Screen Africa - November 2012

Awards M-Net TAG OLOGIES DISPLAY TECHN NEW MEDIA BROADCAST, FILM, COMMERCIALS, NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

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SA’s Oscar hope Little One, a feature film directed by Darrell Roodt (Yesterday, Sarafina!) and produced by Anton Ernst, was recently announced as South Africa’s official entry into the Best Foreign Film category of the 2013 Academy Awards (Oscars).

Roodt is delighted at the film’s selection. “Little One is a very low budget film, and it just shows what you can do with a committed cast and a dedicated crew. It may not be as polished as some of the other films that were in the running, but it has a big heart.”

In Little One a six-year-old girl (Vuyelwa Msimang) is left for dead on the dunes near a township in Johannesburg. She is found by a middle aged woman, Pauline (Lindiwe Ndlovu), who saves her life and

becomes actively involved in her case. The film also stars Mutodi Nesheshe as Detective Morena.

According to Roodt, finding the child lead was one of the biggest challenges of the production. “I prefer not to go through a casting agency when I’m looking for child actors, so I asked our lead actress Lindiwe if she knew of a child who could carry the role and would feel comfortable acting with her. She suggested Vuyelwa, her neighbours’ daughter. We met her and instinctively knew she was special. She was just a joy to work with.”

He believes that the quality of the acting played a big role in convincing the South African Academy Award Selection Committee, who described the film as ‘a poignant, moving, and minimalist narrative which is

unapologetically South African’.

Says Roodt: “The actors all just really got into their characters. We shot the film around June and July this year, and we rushed to get it finished because we saw that we had something special on our hands.

It doesn’t happen very often that everything just comes together in this way.

“It’s a tough and challenging film, but it’s also inspiring, hopefully. The audiences so far have loved it – the best response I’ve ever received for one of my films.”

Roodt notes that they’re working hard at raising the international profile of the film, as it was finished too late to do its rounds on the international festival circuit, which could hamper its Oscar chances.

– continued on next page

Big turnout for DISCOP AFRICA As at 2pm on 31 October, the first day of the DISCOP AFRICA multiplatform content market held at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre, 1 197 people had registered for the event, 85% of whom had collected their badges.

This 7th edition of DISCOP AFRICA and the first ever to be held in South Africa, boasted 173 exhibitors from China, South America, Europe, UK and Africa. Some 354 companies registered as buyers

of content.

Screen Africa spoke to Patrick Jucaud-Zuchowicki, general manager of Basic Lead, the Los Angeles-based organisers of DISCOP AFRICA, just prior to going to press. “We’re delighted by the large turnout and expect more visitors for the remaining two days of the event.

I spoke to some of the exhibitors this morning and everyone was thrilled by the fact that the industry is much more vibrant than it was this time last year.

“Our conference programme got off to a great start with 200 delegates attending the opening keynote session on the benefits of digital migration for the African continent. Our guest speaker was Jason Njoku of Nigeria,” said JucaudZuchowicki.

The first morning of DISCOP AFRICA saw the signing of an agreement between the State Administration of Radio, Film – continued on next page

WELL OILED CAST: Ian Roberts, Jack Parow and Norman Antsey in Babalas.

See page 14

Record number of SAFTAS entries A record 354 entries have been received for the 2013 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS), held under the custodianship of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).

“This is literally 120 above the number of entries we received last year,” says NFVF Communications & Public Affairs manager Naomi Mokhele. “It is also the highest number of feature films (28) ever entered into the SAFTAS. The only category that is slightly down in numbers is wildlife.

“We doubled our efforts to encourage entries for the 2013 competition and sent emails to all the industry databases. In an

interview on SABC2’s morning show, Morning Live, our CEO Zama Mkosi emphasised the importance of the industry’s support for the SAFTAS.” Mokhele notes that the newly introduced SAFTAS category, Best International Format, received six entries. “This category is for locally produced versions of international formats,” she explains.

Free-to-air commercial broadcaster e.tv, which withdrew from the 2012 SAFTAS just before the event was held in March, is participating in the 2013 awards. In addition, popular SABC2 soapie and previous SAFTAS winner, 7de – continued on next page

Photo by Natalia Ferrara

SA’s Oscar hope

BIG HEARTED FILM – Shooting a squatter camp scene for Little One

“We have a lot of people championing the film in Los Angeles, and we’re trying to get as many screenings and as much publicity as possible. Little One is gaining momentum and voting audiences have responded positively, so we believe we have an outside chance of being nominated.”

The film is funded by private finance and The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) rebate.

Roodt explains that production took place in the middle of winter 2012 in a squatter camp outside Johannesburg. “I think the mood and the coldness just seeped into the film and makes it very authentic,” says Roodt.

Director of photography Trevor Brown worked with a Canon 5D. “It was perfect, because the camera is so small that it made it easy to access the shanties and move around in the squatter camp. The footage is hyper-real, although the shots were very composed and considered,

which contributed immensely to the mood of the film,” explains Roodt.

Post-production was done in Los-Angeles, and because of the tight deadline, Roodt approached composer Laurent Eyquem (who composed the score for Winnie) and asked if he had any old tracks they could use. “Laurent watched the film and said he wanted to write a score. He worked for 72 hours non-stop and the result is a sublime score. Once again we were just blessed with this film.”

Little One was released at The Zone in Rosebank, Johannesburg for a week in September to qualify as an entry into the Academy Awards. According to Roodt they will look at a wider release in 2013.

The shortlist for the Oscars Best Foreign Film category will be revealed in January 2013, a week before the announcement of the official Oscar nominations. – Linda Loubser

Big turnout for DISCOP AFRICA “We had a promising meeting this morning with a mobile company from South Africa that is looking for suitable programming. In fact, all the meetings that we’ve had at this DISCOP AFRICA so far have been positive. It’s clear that everyone wants to get their hands on African content and A24 is uniquely positioned to supply content to meet any need,” said A24 Media’s Natasha Kahiu.

Nigerian based satellite and cable broadcaster Trend Tv was at DISCOP AFRICA specifically to sell the programming it has produced for its three local content channels.

“We’ve found that more and more people are wanting content from Africa,” commented Trend Tv executive director and producer Fathia Ansah Plange.

“Because of the increased number of TV networks in Africa, local audiences want

Photo by Simba Nyamukachi

and Television (SARFT) of China and South African commercial free-to-air broadcaster e.tv.

Said e.tv CEO Marcel Golding: “We’ve been cooperating with the Chinese for some time now and e.tv is the only African broadcaster to have a news bureau in China. In the past e.tv has embarked on a few co-productions with Chines broadcaster CCTV but the agreement we signed today is with the state. We see this as the start of a collaboration that may lead to more co-productions between China and e.tv.

SARFT has kindly offered us some Chinese films for broadcast on the e.tv channel.”

Kenyan conglomerate A24 Media is a veteran of DISCOP AFRICA events and was armed with a big catalogue of content at the 2012 event.

DEMAND FOR AFRICAN CONTENT – DISCOP AFRICA 2012 at the Sandton Convention Centre 4 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Record number of SAFTAS entries Laan, which did not enter the previous competition, has entered this time round.

Says Monde Twala, group head of e.tv Channels: “The NFVF and the SAFTAS committee have agreed to work together towards addressing issues raised by e.tv around the independence of the awards. These parties are looking at ways to work towards the establishment of an independent industry academy which will administer the awards.

“We would like to encourage the production industry not only to submit entries for the 2013 awards but to also voice any concerns to the SAFTAS committee. e.tv remains committed to supporting a transparent and fair SAFTAS competition that is fully representative of all stakeholders.”

Last year the producers of popular SABC2 soapie 7de Laan, Danie Odendaal Productions, took the decision not to enter the competition and mistakenly assumed that they would still be eligible for the Best Soapie category which is decided on by public vote.

Mokhele explains: “To be eligible for the public vote you have to enter the SAFTAS because it is a competition after all. Happily 7de Laan has entered the 2013 competition,” comments Mokhele.

Colin Howard, line producer of 7de Laan says: “We decided to enter the 2013 competition as we feel it’s important to be part of the process and to get recognition for our cast and crew. It was difficult for 7de Laan fans in the 2012 SAFTAS as they weren’t able to vote for us.

“The issues that we raised last year are still of concern to us and pertain to the submission process and having to submit episodes instead of showreels into the

performance category. We hope that this will change in the future.”

The breakdown of entries per category for the 2013 SAFTAS is: Drama Mini – 5; Drama Full – 10; Comedy – 11; Reality – 19; Variety – 14; Factual & Entertainemnt – 37; Sports – 1; Music – 13; Magazine – 26; Game shows – 5; News – 27; Talk Shows – 12; International Format – 6; Feature Film – 28; Documentary Full – 26; Documentary Short – 28; Short Film – 21; Wildlife – 7; Student – 18; Soapies – 8, and Animation – 13.

According to Mokhele the first phase of judging will end in December, with the final phase of judging to be completed in the third week of January. Nominees are to be announced in February.

“All judges are previous SAFTAS winners and nominees. Unlike previous years, the 2013 SAFTAS judging will be skills specific across the board. For example, performance judges will judge performances across categories – ie. feature films, television drama, sitcoms and soapies. The skills specific judging kicks in from the filtration phase,” comments Mokhele.

For the second year running De Loitte will audit the judging process.

SAFTAS 2013 will take place over two evenings in early March. The tender for the host city and venue, as well as the tender for the production house to stage the awards events, was advertised in the national press.

The SAFTAS committee is in negotiations to broadcast the events – the first evening will be packaged highlights while the second night will be broadcast live.

Photo by Kobus Loubser

Continued from page 1 |

AT THE AWARDS – SAFTAS 2011

to see themselves reflected on the small screen instead of having to watch overseas content.

“People have come to our stand at DISCOP AFRICA to enquire about putting their channels on our platform.

Conversely we’ve also had enquiries from companies in Gabon, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe who want some of our channels on their own platforms. We are also open to straight content exchanges, mostly with independent producers.”

The Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) sponsored the attendance at DISCOP AFRICA of 25 filmmakers whose projects had received GFC funding.

Said the GFC’s Tumi Ntshingila: “We thought that DISCOP AFRICA would be a great networking platform for our filmmakers and have already fielded a lot

of enquiries about their films.

“On the GFC side there has been interest from producers from Nigeria and Kenya regarding our locations.

The GFC is looking forward to more business and more content coming out of Gauteng.”

Sky News International exhibited at DISCOP AFRICA for the first time.

Said head of Distribution Sian-Elin Davies: “We see Africa as a growing market and are looking to extend our reach across the continent. The fact that Sky is already a strong brand is obviously advantageous in this regard.

“At DISCOP AFRICA we’ve met with a lot of new start-up platforms in Africa, especially from Nigeria, who are trying to find creative models of sustainability. It’s up to the channel providers to provide them with compelling content.”

