The Callsheet Novemebr 2011

R22.80 November 2011 www.thecallsheet.co.za

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DIGITAL CAMERA SHOOTOUT GENERAL INDUSTRY

sults I would like to state that each camera has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Each camera can be made to look great in the right hands, of course. The conclusion that follows is my personal interpretation of how I saw these cameras behave. It is an observation and is in no way a definitive benchmark for the camera mentioned.

For the GS setup we used 2x 2K Tungsten to fill the green and an image 80 for the subject, a Zeiss 85 Ultra Prime at f8 was used by all cameras.

CINEMATOGRAPHER Grant Appleton tested seven popular cameras in a camera shootout to discover which one was best.

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N a galaxy far far away existed a range of digital acquisition cameras, revered to be the greatest cameras of that time. Some claimed to have a dynamic range of 14 stops; the ability to shoot at night in natural ambient light; to see further into the blacks than ever before and they could even record their images onto a myriad of various stand alone recorders.

The seven cameras tested (all shot with Zeiss Ultra Primes) were: • • • • • •

RED MX - ISO 800; red gamma 2; red colour 2; red code 36; 4K 16:9 RED Epic – ISO 800; red gamma 2; red colour 2; CF card 4:1; 5K full frame Arri Alexia – ISO 800; Log C; SxS card 4:4:4 Pro Res & SRW 1; HD 16:9 Sony F3 – ISO 800; Log C; SxS card & SRW 1; HD 16:9 Sony F35 – ISO 450; Log C; 4:4:4 SRW 1; HD 16:9 Canon 5D – ISO 800; CF Card 4:2:0 H.264; HD 16:9

Phantom HD – The Phantom I am going to omit from this report as I believe it is specialist camera. To use it as a 25fps conventional camera is not what it was designed for.

Take 2 Films generously provided the cameras. I pondered the various ways of testing them to find a common ground so as not to favour any particular device. The strategy for the tests was to

examine the cameras’ native capturing abilities, to look at its raw file format and see how they compared against each other. We wanted to see how each would hold up in a green screen scenario lit with tungsten lights, so we designed a still life setup with a stop range f2 – f45 and ventured into the night to shoot a cityscape and face portrait with only available light. We had our work

cut out as these cameras were only available for one day, a sign that they were indeed the most popular with the locals. We finally landed at Libra Vision where we were greeted by Andre Hening and his crew to help us conduct these tests. We set up in Libra Vision’s green screen studio and began with a tungsten lit GS scene.

Before I conclude these re-

Green Screen setup RED MX had some green bleeding into the shadow areas of the subject’s face we only noticed this on the MX. The key was acceptable though.

RED Epic produced a good key the 5K sensor providing great detail to separate the edges from green.

I was impressed with the Sony F3’s ability - it handled the key surprisingly well it was certainly able to produce an acceptable key.

Arri Alexia provided an excellent key, as did the Sony F35 with its CCD sensor.

Canon 5D is not an option for GS work, I would not advise using it in a GS environment.

Continued on page six

PAGE TWO PIN-UP: WANDILE MOLEBATSI

ACTING

(Artist Connection) A 15 year veteran of the film industry, Skeem actor Wandile Molebatsi’s star just keeps rising.

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andile started out starring in TV commercials for brands including Wimpy and Bakers Tennis Biscuits. Wandile got into act-

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ing when his mother sent him to castings as a way to deal with his excess energy. He enjoyed the experience, saying: “That really was when i discovered my love for film and television I just loved being on sets. it was like outings i always enjoyed it.”

He spent several years as a presenter on popular Mnet children’s show KTV while appearing in several movies along the way. His movie credits to date

include Cry the Beloved Country, A Million Colours and most recently, Skeem. He has also starred in several TV shows including Soul City, ER, When We Were Black, Intersextions and The Wild.

Wandile’s first big role was in the 1996 feature Born Free - A New Adventure. He described the role: “it was my first time being on a set that size and for two months only

going home for breaks in my shooting schedule.”

Wandile plays the hapless wannabe crook Vista in the humorous South african crime caper Skeem, and says it was a fun role to play. directed by Tim Greene, Skeem tells the story of two criminals and the greedy civilians they have to contend with over a box of money.

Reviews of Wandile’s performance have been overwhelmingly positive, with several reviewers singling out his acting as one of the film’s highlights.

Wandile has just returned from Hollywood where the movie A Million Colours opened the Black Hollywood Film Festival. The actor described the role, saying: “i play the real life character of Muntu ndebele.

He was a child star and was in the iconic film e’Lollipop.

After the filming the two stars become friends. Their friendship is torn apart because of the apartheid government and the policies it had. There is also Sabelo a young girl from Soweto that he falls in love with. its was an incredibly demanding role to play. i saw the film for the first time in LA. I am very proud of the film but hope that South africans will love the film.”

The 27-year-old, the son of a pastor father and social worker mother, plays Blessing dlamini, a quiet tracker, in the popular

Mnet soapie The Wild. describing his experience at the festival, Wandile said: “it’s a dream for most actors to have their film shown in Hollywood. And the festival was amazing. The people we were able to be introduced to and the response to the film was astonishing.”

The multi-talented Wandile is a recording artist too. He is the vocalist and percussionist of UJU. The band released their debut album Free with Sony Music in 2010. When asked what’s next, he expressed a desire to do some theatre, and added: “i am going back onto the soapie The Wild and UJU the band that i am in is to getting ready to record on our second album.”

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Hello AnimAtion: KunjAni’mAtion festivAl lAuncHes Kunjani’mation screening

Kunjani’mation exhibition of concept art

ANIMATION World Animation day on 28 october 2011 commemorates the first public performance of animation in Paris in 1892. last month saw the rekindling of the spiritual link between France and African animators through the inaugural Kunjani’mation.

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icolas Doyard, regional attache for Media cooperation of the French institute of south africa initiated the link between animation enthusiasts from two continents. “Kunjani’Mation was conceived as a Franco - south african event to celebrate animation. it’s both a festival screening animation films, aiming to show the incredible variety and creativity of this cinema

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to the south african public, and a platform for professionals to gather and exchange projects, ideas and talents,” says Nicolas.

Veronique Encrenaz is projects manager for Mifa, the market that runs alongside the great annecy international animated Film Festival. since 1985 Mifa hosts around 2300 animation professionals at the market, festival has been running since 1960 and is attended by 7300 people from 70 countries. “our market is expanding constantly as studios and producers are all looking for new projects, new ideas, new financing,” says Veronique.

The collaboration was a natural fit for Veronique: “We were very happy when Nicolas first contacted me two years ago to develop relationships between annecy and south africa, as it

is our goal to give visibility to all kinds of animation around the world. We were happy to take part and propose a selection of films that had been awarded in our festival.”

Kunjani’mation screenings at the alliance Francaise in Johannesburg accompanied a series of workshops at Wits Digital Arts. “We changed our workshop venue at the last minute to accommodate twice the number of people we were expecting originally. obviously the aim of Kunjani’mation is to become an annual rendez-vous.

We called it Kunjani’Mation number one as a promise that there will be next editions,” says Nicolas.

Veronique was buoyed by the audience’s responses: “I am so happy we could show them what was possible in animation around the world, the difference of styles, of stories, of humour.

Everything is allowed as long as the animation is of quality, and

as long as the story is good. This is a very important message to all the animation students. it should give them a very wide vision of the world, of the subjects, the techniques, and the possibility to express themselves beyond their own imagination.” a satellite programme brought annecy to the mother city when the 100-seater alliance Francaise was stretched to the limit by 160 attendees, including students of the animation academy at False Bay college in Khayalitsha.

“Their enthusiasm and reactions meant a lot to us. We hope this screening could create a new incentive for the students to work hard and submit their future graduating films for competition in annecy,” says Veronique. it is hoped that Kunjani’Mation will become a moment and location of interaction between the african continent and the rest of the world for animation. “it might take more than one year, but the need is here,” says Nicolas. Veronique had meetings with the NFVF and DTi to present annecy and Mifa and create awareness of the value for south africa’s animators to attend.

Nicolas was instrumental in the finalisation of the SA/ France co-production treaty, which has already lead to the auteur hit Skoonheid. The treaty constrains producers to theatrical release,

encouraging the production of feature animated films. He notes: “The treaty is a powerful tool to allow big productions to happen, sharing costs between producers of several countries, as we know how costly animation can be.”

“Building relationships with other countries at annecy is the way to find the right partners to develop new projects and bring them back to south africa. The whole animation industry will benefit this international exposure, from the schools to the studios, from the distributors to the broadcasters,” adds Veronique. “i have been impressed by the number of studios and their quality. Everybody has been working hard and i think it is time for all of them to show what they can do to the global animation community. schools are very impressive too.”

Veronique believes south africa is ready to showcase its own animation aesthetic. “in order to develop one’s own project, you need to find the right financial partners who will agree on producing your own project, your own story, in your own style. We hope that next year in June we will host a south african pavilion at Mifa. We have good faith that national and regional funds will be voted to finance a delegation.”

