submitted a darling story called The Case of the Disappearing Daddy, which bagged Best Sound and second runner up for Best Film, while a few other animators banded together to create a unique 3D animation about an unhappy detective with a Cinderella twist.

Other African cities that participated were Johannesburg, Durban, Gaborone, Nairobi, Cairo and Tunis.

Although the issue of permanent or stable contract work persists, things are beginning to change for the better, especially with so many projects in development pushing demand for long-term animators. Black Ginger’s Canda Kinsces says that with this demand comes a need to upscale. “We would need to upscale animation education significantly in order to keep up with the demand for human resources, and we would need the support of local and provincial government in order to do so,” she explains.

That said, she still sees a very positive

Bubblegum’s ‘edu-tainment’ Learn Like Lerato

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All images Courtesy of DISCOP Africa 2014

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All the major players in the industry have woken up to the fact that the content business in Africa is happening 365 days a year, and that in order to compete in the global market, you have to be present and engaged with Africa.

ETL) announcing it has sealed a 10-year contract with Crystal TV, Ghana’s leading commercial broadcaster, for capacity connected to the African service area of the EUTELSAT 16A satellite. The capacity enables Crystal TV to benefit from countrywide coverage of Ghana for its digital platform of pay-TV and free-to-air channels.

Rodney Benn, Eutelsat’s Regional Vice President for Africa, explains “This new relationship with Crystal TV is further evidence of Eutelsat’s ambition to leverage its experience and assets to support the digitisation of Africa’s TV landscape. Satellite technology is once again showing how it completes and complements terrestrial infrastructure and is playing a key role in a fundamental shift to digital that brings viewers the benefits of choice and quality.”

Abdelkader Benyahia, CEO of Europa Dubbing, another exhibitor at this year’s DISCOP Africa, also noted a definite and substantial increase in the demand for content and the opportunities for content and related service providers at this year’s event.

He explains further, “This year has seen many of the pay-TV platforms ready to launch, and eagerly looking for content and the related dubbing and sub-titling services. Whereas in previous years many were still focused on technical issues, now

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he 2014 DISCOP Africa market and exhibition exceeded all expectations and previous records in terms of attendance, meetings and sales.

The jam-packed three day event saw many of the world’s largest content aggregators, distributors and broadcast networks descend on the Sandton Convention Centre to meet, network, and most of all, to do business.

Close to 1,800 delegates, 250+ exhibitors representing global and regional entertainment content providers from Africa and overseas; 750+ key acquisitions, commissioning and programming executives representing Africa’s most important public and commercial broadcasters, pay-TV operators, OTT platforms, mobile networks and production companies have all proven that the business of content in Africa is booming.

As DISCOP Africa Founder & Director Patrick Zuchowicki explains, “DISCOP Africa is now all about business. This year we have been very pleased to see that all major players in the industry take Africa seriously and they have all woken up to the fact that the content business in Africa is happening 365 days a year, and that in order to compete in the global market, you have to be present and engaged with Africa.”

2014 saw over 10,000 meetings take place between buyers and sellers of content.

Registered delegates are assisted by the DISCOP Africa team in securing meetings with relevant parties – ensuring that coproductions, distribution deals, partnerships and major business deals are secured.

One of the largest deals to come out of DISCOP Africa 2015 was just announced on the final afternoon of Friday November 7th which still saw hundreds of delegates networking and meeting, with Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris:

they are focused on securing premium content and launching it across Africa in a range of languages. It is also exciting for us to be part of the process of crossing the language barrier, enabling French and English neighbors to share their content and cultures. We have secured a number of substantial deals with TV platforms to dub premium content into a range of languages to service the African contintent.”

This year’s event also saw a 100+ strong delegation from Ivory Coast, including the Minister of Communications. The team entered into serious discussions with their South African counterparts and the concrete results of this will be announced soon – revealing a first ever partnership between French and English speaking countries in terms of film cooperation.

The rise of French speaking Africa, and bridging the gap between French and English speaking countries was a major focus of DISCOP Africa 2014, with a number of companies reaching out across the language divide in terms of sharing content, networks and resources. A partnership was announced by SPI International that will see eight new channels being launched in 20 African countries. These channels include a 4K/HyperHD Funbox channel, as well as FilmBox, FilmBox Arthouse, FightBox HD and DocuBox.

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Courtesy of DISCOP Africa 2014

Bernard Azria, CEO of Cote Ouest

A CHAT WITH BERNARD AZRIA CEO of Cote Ouest The Callsheet: Could you tell me a little about the African archiving and digitization project that was announced at DISCOP 2014?

Bernard Azria: Yes, we have been invited to participate in this project by l’Organisation International de la Francophonie. For the human body, the end of your existence is death, and for a film it is to be forgotten. So the idea is to resuscitate those masterpieces which are part of the cultural heritage of this part of Africa, and this is what we are doing.

So they have started to re-master them, and they asked us to partner them in order to put these masterpieces in circulation.

The Callsheet: Would you repackage that content and re-market it as a whole or would you use bits and pieces of it?

Azria: We will re-market that content, but not market it as a whole, but title-by-title.

The theme is ‘oldies but goodies’, and we will push and encourage our clients and broadcasters to create a weekly slots of this content. The idea is not to make money, but to offer this resuscitated content, which is part the cultural heritage of this part of Africa.

The Callsheet: What is the appetite for African content of the African Continent?

Azria: The appetite is huge when it comes to African diasporas, if we include the descendant people that left the continent during the years of slavery. There is a large African community in the US, and a very large African community in Brazil.

The Callsheet: After Cote Ouest analysed the trends of what people want to watch, what have you added that is new to your catelogue in 2015?

Azria: Thanks to the progress of technology, the biggest revolution that is happening in Africa, is the viewer’s ability to choose.

Television has two functions: being a mirror and being a window; a mirror in which we want to recognise ourselves, and a window to escape ourselves.

The Callsheet: Did you enjoy DISCOP this year? How is it different from last year?

Azria: The quantity of visitors was lower than last year, curiously. But at the same time, it was denser and even more intense than last year. I would probably say that there has been more professionalism. DISCOP 2014 has seen a higher influx of professionals.

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REALITY TV FORMATS

Home-grown reality show Bitten – Sarah Graham Cooks Cape Town

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It’s essential that you have well-developed episode and series plans and an excellent ‘sizzle reel'.

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ikipedia states that “Reality TV is a genre of television programming that presents unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded."

Heavyweights from Rapid Blue and Okhule Media gave a sizzling presentation on South African reality TV formats, using three homegrown reality TV or ‘unscripted TV’ shows as case studies. First up was Bitten – Sarah Graham Cooks Cape Town. “It’s essential that you have well-developed episode and series plans and an excellent ‘sizzle reel’” says Sarah. We had to figure out the unique selling point of our show, and we realised that no one is going to hate beautiful simple food, and everyone loves Cape Town!” To date,

Bitten has sold in more than 45 countries and is still selling. The show has been dubbed into German and many other languages.

