12 / COMMERCIAL SERVICE
www.thecallsheet.co.za
Left and Right images © Robot TV
AFRICA STILL TOPS FOR COMMERCIAL SHOOTS
Lauded for its turnkey offerings from seasoned professionals, South Africa as a commercial service destination – and as a result, the wider continent – is sure to bounce back now that filming constraints are being eased. Katie Reynolds-Da Silva reports.
COVID-19 AND COMMERCIAL SERVICE
Martin Jacobson of Juice Film says that their enquiry rate dropped significantly from the beginning of the lockdown. “We should have had work extending through March and into April. But pending jobs all fell away, and bid opportunities dried up. We are keeping busy with admin, but also staying involved with creating protocols for shooting when the government allows production to get going,” he says. “We are learning about video streaming options that are emerging, and how they work, and what we will be able to offer our clients in terms of live streaming of filmed footage, assuming that they would be watching remotely.
We are also looking internally at our company, to ensure we can move forward into the unknown future positively. We are staying in touch with some key producers and organisations keeping them abreast of what is evolving in South Africa.” When the restrictions are fully lifted, Juice Film will be looking at various scenarios going forward. Unfortunately it is hard to predict what the future will look like. There are many questions that need answering: • Will there be an effective treatment protocol available at the beginning of the service season that will allow clients, agencies and production houses to feel comfortable to travel? • Even if that is in place, will there be a new normal
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for a while, where clients and agencies prefer to live stream rather than travel? And will director’s adapt to shooting remotely if they themselves can’t travel? And how many of them will want to adapt? Will American jobs come our way if there is live streaming, meaning they would have to stay up during their nights to view our day shooting? Or will they travel south to South America to avoid time-zone issues? Will clients and agencies adjust the way they advertise? Will there be more reruns of old commercials or cutting of old commercials with possible new footage or stock footage? Will agencies write scripts that allow them
to shoot at home? • When will an effective vaccine be available? “Only time will tell,” says Martin, “It is early days in the pandemic and a lot is changing all the time. It is a moving target and we will ensure we are prepared accordingly.” Liam Johnson of Robot TV says that they have enjoyed a fun and crazy season, including TVCs for Euro Millions, Chupa Chups, Asics, Kiabi, Homebase and F&F, as well as young, energetic and youthful commercials and as some big music videos for Victoria Monet, Tom Grennan and HRVY. Liam says that his team have had a lot of enquiries during lockdown, and they are talking with their clients about what