LIezel Vermeulen

FCPX SHAKES UP Editing ProFESSion

POST-PRODUCTION Editors are finding alternatives to Final Cut Pro following the release of FCP X

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he growth in editors using Final Cut Pro in the local industry has been insurmountable with everyone from students, professional videographers and even commercials editors using the nonlinear editing program to stitch together award winning work.

Apple has done well in all but becoming the industry standard but, is the release of FCP X about to change that?

Prior to the release of FCP X in June 2011 there were a lot of predictions floating around about what Apple would be

bringing to the next generation of editing software. Senior editor at Priest Post Production Richard Starkey said that he was looking for “a true 64-bit application, which had better data management, 3D compatibility and was Thunderbolt-optimized.” his prediction was not off the mark as FCP X offered everything but 3D compatibility. however, the professional editing community met the product with serious reservation including Richard who states, “they have oversimplified it to the point where most experts have dubbed it iMovie Pro. It does everything for you: autocorrect rolling shutter, auto-optimise your media, autocleanup of audio etc…

Of course these features can be turned off but the fact that they have discontinued the previous FCP as well as Color and Motion means that they are not aiming squarely at the high-end professional editor.

The application can’t even open FCP 7 projects so they have really ensured a complete and utter disregard for all the professional users they worked so hard to get in the first place!” his is only one of the disgruntled users voicing his outrage on forums around the world such as Creative Cow, who pride themselves on being a reliable forum for FCP editors to share information.

These forums are flooded with posts about the poor move made on Apple’s part in creating editing software for the masses and not for the professional user.

The software isn’t all bad in that it has taken NLe to another level by simplifying and containing every aspect of post production editing in to one easy to use interface.

New advances such as Audition, which allows for a far more streamlined approach to sorting and selecting your clips, and the inclusion of Content Auto-Analysis has revolutionised the way you store and sort your footage.

however, there seems to be an overzealous approach to automating most of the programs functionality making video editing so easy that anyone can do it. It is this approach that has ruffled the feathers of those hardened professionals who take pride in the complexity of their work.

The change over to the simplified FCP X platform hasn’t seen an increase in professional users that Apple had been hoping for. On the contrary many have decided to migrate towards the competitors namely Avid and Premiere Pro. “I have been forced to use Avid Media Composer and have realized just how amateur FCP 7 actually was! It has really opened my eyes to the fact that even if FCP8 came along I would actually prefer not to use it,” says Richard who is one of thousands of other editors all making the move.

It didn’t take long for Apple to realize that they were quickly losing their hold on the market. They even made a last ditch effort to curb the migration by offering FCP 7 for purchase online at the same $1000 price you would have paid back in 2009.

This proved to be a desperate attempt and has since seen competitors Avid and Adobe poach clientele by offering up to 50% off on their

software for all FCP users with valid licenses.

“I think they did the right thing and hope they do well.

Avid also offered a ‘crossgrade’ where you get a huge discount if you furnish them with your FCP serial number.

Also, Avid have now released MC6 which allows users to use almost all video output devices like Blackmagic, Aja, Matrox etc… At a time when FCPX can’t play out to a broadcast monitor!” says Richard.

Apple appears to have chosen the fast-growing DSLR market of filmmakers that want to edit as quickly and efficiently. With the release of the Canon C300 they may well be thinking in the right direction but was it worth losing the support of the industry professionals?

“There are only 100 000 pro editors in the USA, most of whom already have their preference but, they’ll still sell millions of copies of X,” says Richard. Although Richard is an FCP expat, he still understands that modern day filmmaking is accessible and belongs to anyone with a DSLR camera and a Mac computer. even if it comes at the cost of what was once a profession.

Jasyn Howes

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CAMERA SHOOTOUT

Continued from front page Still Life setup I wanted to test the dynamic range of the cameras here, so I set the base exposure to f5.6 and had a range of f2 – f45. the highlight area was a white toy bunny whose head was reading f45. I also set up various colour fruits and materials to give an indication of how these cameras handled colour space. a Zeiss 35mm Ultra prime was used.

Red MX had a very saturated look especially in the red/magenta colour hue and a higher contrast ratio compared to the other cameras. the highlight area was blown out with no retrievable data there. there was a great improvement in the epic’s image compared to the MX. the image had a lot less contrast similar to the alexa’s Log C look, which is a great start when going to grade as you have more leeway to control your image. the highlight area was blown out but if you selected ISO200 from your metadata there was some detail, and you could recover about one and a half stops.

Sony F3 was the surprise of the day. It handled the shadow areas exceptionally well with very little grain or noise in the blacks. the colour reproduction is truly a work of art for this relatively inexpensive camera. Its downfall is in the highlights; it suffered there. I would say three to

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four stops over base and you will begin to clip. If you can work the highlights and light for that range then you are sitting with a camera that can compete with the other more expensive cameras. arri alexa needs to be congratulated here. It was the only camera that handled the entire eight stop exposure range, there was still detail in the fur on the bunny’s head even at the most exposed part. Overall this camera outperformed the rest when it came to dynamic range.

For colour reproduction the Sony F35 came out on top. It is the only camera with a CCd array for each RGB spectrum. this means that the red, green and blue light spectrums are captured on individual sensors placed atop of each other. this leads to an excellent reproduction in colour. the negatives which let this camera down is the base ISO of 450 for exterior night shooting as compared to the other cameras rated at 800. the size of this camera is enormous with the SRw 1 tape deck attached and the rental price is fairly hefty at present. It should be reconsidered to compete with current Hd cameras. when compared to an alexa or epic, the Canon 5d doesn’t ‘quite’ match in terms of sharpness, latitude, compression and colour space. with that said it has had a monumental influence on the way low budget

film, music videos and commercials are made worldwide. never have we seen one particular camera cross so many boundaries. the main reason for this is the cost of the camera and 35mm depth of field. I believe it is the cheapest cost to quality ratio of any camera at present. there is a place for this camera that we can see, however it is not the answer to all things film related it has limitations.

Night Scene nIGHtFaLL arrived and we headed to the western Boulevard cut-off highway, a regular filming hotspot in Cape Town. we shot a cityscape and face portrait utilising only available streetlight. Zeiss Ultra prime 20mm and 85mm at f1.9 were used in this test.

I found the Red MX to be high in contrast as far as a raw base image goes. I would prefer to dial the blacks in, thus starting with a flatter image. The sodium vapour lights showed up as quite saturated in relation to the other cameras.

Red epic improved slightly when compared to the MX in low light. I thought it would have performed much better off the bat against the MX. However when we pushed the epic’s image in post you had more leeway than the MX. the resolution in the skyline and city lights was the best with this camera, its 5K sensor taking the lead when it

came to image resolution Sony F3: again this camera blew me away. In low light it produced a clean image with very little noticeable noise overall. In the face portrait setup, which was two stops under base f1.9, this camera really impressed me.

I could differentiate between the black pupil and blue iris of the subject’s eye. Something worth mentioning is the ability to push up the gain to 6dB and still have a completely useable image, if you needed to. arri alexa delivered the goods in this scene. the Log C gamma curve gives you an excellent starting point to grade from. In the face portrait setup we brought up the image two stops with completely acceptable results in relation to noise, contrast and exposure. I believe it handled the sodium vapour lights really well, as sometimes these lights can look awful when shot on video especially if the camera is recording in ReC709.

Sony F35 has a base rated ISO of 450. this meant that in the night scene it ’saw’ less than the other cameras, however if you push the gain to 6dB you will achieve an ISO of 800 there is noticeable noise in the image but still useable. Canon 5d was shot using the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 zoom lens. this meant it was one stop under the other cameras, however with that said, it still performed remarkably well in low light for a camera with limited compression abilities. Its draw-back is the fact that you don’t have much latitude in post to correct any exposure mistakes or grade extensively. You have to get it right in camera otherwise you will find yourself in a black hole of pain later.

Overall conclusion COMInG from a cinematographer’s standpoint we are living in an era of immense change. the advent of digital Hd camera systems has revolutionised the business of capturing moving images. Our choice for cameras is now vast and is indeed a complex decision as to which camera to use. we need to consider the workflow, image quality, cost and aesthetic of the various cameras available to us. the cameras we tested are truly remarkable in their own right. How digital has evolved over the past

few years is incredible to me, we are witness to the migration from celluloid to 1’s and 0’s in a relatively short period of time. after the test day was over I was left trying to decide which was the best camera to shoot with? well it has become clearer now after having seen them perform in the post environment - there is no best camera.