Another example of a successful reality TV format is Kasi-Licious, which is a cookery programme that focuses on African traditional food with a modern twist. Host Katlego is the head chef at Rust en Vrede, and despite having no experience in front of the camera, has won over audiences. The show has just shot its second season.

Hectic Nine 9 is a live show aimed at 9 to 16 year olds. It airs daily from 4pm to 5pm on SABC 2. The goal was to create South Africa’s number one interactive magazine show, and the stats prove that the producers of Hectic Nine 9 have more than achieved that. The show has 2.5 million viewers per day, has the 4th largest Facebook fan page in South Africa (331 295 fans) and receives hundreds of thousands of website views per year.

Hectic Nine 9: the stats

Duncan Irvine, CEO of Rapid Blue, concluded the presentation by providing some hard-hitting tips for up-and-coming reality TV producers. “Don’t rip off a format that you think will work internationally; licence it. Don’t blow it for the rest of us, so negotiate smart, pay when you say you will, and communicate!” He went on to say that “you create a show, not a format. A format comes from a great show. Hang on to as much of the IP as you can”. As the CEO of a company that has produced X Factor SA, SA’s Got Talent; Nigeria’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, Strictly Come Dancing, Dragon’s Den and Come Dine With Me, it’s clear that he knows what he’s talking about.

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and the rise of Alternative Media

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VICE “

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

What emerges is an exposé told by the very people at the story’s crux.

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illennials are always tapping away at their smart-phones and couldn’t give a hoot about the news, right? Wrong, just ask one.

Grab a Millennial by his moustache and ask him about the practise of force-feeding girl children in Mauritania to make them fat and eligible for marriage. How about the mass pollution of the Niger Delta due to the illegal refining of oil by desperate pirates? Oh, you don’t know about that? I guess these topics weren’t covered in the two minute segments dedicated to nonWestern-world stories on Sky News.

Mainstream news platforms have a serious content problem. They want to be the first to break the news, and in doing so, gloss over the details and the heart of the issue. We are fed overviews of stories, and we miss out on the depth.

Ryan Grim, Managing Editor at Vice Media, understands this problem all too well, and is part of a media group that offers its consumers unprecedented access to the people behind the headlines. What began as an edgy publishing company that printed stories on sex, drugs and general misbehaviour, has evolved very quickly

JOHAN DROTSKIE: Times Media Films The Callsheet: What are your overall impressions of DISCOP Africa 2014?

Johan Drotskie: I wasn’t here last year; I was here the year before. It looked like it wasn’t as busy as the previous time. Overall impression is very good from a buyer and seller point of view.

We did good business. And the workshops were very informative for me.

With festivals and markets, it’s not always better that if there are more people. It’s the quality of the people that counts. Everybody that we wanted to see was here, and we did our business.

The Callsheet: Time’s Media Films is doing incredibly well this year. What are you doing right to maintain the big market share that you have?

Drotskie: I think it’s a combination of a few things. Obviously we are very privileged to have the Fox and Warner license. Our indie slate is very important to us. So with our indie slate we have Lionsgate, Relativity Media, Dreamworks, etc.

The Callsheet: Do you have exclusive rights over those films?

Drotskie: Yes, these are exclusive but with some studios it is a first option deal. We have the first right to look at their films. That’s very important especially with the independent studios like Lionsgate, who did Twilight and The Hunger Games. Those are big big films, so that’s very beneficial to us. And then of course we get the little gems that come out of the smaller studios.

A lot of my focus is on the local content. And we’re extremely active with local content. We’ve signed some great movies, and we’ve had great success with the year that’s passed. 2015 is looking as strong.

The Callsheet: What’s happening in 2015?

Drotskie: We’ve got about five films dated already. Which is dated in the CPR and it’s there, it’s done. And then we’ve got two that are in production that must still come. And I, honestly, get calls on a weekly basis from guys that either have a film that’s going into production or have

into a sophisticated media house with millions of avid readers and viewers. “We tell the story, and we tell it better than anybody. That sounds arrogant, but it’s simply true”, says Ryan. What makes Vice content so compelling, is just how far removed it is from traditional news gathering and broadcasting. “We fly our journalists and crews to the centre of the story, often in very dangerous countries, and leave them there for weeks”. At the end of it all, what emerges is an exposé told by the very people at the story’s crux, in a way that is completely unscripted and real. Vice content doesn’t shy away from the ugly side of reality. One clip that Ryan Grim played during his presentation at DISCOP Africa featured in shocking Technicolor, the freshly deceased victims of a terror attack in Syria; all were children younger than 10. If these images were shown on Sky News or CNN, there would be howls of outrage and collective tongue clicking of the perceived appetite for car-crash entertainment. But this is the news, the way it should be seen, and Vice fans understand this.

a film that’s ready.

It can be difficult. We have a plan but things just kind of pop up. So we’re really happy with our slate at the moment. Local is difficult because there’s lots that’s coming up.

The Callsheet: What are the local trends at the moment? What are the audiences hungry for? I know that Afrikaans films do really well.

Drotskie: Afrikaans films are still at the top of the list. I think that in 2015 the Afrikaans films genre will move into a bit of drama, and thriller type of thing.

The Callsheet: Let’s talk about Vidi. Is this in competition with Netflix? Is this supposed to be the African version of Netflix?

Drotskie: It’s based partly on the Netflix model.

It’s a subscription based model.

At the moment, it’s on Smart TV’s or on your tablet or on your phone. You’re not bound by a device. You can move around and you can plug your iPad into your TV if you like, if you have a smart TV, you can run it through your HDMI cable. So there are various ways of getting it. And it works on a subscription model, as I’ve said.

And then there is a transactional VOD service as well. So pretty much all the movies you will find in your DVD rental service, and on DStv Box Office. The trend has really changed. People are going to watch what they want to watch when they want to watch, and not be dictated to.

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PITCHING SESSION: Formats

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Grant Flynn gave a professional and polished pitch for #Friendorsement, a show that will use social media to help people in need to realise their dreams.

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he pitching contest works like this: five contestants pitch their big idea for a reality TV format, the audience then votes for the three best pitches and the panel of VIPs in the film and TV world then decide on the winner. The winner gets $1 000 and a chance to develop his/her idea further. The crucial thing about a format is that it needs to travel; it needs to be a recipe that can be adapted to suit cultures and trends in different countries. The panel comprised local and international VIPs, including Peter Gird (Cooked in Africa Films), Gnama Baddy Dega (SkyProd France), Helga Palmer (Endemol SA), Miki Mori (NHK Japan) and Aletta Alberts (MultiChoice and DStv).

First up was Ludovic Kacou with his idea for a reality TV format Smartest International Reporter. Aspirant news reporters are given the opportunity to upload a 30 second news segment, which then form a pool of segments.

Users can vote for the most polished performance on a weekly basis, with one international winner chosen per week.