From the editor

The happy season is nigh This issue of Screen Africa is the final one for 2012 so here’s wishing all our readers a very happy and peaceful festive season. Soon it will be time to kick back and temporarily forget about any industry woes that may be besetting us, until we all get back to the grind in January.

Between now and then there is lots to read in this issue of Screen Africa. For instance, we provide some fascinating insight into South Africa’s Oscar hopeful in the Best Foreign Language Film category – Darrell Roodt’s Little One. Roodt describes it as a little film with a big heart. We hope that the Oscar selection committee will agree with him and shortlist the film for nomination in January. Roodt is a past Oscar nominee in this category for his film Yesterday.

On the subject of local films, it’s encouraging to hear that the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS) have received a record number of entries for its 2013 event to be held in March. There are a whopping 28 entries in the feature film category, which reflects the high output of local films this year. It’s also reassuring to learn that e.tv, which withdrew from the 2012 event, and SABC2 soapie 7de Laan, which chose not to enter last year, are participating in the 2013 competition.

For our regular Director Speak column we always try and feature topical filmmakers and this month is no exception. Popular stand-up comic turned filmmaker David Kau answers our probing questions and shares about his feature film, Taxi Ride.

This issue includes a highly informative special feature on new media (including mobile TV) and display technologies. New media is hardly new anymore but is termed ‘new’ to differentiate it from traditional media like TV, radio and print. Ian Dormer’s article shows how the expansion of new media technologies and devices has turned the average media consumer into a new breed of media mogul.

Equally insightful is Andy Stead’s special feature on display technologies which tracks the latest developments in video monitors and screens.

Traditionally Screen Africa has focused on the people behind the camera but this issue includes articles on two stars of the big and small screens – local actor Fana Mokoena and South Africanborn, UK-based Dame Janet Suzman.

Sure to be an interesting read is the background to John Barker’s documentary on the rise and fall of South African band Cassette.

The film has secured a theatrical release at The Bioscope.

Happy reading and see you in January 2013!

Joanna Sterkowicz

SCREENAFRICA Editor: Joanna Sterkowicz: editor@screenafrica.com

Publisher & Managing Editor: Simon Robinson: publisher@screenafrica.com

In-house Journalist: Linda Loubser: news@screenafrica.com

Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Melaney Van den Berg: mel@screenafrica.com

Contributors: Andy Stead, Anton Crone Ian Dormer, Martin Chemhere Sub-Editor: Tina Heron

Accounts: Natasha Glavovic: accounts@sun-circle.co.za Front Office: Delight Ngwenya: adminsa@screenafrica.com

Ratings: Enid Venter enid@ihjohannesburg.co.za Head of Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@screenafrica.com Website & Production Updates: Berkia Banda: online@sun-circle.co.za Subscriptions: Delight Ngwenya: adminsa@screenafrica.com

Sun Circle Publishers (Pty) Ltd Tel: 011 025-3180 Physical address: Block A, Process House Epsom Downs Office Park 13 Sloane Street, Bryanston, Johannesburg PO Box 559 Fourways North 2086

Contents

6

34

16

22

SPECIAL FEATURES NEW MEDIA

26

COMMERCIALS

STEREOSCOPIC 3D

TV in your hand, pocket, bag.... 33 New media explosion...... 34 / 35

Director Speak – Warwick Allan; Next generation ad platform... 12

Dancing into the third dimension........................... 32

DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES

FILM

Capturing playback solutions; Simple plan for complex problem; Eclipsing their customers.......... 38 Next generation newsroom solutions................... 39 Innovation in tapeless cameras; Streaming intelligent workflows; ‘Testing’ the Games.................... 40

It’s all in the display..................... 36 An Olympic performance; Re-defining monitor technology; A range of displays...................... 37

NEWS SA’s Oscar hope; Record number of SAFTAS entries; Big turnout for DISCOP AFRICA.................... 3 SA co’s new sequels; Tagged for success; Pretville set open to public......... 6 At the coalface of movie making; Tshabalala wins SANTF................ 8

ADCETERA Working with Geldenhuys takes you back................... 10 / 11 Fueling up at Bioscope Films.... 10 Insurance pays for Let It Rain Films; Inciting online commentary.................... 11

Boet and Swaer return.............. 14 Director Speak – David Kau.... 16

FILM & TV An actor’s perspective............... 18 Suzman back in SA..................... 20

TELEVISION Calling all petrol heads!............. 22 More movies than ever before................................... 23

DOCUMENTARY Story of a band............................ 26

ASSET MANAGEMENT A CLEAR move for Blade......... 28

PREVIS Visualising creative ideas........... 29

BROADCAST

TRACKING TECHNOLOGY

AFRICA Togo in migration........................ 41 Nollywood film flies high; US swamped by ‘afrotainment’....... 42

REGULARS Audience Ratings......................... 43 Film Lab Stats............................... 43 Production Updates......... 44 / 45 / 46 / 47 Social.............................................. 48

A truly mammoth project............. 30 / 31 Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 5

NEWS |

Ek Joke Net 2

SA co’s new sequels The Film Factory will finish production on two new South African feature films, both directed by Stefan Nieuwoudt, by the end of 2012.

Producer Danie Bester explains: “Bakgat 3! shoots in and around Johannesburg from 15 October to 14 November and in London from 16 to 22 November.

“Because 80% of the film is set in London we are shooting all the interiors in South Africa. We are also shooting the rugby locally, but all games happen at night to enable us to cheat the exterior for London. A skeleton crew and cast will spend a week in London to shoot the opening title sequence, exterior establishers and some scenes between characters in the street, on the tube and at

TAKE 2… Action! – Lead actors Ivan Botha and Cherie van der Merwe in Bakgat 3!

Heathrow Airport.”

The film, written by Hanneke Schutte and Henk Pretorius, features rugby hero Wimpie Koekemoer (Ivan Botha) from the first two Bakgat! films. Bester explains: “Newly engaged couple, Wimpie and Katrien (Cherie van der Merwe) move to London where Wimpie has received a contract to play rugby.

However, when he arrives he realises that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

“Bakgat 3! is the final instalment in the

trilogy with similar antics, romance and a zest for life that led to the success of the previous two movies.”

Producer Pierre Boezaart and Dark Matter Studios have joined the franchise for the third instalment, which is scheduled for release in September 2013.

Ek Joke Net 2, produced by Bester and Dries Scholtz, started production in September and will continue shooting in December after Bakgat3! has wrapped.

“It was our goal to create a high quality, high scenario value candid camera franchise from the beginning,” explains Bester. “We struggled a bit at the box office with the first film, due to a couple of factors, but it has been very well received by both DVD and TV audiences.

We made enough of a return to justify making a second instalment.”

He adds that they learned a ‘tremendous amount’ from the first film.

“We feel that the pranks are better developed and that the pay offs are greater this time. We were a little bit too cautious with the first film and pushed the envelope a lot more this time.”

Ek Joke Net 2 is scheduled for release in July 2013. – Linda Loubser

Tagged for success

Pretville set open to public The set of Hartiwood Films’ Afrikaans 1950s musical Pretville will open to the public on 23 November, the day the film debuts at cinemas across the country.

Producer Paul Kruger explains: “We built the set for the film and there was lots of interest, so we entered it into Afrikaans magazine programme Kwêla’s Town of the Year competition, as a publicity stunt and to test the waters. We got an unbelievable response from people keen to visit the fictional town.

“As far as we know, this is the first time this has been done in South Africa.”

Kruger explains that they want the set at Hartiwood Studios in Hartbeespoort to be a holiday destination for families, fans of the film and anyone interested in the film industry who want to see how it’s done. “We will stay open until February, Tuesday to Sunday, and maybe open again in the April holidays.”

There will be an entrance fee of R40 for adults and R20 for children. Kruger continues: “Visitors will be able to visit all the shops, where they will be welcomed

6 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

by people in 1950s costume. There will be music from the movie playing and they can buy hot dogs and milkshakes at the diner as well as merchandise from the film. We want to create a festive atmosphere.”

Another first will be screenings of Pretville in the set’s theatre, the Silwerdoek Bioskoop, for an additional fee.

While Kruger concedes that the set was very expensive to build, he believes the money made from the set visits probably won’t make a dent in the expenses. “This is more about sticking out our feelers and seeing if there is a gap in the market for this kind of thing. I don’t think South African filmmakers are leveraging the merchandising aspect of their films the way it’s done in Hollywood.”

The set visits will be advertised through a message at the end of the film, social media and local newspapers. – Linda Loubser

Awards for PSAs – Last year’s awards event

Some 120 entries have been received for the 2012 M-Net TAG Awards for public service announcements (PSAs) produced in aid of worthy charities in the Newcomer, Professional and TAG 10 categories. The PSAs are specifically for television or cinema.

Winners will be announced in Johannesburg on 4 December (venue to be confirmed).

TAG (Television Awards for Good) falls under the M-Net Cares banner, which forms part of the pay-TV broadcaster’s Corporate Social Investment (CSI) strategy. The awards were previously known as the Vuka! Awards.

Last year M-Net introduced the TAG 10 category which provides a platform for young ‘wannabees’ to break into the industry. TAG 10 matches teams of young and up-and-coming copywriters, art directors, producers and directors to highly-skilled professionals who are willing to share their expertise through the different phases of creating powerful and effective PSAs. According to Palesa Xorile, M-Net CSI manager, the uptake on this category has been slow.

“We think it is due to the current economic climate,” she explains.

“Individuals and companies do not seem

to have the extra resources needed to produce the PSAs. This category has a big prize – a trip to the 2013 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for the makers of the winning PSA.” Because M-Net is invested in developing young filmmaking talent, particularly among historically disadvantaged South Africans, training workshops were held during the year for TAG Awards entrants.

“In total we held seven workshops in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

We also held two extra workshops for ischool Africa. The workshops went very well and the turnout was great.

Our participants left the workshop inspired and motivated to do their PSA,” notes Xorile.

The judges for the 2012 M-Net TAG Awards are Glen James, Clinton Bridgeford, Vuyani Plata, Peter Carr, Andrew Traill, Rob Wilson, Adam Thal, Thabang Moleya, Cindy Lee, Alun Richards, John Culverwell, Gerd Muller, Teboho Mahlatsi and Dylan Lloyd.

Johannesburg-based production company The Bomb Shelter is producing the awards event.

The winning PSAs will be screened across all M-Net channels.

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NEWS |

Making movies is a costly business, and the profits – if made for the local market – do not always make for a good return on investment. Coal Stove Pictures believes it has the answer for how to make high quality dramatic content with a limited budget.

“The answer is to produce a trilogy and gain maximum benefit from the economies of scale,” says Wandile Molebatsi, producer at Coal Stove Pictures.