I say this because each of these cameras has their own strengths and weaknesses. the alexa is better at dynamic range, the epic at resolution, the Sony F35 in colour space and 5d for budget. How you choose your camera is based on your project, budget requirements, knowing the limitations and capabilities of the camera and the final outcome of the film. The Sony F3 is at the top of my list for those productions with tight budget constraints, you get the Sony F3 camera plus cinedeck 4:4:4 uncompressed, ProRes, avid codec recorder with built in monitor plus basic set of primes for the same price as a fully loaded 5d kit. that’s a bargain and something to consider. the alexa in my option has placed its foot down as the camera of choice for commercial and features production. I would attribute this to its robust design, ease of use, workflow and the beautiful image it produces, however in this ever changing digital world you never know what is around the corner next. the epic is the new kid on the block we shall see over time how it holds up against the more established cameras. digital is here to stay and needs to be embraced for the medium that will propel filmmaking in to the future. It has grown quicker that most of us expected and has now replaced film as the medium of choice, some say that film is now dead. I would like to leave you with this thought.

Film is not dead to me, in fact it will live on for many centuries to come in the countless masterpieces that it helped create.

For those of us who were lucky enough to work with this medium it captured our imagination and wonderment, it brought discipline to our craft and it earned my respect as a medium that brought filmmaking to where it is today. Long live film.

Grant Appleton

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DAVID GOLDBLATT PORTRAITS AT THE GOODMAN GALLERY

In the Alexandra Street Park, Hillbrow

Walking the ‘madam’s’ dog, Hillbrow, June 1972

PHOTOGRAPHY Noted South African photographer david Goldblatt’s portraits from the past 50 years will be exhibited at the Goodman Gallery in Cape town from 29 october - 10 december 2011.

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he exhibition includes commissioned portraits of dignitaries, including Nelson Mandela, as well as David’s controversial ex-Offenders series.

The series, which was recently on show at the Venice Biennale, features ex-offenders revisiting the scenes of the crime for which they were accused. Of the ex-Offenders series, David said: “I wanted to burrow under the statistics to meet some of the doers of crime, do portraits of them, and hear from them about their lives and what they had done.”

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David, who has been taking photographs since 1948, has had his work exhibited at The South African National Gallery, MOMA and the Guggenheim Museum among others. he has published more than a dozen books and seen his work displayed in public collections in the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Alfred Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and more. David was also awarded a Gahan Fellowship in Photography at harvard University, a hasselblad Award from the hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photograph, an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Cape Town and, just this year, the Silver Order of Ikhamanga from the South African government.

When asked about the series and whether he had a fa-

vourite kind of portrait, David said: “All of the photographs in this show were made with the knowledge and consent of the subjects. They divide into those made on commission, usually for magazines, and those made for personal reasons - in other words for myself, for a project on which I was working at the time. No, I have no preference for any particlular kind.” When asked which kind he thinks captures the subject most clearly, David replied: “how clearly a subject is captured is dependent not on what ‘kind’ of portrait it is, but on how well I have done my job, or on how well you, the viewer think that I have done.”

David concluded: “The only public figures I am interested in photographing at present, are prepared to go back to the scene of the crime with me for a portrait.

Robert Mugabe, then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Harare

FILM REBATE CAP DROPPED GENERAL INDUSTRY

Machine Gun Preacher

Safe House

South Africa has dropped the cap on the film rebate. This means that in future there will be no limits on the tax refunds for international productions shot in South Africa.

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N the past the tax rebate used to be restricted to R20 million per project. The rebate makes it possible for any international production to claim 15 percent back on its total spend in South Africa. The new rebate structure came into effect at the beginning of October 2011.

There is however a minimum spend of R 12 million in order for the tax rebate to apply. The dropping of the cap on the rebate should have the effect of bringing even more international productions to South Africa.

The DTI clearly states their motivation for this move in the document, which says: “The South African government recognises the potential of the film industry and has prioritised it as one of the sectors under its Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA). The growth of the film industry could have a tremendous impact on economic development in terms of employment and exports, while stimulating a host of supplier industries.”

Under the former rebate structure South Africa attracted several big budget foreign productions, including Dredd and Safe House. With the new tax rebate structure in place it looks likely that other international production companies will follow suit by bringing their projects to South Africa.

In terms of rules and regulations around the rebate, producers need to apply for the rebate before principle photography starts and must already have a distribution deal and a quarter of the film’s budget in place. The rebate applies to feature films, TV series, animation, mini-series, documentaries and long-running TV dramas. The production needs to shoot for a minimum of four weeks in South Africa (which must account for a minimum of 50 percent of the film’s principle photography).

DTI deputy director of Incentives and Administration Rudi Siefert explained what prompted the

DTI’s decision to drop the rebate cap, saying: “We noted budgets especially for foreign productions becoming larger and in order to accommodate them and also to eliminate the requests from them to increase the incentive level a decision was taken to eliminate the cap completely.”

When asked whether the decision had anything to do with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF)’s roadshow earlier this year where co-productions and the definition of SA film were discussed he denied any relationship, saying it was a DTI decision.

Rudi hopes the amended rebate structure will, “attract larger foreign productions to South Africa and also assist South African productions that could qualify.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Local and co-productions will receive a 35 percent rebate on the first 6 million Rand ($761,000) spent and 25 percent on the remainder.”

According to the Foreign Film and Television Production Incentive document released in October: “The objective of the incentive is to encourage and attract large budget films and television productions that will contribute towards SA economic development and international profile and increase foreign direct investment.”

The document also contains a list of formats that are excluded from the rebate, these include: Reality TV, discussion programmes, current affairs and news programmes, variety programmes, live sporting events and others.

Both ‘Qualifying South African Productions and ‘Official Treaty co-productions’ are eligible for the incentive. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be credited for a contribution to the production. The total production expenditure, Qualifying

South African Production Expenditure and Non-Qualifying South African Production expenditure must be submitted to the DTI. According to the guidelines document, the TPI constitutes: “A film or television production’s total production expenditure is that incurred or reasonably attributable to the making of the film from pre-production to the point at which the first copy of the film is ready to be distributed, broadcast or exhibited to the general public.”

The NFVF also revealed that the South African and New Zealand governments had signed a co-production treaty. The agreement came into effect on 20 October 2011. The treaty is a result of the successful working relationship between Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp on the 2009 blockbuster District 9. The Lord of the Rings director, who produced District 9 is a native of New Zealand, while director Blomkamp is a South African.

The designated authorities

Chronicle

when accessing this treaty are the NFVF and the New Zealand Film Commission. New Zealand Film Commission “As the NFVF, we always strive to present every opportunity possible to local filmmakers to ensure the development and growth of local film. New Zealand is one of the emerging film markets and this agreement is strategic in a sense

that it creates an opportunity for South African filmed products to penetrate foreign markets.”

According to the document, the agreement covers a period of three years (starting from 20 October 2011) with the option to extend it for a further three years.

Kate Hodges

District 9

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MONTANA SEASON TWO IN PRODUCTION Montana season two

Montana season two

TELEVISION On 25 October 2011 I visited stage one at The Waterfront Studios, where the highly anticipated second season of Montana was shooting.

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he cast and crew of the Cape Flats set drama series, were hard at work shooting studio scenes following eight weeks of location shooting.

One of the show’s trade-

marks is the amount of scenes they shoot on location. During my visit I sat in the booth with Shirley ellis while they shot a scene. The scene featured Sizwe Msutu, the irrepressible Riana Alfreds and Warrick Grier inside the police station. Sizwe plays Patrick on Montana, while Riana and Warrick play police officers. All three of the actors worked hard at the scene - and it looked like a good one. Riana amused her colleagues with her antics between takes.

Afterwards I was on set for a technical rehearsal of another scene in the police station, this one starring Anelisa Phewa, who plays Lwazi Ntili in the show.

Shirley carefully chatted to the three cameramen on the set, discussing each shot beforehand. Like any good director, she communicates frequently with the cameras, and gets the shots she’s looking for as a result.

Despite a packed shooting schedule, 2nd AD Nicole Bailey joked with the crew that they’d be there until midnight, everyone on set was relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Set to start in January 2012, Montana follows the lives and loves of four families in the ethnically diverse Cape Town suburb.

The families are the Jordaans, the Ntshingas, the Duzes and the Yilis. Nolitha Ntshinga, played

by Zikhona Sodlaka and Victor Jordaan, played by Charles

Montana season two

Tertiens were the hero couple in season one, and this season they will continue to play a large role as their relationship is threatened by Anelisa Phewa’s character Lwazi.

The bitch character, a soapie staple, is Dalene, played with relish by Chantal Stanfield who returns with a vengeance this season. Chantal, best known for her role as Cecile in SABC2’s 7de Laan, is also known for her role as Florys in M-Net and kykNeT’s Geraldina die Tweede.

The central location of the community centre means the show is also a fantastic showcase for a promising group of young actors.

Penguin Films owner and Montana creative director Roberta Durrant would not be drawn on rumours that the show may become a daily soap, saying only: “The SABC defines Montana as a long running series. Whether it ever becomes a bi weekly or a daily is something

that remains to be seen. Penguin has much experience in producing long running series...”