Denver Breda then pitched Forgotten Music Stars, in which music legends of yesteryear are given a chance to revive their careers with the help of social media and new fans. The show will take you into the singers’ homes, and will show flashbacks of their glory days. The singers will then be taught the tools of the 21st century, such as harnessing the power of Facebook and Twitter in order to market themselves in the digital age. They will perform their greatest hits, and will use their newfound knowledge to write songs that appeal to the new market.

Emily Wanja pitched her idea for My City, My Swag, which will profile different up-andcoming entrepreneurs in bustling African cities.

These driven, focused young individuals are at the forefront of African trends, and Emily wants to follow them as they pursue their dreams of success in the big city.

Grant Flynn gave a professional and polished pitch for #Friendorsement, a show that will use social media to help people in need to realise their dreams. Two celebrity BFFs will scour South Africa for a different person in each episode to help make the most

of their lives. For instance, a person might be stuck in a dead-end job and long to open his/ her own bistro, the celebrity hosts will trawl through their own Facebook friends and Twitter followers, as well as the social network of the ‘friend in need’, to find someone in the position to assist. The show will end with a heartwrenching, feel-good “big event”, such as the ‘friend in need’ being given the opportunity to further themselves thanks to their social media circle.

Jeremiah Ogeh then pitched his format,

All African Dishes, which was warmly received by the audience. Each 30 minute episode will focus on the host and a celebrity guest, who will travel to African countries and teach viewers how to cook authentic African dishes.

The format will focus on food education, the importance of eating healthily and getting regular medical checkups.

And the winner was ... Grant Flynn with #Friendorsement. Congratulations to Grant, and we look forward to tracking the progress of your show in the Callsheet!

DISCOP Africa 2015: November 4- 6th, at the Sandton Convention Centre.

28 | SPOTLIGHT

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

Jennifer Wheatley treasures her memories of flying to Qunu to photograph Madiba in his home

Jennifer Wheatley, Stills Photographer

Spotlight on

JENNIFER WHEATLEY – STILLS PHOTOGRAPHER A

fter a very unsatisfying experience at a Johannesburg film school in 1996 I decided to return to my birth city of Dublin. I found a wellrespected photographic course at Griffith College Dublin. Their students had taken most of the local awards over the years and once I started I could see why. The course was very practical, they had us developing our own black and white film on day one, and the lecturers were supportive and inspiring. I loved it! I ended my certification by winning the Agfa Best Student Of The Year for a set of Nudes.

Best shoot has to be flying to Qunu to photograph Madiba at his home. He unfortunately became ill and went to hospital a couple weeks later and never recovered so it made the experience that much more poignant.

“

“

After completing my studies I returned to South Africa and spent a short period working on feature film sets as the stills photographer.

My career has been built organically. I’ve always been freelance and I’ve never had an agent. I tried it once but found no real benefit.

I shoot on a Canon 5D Mark 2. The lenses I use the most are the EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM and a 15-year-old 80-200mm f2.8 L that is still going strong. I also keep a couple of primes for really low light conditions. As for accessories I have two I can’t live without.

My Black Rapid dual strap because I almost always shoot with two cameras and my Radio

Triggers. Not many event photographers like to use external Speedlights but it makes all the difference in the world to the end result.

Much of my work is with private clients.

Because my business is my own and I’ve had to find my own work I tend to retain my clients. I believe that creativity, reliability and lack of ego are what matters most to them and it’s because of this I’ve been privileged to share their experiences with them.

Best shoot has to be flying to Qunu to photograph Madiba at his home. He unfortunately became ill and went to hospital a couple weeks later and never recovered so it made the experience that much more poignant.

I love the fact that my job is different everyday. And I love that it’s physical, I can’t imagine being behind a desk. That said the hardest part, I’m sure for any freelance photographer, is managing finances. It’s a competitive world and it takes diligence to save for the weeks that are slow. So finding the kind of clients that will keep coming back and nurturing those relationships is key”.

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A CHAT WITH ARNE SACK

The CEO of Pro-Sales, the hub for audio, visual and lighting equipment, chats to the Callsheet about the future of the business.

The Callsheet: What made you decide to embark on a career in this industry?

Arne Sack: I was into architecture, and it was by coincidence that I landed up in this industry.

My neighbour at the time was the manager for Tedelex, and he had observed me cutting the lawn on a one acre piece of land. That in itself is not such a feat, except this lawn was about a metre high. He had only seen labourers work like that before. This so impressed him that he offered me a job at Tedelex in sales.

Within three months of being there, I had beaten all the records in terms of sales, which whet my appetite. Six years later I had reached the stage where I found that the corporate world was not for me and I started up my own business. My main income came from selling used equipment. 10 years later, the industry and technology had changed so drastically that “used equipment” had practically disappeared.

I had however seen the writing on the wall and had slowly moved into new equipment sales.

markets. So, all in all it is very exciting.

The Callsheet: Pro-Sales is perfectly positioned to be a one-stop-shop for all audio/visual/ lighting needs. Is this how you maintain your market share? Please elaborate.

Sack: We are and have always been a company that has placed a big emphasis on meeting all the customer’s needs. We want him to walk into our door (showroom) and be able to find everything he needs under one roof.

People in this industry are generally in a hurry, so, if we can help him so that he does not have to fight his way through the traffic, we have accomplished our goal. To this, we have added Systems integration and building of Studios, OB van’s, Flyaway kits and even the construction of studios (bricks and mortar) and soundproofing. We always endeavour to supply a turnkey solution.

The Callsheet: What are the main challenges facing your industry and how do you combat them?

The Callsheet: Is the company expanding?

Sack: Like everything in life, there is the Sack: The company has grown steadily and we constant change of technology that has both have had many changes in the over the years. its positives and negatives. Because of the One of these was our last move to new and rapid change it is often the case where the bigger premises. customer has for instance bought 2 or 3 We are also looking to the future and the cameras. He now wants to add to these a projections are very positive. We are also further one or two, but the item has been looking at branching out into other related discontinued and replaced by something

vastly different. Now we have to attempt to sell the old cameras so that the customer can replace them with the new. One of the other challenges is that very often customers fly in the equipment directly. This in itself is understandable as many local distributors/ importers of products simply out price their products. The problem comes when this camera or whatever it is that the customer purchased internationally, goes faulty. The guarantee is now not held with the local importer and the customer does not want to understand why this item cannot be serviced/fixed under guarantee. Whatever the challenge, we have very good relationships with our customers and that in itself allows us to overcome most problems.

The Callsheet: What is your key focus/goal for Pro-Sales in 2015?

Sack: Our goal for 2015 is to consolidate since our move and to seriously look at new avenues to better serve our industry. We will be focusing on improving service and delivery times and to broadening our reach in South Africa and neighbouring countries.

We are also going to concentrate in finding new staff in all aspects of our business. We are however sure of one thing, no matter how challenging or how demanding the year will be, we are completely committed to the industry as a whole and to our existing and new customers.