Coal Stove recently shot and completed three feature length movies for M-Net’s local content pay-TV channel, Mzansi Magic. The production of this trilogy is an interesting model for future feature length production in South Africa.

“With a limited budget we were able to adopt a production style and mechanisms that ensure high quality and engaging dramatic content,” explains Molebatsi.

Coal Stove’s trilogy comprises Tooth and Nails, Lucky Numbers and Kejive.

The main character in Tooth and Nails is Tooth, a failed kwaito star with delusions of grandeur. In Lucky Numbers, Lucky is the unluckiest guy in the world, his luck turning when he wins the lotto,

but as luck would have it, he loses his ticket in unfortunate circumstances.

Kejive centres on a down and out talent agent who discovers a dance prodigy.

Together they journey towards rebuilding their broken lives and realising their dreams.

All three movies are executive produced

by Fidel Namisi and two are directed by

Scotness Smith.

“There are two areas that are of specific interest,” comments Smith. “Firstly, we found a lot of criticism from other industry professionals when taking on the Mzansi Magic challenge. Other professionals would often comment on how exploitative the Mzansi Magic deals are. For us, though, we looked at the films as a learning opportunity and a chance to test and improve our systems.

“As a company, we have always used leverage as a key measure of our success.

With the Mzansi Magic trilogy we leveraged the obstacle of tiny budgets with the willingness of a hungry and eager young team. The result is that we were able to achieve fairly high production qualities despite the low budgets. Instead of thinking solely of the financial returns of the projects we ‘thought framed’ the films as an opportunity to grow and get our foot in the door.”

Tshabalala wins SANTF

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS – Tracy-Ann Van Rooyen (Endemol SA), Mondli Magenuka, Mpumi Tshabalala, Anton Burggraaf (Ochre Moving Pictures), JP Potgieter (Quizzical Pictures) and Tebogo Kgakoa

Aspirant filmmaker Mpumi Tshabalala from Vosloorus is the winner of the 2012 SA’s Next Top Filmmaker (SANTF) competition for her reality format pilot, Look at Me Now. The pilot stars cross-dressing socialite Iko Mash as a self-appointed fashion police officer who arrests unsuspecting male fashion offenders in malls and gives them an instant makeover.

8 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Tshabalala was mentored by Anton Burggraaf from Ochre Moving Pictures.

He says: “We are thrilled that Mpumi won as she has great vision. She’s an eager learner who takes guidance in her stride and was a pleasure to work with. I feel very proud that Ochre could contribute to her production. I think Mpumi came up with a brilliant idea.”

“It was an amazing experience,”

comments Tshabalala, “I got the opportunity to work with top professionals and I had lots of fun.”

She wins a year’s internship with award winning production company Quizzical Pictures. In addition, Ochre Moving Pictures and SANTF initiator, General Post, are looking at partnering with Tshabalala to develop her pilot into a full series in 2013.

Finalist Tebogo Kgakoa’s pilot, Above All Ls, explored the thrills and spills of learner drivers trying to get their license for the umpteenth time. He was mentored by Quizzical Pictures.

“I’d really like to thank Quizzical Pictures and General Post as I’ve learnt so much and really enjoyed the process,” states Kgakoa.

Mondli Magenuka, whose reality show titled, Dinner With the Kids, had two celebrities making dinner for the children of Yenzani Children’s home, was mentored by Endemol SA. Says Magenuka: “It was an awesome journey working with Endemol, they really welcomed me as one of their own and taught me so much.”

Secondly, Smith and his team found working within strict genre conventions challenging but highly rewarding. “The process of creating genre films, and the subsequent response of the audience, illustrates the importance of being clear on which element in your production the audience will respond to most. We found that learning to create these marketable elements was an empowering discipline.”

Each film was shot over six days on HD using Canon 5D cameras.

“The main advantage of shooting a trilogy such as this is that you are able to book crew and equipment at more realistic rates,” says Namisi. “There are also obviously other benefits, and production costs are reduced dramatically.”

Mzansi Magic has in fact turned one of the productions, Tooth and Nail, into a series which will also be flighted on the channel. – Andy Stead

The competition was supported by Digitalfilm, Finetune Audio, The Bladeworks, and the talents of many dedicated top professional crew including General Post’s very own Andrew Dixon, William Kalmer and Keith Fraser.

Says General Post’s Kirsty Galliard: “The steep learning curve that results from working alongside top professionals can never be underestimated. A huge thank you must go to Ochre, Endemol and especially Quizzical who are on board for the second year running, for their enthusiasm and commitment. These are companies who really put their money, time and resources where their mouths are.”

Galliard’s aim is for the competition to grow more young filmmakers each year. She hopes that 2013 will see five partner companies participating and more industry sponsors on board.

Any companies wanting to get involved in the competition can contact Galliard on Kirsty@generalpost.co.za.

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AD cetera

Report on the South African commercials industry by Anton Crone

Working with Geldenhuys takes you back Standard Bank’s proposition, ‘Moving forward’, took a new twist with an ad that goes back in time.

Conceptualised by TBWA Hunt Lascaris, viewers are treated to archival scenes starting with the Wright Brothers’ first flight; through World War 2; the independence of an African nation; the advent of YouTube; and a freshly filmed nod at South Africa’s upcoming Square Kilometre Array telescope – or was that really archival footage of a newly independent African nation?

When I put the question to Egg director Kim Geldenhuys his response was: “You tell us…”

It is tough to tell archive film from original film made to appear historical and many people will find it a treat to watch this ad for this reason alone.

Coupled with the upbeat music track, Life Could Be a Dream, viewers are bound to enjoy it even more as bystanders in close proximity of historical figures and other characters sing along to the tune.

Ultimately the ad takes you forward in time and poses the question: “Doesn’t it feel good to move forward?”

The ad is a combination of archival footage married with scenes filmed on green screen, as well as completely original film. There are over 17 scenes that appear archival and many are

Standard Bank

Fueling up at Bioscope Films While visiting Bioscope Films, director and owner Hylton Tannenbaum demonstrates the workings of his coffee machine before we get down to business. He’s aware of my addiction and he clearly wants a favourable write-up. Unfortunately his coffee is crap.

It’s hard to fault his reel, though. I’m here because his latest campaign caught my eye with its balance of subtle acting and over the top performance – and a dwarf in feathers.

Conceptualised by Joburg agency Humankind for its client Cartrack, the premise is that Cartrack is your Cartrack ‘little birdie’, letting you know exactly what’s happening with your vehicle or fleet at all times. reprimands them for their wayward Tannenbaum approached English actions and notifies the police and fleet talent agency, Willow Management, for the bosses. role of the little birdie and brought it to With talented actors like Laird and life with English actor Max Laird.

South African Bongani Tshabalala, “Max was a real pro, he brought Tannenbaum says it wasn’t too much of a integrity and a presence to the set and a challenge balancing the performances great balance to the tough guy / nice guy and the comic timing of moments such as role,” says Tannenbaum. the little birdie tucking into a chicken leg The little birdie catches a car thief, a from the fleet driver’s take-away. fuel thief and a wayward fleet driver who Looking at Bioscope’s online reel, makes detours from his route. In a another ad that caught my eye was veritable hail of feathers, the birdie 10 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Tannebaum’s classic take on the horror genre for Omo, as well as a cinema / TV ad launching the Toyota 86 – an octane infused, road grinding, rubber burning extravaganza, much like my coffee.

“That’s our new director, Juniper,” said Tannenbaum. “She’s a bit of a petrol head.” I had to meet her.

Meeting Juniper over the Loeries weekend, she was incredibly congenial and even a little girlish – far from the petrol head Tannenbaum made her out to

be. But get her talking on the subject of cars and she might as well be ‘The Stig’ from Top Gear.

“I hate seeing cars look bad,” she said, “It’s so easy to mess them up on film so I love the challenge.”

Juniper made sure the Toyota 86 ad got the slick, gutsy film treatment it deserved as it tackled the Rock Raceway in Brakpan.

“We filmed mainly on a RED with six other cameras to cover every angle,” says Juniper. “It demanded precision driving as some of the angles involved drifting at speed, right alongside or over the cameras.”

Besides cars, Juniper loves other challenges as demonstrated in her Nike ad featuring South African footballer, Mthokozisi Yende. It involved a seamless rotation 3600 around Yende, as he went through a series of clothes changes.

When I asked about the motion control camera Juniper explained it was just a talented grip with a reinvented rig. Also remarkable was that they only had four hours with the footballer, meaning they had to plan precisely with a body double before Yende arrived on set, but the result is flawless.

Their coffee isn’t any good but it seems Bioscope is fueling up on film.

garnered from stock footage for which Egg had to secure the rights.

“This was incredibly time-consuming and tricky as it affected what we shot,” says Geldenhuys. “It became a moving target due to permissions granted or declined. Each time footage was declined the entire edit had to be reconsidered.”

Another aspect that proved tricky was matching the lip sync of the new footage with that of the archive footage.

“Old footage was often shot at a different frame rate, so for these scenes we had to slow the playback track down by 15-20%, the performers would then have to sing at this slower pace, a challenge in itself. These takes were then sped up again in order to match the speed of the original footage. ” There were a number of steps in marrying the new footage with the archival shots. Pre-shoot, the Egg team with the assistance of BlackGinger studied each of the archival scenes to determine what lens it was shot on, the camera position, movement, frame rate and the lighting used. This extrapolated information was then used to inform the execution of each green screen setup (with the actors). The footage was then keyed, stabilised and retracked to each shot.

“The hardest part of the process was matching the degradation of archival footage,” says Geldenhuys. “All in all a fantastic job done by the technicians on set and the many people that worked behind the scenes at BlackGinger.”

Insurance pays for Let it Rain Films

AD cetera

Outsurance Another commercial that uses a reinvented rig to tackle seamless filming is the latest for insurance company, Outsurance. Filmed by Lee Doig of Cape Town’s Let it Rain Films, it follows on from the previous ad in which the protagonist moves seamlessly along a street as he changes clothes and speaks to camera – or should I say cameras.

“We had five Canon 5Ds on a rig that was attached to a Steadicam on a setup Lee designed to get everything in one take,” says producer Sam Kelly. “The Steadicam and camera crew were on a golf cart and the cameras all rolled together so we were able to cut between them in the edit and get one seamless commercial.”

The latest commercial is different in

that the environments change as the actor walks through doors onto different sets.

“On the previous commercial we shot at night giving us lighting continuity,” says Kelly. “In this commercial the light in the different scenes varies greatly so we needed to get as much out of the grade as possible, hence we used one camera, the Arri Alexa, on a Steadicam pulled by a rickshaw dolly.”

When I arrived on the set located in a warehouse, I waltzed between packing crates and a bunch of people offloading a truck, not realising I stumbled onto the ‘warehouse scene’. Yes, I am that guy. But thankfully the action was over and the camera had completed its move.