Roberta was however prepared to talk about the changes between seasons one and two, saying: “The change between series one and this series is that at least two thirds is recorded in the studio in a multi camera set up whereas the first series was all shot single camera and on location.”

She also confirmed that seven weeks worth of footage was shot on location before the production moved to the studio.

Roberta concluded: “It was a pleasure to work with our Cape Town acting talent who are extremely committed to Montana and give it their absolutely all! That we had three directors working across all the episodes with myself as overall creative director.”

Kate Hodges

PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPER’S OUTLOOK FOR 2011-2015 Cape Town Film Studios

INDUSTRY The Price Waterhouse Cooper (PWC) Entertainment and Media Outlook for South Africa 20112015 has some valuable insights for the industry.

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he gist of the report is that the industry is in good health and is expected to conitnue growing over the next five years. Advertising, television and film content and cinema-attendance are all set to grow according to the report.

In the introduction to the study Vicki Myburgh mentions: “In 2010 the South African economy

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began to recover from its steep decline in 2009. This, together with the impact of the FIFA World Cup, helped total e & M spending to rise by 21.1% - in dramatic contrast to the 3.7% growth seen in 2009 and the 4.6% growth experienced globally in 2010.”

In terms of trend-watching her assertion that “the entertainment and media industry that is emerging from the recession has changed profoundly in many markets as consumer migration to digital has continued apace” comes as no surprise, but it is a timely reminder for content producers and industry players.

In the filmed entertainment

section of the study, a surprising figure was the rise of 15.8% of cinema in the market share, compared to the just 0.2% rise of home video. The report also offers good news for the commercials sector, noting that “Cinema advertising rebounded in 2010 with a 17.1% advance following a 19.6% plunge in 2009. The recovering economy combined with rising attendance will continue to fuel cinema advertising during the next five years.”

The predicted growth in the report is: “filmed entertainment as a whole will expand at a 4.5% compound annual rate during the next five years, rising to an

estimated R3.6 billion in 2015 in comparison to R2.9 billion in 2010.

We expect that total cinema spend (box office plus cinema advertising) will total an estimated R1.7 billion in 2015, up 7.4% compounded annually from R1.2 billion in 2010. Total home video is expected to rise from R1.66 billion in 2010 to R1.85 billion in 2015, a 2.1% compound annual gain.”

The report contains good news for local content producers, saying: “While overseas drama will remain a mainstay in the programming schedule, South African content will be of increasing importance.” The report continues, “The overall TV

market grew 18.8% in 2010, the largest increase during the past five years. Growth was fuelled by a 25.2% increase in subscription spending, reflecting a jump in subscription households, and by a 14.7% increase in broadcast advertising, which benefited from advertising and subscriber growth associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” Regarding advertising, the news is very good, as the report goes on to predict “We project a 4.7% increase in broadcast advertising in 2011 and a 7.9% compound annual advance to R12.6 billion in 2015.” The report also expects the online TV advertising market to triple in size in the next five years to reach R32 million in 2015.

The report concludes: “Total television advertising will increase at 8.0% compound annual rate from R8.6 billion in 2010 to R12.7 billion in 2015. During the past two years, 92% of total television growth was generated by subscription spending. Subscription spending overtook advertising in 2009 to become the largest component of the television market, generating half of total spending in 2010. We expect new services and improving economic conditions to continue to fuel subscription spending, which we project will increase at a 12.0% compound annual rate to reach R17.1 billion in 2015, up from R9.7 billion in 2010.”

“Growth for the total television market is expected to average 9.9% compounded annually, rising from R19.3 billion in 2010 to a projected R30.9 billion in 2015.”

CREW OF THE MONTH: LANCE LEZAR What does your job entail?

Well it varies; that’s what so cool about it. As a location or unit manager its handling all logistics of the job then making sure all crew know how to get there, where to go and how to navigate to their allocated position, we as a unit and locations team provide the entire shooting infrastructure for all departments. This includes permits, location agreements and all legalities. First on the set, last to leave…

Lance on set

What is your favourite thing about your job?

EvEry day I have different view from my office, a new location and new challenges.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

KeePIng the mother city film friendly, for example, making the public aware of the film industry’s major positive financial contribution towards the infrastructures of Cape Town

CREW Unit and locations manager Lance Lezar tells The Callsheet about his role on set.

How did you first get involved in the industry?

I was first cast in a training film for life line some 13 years ago.

I was watching the crew working with dollys and tracks and all the gear and equipment it looked shweet. It took me another three years to break into the industry as a PA.

What is the biggest job you have worked on so far?

Safe House. When they say break a leg…

Did you have a mentor in the industry when you were starting out? yEs I did, I would have to say mentors Mike Beg and Alan Shearer, both old

Lance on set

school legends.

Which other crew members do you work closely with in the course of your job?

My job requires that I liaise with all departments, but mostly between production, the DOP and then feedback to the rest of the departments of restrictions and logistics of locations.

What’s the craziest thing that happened to you during the course of your work?

I ThOughT I twisted my ankle turns out it was broken. The result was five months out of action, plate, screws and physio.

What education and training

would you recommend for someone interested in becoming a unit and locations manager?

I DOn’T think there is any standardised training for it, you have to essentially start at the bottom and work your way up.

Describe a typical day at the office.

FIrST on set last to leave. Sign board location, place security, set up lights, park catering, park tech vehicles, make location film friendly, shoot, wrap location, make sure location is still film friendly, all residents, tenants and location owners ready to receive next film crew.

MICT-SETA EVENTS UNDER-ATTENDED BY FILM INDUSTRY INDUSTRY A focus group and stakeholder forum in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively, saw MICT Seta making a concerted effort to engage with the industries covered by their mandate.

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T the event in Cape Town Charlton Philiso, the senior manager of education and Training Quality Assurance, spoke engagingly to Cape Town MICT Seta stakeholders. he presented an overview of the organisation’s plans for the next five years, as well as a strategic plan for the years 2011-2016. Charlton also took questions from the floor.

As a representative of MICT Seta he showed a refreshing willingness to take on-board the suggestions of industry.

In addition to Charlton the attendees were addressed

by Western Cape Office coordinator Audrey Louw. Senior manager of operations Jabu Sibeko explained the terms of reference used in the stakeholder forum to the room, as well as charming them with his self-deprecating humour. Sekgana Makhoba told the room about the way forward for the Seta in terms of Monitoring and evaluation. In Cape Town the Film Industry didn’t turn out in force, however there were some familiar faces including Cape Film Commissioner Denis Lille and Seton Bailey from the Film Industry Learner Mentorship (FILM).

In Johannesburg the MICT

Seta focus group presentation on the electronic Media and Film sector was attended by 26 people. The purpose of the focus group was to review the MICT Sector Skills Plan by subsector. A secondary aim was to assess whether the quantative data in the MICT Sector Skills Plan appeared realistic to industry insiders. The Seta were hoping to close sector skills development gaps that may have been missed for non levy paying companies.

The advertising, broadcast and film industries were represented. MICT Seta held the presentation in order to present to stake holders a breakdown of where there are skills shortages in the industry. In addition they aimed to define the roles and critical skills in the industry. Suggestions from the floor included name changes and an alignment of the unit standards with real-world roles and activities.

According to Donovan Winterburn of Film and event Media, “There were quite a few ‘a-ha’ moments, especially around the re-naming of roles and titles and the unit standard.” unfortunately the turnout by the film industry was poor at both events, and the impression is that industry has yet to make the most of the opportunities afforded by working with MICT Seta. Based on what was said at both events - the Seta is keen to work with the film industry. Charlton pointed out that one of the reasons they have open ended fund-

Charlton Philiso

ing rather than a financial year as such - this is to accommodate projects of a more transitory nature, such as film productions.

Charlton also acknowledged the fact that skills

training will not solve all the problems with the local film industry and content creation. he said: “Look at nollywood [the nigerian film industry], I don’t think they have any skills training. But look how many

movies are being made. We have so little local content that Mzansi Magic [DSTV local channel that shows South African movies] is constantly showing re-runs.

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AFM 2011 ROUND-UP AFM THE annual American Film Market (AFM) took place in Los Angeles from 2-9 November 2011. The film market includes more than 400 screenings, seminars, networking functions and parties where filmmakers and distributors can do business.

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Lobby at AFM

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OUTH Africa was well represented at AFM as Mukunda Michael Dewil’s movie Vehicle 19 was introduced to an international crowd. The first images from the movie and a brief synopsis were presented at AFM. Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker was also an executive producer on the project. Another South African film at AFM was Triggerfish’s 3D animated feature Zambezia.

Zambezia was screened for distributors and voted one of the 25 Must See Films at AFM by the French trade journal Le Film Francais. The journal also featured the movie on the cover.

In addition to the 415 films that were screened, there were 69 world premieres, 310 market premieres, 28 films screened in 3D, films from 35 countries and more than 700 total screenings.