30 | SPOTLIGHT

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

Julie Rey, conference director for AfricaCom

AFRICACOM: Transforming Africa's Digital Economy

T

he CTICC in Cape Town, South Africa, welcomed some of the world’s most forward-thinking brands on the 11th to the 13th November for the 17th Annual AfricaCom show.

AfricaCom, Africa’s largest technology show, is a global platform that offers relevant key players the opportunity to congregate, interact, and to do business in Africa’s ITC, media, and telecommunications market. This year’s AfricaCom saw over 300 exhibitors from all over the world, world-class sponsors, 11 events, and six co-located conferences including: Mobile Money, Digital Music, AfricaCast, AfricApps, as well as the debuting LTE Africa and VSAT.

First-time exhibitors were blown away by the magnitude of the show, and the willingness of the delegates. Vidar Sandvik of Conax Contego™, a digital security company providing sophisticated and scalable solutions for the protection for content and revenue for any TV operation and a multitude of consumer devices for over 85 countries worldwide, said, “When it’s your first time at an event like this, you don’t really expect anything. We came looking for opportunities, and we were presented with them. We made partnerships, definitely.”

Ipidi TV, another first-time AfricaCom exhibitor, is an on-demand internet streaming service making online entertainment content

Yves Ruggeri, Chairperson of ACE

available anytime on any device, designed for IPS’s, Telco’s and broadcasters. Ryan Solovei, CEO of Ipidi TV South Africa said, “AfricaCom is the only platform for African exposure.”

Infobip, an exhibitor at AfricaCom for the past four years, offers converging SMS messaging, push notifications and mobile payments to bridge the gap between Mobile Operators and Enterprise clients, explained simply by Business Development Manager Emile Strydom as mobile ‘messaging in a cloud.’ Strydom, impressed by the turnout of delegates and visitors, said, “We see many familiar exhibitors from year to year, it’s the visitors that change, and that’s where the business is. We meet here, but the business

SPOTLIGHT | 31

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All images Courtesy of AfricaCom

“

“

The industry is at stage of change, with new technology and new services. Africa is really generating international interest.

happens afterwards. It’s on an on-and-off basis, though. I find that every second year it’s busy, it’s a big event, once a year might be too often.” This is an interesting comment, worth noting. Nonetheless, positive comments all round conveyed the smooth running of events, informative talks, and provision of a unique platform for the digital market.

Julie Rey, the conference director for AfricaCom, and a research director at Informa Telecoms, was excited about the event saying, “The venue is filled with enthusiastic people wanting to form new partnerships.

‘Partnerships’ is a word I’ve been hearing a lot.

The industry is at stage of change, with new technology and new services. Africa is really generating international interest.”

International interest indeed, as China, Norway, India, Portugal are among many countries currently investing in Africa’s digital economy. The CTICC served as a fitting environment for the display of this digital ecosystem, with impressive stalls, and even more impressive delegates, making waves in the industry. It is no surprise that Rey admits, “AfricaCom is the only pan-African event that reflects the broader digital economy.”

The winners for AfricaCom 2014 are as follows: 1. Best App for Africa – Bharti Airtel – internet.org.app 2. Best Connectivity Solutions for Africa – WIOCC – Connecting Somalia – Closing the final link 3. Best Cost Efficiency Solutions for Africa – Huawei – Africa’s first SDN innovation: MTN TT Project 4. Best Device for Africa – Solarway – Solar powered mobile phone charging station 5. Best Marketing Campaign – Huawei – MTN’s Nelson Mandela Birthday’s 67 minutes campaign 6. Best Mobile Money Solution – Bharti Airtel – Airtel Money 7. Best Network Improvement –

WIOCC – Extending WIOCC’s PanAfrican network into Somalia 8. Best Pan-African Initiative – Liquid Telecom – East Africa Fibre Ring 9. Breakthrough LTE Development – Ericsson – Unitel 10. Changing Lives Award – Afrigis – Gender-based violence command centre (GBVCC) 11. Excellence in Customer Experience Management – Orange – ‘100% Successful Calls’ suite of services 12. Most Innovative Service – Millicom Tanzania – Tigo Pesa – International Mobile Money Transfer 13. VSAT Innovation for Africa – Liquid Telecom – Shared MPLS Satellite service.

14. Etisalat Pan-African Prize for Innovation 2014 winner of IDEA – MEMMCOL

32 | SPOTLIGHT

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AFRICACOM 2014: ACE Shares their Vision for Connecting the Continent

“

Currently we have implemented a set of initiatives to promote the development of regional terrestrial broadband and to get at least the coastal countries connected to the submarine optical fibres.

“

E

veryone knows about fibre optic cables and broadband service, but not everyone knows what really goes into rolling out this kind of infrastructure across the continent. Speaking at AfricaCom, Dr Isaias Baretto da Rosa, Commissioner of Telecommunications and Information Technologies at ECOWAS, shared in a keynote session exactly what is needed in West Africa to create affordable, quality broadband access for all. The region has a number of challenges ahead including a lack of basic infrastructure in certain areas and a serious problem with standardised regulation policies between neighbouring states and network carriers.

“The core idea here is to find a balance between infrastructure and regulation,” he explained, “When it comes to broadband infrastructure, we as a regional bloc try to ask for facilitators and in that regard we’ve worked in two ways: submarine and terrestrial broadband. Currently we have implemented a set of initiatives to promote the development of regional terrestrial broadband and to get at least the coastal countries connected to the submarine optical fibres.”

But it’s not the easiest job in the world, and, once the infrastructure and regulations are in place, there are other problems that need to be dealt with. “One issue that we do need to address is the mobile broadband,” da Rosa said. “We at ECOWAS are working with all member states in order to meet the 2015 deadline for the digital switchover…

One of the key problems that we have in the region is with content itself. It’s not enough just to put the infrastructure in place, but we need to create local demand. If you go online and try to find local content, you won’t find that much so we need to…promote the development of local content.”

On the back of his talk, Yves Ruggeri, Head of Network Strategy & Submarine Systems at Orange and Chairperson at ACE (African Coast to Europe) cable system, gave a rundown of the work that the consortium has accomplished and where they will be

Dr Isaias Baretto da Rosa of ECOWAS and Yves Ruggeri, Chairperson of ACE

headed in the future.

“ACE is a good example of what is starting to be done in order to promote connectivity and better broadband network on the west coast of Africa,” Ruggeri said.

The partnership is between 17 operators and aims to see the entire western coast of the continent connected to France. The idea was born in 2008 with Orange spearheading the operation, which is divided into two main phases. The first of these is complete and running, and connects countries between France and São Tomé and Príncipe.

“The goal was to connect 23 countries,” Ruggeri explained, “Among those countries, seven were connected for the first time to the internet.” ACE also connected two landlocked countries – Mali and Niger – both of which

had no access to broadband before. “The second phase was to connect São Tomé to South Africa. We split it into two phases for obvious reasons: on one hand, there was a huge need on the northern part of the cable for connectivity, and on the other hand, the lower part of the cable – the southern countries – just launched the WACS [West Africa Cable System] project and ACE was probably not as much of a need for them as with the northern part.”