Looking perpendicularly onto the long

set, it was remarkable to see the separate, different worlds, not unlike a scene from a Wes Anderson movie.

The actor walks through a series of doors – from a truck arriving through a warehouse, a butchery, a deli and a hotel.

All the while the film captures intricate, coordinated action with a large cast of extras all lending an aspect to the story as the hero talks about the different business types in each scene. Not an easy task at all.

The campaign involved a 45-second commercial covering all the different scenes, as well as separate, more focused commercials for each specific business – all executed in two days. Thankfully, no weather day needed.

South Africa…” the Nando’s voice goes on, explaining the fast food chain’s latest offering.

“EPIC FAIL,” declared ‘Novice’ in 10and5’s online forum.

“There are a bunch of us in the office who are trying to work out the idea of the ad,” complained ‘PJ’.

“It’s going to bug me the rest of the day if I don’t find out!” exclaimed ‘ko’ at 9:42am, then declaring at 9:45am: “Ok, so apparently Cape Town is so European / Cosmopolitan that it’s like going to Europe.”

‘Snarky’ clearly got the ad and he knew that we knew but thought to remind us anyway, twice: “Cape Town (South Africa’s little Europe) is IN South Africa.

Super lame. This ad is just saying Cape Town is European. Well done, we know,” and strangely congratulated Nando’s for pointing it out when he actually thought it was super lame.

Uno De Waal, the only identifiable commentator, admitted: “I actually found this quite funny. The Nando’s ads are all very funny until they take aim at your own stereotype,” prompting the following response from Dylan: “Uno, don’t think it’s because it’s taking a stab at Capetonians,” making it clear that Dylan didn’t get it at all.

Finally Justin put this perspective on it: “Nando’s is about getting people talking, right? This post has the most comments, right? Hmm,” which stopped people talking all together.

So ended another day of insightful commentary from… a whole bunch of people nobody knows – except Uno De Waal. Hmm.

inciting online commentary

Nando’s “Awesome…Nando’s can make k@k ads too!” commented ‘Carlos the Hamster’ on popular online advertising showcase, 10and5.

“We’re giving you 25 reasons why we love South Africa. Reason 24: We’re so close to Europe,” declares the Nando’s voice in the ad which shows a young,

upwardly mobile white couple with ginger haired kids seated on a plane, supposedly bound for Europe. One ginger looks out the window and exclaims: “Look, there it is!” provoking much excitement and revealing that they are in fact reacting to the sight of Cape Town.

“And here’s another reason to love

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 11

COMMERCIALS |

Director Speak

but when I am doing music videos I love texture and alternative techniques of processing the image in camera. You will often find me shooting an old TV screen being fed by another camera while asking the DP to take the lens off and on or flare the lens like crazy. For commercials it would be more about the art direction, meticulous attention to detail and tonal ranges.

And I love portraiture styled framing, nothing beats a flowing loose handheld camera at 120fps.

Warwick Allan (Mushroom Media)

HOW DID YOUR BACKGROUND SHAPE YOU?

I studied marketing communications and brand strategy so I was supposed to go into an agency after varsity but found the production side of commercials way more interesting and creative. The marketing background has been helpful though, as I can relate to an agency and client mindset and craft visual products that tie in creatively to the strategy. I have always been an editor too so my long history with post-production has been an asset in many areas of my directing career in understanding the entire production chain.

WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL CAREER MILESTONES?

I would say shooting with 21 cameras at the Sun City Superbowl for Lira’s Captured Tour was my highlight so far.

Establishing my company Mushroom Media in 2004 was also a milestone.

WHAT ARE THE FAVOURITE ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB?

DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTORS IN THE INDUSTRY?

I have been a bit of a lone ranger for most of my career but the likes of Willie Nel and Paul Meyer have been very influential in my career in recent times. I learn something new from them every time we work together.

The fact that I am involved in every aspect of the production from conceptualisation and preproduction all the way through to the edit and grade, the control that I have over the image creation process is really exciting. It’s very rewarding to see a sketch on a notepad come to life.

WHAT ARE THE LEAST FAVOURITE ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB?

DESCRIBE YOUR FILMIC STYLE.

The lack of sleep.

It really depends on what I am working on; I have pushed hard to bring a cinematic glossy feel to live concerts with lots of flowing cameras

WHAT WAS YOUR MOST HAIRY MOMENT ON SET?

Catalogues Joseph Shabalala • Ray Phiri • Ringo Madlingozi • Caiphus Semenya Mbongeni Ngema • Don Laka • Sello Twala • Sipho Mabuse Mduduzi Magwaza • Lloyd Lelosa • Kevin Botha • Thami Mdluli Anton Goosen • Peter Moticoe • John Leyden • Lusanda Mcinga Nico van Rensburg • Mpho Sibotho • Khabonina Winnie Vilakazi• Dan Tshanda Sandile Ngema • Thandiswa Mazwai • Johnstone Mnyandu David Masonda • Joseph Mbiza • Mphatheni Khumalo • Isadora Nkosi Nico Carstens • Josephine Ndou • Thomas Makhatini • JC Taljaard Representing some of the biggest international publishers in Africa, including Warner Chappell and Walt Disney, among others.

Use music in new ways

Hard to just pick one but Doritos Dip Desperado is just really entertaining, not so much clever I guess… I liked the longer format of it too…

WHAT LOCATION WOULD YOU REALLY, REALLY LIKE TO SHOOT IN?

Soccer City (FNB stadium) for a concert shoot and anywhere in New York.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS.

Someone that is significantly contributing to the visual landscape of the entertainment industry, passionate about new technology and how that can create beautiful images and hopefully a tad more rested...

Adstream, a telestreaming service that sends over 1 000 TV ads and 4 000 print ads to broadcasters and publishers every month, recently launched a completely new platform called Adbank 5.

Says Adstream’s Mike Smit: “Adbank 5 is a next generation advertising platform designed and built by advertising people and web developers, working with cutting AD-vancing FORWARD – Mike Smit edge technology, to be intuitive for the ad industry. The system creates a single environment that allows brands and agencies to collaborate in all forms of media.”

This includes project planning (project creation, management and resource assignment); creative development (approvals and annotations); production and post-production (project folders for sharing unlimited file sizes); versioning (simple global movement of assets); finance (create estimates, POs and timesheets and feed to Enterprise Finance System); asset management (a library supported by a powerful meta search engine); and distribution (asset delivery to networks / media owners / publishers.

Smit continues: “Adbank utilises Adstream’s powerful media distribution network to allow production ready files to be shared globally. It is digitally connected to over 30 000 media owners and provides a single tool with the ability to receive, deliver, store, send and approve multi-media content, all from one dashboard.

“Adbank creates a single, sign-on end-to-end marketing platform for agencies and brands and a single environment for all assets to be created, managed and delivered.

“It offers full reporting and provides a powerful transparency tool as well as reduced operational overhead and duplication, providing ownership and major cost reduction across media delivery.”

He notes that Adbank’s real time digital campaign targeting and optimisation make it a strong new business and PR tool with assets being easily retrievable from cloud storage.

– Andy Stead

12 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

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Probably when we were about to go

into our 22nd straight hour shooting the Zebra & Giraffe video for The Inside. We were rigging LED strips into the anechoic chamber in the bowels of the SABC. It took forever to get done as we couldn’t see the supports, everyone was wired on Red Bull but I was so stressed about the excessive overtime on a music video budget…

10/29/12 11:12 AM

FILM |

Boet and Swaer return A new local feature film from Spotlight Entertainment, based on characters from a longrunning ad campaign and television series, completed production in October. Linda Loubser visited the set of Babalas at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park.

A

long white Hummer H3 limousine – one of only two in South Africa – pulls up slowly at the main entrance of Emperor’s Palace casino.

While the limousine itself is a strange sight, it’s the men who emerge that cause passers-by to do a double take.

They are Boet (Ian Roberts), dressed in khaki shorts and knee-socks, and Swaer (Norman Antsey) in a garish green, orange and yellow print shirt and floppy cap.

The duo entertained South Africans for years in a series of humorous Castrol oil ads which started airing in 1988, as well as an M-Net television series called

14 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

ICONIC DUO & FRIENDS – Norman Antsey, Jack Parow, Tammy Anne Fortuin and Ian Roberts

Kalahari Oasis.

This time they’re joined by beautiful advertising agency worker Mia (Tammy Anne Fortuin) and Neef (Zander Tyler, known by his stage name Jack Parow) on a roadtrip from the Kalahari Oasis bush pub to Emperor’s Palace in the film Babalas.

Chemistry Production on Babalas started on Wednesday 19 September after about six weeks of pre-production, and wrapped on 20 October.

The film is produced and co-directed

by Peter Scott, owner of video shop chain Mr Video. Although it’s his first time in the director’s chair, Scott has been involved in films including Oh Shucks I’m Gatvol, Bakgat 2 and Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People.

He explains that the film, in Afrikaans and English with subtitles, is funny and exciting with lots of action – including a scene where someone jumps from the top of a building. At one point, Parow also shares a scene with a baboon.

“You will laugh and you will cry, and you will cry from laughing so much,” says

Scott. “But it’s not slapstick comedy – it’s intelligent comedy.”

Line producer Jarrod de Jong notes that the involvement of Roberts and Antsey was paramount. “We always knew we couldn’t make the film without them, their chemistry is the glue that holds it all together. We decided that we wanted to add Jack Parow to the mix to appeal to younger audiences, and when he indicated he was interested the character was written specifically for him.”

Off the wall Parow explains why he took the role: “I’m a big fan of Norman and Ian, I grew up seeing the Castrol ads – they were legendary. The movie was also just something completely off the wall and weird.”

As his character is a rapper, Parow has written three new songs for the film and will also be performing with the Radio Kalahari Orkes, a band led by Roberts.

According to Roberts, Boet starts the film in therapy. “I wasn’t too excited to do the movie initially, but then the script started to develop and went to some very interesting places,” says Roberts.

Antsey adds: “The characters do develop. Swaer had to undergo a transformation from someone who’s on the stoep all the time to going on the road.

He has his own ‘coping mechanisms’ which you’ll see in the film. I think audiences will relate.”

They don’t believe Babalas is a swansong for the popular characters. “As long as there’s a desire in the audience to see Boet and Swaer, we’ll meet it,” says Roberts.

The script was written by Carl Stemmet and Anne-Marie Jansen van Vuuren in a collaborative process. Says Jansen van Vuuren: “We watched the old Castrol commercials as well as the TV series for background on the characters – but it’s still daunting to write dialogue and actions for characters that are such a big part of the South African psyche.”