Speakers at the conferences included writer/director

Rob Reiner; producer Lauren Shuler Donner; Kevin Pollak; Selma Blair; Emmy-winning Amazing Race co-creator and executive producer Bertram van Munster; and Rodrigo Guerrero Rojas, the Columbian producer of Maria Full of Grace.

According to Dave McNary writing for Variety: “That’s the emerging consensus at the end of AFM - sales were solid but not spectacular, particularly given the high level of sales earlier in the year at Cannes.”

AFM managing director Jonathan Wolf told Variety: “We are thrilled with the strong growth in buyers - it’s our most important metric - and selling out the new AFM Conference Series in its first year underscores the AFM’s relevance to the production community.”

Statistics released by Independent Film & TV Alliance the organisers of AFM - show that overall attendance was at its highest point since the recession in 2008. Overall attendance was up by four percent from 2010 with 7988 attendees and that was up from 2009.

The number of companies that sent buyers rose eight percent to 718, and the number of buying executives was up seven percent from 2010, with 1523 in attendance.

Attendance by exhibitor

Zambezia makes the front page

affiliated participants (executives, producers, talent, etc) was down by three percent to 3321.

The number of official guests was down 14% to 658.

There were 186-registered members of the media in attendance. International attendance of AFM is very definitely on the rise with 37 Chinese representatives in attendance (61% increase), 109 German delegates (38% increase) and 73 delegates from the U.K. (16% increase).

According to The Hollywood Reporter “all five of the AFM conferences which covered finance, marketing, distribution and pitching new movie projects. Each event drew between 600 and 700 attendees.”

Kate Hodges

PHOTO HIRE EXPANDS INTO SALES

One of the studios available at Photo Hire

PROFILE PHOTO Hire was started eight years ago by husband and wife team Pieter and Lauren Badenhorst. Since then they’ve expanded their offering and now, in addition to gear rentals and studios, they sell HD video related equipment and high-end camera gear.

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HATTING to Pieter and Lauren about their business you can’t ignore their enthusiasm and passion for what they do. As customers come into their busy shop in town, it becomes obvious that customer relations and technical knowledge are the cornerstones of their success.

Photo Hire now sells as well as rents stock. Photo Hire is the authorised dealer of several of the biggest international brands including Briese (rental only), the Leica S2, Redrock Micro, FJ Wescott, Zylight, Glidetrack and many more. They are the only South African outlet that stocks Broncolor and they boast the largest selection of Briese rental stock in the country. Briese focus umbrellas are popular with Photo Hire’s clients in both the stills and video sectors. The Briese light can be used in stills flash and movie HMI flicker on cameras like the phantom with a 1000hz ballast. With access to this wide variety of brands along with the infrastructure they’ve built up over eight years in the

industry - including numerous delivery vehicles - it’s no wonder Photo Hire is thriving. Photo Hire is the exclusive distributor of the Leica flagship camera, the Leica S2.

Pieter is also quick to point out that there is plenty of space for expansion. He makes a compelling argument for renting gear, saying: “People rent ‘up’ or rent-to-buy. The chance to rent this expensive equipment means people have a chance to work with equipment they couldn’t otherwise afford, or test-drive equipment that’s price makes it a major investment.”

The speed with which upgrades become available also makes renting rather than buying a viable option. Photo Hire has

both local and international clients and pride themselves on offering all their clients the same excellent service.

Pieter is enthused by the democratisation of the industry made possible by the arrival DSLR cameras on the filmmaking scene. Whereas before most aspiring filmmakers were priced out of the opportunity to make films the movement towards making movies with the Canon 5D mark II and the Nikon D7000 means more filmmakers have the opportunity to make their movie than ever before. Pieter is an expert on these cameras and their accessories. He revealed that the camera manufacturers are aware of the new market too, saying the newest Zeiss lenses have filmmakers rather than stills photographers in mind with improved focus pulling features.

The shop is open during normal working hours, but the needs of the clients mean the Photo Hire staff are effectively on call 24 hours a day and clients don’t hesitate to call them on their cellphones after hours and on weekends.

Pieter and manager Calvin Morrison both have extensive technical knowledge of their equipment and are thrilled to help clients out and advise them about their best options when renting or purchasing gear.

Photo Hire also offers three

Lauren and Pieter Badenhorst

studios at reasonable rates for stills and commercials shoots.

All three studios are larger than 300 square metres with infinity curves and Studio C is used for green screen shoots. Most recently the Puma advert featuring several high-profile Springboks was shot there as was the Keith Rose-directed Carling Black Label advert for Velocity Films. The studios have all the extra support required, including wireless internet. Pieter points out that an added benefit for clients using the studios is having Photo Hire just downstairs, therefore any equipment clients may need is close at hand. Lauren added that they are not precious about the studios, and says clients are welcome to make changes and bring in whatever they require in order to make sure their shoot is a success.

Pieter concludes: “No job is too big or too small.”

13

SOUTH AFRICANS SHINE AT WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS © Thomas Peschak

© Wim van den Heever

© Wim van den Heever

PHOTOGRAPHY

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erman-born Thomas, who calls Cape Town home, was named as one of the 30 most influential photographers in the world by Outdoor Photography Magazine last year, he has also won a World Press Photo award in 2011.

Thomas, a marine biologist before he devoted himself to photography, passionately believes photography can aid in conservation. His feature story on maldives manta rays for National Geographic Magazine contributed to a proclamation of a marine reserve for these creatures. This has only strengthened his resolve to aid conservation efforts with his talent. Thomas is a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a collective of some of the world’s best wildlife and environmental photographers who together tackle some of world’s most important conservation issues.

Thomas is glad to receive awards for one key reason, saying: “awards are very important for my marine conservation photo projects, because they can bring important stories to a large and diverse audience. I really only enter two competitions regularly, World Press Photo and the Veolia/BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.

As a result of quite a few awards

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© Thomas Peschak

Wim van den Heever and Thomas Peschak both placed in the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards 2011. Out of the 41000 entries 67 commended images were named. Three photographs in the 2011 awards were shot by Thomas and a fourth was shot by Wim. A third South African photographer, Peter Chadwick, won a special award - the 2011 Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife.

over the last five years millions of people have for example seen my images of salmon threatened by an oil pipeline in Canada or my photographs of Cape Gannet populations that are in decline due to overfishing. That sort of publicity is priceless. From a personal perspective it is nice to be acknowledged by a jury of your peers, but I don’t lose any sleep if I don’t win.”

Wim turned his back on an IT career in order to host photography tours through Sabi Sands, and his spectacular photographs are the result. Wim also believes his photographs play a part in conservation, “I certainly hope that my efforts in wildlife photography have an effect on conservation, wildlife awareness, and an appreciation of the natural world. Preserving our natural heritage is of paramount importance to me and I believe and hope that wildlife photography can and should be used as a positive influence.”

Wim continued: “Every wildlife photograph depicts nature as it should be, or sadly, it depicts the destruction occurring in all areas. either way, people are being reminded of essential issues that we face today, and they are similarly reminded of our duty to preserve what we have, and to prevent further destruction. Our photographs can influence people to action. As I said, either to preserve what we have, or to prevent further destructive behaviours. I hope that each person who sees the rhino on the front cover of the BBC Wildlife Magazine recalls precarious situation that these and other animals face today.”

Both photographers are set for a busy 2012. Wim has several expeditions to east africa and all over Southern Africa planned. In addition he will be bringing out another OutdoorPhoto book in 2012. all proceeds of the book will be donated to charity.

Thomas will also see much of his work in print next year. He said: “I have just finished an almost year long series of assignments for a National Geographic Magazine story in arabia, which is set to be published in 2012. I am also in the final stages of finishing my fifth book, which explores the relationship between sharks and people. I also plan to return to the Great Bear rainforest in Canada, continue my work on the shark fin trade and begin a

project to document and raise awareness of South Africa’s marine parks.”

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be open to the public from 7 December 2011 - 7 March 2012. The exhibition is housed at the Iziko South African Museum at the top of the Company Gardens in Cape Town.

CEO of the Natural History Unit (NHU) Africa, Sophie Vartan was full of praise for this year’s ex-

hibition, saying: “We are thrilled to host the exhibition again with our partner Iziko Museums. This year’s collection is truly breathtaking and we congratulate all the photographers. I believe this exhibition is an important account of the spectacular beauty of our natural world, and each year reminds us of the growing need for us to protect our natural habitats.”

Kate Hodges

ONLINE NEWS HIGHLIGHTS Tracey Curtis-Taylor

GENERAL NEWS GENERAL news from the South African film and commercials industry. You can load your own stories to our website at www.thecallsheet.co.za Waterfront Studios/ Condor Group in provisional liquidation As of Thursday 10 November 2011 Waterfront studios has gone into provisional liquidation. This follows a business rescue plan that was rejected. Waterfront studios continues to operate while the company is in provisional liquidation and has indicated an interest in partnership and investment opportunities.