2015 will be a deciding year for the submarine cable systems, especially with the digital switchover looming. Although ACE will probably only complete phase two in a few years, they are hoping to connect more land-locked countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to broadband networks.

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PROPS! CAMERA! ACTION!

by Carryn Gabriels © Universal

Courtesy of the British Film Institute

Avengers Behind the Scenes © Universal

Labour of Love

F

rom guns blazing in Lord of War to the undergarments that get wound over Spud’s head, props are the name of the game. Often only assumed to be a central object such as a nutcracker in Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, or the branches in Lara Foot Newton’s Karoo Moose, props extend endlessly on screen. Taking nothing away from theatre and ballets, we have a look at the props industry in South Africa in film, TV, and commercials.

The Callsheet chatted to three ‘props people’ to get the scoop on their experience of the props industry in South Africa.

Graham Weakley, a 21 year veteran in the props industry, and founder of Prop Stars in Johannesburg says, “Props can range from being either ‘hero’ or background props , a hero prop would be an item which helps define the narrative or develop the character, think Sherlock Holmes’s pipe or Batman’s car the Batmobile. Background props or set dressing would be the elements that one sees in the establishing or opening shots of a scene, like camouflage nets and sandbags in an army-camp scene, think Saving Private Ryan or an African street market place.”

While strutting weird and wild hats, Melanie Hendricks runs the admin arena at Props to the Stars (not to be confused with Prop Stars) in Observatory, Cape Town.

Yes, props is a business too! Keeping fiscal

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

and physical track of jewellery boxes, horse saddles, machine guns (not the lethal kind), and everything in between, is all part of the business at Props to the Stars. The equipment for rebuilding the aircraft and that memorable map in Flight of the Phoenix, to the many, many cigarettes Leonardo DiCaprio’s character so thoroughly enjoys in Blood Diamond are all props us as the viewers overlook, while Props to the Stars provide and specialize in these items to create the magic on the big screen.

From the arms to fine glassware in Lord of War, from the documents to medicine in The Philanthropist, from the protest boards to tins cups in Long Walk to Freedom, Props to the Stars undoubtedly live up to their name.

Providing a specialized service such as this to world-class sets and directors in South Africa, makes this industry a highly competitive one. With all competition, however, there is fun. All the abovementioned ‘props people’ admitted to fun with the arbitrary items they find at their disposal. Hendricks, if she were to be any of the many props at her fingertips, would be a vintage 50’s prop. While Dennis Beechey would be just about any prop on a beach in the Bahamas.

Beechey is someone who, after 34 years in the props industry, has a wealth of experience.

The father and daughter power house at

Model Objects manufacture specialised props and models catering to a niche in the market for high-end one offs and realistic replicas.

Having worked on a number of our favourite films and TV shows including Safe House, Doomsday, Scorpion King, and Homeland, their hands on day-to-day activities display the vault of creativity and imagination involved in the props industry.

Being as long-lived, busy, and competitive as the props industry is it begs the question, since we’re in the digital age, what impact does Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) have on the future and current industry of props? Proudly, the props people in the South African props industry are stiff competition to CGI as physical props are a more cost effective, and attractive option to most production companies. “I feel that what the South African props industry delivers is of a very high standard and can compete with anything available internationally,” says Beechey. Although the multiplication capabilities of CGI are more feasible than physical props, the props industry is currently sustained by production companies maintaining the premise of doing things in camera rather than computer.

We look forward to further creativity, bang, and magic on screen locally and internationally from the fun house that is South Africa’s props industry.

34 | FILM REVIEW

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Images © Universal Pictures

TRASH When Politics and Poverty Cross Paths

by Kim Muller

‘Rat’ and ‘Pia’ (Maria Eduarda) in Trash

‘Rat’ played by Eduardo Luis

I

am Raphael. I work in the trash. The police hate me. These words, echoed over and over in various ways, give viewers a deeper, darker look at the not-so-sunny side of Brazil. Aptly named Trash for the three protagonists – Raphael, Gabriel and Gardo – who live and work on the outskirts of the city in the landfills and sewers, the film has a City of God feel with a smattering of Americana and dollop of the well and truly awful. Far from the now world-renowned favelas, the street parties and the sexy samba parades, live the lowest of the low and the poorest of the poor. This is where Trash takes place.

We all know these places of squalor exist in every country of the world, but it’s far more shocking having to deal with it on a big screen where it simply cannot be ignored. The film brings issues of extreme poverty and political corruption to light by weaving a gripping tale of police brutality, scandal, revolution and cover-ups.

***Spoiler Alert*** Jose Angelo, played by Wagner Moura (Elysium), is running away from the cops in an effort to hide some important information from them. Backed into a corner, he realises that he won’t make it and throws a reddish-brown wallet onto a passing garbage truck. The police take him hostage and he is tortured and viciously killed by lead detective Frederico (played

by Selton Mello). This is where the story really begins. Raphael, a street kid who lives near the rubbish dump and sorts through

trash for R$20 a day (equivalent to about R90), discovers the wallet. Raphael shares his spoils with his best friend Gardo, but instead of dumping the wallet after taking the cash, he finds some strange items and becomes curious about its owner. Raphael and Gardo, played by Gabriel Weinstein and Rickson Tevez respectively, turn to their accomplice-turned-best-friend ‘Rat’ or Gabriel (Eduardo Luis) for help. He is a scrawny, livewire of a boy with an uncanny amount of street smarts. Weaving the boys through a concrete jungle beneath railways and through backstreets, they plunge into a murder mystery and $10-million embezzlement that only gets worse with each new clue they discover.

Director Stephen Daldry (The Reader, Billy Elliot, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close) has done an incredible job in bringing these young teens into the limelight. His honest portrayal of both their misery and joy is superb, from the tender scenes where Rat and Raphael are travelling to the beach to find out more about Santos, the corrupt politician, to the crazy moments when the police take Raphael on a “rollercoaster” – throwing him in the trunk and driving like a maniac to get him to talk. There are harrowing moments – Rat steals $1,000 from the local missionary priest, when everyone thinks Raphael is dead, and of course when the three boys break into the railway station to find another clue to the mystery of Jose Angelo’s death – and there are also stunning, panoramic moments – the wonderfully happy ending where the

street kids leave the city for the tropical beaches of northern Brazil, when Raphael finds Jose’s young daughter Pia, whom everyone thought was dead, or when the police burn the informal stilt settlements near the landfill to the ground.

Something must be said of the American influence in Trash. Rooney Mara plays volunteer Olivia, who works together with Father Juilliard (Martin Sheen) in a small slum mission. Although they manage to accurately portray what overseas missions are like in the Christian world, there is still a whiff of the age old “saviour complex”, where Western characters save the day, or worse, where volunteers or humanitarian workers believe they are the only hope in an impoverished, suffering community.

This said, their characters are intentionally marginalised until the boys need a way to expose the corrupt politicians. The two American characters help move the story forward by becoming the street kids’ cash cow and connection to the outside world when they need it most.