Babalas also stars Michael de Pinna, known for a series of Vodacom ads and Hannes Muller. Says Scott: “Hannes will be playing four brothers – the town mayor, psychologist, funeral parlour

owner / taxi rental and traffic officer. It’s probably the first time in this country that we’ve had one person playing more than one character on screen at the same time, without the use of green screen.”

Production While about a third of the film is set at Emperor’s Palace, production also took place at locations including Hotazhel north of Upington, Mabalingwe nature reserve – home of the Kalahari Oasis bush pub, the Krugersdorp nature reserve and Tarlton.

“Emperor’s Palace stepped in as a sponsor of the film, so the première will also be held here,” says De Jong. “They even allowed us to invade their presidential suite to film a typical Hangover-type scene.”

The film was shot by camera operator Jean du Plessis on a Sony NEX FS700 imported from the US. “The camera can shoot 200fps super slow-mo in full high definition (HD), and up to 800fps in standard definition,” explains Scott. “The quality of the footage, especially at night, is exceptional.”

They also made use of lots of aerial shots, done by acrobatic flying champion Timothy Hamman who rigged a helicopter with a fully rotational, remote controlled Go Pro camera.

De Jong explains that their initial budget was cut by 20% to about R4m.

“We decided that if we worked a bit harder and all put in more hours, we could cut the budget and be more viable,” says De Jong.

Editing was already in process in October, done by Neels Smit at Spotlight Entertainment.

The film will be distributed by Ster-Kinekor in August or September 2013 and producer Andre Scholtz believes it will appeal to a wide target audience. “Older viewers know the characters well, as the Castrol ads were on air for 15 years, while Jack Parow will attract younger viewers.”

The film will be dedicated to Fats Bookholane who played the character of Moegae in the ads and TV series.

Bookholane passed away while the film was in production.

JHB 38447 © Getty Images

Violins Soft focus lens Romantic grade The hero’s performance Those 3 perfect words

Connecting with people is an art.

Here’s to those who do it best.

FILM |

Director Speak David Kau Popular South African stand-up comic and actor David Kau recently embarked on his first feature film project, Taxi Ride, which he produced and directed. Earlier in his career he co-created and produced the television comedy series, The Pure Monate Show.

HOW DID YOU GO FROM SUCCESSFUL COMEDIAN TO FILMMAKER?

I’ve always wanted to make movies. Fellow comedian Kagiso Lediga and I met 18 years ago and we actually wanted to make films before we even knew we would end up being comedians. It’s really about making people laugh – from there we chose whether we want to do it through stand-up comedy, a sketch comedy show on TV, or a film. We have a lot of jokes and / or material that will work better as a film.

HOW DID YOU COME TO CALL YOUR PRODUCTION COMPANY DISADVANTAGED BACKGOUND PRODUCTIONS?

When I started doing stand-up comedy 14 years ago I created a character called Previous Lee Disadvantaged as part of my one-man show to graduate from UCT drama school. It was a great time to be previously disadvantaged or know someone who was. Naming a

company after that was a definite win-win and it’s funny! It does the job with just the introduction.

WAS TAXI RIDE INSPIRED BY A TAXI RIDE?

Taxi Ride was inspired by the pay-TV channel Mzansi Magic’s R100 000 budget for a 60-minute feature film. I put together a couple of ideas that would allow me to tell a story using just one location to cut down costs.

One of the ideas was to tell the story of being a passenger in a ‘Black taxi’. If you get to the taxi rank first you have to wait for the taxi to become full before it leaves, and you actually don’t know if it will be full on the day!

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THE MAKING OF TAXI RIDE?

I learnt that it’s impossible to make a film for R100 000.

But more importantly I learnt that I can make a movie for any amount of money by applying the same principles and ideas that I was forced to apply when making Taxi Ride.

I have watched too many films, everything has had its time. From Ace Ventura and the Ernest Goes to… series, to the Scary Movie spoof genre and the more current Bridesmaids and other Judd Apatow films. Locally the top comedy film is only coming out in March next year; it’s called Blitz Patrollie and is written and produced

by Kagiso Lediga and directed by Andrew Wessels.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD MOST SURPRISE SCREEN AFRICA READERS ABOUT YOU?

I have never written a joke in my life.

DO YOU HAVE AN INTERESING LOW BUDGET FILMMAKING ANECDOTE THAT YOU COULD TELL US ABOUT?

Not at all – I have perfected timing and place when it comes to telling jokes.

Making a movie, or shooting, at the taxi rank was another movie on its own. It would have been better to build my own taxi rank and rent it out to taxi drivers when I wasn’t using it, than renting one from them when they were supposedly not using it.

AS A FAMOUS COMEDIAN, HOW DO YOU GET PEOPLE TO TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ONE-LINER FROM A FILM, COMEDY OR OTHERWISE?

I send them a quotation for 30 minutes of stand-up comedy.

“I’ll be back...” (Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator).

DOES ONE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO HAVE AN INATE KNACK FOR COMEDY, OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT CAN BE LEARNT?

WHAT HIGH BUDGET STAR WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE IN YOUR NEXT FILM?

DO YOU GET THE UNCONTROLLABLE URGE TO TELL JOKES ON SET?

There has to be something that makes it easy for you to do comedy in order for people to think they can’t learn it. If you think you learnt to be funny it’s probably because you were funny all along.

IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY FILMMAKER SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Editing.

16 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP COMEDY FILMS (LOCAL OR INTERNATIONAL)?

Chris Tucker (the famous American stand-up comic and actor known for films such as the Rush Hour franchise and Jackie Brown).

WHAT IS YOUR NEXT FILM PROJECT?

I’m shooting a five-part series based on Taxi Ride in November for Mzansi Magic. After that I will star in a film to be directed by Teboho Mahlatsi (Yizo Yizo) in December / January.

The IDC Media and Motion Pictures unit provides development finance to grow and facilitate the creation of a sustainable South African film industry.

Previously IDC-funded productions include internationally acclaimed Hotel Rwanda and the Academy Award-winning film Tsotsi.

The unit focuses mainly on projects to enhance the value chain and the development of locally-produced television shows, feature films, documentaries; television, the production of local music, and radio broadcasting, alternative distribution

If you have the true entrepreneurial spirit and a project that can contribute to creating jobs and building South Africa’s industrial capacity, visit www.idc.co.za to find out how the IDC can help you create a winner.

technologies and establishing cinemas in new markets.

Playing a developmental role in the

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Media and Motion Pictures industry

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FILM–TV |

An actor’s perspective

By Linda Loubser

F

ana Mokoena believes there is a shortage of challenging work for actors in South Africa and that the industry as a whole is not taking enough risks.

Says Mokoena: “There’s nothing stopping me as an actor and producer from approaching another actor, producer or crew member and saying: ‘Listen, I’ve got a low budget, but let’s make this film and do it as well as we can and make as much back as we can’. It’s important that we realise that we carry the baton. If we don’t create worthwhile work, we’re not only starving ourselves as artists, but we’re also starving our audiences of great work.”

Mokoena appeared in two feature films screened at this year’s Durban International Film Festival – Inside Story directed by Rolie Nikiwe and Man on Ground directed by Akin Omotoso.

He explains how he chooses his roles: “The most important thing is that I have to connect to the project. It ranges from an emotional attachment, to political, to social. It’s a vast array of things, but it’s also in the relationships with the people who approach you. If you build a relationship with a producer or director, you’re almost certain that there’ll be an understanding of the work, which is paramount.”

Worthwhile projects Mokoena’s career has been evolving as he looks for more worthwhile acting projects.

“I’ve found myself doing less and less 18 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

television work, and more and more film in the last four or five years, but I know it’s not an easy decision for a local actor to make, because there are bread and butter issues.

“There’s also a very strange trend developing in South Africa, especially among black actors, where we are slowly brewing actors who are not interested in the profession – for them it’s really about the fame and the limelight and all that nonsense. I think soapies are a great space for that kind of actor, but it’s sad to see amazing artists being stuck in that position.”

When asked what type of work the industry should be creating, Mokoena cites Man on Ground as a good example.

“We need to create work that actually matters and not just do projects for the sake of entertainment.

“I think we have to make these films and we have to tell these stories by any means necessary – that’s a motto that Akin (Omotoso) has adopted and it’s also a motto that I’m adopting. There are also young filmmakers coming through the ranks and operating on that motto. I think the more films we make, the more of a groundswell we will create, and that’s a movement on its own. Once we have a movement, we’ll have an industry,” explains Mokoena.

He emphasises that every person in the industry should shoulder the responsibility. “We cry wolf a lot, and we blame a lot of people and say that government is not doing enough to

SMOKING ON-SCREEN – Fana Mokoena in Man on Ground

South African actor FANA MOKOENA became known to South African viewers through roles on television series such as The Lab, and has gone on to star in feature films including Hotel Rwanda, State of Violence and Safe House. He talks to LINDA LOUBSER about his views on the local film industry and his experiences working on a Hollywood blockbuster. support the industry. But the more we do for ourselves, the better. This is how apartheid was defeated, and this is how we’ll defeat this monster we have.”

As to which ‘monster’ he was referring to, Mokoena elaborates: “I’m working on the film version of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom now.

We were talking about the role of Mandela, and it occurred to me again that he has never been played in this country by a South African actor. That’s the monster that we’re facing. We’re not telling our own stories. We’re not telling the important ones, and we’re not even telling the small ones.”

Hollywood Following his recent experience on the set of Hollywood zombie blockbuster World War Z – directed by Marc Foster and starring Brad Pitt and Matthew Fox – Mokoena explains how it differs from a South African film set: “They’ve still got the glitches, the normal kind of production glitches – those are universal – but there’s a certain amount of sophistication that they’ve reached.

“I had a conversation with the director, and he said that they’ve got the big

budgets, but they still don’t feel that they have enough time. That’s amazing, because in South Africa we’re trying to shoot seven scenes in one day because our budgets are so small. On a Hollywood set you sit waiting for almost a whole day for them to prepare for one scene. Then they shoot that one scene and go home.”

He adds that he heard the cost of a set that was used for two days on World War Z. “With that figure, we could shoot four films here in South Africa.”

Mokoena learnt an important lesson from working with Brad Pitt. “I think it’s important for me to start creating and producing the work that I want to act in, because there’s a lot of work I still want to do. That’s the trend, and I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

“I think the more films we make, the more of a groundswell we will create.”

– Fana Mokoena

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FILM–TV |

Suzman back in SA

Legendary South African born, UK-based actress Janet Suzman (Nicholas and Alexandra) was in Cape Town recently to star in the new local film, Felix!

By Joanna Sterkowicz

GRAND DAME – Dame Janet Suzman and Hlayani Mabasa

W

hat do you say to someone who garnered Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for her first ever film role; who has played all the great classical roles in English theatre to great acclaim; and who last year was awarded the honour of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to drama?