Grinder shoots 1st ever Commercial on Hi Speed Alexa MAINTAINING their commitment to stay at the forefront of technology, Grinder Films have recently been Beta testing the new Alexa version 5 software for Arri Germany.

Grinder, who specialise in food and beverage productions, revealed that the upgrade, which allows the camera to shoot at 120fps, has been used on a series of commercials shot since september for Unilever in Eastern Europe. The commercials were directed by Grinder’s director and director of photography Robert Payton.

The camera now bridges the gap in the digital environment between regular 24/ 25fps shooting and the specialist ultra-high-speed cameras from Phantom.

“We frequently need a small speed change when shooting food and mock ups, and we missed the frame rates that were available to us on the 435 film cameras” says Rob. “As predicted, the Alexa really has become the workhorse of the industry now and this new software, which performed perfectly for me on 2 cameras over 5 different commercials, reinforces the Alexa’s position in the commercials world”.The upgrade which requires a change of software, and specialist sxs data cards is scheduled for general release imminently.

Roy Zetisky Signs On With Spoke Films LONDON commercials com-

Grinder Films

pany spoke Films, which has recently opened offices in Dubai and Cape Town, has announced that legendary director of photography/ director Roy Zetisky has joined their growing roster for representation in south Africa and beyond.

Multi-talented Roy, the well known and respected director and mentor in the local commercials and features communities, is raring to go.

Having shot a feature or two in recent years, Roy is keen to get back in the hot seat to direct commercials, which he says keeps him on his toes as he likes the challenge of creating something beautiful in a short space of time. spoke says Roy is a skilled performance director with a superb eye behind the camera, and that they are thrilled to have this Best Cinematography award winner as part of their team.

Previous clients include Coca Cola, Fanta, Kelloggs, Ravensburger, Bavaria Breweries, Vodacom and many more.

Dutch breweries Bavaria used Roy as the director, DOP and photographer for their international campaign and ended up with some dynamic TV spots and stunning billboards. spoke’s resident Cape Town producer Colin Cash will be on hand to pass Roy which ever hat he is required to wear: stills photographer, DOP, director, pistolero.

Springthorpe Supplies Craft for epic Documentary Flight From Cape Town To Cambridge sIMON springthorpe has been supplying planes for the film industry since 1997. His latest partnership with the film industry will see Tracey Curtis-Taylor flying the Stearman, an open cockpit biplane from Cape Town to Cambridge on 26 November 2011. This will be a charity flight, with Tracey hoping to highlight ‘The Girl Effect’.

Tracey will be flying with Flippie Vermeulen a retiring sAA captain and keen warbird man who operates DC-3’s across Africa. Tracey will follow the route taken by Lady Mary Heath in 1928.

South African ITU 2011 Digital Innovation Winner CAPE Town’s Hajra Cassim is a winner in the Not-For-Profit Digital Innovators Award at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2011, out of 45 finalists from 22 countries around the world.

Held at the end of October in Geneva, switzerland, Telecom World is one of the globe’s most important ICT events, brought together by The United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Hajra, a trainee director on the Film Industry Learner Mentorship (F.I.L.M.) MICT seta sallywood Project, won 8 500 swiss Francs (roughly R75 000) for pitching the mobile-content-generation showmemobi model to an international investment panel, global leaders in technology, and a huge international audience via the internet. showmemobi is the sallywood Project’s own mobile content channel, launching at the end of November 2011 on a new mobile content platform or mobihood (mobile neighbourhood).

Five-minute mobi-sodes of edutainment are written and produced by trainees on the sallywood Project, a MICT seta funded skills programme created by F.I.L.M. to empower young media entrepreneurs.

In south Africa, there is over 50% youth unemployment. “six months ago, I was part of that statistic,” says Hajra, a single mother of a four-year-old boy.

“Through showmemobi, we want to empower people who are marginalised to tell and sell stories through film electronic and digital media; stories that touch and transform lives and in the process, create employment for emerging microentrepreneurs who generate the content.”

Hajra is currently developing her first series for showmemobi: Cape Town in Joburg, which follows the journey of a rural woman who inherits the Joburg Bar on Long street.

She plans to shoot the fiveminute mobi-sodes on her new Blackberry. “It’s mobile for mobi,” she says. F.I.L.M. project director seton Bailey accom-

panied Hajra to Geneva. He says the prize money is going to buy production equipment for F.I.L.M. and showmemobi. seton adds that meeting and working with heads of state and other world leaders was life-changing. “Apart from the incredible contacts, we now have a far clearer understanding of how to pitch the huge benefits of our not-for-profit showmemobi mobile-contentgeneration project to venture capitalists, angel investors and the world,” he says. “Special thanks to the MICT seta and ITU for laying the foundations for our future…”

Hajra is starting to believe that’s possible after having an epiphany on the trip. “Here was this single mum from a small town, Newcastle, standing outside the UN and engaging with some of the top level telecommunications and business people in the world, carrying the dreams of 40 students in my class at F.I.L.M. It brought me close to tears. I always thought it would be someone else, someone brighter or better. It just shows that if you follow your bliss, doors and windows will open and opportunities will present themselves where none existed before.”

Spier Films’ Black Butterflies sells to 12 territories sPIER Films Black Butterflies, which is currently on release in south Africa at Cinema Nouveau, and was produced with IDTV and Riba Films (Netherlands), Comet Films (Germany), has now been sold in 12 territories around the globe thus ensuring that the film will be released or broadcast in almost 100 countries worldwide.

Bavaria Film, the international sales agents, have recently concluded sales with the Us/Canada, France and Africa, Middle East, CIs (former soviet countries), Brazil, the rest of south America America, Hong Kong, Colombia, Mexico, switzerland, scandinavia and Taiwan.

Black Butterflies has already opened in the Netherlands taking Us$1,2 million at the box office.

Producer, Michael Auret, says “spier Films is ecstatic with the results we are seeing from

the sales of Black Butterflies to territories around the world, not just because of the financial return on the film but more specifically because now the whole world can share the story of this Iconic south African poet and there will be renewed interest in her poetry worldwide.

There has been some criticism of the use of English in the film as Ingrid was an Afrikaans poet and we hope to change that in the south African DVD release, but the sales show that we adopted the correct strategy for this story to reach a global audience.

Black Butterflies provides an incredible showcase of Cape Town and especially the amazing technical and artistic crew, as well as the post-production capacities of Condor and the Waterfront studios.

We hope that more south Africans will go out to see the film while it is still on circuit.”

Black Butterflies was an official German/South African co-production with all production and post-production taking place in South Africa and was financed by the Dutch Film Fund, spier Films, the Department of Trade and Industry Production rebate and the National Broadcasters Coproduction Fund (COBo) Fund.

Black Butterflies was directed

by Oscar nominee, Paula van der Oest, and stars Carice Van Houten (Black Book, Valkyrie), Rutger Hauer (Hitcher, Blade Runner), Liam Cunningham (Hunger, Clash of the Titans), Jennifer steyn (Master Harold an the Boys), Graham Clarke, Candice D’Arcy, Grant swanby and Nicholas Pauling with south African cinematographer Giulio Biccari, art direction by Darryl Hammer and music by Phillip Miller.

Correction IN the list of Velocity’s Loeries winners in the september issue of The Callsheet Daniel Levi was credited with directing Ed Masters for Tuffy. Ed Masters was in fact directed by Gregg Bailey.

Daniel won a silver Loerie for his direction of IBM Henry, while Gregg’s Ed Masters won Bronze.

15

CINERGY SHOOTS COLDPLAY MUSIC VIDEO

Chris Martin on set in Woodstock

SERVICE Cinergy Films told The Callsheet about the experience of shooting Coldplay’s music video for Paradise.

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inergy received the brief for Coldplay’s music video hours before shooting was set to start, but they enjoyed the challenge of working with Pulse Films and the band.

The poignant music video shows lead singer Chris Martin, dressed in an elephant suit, taking an epic journey from London to Africa. He busks to raise the funds for a unicycle. He then joins the rest

of the band, also in elephant suits, in the Karoo. The video then cuts to the band’s concert in Johannesburg. Filming took place in chronological order, not story order in: Ceres, Woodstock (bicycle shop and street busking), the Karoo (the elephant finds the other three), Cape Town Airport arrivals hall, on the apron where the band’s private jet stood, on the band’s flight to Johannesburg, at the Johannesburg concert, in Johannesburg city streets, the nelson Mandela bridge, and at The Cradle nature reserve north of Johannesburg (the giraffes).

Just 18 hours before filming was due to start, Cinergy received a brief from Pulse Films in London, to produce a music video over a couple of days for a band described as “well known.” With confidentiality agreement in place, the band was revealed to be Coldplay, performing that same night at Cape Town stadium. Producer Amanda Arbuckle set to work and after a scramble to gather crew and equipment, shooting began in Cape Town at mid morning the next day.