The underlying struggle for change and for justice in Brazil is thinly veiled, but it’s great knowing that films challenging societal issues are still being made – and even better if this becomes a global phenomenon.

Overall I give Trash a hearty thumbs-up.

Not only was I mesmerised by the sights and sounds of Brazilian culture and language, but the story itself was thoroughly engaging both on a socio-political and an entertainment level. This film is fast making its way into my list of favourites.

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www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

Religious Oppression on the Rampage in

TIMBUKTU

by Kim Muller

Courtesy of Le Pacte

H

aving spent the better part of my childhood and teenage years in North Africa, Timbuktu was of particular interest to me. It’s a gripping story from the very outset, unfolding with scene after scene of spellbinding, religious terror set against a backdrop of beautiful desert vistas.

Abderrahmane Sissako’s creation has garnered stellar reviews across the board, from numerous festivals including Cannes, Toronto and Sundance. Most recently, it was chosen as Mauritania’s official Oscar Foreign Language entry for 2015. But this is not surprising. The opening sequences set the stage for the rest of the film – military jihadists training and hunting in the desert, or driving through the town chanting on speakerphone, “Attention!

Important information! Smoking is forbidden.

Music is forbidden. Women must wear socks.

Attention! Women must wear socks and gloves.” This kind of Islamic despotism is all too common in our day and age, when words like terrorist, fundamentalist and ISIS are on the tip of every tongue.

The impracticality of these rules, which

are subject to change at will, becomes rather obvious, rather quickly. It is absolutely fascinating to see how different individuals find their own creative outlet in an attempt to defy their oppressors. Not only are these wonderful scenes of freedom a breath of fresh air in a film where the tension is palpable, but they also show how fallible we are as humans: even the militia are unable to keep their own laws, with one expressing himself through contemporary dance and yoga.

A scene that struck me at the core was when the jihadists heard music after nightfall and began searching for its origins. The cinematography in these scenes is stunning, the dim moonlight creating illusive shadows in the sandy alleyways. Once the culprit is found, the music turns out to be praises to Allah, which, of course, no one can fault in the Muslim town of Timbuktu. The militia’s question, “Should we arrest them?” shows how blurred the lines of morality are in dictatorships or war-torn regions.

It is in this setting that Kidane’s story is told.

A seasoned nomad, he travels as many Saharan Africans do – when the going gets tough or the

water dries up, they move on. His quiet life with his wife Satima and daughter Toya is turned upside down when his cow herder, Issam, tells him that his fisherman neighbour has killed his prize cow. After accidentally murdering Amadou (the fisherman) in a watery confrontation, he has to face the harsh consequences of his actions.

The way the story unfolds is spellbinding, bringing issues such as racial intolerance between Arabs and Africans – a problem that is often vehemently denied in Northern Africa – women’s rights and arranged marriages to light in the most subtle of ways. Mauritania’s tumultuous history is also carefully unveiled through multilingual exchanges (I picked up French, Arabic, English and Bambara), while the nomadic culture gets a gracious nod. Here we learn how to wash hair when water is scarce, why cows are so important to impoverished African farmers, and what could happen under Sharia law when a boy and a girl of no relation are caught together (hint: it’s not pretty at all).

The focus on the family unit was also a lovely depiction of the importance of family in North Africa. In this culture, the family name is everything. As a child – or even an adult – the community would naturally refer to you as so-and-so’s son or daughter. As a result of this, there is an immense amount of pressure in upholding the family’s name, which gives at least some insight into the plot twist of an ending. What a magnificent, heart-rending story, what a marvellous way in which to share the problems that North Africa faces as it, too, plods on towards a brighter future.

36 | FRESH OPINION

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

A SMALL CHANGE IN THINKING – PART 2

Transformation and Professionalism in the South Africa Motion Picture Industry by John Hill ©Paranoia

A. Bridging The Gap There is no time to train people on a film set. Simply put: It is too expensive, too time consuming and too costly when mistakes are made. So, how does an emerging professional gain the necessary experience? The ‘Bridgingthe-Gap’ programme – from novice film school graduate to a highly valued polished professional – is an attempt to solve this on-going problem of the acquisition of much sought after professional experience.

In addition, there is an urgent need to create work opportunities for previously disadvantaged people, people who cannot afford film-school and to satisfy a demand by production companies for adequately trained crews for each new season. Short-term initiatives have been emplaced to satisfy this demand, but at what future cost? Determining what is paid for this kind of training is fairly easy, but we don’t yet know what syllabus deficiencies will cost in the future.

Several issues arise from this predicament: • The industry seeks to have a larger pool of well-trained crews to satisfy immediate current demands, • But, they are not promising permanent jobs for these crews.

• Minimal training is often seen as adequate for entry into the profession, yet • The future career-path of these crew members is not addressed nor assured • Industry is likely to see exponential change; • Further, they have no adequate qualification to back-up any claim they may have, say, 10 to 20 years hence.

So, how should we overcome these problems?

As previously stated, I firmly believe new entrants to the industry need a film school experience of the kind mentioned earlier.

Thereafter, broadly speaking, I suggest we adopt the system already in place in academic hospitals and modify this for the Motion Picture Industry. As mentioned earlier, newly qualified medical doctors are required to do a two-year internship, often followed by specialist workplace learning as a registrar to specialize.

This is Real Learning - not training: Intern doctor protégés work in authentic, highly pressurised hospital environments, working with real patients under the guidance of professional medical practitioner mentors. The principles of Cognitive Apprenticeships, where thinking is made explicit, are very useful here.

To their credit, industry initiatives such as F.I.L.M, funded by MICT-SETA and organisations such as the NFVF have introduced internship programmes. While commendable, these are too small and tend to concentrate on skills development training rather than real

learning and professionalism in an authentic work-place environment to make any real impact on transformation as envisioned. Little provision is made in these programmes for work creation leading to an increase in the size of the industry and the quantity of products made for the market, without which, industry growth and transformation on a scale larger than is currently in place in our country is highly unlikely. Furthermore, many small film production companies offer internships to film school graduates which are nothing more than a source of cheap labour for these companies.

In short, most film industry internships are not regulated by the profession at all and this is highly undesirable.

The Challenge The creation of a greater number of South African Motion Picture products, i.e. a larger motion picture production base, is going to be a challenge involving the establishment of new entrepreneurial businesses and more employment opportunities presents a real challenge. This is in direct contrast to the largely service industry we currently have – especially in the Western Cape.