When I called Dame Janet Suzman in early October I was so overawed that I blurted out the words ‘amazingly illustrious career,’ to which she just laughed.

“My career is ‘illustriously’ enhanced by playing this role in Felix!” she quipped in her booming, stage-perfect voice. “Felix! isn’t my first South African movie. A long time ago I made a Nadine Gordimer movie, as well as an insane TV series with Pieter Dirk-Uys called Going Down Gorgeous. Now I’m thrilled to be back in South Africa to do this enchanting new film,” said Suzman.

Directed by Roberta Durrant of Penguin Films, Felix! is described as ‘Billy Elliot with Cape jazz’. It centres on a township teenager who wins a music scholarship to an elite school.

Suzman plays Mrs Cartwright, the English teacher. She continued: “The best stories are about people who the audience has to love and who are faced with incredible hurdles and who overcome them. Felix! has the classic fairy tale structure.

“When my agent sent me the script I found myself turning the pages with 20 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

eagerness. Mrs Cartwright is a bit like she sounds – the sort of twinkly English teacher that we all wish we’d had at school.”

enter into his world, it’s so strange, so fierce and so weird,” she commented.

Hollywood not calling

The home country Born in 1939 in Johannesburg, Suzman grew up in a leftist family, in the midst of apartheid.

“I left South Africa in the early 1960s, not to become an actress but because it was so bloody awful living here. My whole generation at Wits University got the hell out of the country. Life was unbearable in those days. If I’d stayed I would have got into trouble as I’ve always been a lefty. My darling mother encouraged me to leave South Africa,” explained Suzman.

When she arrived in England Suzman didn’t have an actual career plan. She’d dabbled a bit in acting during her English studies at Wits but had never had the burning desire to be an actress.

“I fell into acting, largely because I’d become infatuated with English literature while at Kingsmead School (in Johannesburg). In England something inside me urged me to find out more about the art of acting. I auditioned for three drama schools and got accepted into all three.”

Suzman chose the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art for her studies.

In 1963 she was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

“Shakespeare is the springboard for everything else in drama and once you

did wonder about what it might be like to be a Hollywood star but it wasn’t a deep desire,” she said.

The lack of Hollywood roles certainly didn’t hold Suzman back. She went on to a stellar career in theatre, starring in lead roles in the plays of Chekhov, Ibsen, Marlow, Shaw and Shakespeare, among others. She has also appeared in many television productions and films such as Nuns on the Run, A Dry White Season, The Draughtsman’s Contract and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. When I asked Suzman which medium she prefers – theatre, film or TV – she reminded me about another important dramatic medium – radio.

“I don’t have a preference as radio, TV, theatre and film are all part of the same art. If an actor doesn’t move between them then they’re not really an actor.

Someone once said to me that radio is the best movie in the world. Radio drama is a very English thing although we used to do it in the old days at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Now there seems to be only talk radio on the SABC and no drama which is a shame.”

On the subject of radio I couldn’t help commenting on Suzman’s magnificent voice. She responded: “If you have a flexible, huge voice it’s a big plus in acting, especially for theatre. I don’t think people use their voices much anymore because they don’t use language. They mutter.

“The voice is an actor’s instrument and it’s an expressive instrument. It’s unnecessary for film and TV but essential for radio and theatre.”

Running out of roles

Playing her first ever film role back in 1971, as the ill-fated Empress Alexandra of Russia in Nicholas and Alexandra, Suzman scored Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations and seemed set for a glittering career in Hollywood.

“At the time it did seem that the amazing panorama of Hollywood would open up for me. But it didn’t happen.

Hollywood has limited vision, the last thing they see you in is the only thing they want to see you in and there weren’t many ‘empress roles’ around at the time. I

Suzman admitted that she no longer gets offered as many roles as she used to, because of her age.

“In fact, I’ve just written a book on the subject – it’s called Not Hamlet: Meditations on the Frail Position of Women in Drama. In it I ponder on the fact that there are few great parts for women and even less for women of my vintage.

Actresses of a certain age just run out of parts, apart from ‘jokey’ roles like Maggie Smith in Downton Abbey or Judi Dench in the James Bond franchise.

“Men, on the other hand, can go on and on, playing villains, cowboys and heroes. Acting is a very crippled profession and it doesn’t truly reflect half the world’s population.”

Suzman gleefully told me that the book has been very well received with lots of positive reviews.

Michael Boyd, artistic director of the RSC, describes her book as: “A thoughtful and considered kick up the arse to conspiracy theorists and to patriarchy.”

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TELEVISION |

Calling all petrol heads!

By Andy Stead The South African-produced pay-TV motoring channel, IGNITION, has grown from humble beginnings – a two hour loop of content over weekends, to nine hours of fresh programming every weekend, comprising 50% local content.

T

he idea for a dedicated South African motoring channel was conceived by Vernon Matzopoulos, MD of the African Business Channel (ABC) which is owned by BDFM, a company held 50/50 by Avusa Media and Pearson in the UK. Matzopoulos successfully started Summit TV, South Africa’s only business channel in 1999 and six years later launched The Home Channel. He then decided that a channel dedicated entirely to all things motoring seemed like a good idea in a country full of petrol heads.

“Vernon approached me to turn his idea into a reality,” says executive producer Lindsay Vine, “and IGNITION was launched on 11 October 2008. Initially it was two hours of content looped at certain times over the weekend while Summit TV was off air. But it wasn’t long before IGNITION grew to a six hour block of programming on its own DStv channel number 265.

“This move in July 2009 meant

motoring fans now had something to watch from midnight on Fridays to midnight on Sundays – and we knew that some viewers did indeed leave their TVs switched on to IGNITION all weekend.”

The channel gradually added more programming and currently runs nine hours of fresh content every weekend.

IGNITION no longer runs a loop but rather a staggered pattern of two hour blocks of content, with one hour of content less suited for younger audiences in the midnight hours.

Local content According to Vine, local programming currently makes up almost 50% of IGNITION’s offering. “Our flagship show, IGNITION GT, is a weekly half hour motoring magazine programme profiling new vehicles on the market.

Presented by Marius Roberts, what makes it unique is that it is mostly studio based, with panels of motoring journalists

offering their views and opinions in addition to those of Roberts and myself (as co-presenter).”

Other local programmes currently produced in-house by IGNITION staff include Buyer’s Guide, a weekly show that answers viewer questions on what vehicle to buy. Petrolheads is a programme that gets the viewer out and about with people who love their cars, whether it be to track days, classic car shows or car clubs.

“We recently launched The Bike Show, a co-production with an independent producer, to give our viewers the latest on new motorbikes on the market. This year we also introduced a two hour window for local motorsport. Content is provided by independent producers and includes racing action from major racing series from historic, to rally, to off-road, to drifting,” explains Vine.

Although the channel does not commission programmes, it is inundated with proposals and queries from producers and Joe Public who have ideas for programmes. Vine and her team do look at these but are not in a position to review further submissions at this point.

International scene

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING – Lindsay Vine and Marius Roberts filming for IGNITION GT

22 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

IGNITION’s international programming is sourced at overseas markets. The channel’s flagship international programme, Auto Mundial, has been broadcast on IGNITION since inception and provides a weekly round-up of new vehicles launched overseas.

Other international content spans the entire range of what one might expect on a motoring channel: classics, pimping and tuning, car rallies, reality racing shows, bikes, documentaries on legendary marques, profiles of famous racing

drivers, car auctions, muscle cars – the list really is endless.”

From an audience point of view, being a niche, weekends only channel IGNITION ensures a higher concentration of viewers over two days versus over a seven-day period.

The new DStv audience measurement system indicates that IGNITION can attract an average gross audience of about 700 000 over a weekend.

“IGNITION is available on the DStv Premium bouquet and the ever increasing Compact platform too,” notes Vine. “We are thrilled with our audience profile which attracts the full range of demographics, with a strong male bias, who are high income earners between the ages of 20- and 49-years-old.

“At launch in 2008, we started with a few advertisers who have continued to support the channel. Our advertising continues to grow and comprises mainly automotive and related products, as one would expect, plus a few lifestyle brands from time to time. Uptake on sponsorships has also increased in the past 18 months.”

IGNITION has a full time staff of five dedicated people. In addition they have regular freelancers who make a valuable and significant contribution to the channel.

Owning three channels means ABC shares editing, studio, sales staff, camera and production facilities across the board.

“At present IGNITION remains a weekend channel, using bandwidth not currently used by Summit TV. However, our viewers constantly ask us when we will become a seven days a week channel.

So, watch this space!”

As of 1 October, IGNITION is on DStv channel 189.

| TELEVISION

More movies than ever before The launch of six new, genre-themed high definition (HD) movie channels on 1 October has seen continental pay-TV broadcaster M-Net virtually double its movie inventory.

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH – Pierre Cloete

I

n a mega and unprecedented undertaking, all six new HD M-Net Movie Channels were launched at once.

“That was a huge challenge for us as the normal operating procedure is to launch one channel at a time,” says Pierre Cloete, head of M-Net Movie Channels.

“To complicate matters there weren’t any international case studies of simultaneous multiple-channel launches for us to draw on.”

This meant a much longer than average planning phase that required close collaboration with sister company MultiChoice, owner of the DStv platform on which the movie channels reside.

“Our technical team also had to figure out how to change channel numbers with as little disruption to our viewers as possible,” continues Cloete. “The launch was an immense effort that involved the entire MultiChoice group and we’re proud to have launched without any glitches.”

Following negotiations with all the major studios in Hollywood, M-Net now has 1 500 movies available to screen over a single year.

The six new movie channels – M-Net Movies Première, M-Net Movies Showcase, M-Net Movies Romance & Drama, M-Net Movies Action Plus, M-Net Movies Comedy and M-Net Movies Family – complement the existing two standard definition (SD) channels, M-Net Movies Action and M-Net

Movies Stars. All the HD channels are also simulcast in SD. Eight movie channels are packaged for South Africa and eight for West and East Africa. The latter are packaged differently to the South African bouquet as some countries in East and West Africa do not condone programming with sexual content or excessive violence.

New division The launch of the new channels necessitated a restructure within M-Net to create a separate division. Thirty-two people work in the M-Net Movie Channels division – which equates to two people per channel.

“This is probably the lowest ratio of people per channel in the world,”

notes Cloete.

The scheduling of the new channels is very different to other M-Net channels as right from inception management took the conscious decision to offer viewers something new every day.

“We have one main channel for the latest movies – M-Net Movies Première,” explains Cloete. “On a Friday we break with four new movies. It’s not easy to watch four new channels on the same evening so we screen them for the next week in different times. We are catering for absolute fanatics who do want to watch four movies a night and for those who want one new movie a day. The fifth new movie on Première is broadcast on Sunday evening, as well as on the M-Net channel. Première movies run for two weeks on the channel and exit, never to return.