The couple of days grew and locations became wide spread as the group moved out of town, towards Ceres and on to the Karoo.

Then back to Cape Town,

first at Cape Town International Airport, followed by in-flight filming on the way to Johannesburg in a private jet hired

by Coldplay.

Meanwhile, late Friday afternoon, a call had come from London to include shooting at Coldplay’s Saturday night Johannesburg concert, with multiple cameras and camera teams, together with Sunday shooting in city streets and a game reserve north of Johannesburg.

After one of the shortest pre-production times ever, Coldplay’s management and director Mat Whitecross, a friend of the band from their London University days, were effusive in their thanks for what was achieved. “it was just Paradise” they said. Mat also directed the music videos for Christmas Lights and Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.

The music video was released on 19 October 2011, five weeks after the single was made available for download on iTunes.

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DIGITAL TV THE FOCUS AT AFRICA CAST 2011 Africa cast

chris Oberholzer, richard Porter and Gelfand Kausiyo

CONFERENCE AfricA cast 2011, part of the 14th Annual Africa com event at the cTicc, took place on 9 and 10 November 2011.

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fricA com, which was attended by more than 5000 delegates, was organised by informa. Africa cast took place in the Jas-

minium room at the cTicc, and the bulk of the discussions covered convergence across multiple platforms, the move to Digital Terrestrial Television - with a focus on the format DVB-T2 - iPTV and local content offerings in an African context.

The first day was chaired by Balancing Act analyst Sylvain Beletre – whose knowledge of

the subject matter meant he facilitated the discussion excellently and added pertinent insights to the discourse more often than not. Speakers in the first session included Simon Molony from informa, chris Oberholzer – a highly charismatic speaker and head of strategy and business development from Multichoice and BBC Global News controller of Eng-

lish richard Porter. On day two, the list of speakers was just as fascinating, with Southtel cEO Oscar Dube, Michael Gyang from Homebase TV and Anahi Ayala iacucci all speaking. in his presentation chris from Multichoice asserted that South Africa’s 2013 deadline for the transition to digital was overly ambitious. chris stated that france’s struggles with the transition in spite of their superior infrastructure were a good indicator of the fact that South Africa will struggle. christoph Limmer, the senior director for market development in Africa at SES, asserted that the move to digital would be driven by pay television. christoph believes households with payTV will lead the way to in moving across to digital television.

According to richard Lindsay-Davies, the director general of the Digital TV Group in Britain looking after freeview, South Africa can and should learn from Britain’s experiences in moving across to Digital TV. richard believes South Africa made the correct decision in choosing to move to DVB-T2 terrestrial television rather than one of the alternative formats.

DVB-T2 is the format used in

Britain and the rest of Europe.

Speaking directly after richard was Gelfand Kausiyo, the SABc’s general manager for broadcast facilities. Gelfand believes the move to digital will offer the South African a great range of choices in terms of content. He did warn that there was still a lot of consultation and discussion required around the move to digital.

Like many of the other speakers Gelfand seemed sceptical about the 2013 deadline.

Day two was more focussed on panel discussions than individual speakers and guests were treated to a variety of topics, including ‘seizing the opportunities for convergent media’, ‘hybrid and multi-screen strategies in Africa’ and ‘offering the right contents and services to fit customers’ requirements in Africa’.

A fascinating panel on day two took a look at the viability of a variety of hybrid models. Some of the combinations include DTT and the internet, DTT and iPTV and satellite and the internet. The panel looked at which services work best on which screens as well as issues that need to be accounted for - including security and services. Torsten Hoffmann, Ayite Gaba, from Youtube/Google and Gall Le Garrec were three of the panellists.

A second panel on day two discussed the challenges of providing content in Africa. The panellists, looked at the challenges of providing content when dealing with the spotty service. One of the challenges facing content providers in Africa is the cultural and economic variety across a single market. The final challenge is finding an acceptable balance between local and international content. in addition to the Africa cast event, a wander around the main floor of the exhibition was educational. Among the manufacturers with stalls were Huawei, Samsung, Telkom, SES and ZTE, and many others. The trends discussed in the conference were vividly exemplified by the products being promoted by the big brands on the exhibition floor.

Kate Hodges

DECEMBER ISSUE 2011

Booking deadline: 23 November 2011 Material deadline: 25 November 2011 Print deadline: 02 December 2011 • PUBLISHER: Film & Event Media

• COPY EDITOR: Sally Fink (sally@filmeventmedia.co.za)

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MR CAT & THE JACKAL MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT AT CTFS

MUSIC VIDEOS Mr Cat and the Jackal spent a day at Cape Town Film Studios shooting their latest music video, for the song Try, as part of the MK MVP project 2011.

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atellite channel MK launched the Music Video Project (MVP) in 2010. MK has given 12 bands a minimum of R50 000 to make their music video. the 12 bands were selected based on a track, music video treatment and budget. Mr Cat and the Jackal’s music video will be shown for the first time at a premiere party at Monte Casino on 23 November 2011.

The music video, produced

by Jac Williams of Man Makes a Picture, was directed by Mr Cat and the Jackal percussionist Pierre-arnold theron. the band was thrilled with the opportunity to shoot at the studios, made possible by Cape Town Film Studios CeO Nico Dekkers and general manager Ross Rayners. Mr Cat and the Jackal’s previous music video for The Bad Man He Coming was produced by Yesterfang Puppetry & Animation. the video for Try tells the story of a master puppeteer manipulating a little girl. Pierre-arnold stressed that the music video was made to complement the song.

Pierre-arnold said this video was

more relaxing to make than their first music video for The Devil Always Wants To Dance, saying: “It’s a way more controlled environment, and Cape Town Studios is helping us so much with lots of material and space. You can control every shot exactly as you want it.” The Devil Always Wants To Dance was directed by Thomas Ferreira who also directed the 2007 feature film Footskating 101 - The Movie, Million Grains of Sand for Farryl Purkiss and several Jack Parow music videos.

Pierre-Arnold added: “We’ve been working on this for about three months non-stop, the puppeteers especially worked so hard, through the night on many occasions.”

On his turn as a director, Pierre-Arnold said: “This is not me directing, this is me leading the team from the front. But the video has been a complete team effort creatively.”

Pierre-Arnold was very impressed with the team he worked with, saying he would love to work with at Cape Town Film Studios again. He added: “I’ll definitely work with the studios and Man Makes a Picture again. I was especially impressed with art director Melissa Dreyer, we threw her in at the deep-end, but she took it in stride and you’ll see the amazing work she did in the video. The band helped build the set, the producer too.

it was just total team work all the way.” He also mentioned Bea Visagie from the University of Stellenbosch drama department, saying she was a phenomenal head of wardrobe.

Pierre-arnold comes from a theatre background, and without giving too much about the video away, this is clearly visible in the Try music video. He said: “We like to raise the bar and do something completely different.

We are really focused on being very theatrical, our music videos are actually very theatrical.

Gertjie and i studied drama together, we think this background works really well with our music and we try to incorporate it into our videos – to make a little film out of a song is hard work.”

Pierre was full of praise for MK MVP, saying: “I think the MK MVProject is outstanding, it’s outstanding that they financed 12 bands – and it’s not petty cash to do that. i think it’s amazing that there are people in our country trying to push our music industry and our music video industry like this to the next level. it’s really awesome because, most of the musicians in this country don’t have money for music videos – music videos don’t make a profit. I think it works really well working with MK, CTFS, Man Makes a Picture and the band all being involved in the creation of the video, if you

create a song you should be directly involved in the video of that song.”

Ross explained why the studio was keen to have the band there, “In order for us to develop our industry and to show the world what we can do – this is the sort of thing we should be doing. When good bands come to us with a good concept, we are willing to explore how we can assist them, because it’s about the art – about the South african movie industry. “i think what MK is doing is brilliant in terms of galvanising young movie makers and artist to get off their butts and do stuff so that it can be exploited overseas, because i do believe that we as South africa have an abundance of talent that is not being exploited at this time. Not exploited in a bad way, but exploited in a way that they get recognition for what they’re doing and that we as South africa become a hub of really gorgeous music videos

and movies.”

The video was produced by Jac Williams of Man Makes a Picture, a production company that music videos, television programmes, documentaries and corporate videos. Earlier this year Man Makes a Picture produced Straatpraat for Kyknet. They are currently working on an unplugged DVD with the Parlotones for the album Eavesdropping on the Songs of Whales in collaboration with Thinking Owl films and Sovereign entertainment.

This is not the first South African music video that’s been shot at Cape Town Film studios, as in October this year local band isochronous shot the video for Destiny at the studios. The video for Destiny was also made possible by the MK MVP project.

Keep an eye on the Mr Cat and the Jackal website for news on the music video launch for Try. Kate Hodges

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CAPE TOWN MONTHLY WRAP PARTY AT GRINDER FILMS INDUSTRY EVENTS FILM & Event Media’s September monthly wrap party, on 27 October 2011 was at tabletop studios Grinder Films in Observatory.