Nonetheless, an early start can be made: Business Plans incorporating established aspects such as Standards, Budgets, Target Markets, and Return-on-Investment criteria are common to other enterprises and can be developed and implemented almost immediately - based on sound business principles. This is not to exclude the so-called ‘Art-house’ films and one-off Documentaries which play a significant role in the development of society as a whole and which form an important part of the Bigger Picture of the

FRESH OPINION | 37

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Real McCoy

Professional Work-place Experience

Intern Entry

Beyond Film School: Funded by:

Specialist 1-yr

2-yrs

Low Budget Features and Documentary

Medium to Big Budget Features and TV Series

Valuable

No Experiential

No Experiential

Experiential

Learning

Learning

Learning

Envisaged

Envisaged

Assistance

Operations

Assist. HOD

Various

Various

SETA

SETA / JOBs FUND

JOBs FUND

PROD CO

POD CO

Fig.1. Post Film School Schematic: Towards Professionalism in the Motion Picture Industry

industry. These kinds of products are generally sponsor funded and, more importantly, do not build a sustainable industry. Remember, the main thrust is to grow a sustainable industry.

1. A Multi-tiered Approach My feeling is a multi-tiered approach can work really well in nurturing professionalism in a sustainable Motion Picture Industry: • Film School: I feel strongly that young people wishing to enter the motion picture industry should acquire a solid film school education first. The main point of film school for a student is to discover what the industry is really all about, to gain a strong foundation upon which to develop a career in the industry and to acquire show-reel evidence of their talent in a quality graduation film. Furthermore, a good film school should have as a minimum requirement that each student write, produce and direct a graduation film and work as crew on at least two fellow student graduation films to qualify. Any film school qualification without this requirement is pretty meaningless!

• In Addition: Most film schools only cover roughly 10% of the roles to be found in the industry. Those seeking careers in these fields in the film industry not covered by film school should be guided towards appropriate training opportunities. These include the Art Department (building and construction, fashion, fine-art and architecture, model-making and so on), Business (accounting, law, marketing and sales) Craft (normally covered in film school: aesthetics for picture and sound, screenwriting and practical work,

et al) and Technical (camera and lenses, electrical and lighting, grips and rigging and transport and so on). The standards designed by the British lead body, Creative SkillSet, are ideal for modelling standards for South Africa, especially if we are to continue to be recognised seriously by the international film-making community.

• Internships: Expand existing internship programmes by lengthening them to, say, two years, increasing the number of internship opportunities, and placing interns in a variety of authentic work-place learning environments. Upon completing an internship, emerging professionals would be eligible for a variety of employment opportunities in ‘assistance’ roles in the industry; • Specialist Year: Add a specialist year (similar to a medical registrar position) which would include more advanced real work-place experience. Upon completing a specialist year internship, emerging professionals would be eligible for more specific ‘operational’ roles in the industry; These two, Internship and Specialist Years, would bring such a programme into line with similar programmes such as the Directors’ Guild of America (DGA). Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) may be an option for those with industry experience; • Professional Body to be formed: These two roles will need to be administered by a yet to be formed professional body similar to the DGA. It may be possible to modify the founding documents of SASFED to fulfil this role. This body would register all internship programmes, control

the internship environment and accredit mentors. Employers would be compensated

by SETAs or the Jobs Fund; • Post Specialist Year Accelerated Professional Work-place Experience: Introduce professional work-place experiential learning in ‘Assistant HOD’ roles on TV productions such as Isidingo where 30 minute episodes are produced on a daily basis. While these kinds of programmes are considered professional, they are, nonetheless, incredibly valuable training grounds and this needs recognition.

‘Assistant HOD’ roles can also be mentored and funded via the Jobs Fund, while professional roles will be funded by the production company in the traditional way; • Low Budget Features: Typical examples include made-for TV films and some standalone Documentaries produced to tight budgets; • The Real McCoy: Medium to big budget features and television series including coproductions.

The ‘Devil is always in the Detail’ Mentors may need specialist training to be really effective. Again, the application of Cognitive Apprenticeship principles could be very useful. While simulations may be useful at the outset, emphasis must be on the acquisition of genuine work-place professional experience at Assistance, Operations and Assistant HOD levels [See Fig 1]. Assessments must be based on professional work performed.

New Markets will be needed: Although the advent of a greater number of digital television channels will provide new marketing opportunities, there is a fairly obvious opportunity in South African television right now as is evidenced by the number of repeats and ultra-cheap bought-in foreign programmes currently being screened. So, markets for the additional products created under this plan may already exist: Discovering how these can be accessed is a business opportunity in itself.

Some valuable categories of Motion Picture Production, such as animation and commercials and so on, have been excluded from this schematic as we have concentrated on the LowBudget Feature here. Nonetheless, I feel the overall idea is sound and is easily adaptable for these genres.

Part 3 will be published in the January edition of The Callsheet.

38 | COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

© Pius Mahimbi

ZIMBABWE: Breathtakingly Picturesque

by Carryn Gabriels

Z

imbabwe, with its sweeping views and rich grounds, is home to a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Mona Pools Park, Matobas National Park, Victoria Falls, and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. The most popular of these is the Victoria Falls. Classified as the Largest Waterfall in the World, although neither the highest nor widest, the dimensions of the Victoria Falls’

makes it the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

The picturesque country is riddled with forests and national parks, and shares plentiful rock art and ruins bearing witness to an abundance of ancient traditions and cultures. Breathtaking and sweeping views of Zimbabwe are beautifully dotted with modern, elegant hotels and infrastructure in its major cities, Harare (Capital), Victoria Falls, and Bulawayo.

Filming in Zimbabwe Despite the shortage of studios and backlots, this mineral rich country offers magnificent film venues including the Victoria Falls, Zambezi River, Matopos National Park, Lake Kariba, Great Zimbabwe Ruins, as well as Harare Business District among others.

The small but growing film industry acclaims being the set for British Director, Chris Menges’ film A World Apart (1988).

The movie about a white girl’s realisation of the social weight of Apartheid in 1960’s Johannesburg after her father’s escape and mother’s arrest, stars Hollywood actresses Barbara Hershey and Jodhi May, and London-born actor David Suchet.

Zollywood (named after Hollywood but in Zimbabwe), is the digital medium through which Zimbabwean films are

COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT | 39

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

© Philippe Berdalle

© Philip Niewold

Did You Know?

Despite its modernity, traditional medicines and forms of treatment are still widely used in Zimbabwe. In fact, traditional healers, also called n’anga, are sought for their healing powers and religious counsel. They even have an association – Zimbabwe National Traditional Healer’s Association.

© Mara 1 (via flickr.com)

showcased and broadcast to the world.

While the country’s interests and efforts to grow in the global film industry are something to be recognised; Zimbabwe’s advertising industry is taking the spotlight.

Jericho Advertising, the largest advertising agency in Zimbabwe, not only racked up the Ubuntu Award at the 2014 Loeries, but is the sole African agency (excluding South Africa) invited to judge the New York Festivals of Advertising in 2014.

Getting to Zimbabwe

by Air Landlocked Zimbabwe has eight airports scattered over its land, three of which are international airports based in three of the country’s largest and most popular cities: Victoria Falls International, Harare International and J.M Nkomo

International just outside of Bulawayo.