“New movies appear on Première four months after their three-month run on MultiChoice’s video on demand service, DStv Box Office. On average movies are broadcast on Première 10 months after their theatrical runs, although windows can vary title on title.”

The other seven movie channels are scheduled differently – every single day of the week there is a different première timeslot on each channel and a choice of seven different movies. Screening times are staggered so that it is easy to find movies. Every half hour there is a choice of two different movies.

For movies that run over or under two hours, fillers make up the half hour.

M-Net Movie Channels is working on a new filler strategy and has just launched a

new movie show to give viewers more substance about upcoming movies on the channels.

Says Cloete: “Our scheduling software, Synergy, was specifically developed for us.

Because we own the code to the software we can adapt and change it at will.

Synergy is used throughout the company and we have developed a new module for the movie channels.”

Enhanced offering Cloete stresses that M-Net’s philosophy is centred on how to enhance the offering for the viewer.

“It’s all about what the viewer wants,” he states. “Traditionally M-Net has had an extremely strong line-up in terms of series and sports but was lacking slightly on the movie side. Plus we received feedback from viewers requesting more movies on the schedule.

“Our M-Net Action channel used to be popular which suggested to us that genre channels would be a good idea. We did extensive research into UK broadcaster Sky as it successfully introduced genre channels some years ago. Sky’s Jade Tan came out to South Africa to offer insight to our project manager Laura Howie.

“However, our scheduling is very different to Sky’s. We don’t have lots of repeats in the prime time slots so we have less runs and more movies. Plus, none of our movies are interrupted by ads.”

The branding between M-Net Movie Channels and the M-Net Channel has merged as they are positioned as complementary services.

“Right from inception management took the conscious decision to offer viewers something new every day.”

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 23

Platform Interface Ecosystem

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The CLEAR™ Archiving platform offers: • Easy access. Retrieve and digitally deliver content in any format; • An interface for requisitions, allowing the customer to order content to be retrieved in any format; • Immediate notification to customers via email, to confirm receipt of materials; • Fast delivery. Accessibility to any of our global ingest centers. Multiple 24/7 Ingest points spread across 3 continents and 5 different time zones; • Supported by Peta-bytes of Secure deep archive infrastructure where the content is ingested into a

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DOCUMENTARY |

Jon Savage from the band Cassette in a scene from Cassette: Who Do You Trust?

A documentary about the rise and fall of South African band Cassette will open at The Bioscope independent cinema in November. LINDA LOUBSER spoke to director JOHN BARKER about the film.

“W

hen I first interviewed the lead singer of Cassette, Jon Savage, he said they were either going to become the greatest band in the world, or crash and burn in a ball of flames,” says John Barker (31 Million Reasons, Bunny Chow), director of documentary Cassette: Who Do You Trust?

“That’s quite a statement. In reality they were really just a little rock band in Johannesburg, but they had those kinds of

CAPTURING THE VIBE – John Barker

aspirations and that’s really why I started piecing together the documentary. I thought, either way, it’s going to be a story I could follow,” explains Barker.

He started making the documentary almost by chance. “I was working at Terraplane as a commercials director in 2007 when Jon Savage joined the 26 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

company. Cassette had just released their first album, and everyone was talking about it.

“Terraplane used to shoot on a lot of 16mm and 35mm film, so they had fridges full of 16mm off-cuts and a really beautiful Bolex camera that was just gathering dust, so I went to the first Cassette rehearsal after their debut album.

It was really just supposed to be about shooting a whole lot of stuff on 16mm, but I guess it just kept rolling from there.”

They never really set out to find funding for the project, and Barker notes that most of the funds came from his own pocket. “The process was: I’d shoot a commercial with a director of photography (DOP) and ask if they were interested in doing a Cassette interview the next day. We’d shoot on any kind of camera we had hired for another job, including Canon 5Ds, 7Ds and Handycams. I even shot some footage on my phone.”

According to Barker a number of high profile DOPs worked on the project over the years, including Tom Marais, Nic Hofmeyr, Willie Nel and Greg Heimann.

Downfall He continues: “When we started it was all good vibes. Everything was exciting and the interviews were very positive. Cassette got tours to Tokyo and Europe and

opened for international acts, including Pink. They also won some awards and did a big collaboration with Vusi Mahlasela.

“Then, over a period of 18 months Jon (Savage) started firing people in the band and that was the start of their downfall.

At one point our tagline was going to be: ‘Four drummers, three bassists, two lead guitars, three managers and four record labels’, because that’s what they went through.”

However, Cassette kept going for a number of years and released a second, less successful album. “So many times during the process I just wanted to give up and not finish it, but I kept waiting for some kind of resolution. Eventually it played itself out and forced us to have an unhappy, downbeat ending. Jon announced in an interview on 5FM that he was calling it quits with Cassette, without having told the remaining band members – they heard it on the radio.

“The drummer, Andrew Wessels, went on to direct feature film Blitz Patrollie, Jon got a gig working at 5FM and Paul Nathan, the bassist, now manages a branch of Steers. They refused to do a last gig together, and at the end they were hardly speaking to each other,” says Barker.

Among the interviewees for the documentary were Kahn Morbee from The Parlotones, Alan Shenton from Zebra and Giraffe, drummer and music producer Michael Canfield and Mpumi Mcata from the BLK JKS. “Most people weren’t too positive about Cassette, they weren’t a very popular band, so I had to eventually get in one or

two people who were really close to them to balance the documentary out, like Catherine Grenfell from 5FM – she’s a big fan of theirs. We crafted a lot of the story, even towards the end, to show more empathy towards Jon. There are lots of ways to portray them, but I tried to stay as truthful as possible,” explains Barker.

Post-production The documentary was edited by Melissa Parry, who Barker notes worked on the project for more than a month without getting paid a cent.

“It’s been an amazing labour of love of five years and many, many people who haven’t been paid. I think it’s an amazing statement on how people are prepared to work on something they feel strongly about. Louis Enslin at Produce Sound also worked many days on it,” he says.

The challenge was exacerbated by the different cameras and formats used over the years. “They spent eight or nine days at Left Post-Production trying to match everything,” says Barker.

“Much of the footage was very gritty and dirty, so we had to decide – do we try and save all this stuff and make it high quality and amazing, or do make it all gritty and dirty. We decided to go with the latter, and we did the same with the sound.”

The documentary premièred at the Durban International Film Festival in July. “It was fantastic to be selected, as it makes it much easier to take the documentary around to broadcasters because now they’ve got a point of reference,” concludes Barker.

ASSETMANAGEMENT |

Report by Joanna Sterkowicz

A

move for Blade

TAPELESS WORKFLOW – Blade’s Robin DeJager, Mbali Sibiya, Andries DeJager, Mike Delahunt, Nazeem Latief and Kyle Du Plessis

I

n a South African first, the CLEAR Content Management Platform has been implemented at leading Johannesburg-based, high end post-production facility Blade Works, resulting in a totally digital, file-based tapeless workflow.

Blade Work’s CLEAR platform was custom-designed and commissioned by South African company LaserNet in partnership with Prime Focus Technologies. CLEAR is positioned as the world’s first ‘hybrid cloud’ multiplatform content operations solution.

“For Blade Works the biggest advantage of the CLEAR platform is that we can store data in the format that the commercial was created in,” says Blade Works MD Steve Harris. “This means the material can be accessed at any time from one storage system should there be any need to view, alter or recreate the commercial, or use the material for another application (eg. corporate

messages, audio visual displays, or the creation of ‘new / different’ commercials).

“CLEAR also allows us to record the original ‘shoot’ material at the same time so that the client has access to the material for future use. By storing the data in the original editing format, CLEAR ensures that a single service provider allows management and re-use of the data at any time in the future.”

LaserNet’s Ivan Bridgens describes CLEAR as an ecosystem with content at its centre. He explains: “We have deployed a CLEAR ‘edge’ server at Blade and it connects, via a dedicated 100mg pipeline, to LaserNet’s office in Sunninghill. Blade ingests shoot material via the edge server to Blade Works caching storage and it is backed up via the Virtual Private Network (VPN) for storage on a robotic LTO 6 format tape library. This ensures that there is a live copy of the content available at all times.”

Bridgens has done extensive research

“To store material digitally is more expensive than storing on videotape, but more effective and available all the time. Running existing videotape machines is becoming very expensive.”

– Ivan Bridgens

28 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

into the use of CLEAR in postproduction applications. “The major international facility Prime Focus, which does a lot of 3D work, uses CLEAR. Its spin-off company Prime Focus Technologies has been instrumental in migrating overseas broadcasters to tapeless workflows. CLEAR is used by the likes of IPL, ESPN, JWT, Unilever, Associated Press, NetFlix and Star TV.”

Digital vs. tape Harris notes that one of the biggest challenges in the modern post-production facility is how to manage the cost of administering, managing and delivering digital data versus videotape.

“People think videotape is more expensive to manage than digital data – this isn’t the case,” continues Harris.

“Digital data requires someone to decode and process it in order to uplink it. In addition, the infrastructure of a decent tapeless environment is nearly double the cost of a videotape environment.

“Consider that the London facility, The Mill, charges seven pence per frame for 4K files – imagine the cost for footage shot on a Phantom high speed camera at 1 000fps! Because people have this perception that digital material is cheaper than videotape, we have to find ways of moving digital data around cost effectively.”

Bridgens adds: “To store material digitally is more expensive than storing on videotape, but more effective and available all the time. Running existing videotape machines is becoming very expensive.”

Macro-functionality Harris was attracted to CLEAR because of its macro-functionality: it can ingest and capture data, move it around, and store it on a long term basis.

“By definition CLEAR is a platform for Blade Works to provide additional services. It gives our clients access to their commercials so that they can view, copy (onto desktop / laptop, memory stick or DVD), and deliver them to other portals at will. Also, clients can do approvals remotely, on their tablets or smart phones.

“A big advantage of CLEAR is an easy to manage, improved workflow. It’s more efficient than tape because tape is manual.

Internally at Blade when we move data around and access it on CLEAR, it’s all strictly controlled with email confirmations and audit reports,” comments Harris.

Each commercial that goes through the CLEAR system is tagged with metadata before going into the archive library. The material is accessible to the client, the production company, the offline edit company and the agency at the same time, provided the agency has granted ‘permission’ for viewing and copying.

Harris notes that he and Bridgens have a long term business relationship and have built up a good level of trust over the years. Their previous experience in establishing post-production workflows has assisted enormously in identifying CLEAR as the most practical solution effectively controlling and moving data in a post-production facility.

Visualising creative ideas

| PREVIS

Visual effects (VFX) expert Steven MacPherson from Framestore in London visited South Africa to share his knowledge on the filmmaking process of pre-visualisation or previs.