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HIS month’s function was a fun filled affair at Grinder Films. Guests were welcomed with a glass of red or white wine or an orange juice and Crave made sure they were well fed throughout the evening with a generous supply of sweet and savoury treats.

With the glass oven, Arri lighting and Cyclorama infinity curve, there were plenty of talking points for the networkers. Jameson Irish Whiskey once again provided an open bar, and guests were entertained with a burrito cook-off after the speeches and prize-giving. Jameson’s Seth Pereira addressed the crowd (to much adulation from the whiskey fans in attendance) to tell them about the Jameson First Shot competition.

Thank you to all our sponsors: Adstream, Royale International; Croydon Wines; Panalux; Jameson, Film and Publications Board, Cape Film Commission and Superior Vision and all the attendees who helped make this function a successful one.

Our next wrap party is at Roodebloem Studios on 24 November 2011. Visit our Facebook page to see the full gallery.

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Mandla Hlabisa andVusani Mlilo

George Alexander and Laura Sampson

Robert Payton, Tim Herselman, Dominic Johnson-Allen, Liz O’Shaughnessy and Anton Rollino

Roy Zetisky and David Rowley

Marc Watson and Stuart Green

Donovan Winterburn and Roy Zetisky

Lisa and Philip Key

Seth Pereira

Ashleigh Martyn and Kristi Launder

JOZI MONTHLY WRAP PARTY AT SHINE STUDIOS INDUSTRY EVENTS FILM & Event Media’s final Johannesburg wrap party of the year took place on 10 October 2011 at Shine Studios.

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HINE Studios in Braamfontein was a delightful backdrop for the holiday themed networking event.

Guests enjoyed delicious snacks provided by Ginger Grape and took full advantage of an open Jameson Irish Whiskey bar. Guests were encouraged to wear a touch of red in honour of the holiday theme.

Dale Bedford from Amazing Spaces addressed the crowd, followed by Andy from Royale International, while Marius from Southern Lighting spoke last.

The speeches were followed by the prize-giving, where three bottles of Chocolate Block wine, a return flight from Cape Town or Durban and others were handed out.

Thank you to all our sponsors: Jameson, Amazing Spaces/Shine Studios, Southern Lighting, Inhouse VTM, Royale International; and all the attendees who helped make this function a successful one.

Our next wrap party is at Roodebloem Studios on 24 November 2011. Visit our Facebook page to see the full gallery.

Megan Kruger and Nina van Deventer

Dewet Eysele, Rudi Ahlstrom and Dirk Mostert

Kools and Lethabo Tshikovhi

John Harrison and Charmaine Bell

John Harrison, Lance Gibbons, Sean Reed and Kim Reed

Dale Bedford

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DIARISE NOVEMBER

UPCOMING FEATURES Troye Sivan with the cast of Spud at the Cape Town premiere

Landau International Film Festival 21-26 November, Landau, Germany Platteland 25 November, cinemas

DECEMBER M-Net Vuka! Awards November, Theatre on Track Kyalami, Gauteng Marrakech International Film Festival 2-10 December, Marrakech, Morocco Dubai International Film Festival 7-14 December, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Hoofmeise 23 December, cinemas Otelo Burning 30 December, cinemas

JANUARY Sundance Film Festival 19-29 January, Park City, Colorado, USA Palm Springs International Film Festival 5-16 January 2012, Place: Palm Springs, California, USA Flickerfest International Short Film Festival 6-15 January 2012, Sydney, Australia

AFDA student Brendan Barnes’ won an award at the 2011 Kodak Film School Cinematography Competition

AfricaCast hosted panel discussions with the broadcasting community.

JOBS & OPPORTUNITIES 33rd Durban International Film Festival Calls for Entries THE 33rd edition of Durban International Film Festival will take place from 19 - 29 July 2012.

Supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (principal funder), the National Film and Video Foundation, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism and other valued funders and partners, the festival will present over 200 screenings of films from around the world, with a special focus on films from South African and Africa. 2012 will see the return of Talent Campus Durban and the Durban

FilmMart.

The festival calls for entries from around the world. Feature films, short films and documentaries are all welcome. The festival does have a competition component. The deadline for entries is 16 March 2012 for short films and documentaries; 6 April 2012 for feature films.

Early submissions are encouraged. All submissions must be done via the Eventival online system - please create an account to submit. To submit films copy and paste this into your browser: http://vp.eventival. eu/cca/diff2012 For more information visit: www.cca.ukzn.ac.za or email diff@ukzn.ac.za

2012 Africa Movie Academy Awards Calls for Entries THE Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) is calling for feature, short and documentary entries for its 2012 edition, to be held in April in Nigeria, home to the world’s third largest film industry. The deadline for submissions is 30 December 2011. Since its inception in 2005, AMAA has established itself as the most prestigious and glamorous awards celebrating filmmaking on the continent. The gala event, which is televised live around the world, attracts Hollywood celebrities alongside their African counterparts, as well as African politicians and media. Only films produced and

released between December 2010 and December 2011 are eligible. Features may not exceed 120 minutes and shorts may not be longer than 40 minutes.

Submission forms can be downloaded from the AMAA website, www.ama-awards.com/ Nominations will be announced in February 2012.

Jameson First Shot ASPIRING screenwriters and directors from South Africa will have the chance to write a screenplay for a short film to be produced by Trigger Street Productions and star Kevin Spacey.

Filmmakers are invited to submit a script to the Jameson First

We’re distributing 4 000 copies a month free via bulk distribution at film industry commissions and organisations; key industry meeting points like equipment houses, post facilities and broadcasters; on set; and at key industry events.

This means we’ll remain the most read film industry trade publication.

After seven years of carrying the cost of mailing another 4 000 copies direct to everyone else, we’re asking for subscriptions to help us cover our rising distribution costs.

Subscribe now for just R22.80 pm to keep receiving your copy, delivered to your door every month.

Please contact us for a subscription debit order form: nadia@filmeventmedia.co.za or 021 674 0646.

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DIARISE JANUARY Sundance Film Festival 19-29 January 2012, Park City, Colorado, USA Machine Gun Preacher 20 January, cinemas NATPE Market & Conference 23-25 January 2012, Miami, Florida, USA International Film Festival Rotterdam 25 January - 5 February 2012, Rotterdam, the Netherlands Lucky starring Sihle Dlamini Jayashree Basavaraj.

Shot website written around the theme of a ‘legendary, humorous or very tall tale’.

The shortlisted entrants will be judged by Kevin and the president of Trigger Street Productions Dana Brunetti. The nominees will then enter a second round where they will be asked to direct a scene selected by Trigger Street.

One winner each from the US, South Africa and Russia will be flown to Los Angeles to shoot their script and direct Kevin Spacey. The overall winner will be decided by a public vote.

The deadline is 31 December 2011. To find out more visit www.jamesonfirstshot.com

Why Poverty Short Films Call for Submissions STEPS are looking for short film ideas of between one and five minutes long. The shorts will be used on the web and broadcast supporting their eight full length films that are in production. as part of its cross media project Why Poverty. The short films should challenge the preconceptions about poverty, provoke discussion and action. As the shorts will be used to support the programming of the long films STEPS are looking for films that deal with the following themes: maternal health, corruption/good governance, food security, charity vs justice, gender, solutions to poverty, education, inequality, urban poverty

Behind the scenes of Semi Soet.

and economic justice. Interested parties must mail an idea for a film in less than 10 lines, with an additional 2-3 line biography to brian@steps.co.za with a subject line – Why Poverty Shorts Round Two. For more information visit http://whypoverty.net Travel and Tourism Venues and Events SATFA gets a great number of requests from travel and tourism product owners who needs new videos. Register at SATFA to get a copy of these requests.

The goal of the Southern Africa Travel and Tourism Film & Video Awards is to provide a showcase for travel products and artwork to as wide an audience as pos-

Santa Barbara International Film Festival 26 January - 5 February 2012, Santa Barbara, California, USA

sible. This is done via the opportunity offered by public screenings on the Internet and top class shopping malls.

The best films and videos will be shown at popular Ster Kinekor, NuMetro and Avalon cinemas countrywide. And some of the best films and videos will make it to traditional television broadcasters. The very best will be entered at international film festivals. hotels, B&B’s, guest houses, game lodges, holiday resorts, caravan parks, hiking routes, etc are all welcome to enter their videos.

For more information visit http://www.satfa.co.za or email tvreporter@satfa.co.za Charl Fourie

Göteborg International Film Festival 27 January - 6 February 2012, Gothenburg, Sweden Midem Music Market 28 January - 1 February, Cannes, France

FEBRUARY European Film Market 9-17 February 2012, Berlin, Germany Berlinale International Film Festival 9-19 February 2012, Berlin, Germany Semi Soet 17 February, cinemas Belgrade International Film Festival 25 February - 6 March 2012,

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