Air Zimbabwe, the country’s main airline, includes Johannesburg (South Africa), Beijing (China), London (England), and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) among its flight destinations. A passport, Zimbabwe Visa, and return ticket are required before entering the verdant country.

from Highveld plateaus to low lying areas, but experiences extremes in the different seasons with the wet summer months, from November to March, with temperatures rising to 31 degree Celsius, then plummeting to 5 degrees Celsius or freezing in the dry winter months between April and October.

Climate

Population

Zimbabwe’s climate varies slightly

14.15 Million (World Bank, 2013)

40 | EVENTS

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

DECEMBER WAVESCAPE SURF FILM FESTIVAL 29 November - 14 December Cape Town, South Africa WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL 3 - 7 December Whistler, Canada COURMAYEUR NOIR IN FESTIVAL 5 - 10 December Rome, Italy MARRAKECH FILM FESTIVAL 5 - 13 December Marrakech, Morocco MIAMI SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 5 - 12 December Miami, Florida

JANUARY

DUBAI FILM FESTIVAL 10 - 17 December Dubai, UAE

TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING EMMY AWARDS 8 January Los Angeles, Navada

KERELA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 12 - 19 December Kerala, India

RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 8 - 31 January London, England

© Campari Calendar 2015

SHORT & SWEET FULL MOON DRIVE IN 6 December Cape Town, South Africa

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

EVENTS | 41

42 | OPPORTUNITIES

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

Call to Submit Projects for

Cannes Film Festival Who is eligible?

• Film projects whose director comes from one of the eligible regions • The project must be the director’s first or second feature-length film or documentary.Film projects with a local producer (or a producer from one of the eligible countries) who has produced a short film or feature film within the last five years • Fiction or documentary film projects, but not a film project for television • The film’s provisional budget must be less than €3-million (about R41-million) How to apply: Visit www.lescinemasdumonde.com or contact Gabrielle Beroff-Gallard via email on info@lescinemasdumonde.com.

Application Deadline: 8 December 2014

© Catherine Vinay

T

he Cinemas du Monde pavilion, a venue at the annual Cannes Film Festival, is conducting an initiative geared toward helping filmmakers from Africa (among other emerging economies) called The Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde.

The Fabrique calls for African directors and their producers to submit their projects. The selected projects’ directors and producers will be invited to attend the Cannes Festival taking place from 13 – 24 May 2015. The selected participants will have access to different activities at the Cannes Film Festival, and will be facilitated by The Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde, which supports the selected projects via meetings (both group and individual) with key players in the film industry.

A Cinemas Du Monde session in 2013

Attention Animation

and Motion Graphics Students

All Images © Bubblegum

B

ubblegum, a 2D animation and media company situated in Cape Town, is offering six week internships to animation and/or motion graphics students. Bubblegum looks forward to giving this opportunity to new enthused and young talented students who wish to enter the industry and gain some experience. These internships come with remuneration.

Who is eligible?

• Candidates who have completed an animation course and must have received a full certificate or diploma • Candidates who have at least basic knowledge of 2D animation and/or motion graphics.

• Candidates who are available five days a week (Monday to Friday) • Final year students

How to apply: Email all CVs and showreels to Rozie Gorvalla on rozie.gorvalla@bubblegum.co.za.

OPPORTUNITIES | 43

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

Africa Movie Academy Awards Launch Short Film Project The 2013 AMAAs © AMAA

A

frica Film Academy, owners of The Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), has introduced a platform to encourage the production of short films in Africa. Voices Africa, an initiative challenging budding African filmmakers, including AMAA’s mobile training project (Film in a Box), to participate in a monthly story contest.

President of Africa Film Academy, Peace

Anyiam-Osigwe, said: “We hope to produce tens of short movies every year. We have decided to sponsor only the stories that project the light in Africa. We shall use these stories to explore the beautiful cultures and traditions that Africa is known for. Also, we our stories will explore the challenges of Africans and draw attentions to critical issues often lost in the news.”

The best five stories will win a $500 prize

and will be produced with the Film in a Box training project. “Over the next couple of months on our website, we shall be seeking stories through our monthly story challenge.

For a month, Africa would share with us the sparks that keep her lights on. We would love to hear to story of our daily heroes and inspirations,” she added.

How to apply: Visit www.ama-awards.com for details.

44 | DIRECTORY LISTINGS

www.filmmakerafrica.co.za

ADVERTISERS COMPANY

TELEPHONE

EMAIL

WEBSITE

America Film Mart

+ 1 310 446 1000

AFM@ifta-online.org

www.americanfilmmarket.com

Aquila Private Game Reserve

+27 861 737 3783

res@aquilasafari.com

www.aquilasafari.co.za

Chris Vermaak

+27 86 649 8845

chrisvermaakster@gmail.com

www.chrisvermaak.co.za

DISCOPRO

+ 1 323 782 13 00

info@basiclead.com

www.discop.com

Hollard film guarantors

+27 11 807 0087

Info-hfg@hollard.co.za

www.hollardfg.co.za

KZN Film Commission

+27 31 325 0202

Media Film Service

+27 21 511 3300

brad@mediafilmservice.com

www.mediafilmservice.com

Namibia Film Commission

+264 61 38 1900

info@nfc.na

www.nfc.na

Vaal University of Technology (VUT)

+27 16 950 9000

reception@vut.ac.za

www.vut.ac.za

Wizards

+27 21 461 9334

copy@wizardz.co.za

www.wizardz.co.za

www.kznfilmcommission.co.za

Š Campari Calendar 2015

CONTACT US

Cover Image: Special thanks to Derek Antonio Serra Š Derek Antonio Serra (Shot on location in Namibia) Publisher: Lance Gibbons lance@filmeventmedia.co.za Executive Editor: Katie Reynolds katie@filmeventmedia.co.za Head of Design: Sheree Steenkamp sheree@filmeventmedia.co.za Writer: Kim Muller kim@filmeventmedia.co.za Editorial Assistant: Carryn Gabriels carryn@filmeventmedia.co.za Production Co-ordinator: Tammi Klein tammi@filmeventmedia.co.za

Brand Manager: Jennifer Dianez jennifer@filmeventmedia.co.za Account Manager: Theo Jacobs theo@filmeventmedia.co.za Group Sales Manager: Lloyd Kirsten lloyd@filmeventmedia.co.za Sales Co-ordinator: Tracey-Anne Arendse tracey-anne@filmeventmedia.co.za Manager, Special Projects: Taryn Fowler taryn@filmeventmedia.co.za 57 2nd Avenue, Harfield Village, Claremont 7708, Cape Town, South Africa Tel: +27 21 674 0646

Join us www.filmmakerafrica.co.za www.filmeventmedia.co.za

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in The Callsheet do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the editor or the publisher, while inclusion of adverts/ advertising features does not imply endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of this material is reserved. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, The Callsheet and/or its employees may not be held liable or responsible for any act or ommission committed by any person, including a juristic person, referred to in this publication. It and they furthermore accept(s) no responsibility for any liability arising out of any reliance that a reader of this publication places on the contents of this publication.

Š Johan Wilke