By Linda Loubser

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ccording to the non-profit organisation the Previsualization Society, previs is ‘a collaborative process that generates preliminary versions of shots or sequences, predominantly using 3D animation tools and a virtual environment.

It enables filmmakers to visually explore creative ideas, plan technical solutions, and communicate a shared vision for efficient production’.

In a Durban FilmMart session titled Pre-Visualisation to Virtual Production, Steven MacPherson outlined the purpose and the benefits to including previs in a feature film’s workflow.

He explained that Framestore is known for doing visual effects on big budget blockbusters from the UK and US. “We work on both big and small films, including recent Oscar-nominated films such as War Horse and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” explained MacPherson.

In 2011 Framestore entered a joint partnership with US digital previs experts The Third Floor to form The Third Floor London.

Risk MacPherson’s first point was that films are expensive to make. “You don’t want to make a movie with lots of effects but no story, and you walk out of the cinema unmoved. Yet that’s one thing that’s really prevalent,” he noted.

“Every film carries risk, small films as much as big studio films. However, when big budget films fail, the financial implications are huge. You don’t want to run out of money just because the production wasn’t planned properly,” said MacPherson.

As examples of the risks of big budgets he mentioned two recent blockbusters – John Carter, which had a budget of about $250m and made only about $282m worldwide, and The Avengers, which cost $220m and made $1.477bn.

Previs is especially important when complex and expensive special effects are involved in a film, according to MacPherson, because the risk

ROUGH CUT – Steven MacPherson

becomes bigger.

“Films involve a lot of people. When a script mentions ‘a small cabin on a hill’, everyone will visualise it differently. Once you create an image of a cabin on a hill, suddenly everyone is on the same page.”

He explained that scripts go to the art department first, where photos, art and digital tools are used to visualise the script.

Planning “We look at a script and highlight areas that are VFX intensive, phrases like ‘a bridge collapses’. Increasingly we try to get involved strategically in the development of a film, and not just the production and post-production. Previs is part of this strategy.”

According to MacPherson, key steps in previs include asset creation, animation, camera, timing and editorial. During this process, the focus shifts from detail or mood to blocking.

“Asset creation involves virtual location scouting – creating the characters, props and environments of a scene. We have a database of assets, which takes time to put together, but once you have the database you can simply select your props and scenery and build your scene that way.

“The quality of previs is low, because it’s about capturing the timing and

essence of a scene, not creating a viewable product.”

He explained that, during the animation stage of previs the scene is populated with characters.

“The camera phase involves checking how ‘things’ themselves move independent of the camera. How will the camera move, what is the camera going to see, and how does it capture a sense of landscape? Once again, the visual quality often wouldn’t pass the test of a Saturday morning cartoon, but the idea is to capture or introduce the scene by camera.”

MacPherson continued: “In terms of timing, the guys will always talk about the emotional beats, the different angles and the pauses that the camera will capture.”

Types of previs include pitchvis, techvis, on-set previs and postvis.

Benefits MacPherson outlined the benefits of previs. “It’s a win-win for directors and producers, as it fosters creativity and saves money because of better planning. It also helps directors to convey their vision to producers, funders and crew.”

A Durban FilmMart delegate remarked that previs might not be relevant for the South African industry, saying: “I don’t think there’s a funder in

this country that would understand what you’re talking about, and consider giving us money for previs.”

However, Macpherson was adamant that it was not impossible: “Lots of people in the UK feel the same way – they would like to do it but they just don’t have the money. However, a lot of this doesn’t require much sophistication – just some basic knowledge of animation programme Maya. You can still convey a sense of what’s going to happen and how it will look.

“If you have time, you can start blocking it out. You can work with artists and do whatever you can. It’s really just about planning so that you can save money in production. It simply enables people to see what you’re trying to do, rather than relying on you describing it.”

Head of the Durban Film Office, Toni Monty added: “We wanted to bring this knowledge into the programme so that we, as an industry, can start thinking about how we can make it happen.”

MacPherson concluded that South African filmmakers should not allow their imaginations to be crippled by thinking that they can’t do something.

“I’ve watched three African films here with no visual effects that I could see, but they were brilliant, deeply personal stories. I can’t emphasise enough, it really is about the story.”

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 29

BROADCAST |

Report by Joanna Sterkowicz

A truly mammoth project To prepare for the launch of pay-TV broadcaster M-Net’s six new high definition (HD) movie channels, SuperSport International’s Technical Operations Division, Media Solutions, had to design an entirely new workflow that would also accommodate a standard definition (SD) simulcast, as well as a family track and hearing impaired (HI) subtitles on both the HD and SD outputs.

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n 1 October this year M-Net took the unprecedented move of launching six new genre themed HD movie channels on MultiChoice’s DStv platform and simulcasting them in SD. M-Net’s sister company in the MultiChoice Group, Media Solutions, was tasked with the technical and operational aspects of the project.

This involved designing a unique method of up/down conversion between the HD and SD outputs and the creation of Digital Delivery Processing (DDP).

Manny Coelho, HOD: Media Services, Media Solutions, notes that in addition to the new HD movie channels, Media Solutions delivers eight other HD channels onto the DStv platform – three entertainment channels and five SuperSport channels.

“Only the HD movie channels and the general entertainment channels are downconverted to SD 16:9, to cater for those viewers who have SD decoders, as opposed to HD PVRs,” he explains.

“We were given 14 months from inception to implementation for this project. This was a really tight turnaround time as such but I’m proud to say it went off without a hitch. It was a big collective effort from the entire MultiChoice Group.”

According to Coelho, the launch of 30 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

ALL SET FOR SIMULCAST – Master Control Room 6 – Fortunate Vukeya, Manny Coelho, Tshepo Motsepe and Thabang Montshiwa

Intelsat’s IS20 satellite in August was key to the new services.

“We needed substantial additional transponder capacity to cater for the huge amount of bandwidth required for the new services. All our HD channels are 24/7/365.

“The scope of the project led to Media Solutions taking on an extra staff complement of 16 people. In addition we had to invest in new technology,” he explains.

For the month of October Media Solutions had to ingest over 1 200 titles and process large volumes of movies and series.

Workflow Baxter de Jager, HOD: Systems Architecture & Engineering, Media Solutions, explains the simulcast process: “In the playout environment, for each HD movie channel we receive a schedule (ie. planned list of events) while the content is now supplied mostly in HD for ingest into our playout systems.

“Within this we do two things – we down-convert the HD signal to SD 16:9 for the simulcast; secondly we insert the Channel’s ident (logo) into both the HD and the SD versions of the same schedule.

The reason we separate the latter process is because some SD viewers might not

have 16:9 screens, which means the sides of the picture may be cropped, depending on viewer settings. For this reason we put the channel ident closer to the middle of the picture (4:3 friendly) on the SD version.”

“It was really the concept of one schedule and two outputs that enabled the HD movie channels, also in SD. The simulcast has created a useful efficiency for the company as we don’t require separate control rooms for the HD and SD outputs.”

The simulcast process for the HD entertainment channel, M-Net Africa, is slightly different as it is broadcast to West Africa and East Africa. A time delay solution has been added to accommodate the two-hour time zone difference across the continent. Another difference is that the channel ident is inserted into the master output at an earlier stage. There are four possible outputs from the M-Net Africa schedule – HD current; SD current, HD time-delay and SD time-delay. Only three of these are in use at the moment.

HD family track and HI M-Net has included a family track and HI subtitles on its SD channels for many years. When the broadcaster launched the first M-Net HD channel in 2008, it had

only original audio and, where available, a Dolby 5.1 option.

“As HD content increased and we introduced more HD channels, we had to find a way to offer the same features as on the SD channels,” comments De Jager. “I am not aware of any other broadcaster in the world that offers Family Audio & HI subtitle options along with original stereo and 5.1 options all at the same time.

“We had to create a way of taking the HD master track and delivering original audio, a family track in stereo, the 5.1 option and the HI subtitles. This had to be incorporated in what we refer to as the Digital Delivery Process (DDP).

“Media Solutions receives the content either as a file or a tape with its original audio. They then make a low resolution copy of the master content with a burnt in time code; this is sent to an outsourced company to create the subtitles and synch them to the picture.

“The HI file is emailed as an attachment with the data which we merge to the master. On top of that we make a copy of the original audio and cut out the swear words for the family track. ” Audio processing and loudness control is done just before the family tracks are edited in one of Media Solutions’ non-linear edit (NLE) suites. Everything is then merged on the HD playout master ready for simulcast.

| BROADCAST

De Jager notes that these days most of the Hollywood studios are increasing content delivery as files, rather than on tapes. This has resulted in M-Net being able to flight the latest TV series much closer to the American broadcast.

“Content is archived in our Media Asset Management (MAM) system and can be accessed by those who need to edit, playout or re-purpose it for video on demand (VOD) or the web. Our file delivery solution needs to be very secure

– a point-to-point encrypted system ensures that the studios’ content is safe,” he states.

Media Solutions has created a mirrored content storage site and / or back-up recovery site away from its offices in Randburg at Samrand. The two sites are connected by fibre.

Equipment On the playout side of Media Solutions

some of the major equipment brands used are Harris D-Series automation system and Harmonic (formerly Omneon) video servers. Miranda presentation mixers are used for final manipulation of the signals and to insert the channel ident.

“For Media Asset Management (MAM) we use the Viz Ardome system which handles the huge volumes of data that we receive, process and output,” says De Jager. “Archive is on IBM data storage. The devices to handle the file

delivery from the studios are Signiant and Aspera. Audio processing is done through Dolby DP600.”

Because the studios deliver content to M-Net in various file formats they need to be transcoded on a Telestream Vantage system to Media Solution’s two house formats – HD = DNXHD120 and SD = IMX30.

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 31

STEREOSCOPIC3D |

Dancing into the third dimension South African 3D specialist production company Haptics documented the recent Danse l’Afrique Danse! Biennale in Soweto, Johannesburg in high definition (HD) stereoscopic 3D.

Shooting mobile 3D

H

aptics’ founder Don Searll had been shooting a lot of live action stereoscopic 3D all over the world as part of larger projects when he learnt about the Danse l’Afrique Danse!

Biennale.

The festival, which is part of the France-South Africa Seasons 2012 & 2013, took place at several venues, including the new Soweto Theatre, in late September and early October.

Says Searll: “I approached the French Institute which is in partnership with the Soweto Theatre, run under the auspices of Steven Sack. After much negotiation we obtained the rights to film a documentary of the festival in high end 3D. “In my opinion dance is currently one of the most cutting-edge art forms in the world as it combines dance, music, sets, costumes, advanced lighting, as well as other neo arts such as video projection systems.”

Layered approach Haptics has taken a layered approach to the documentary, with one theme the post colonialism liberation of African women.

“Tribally African women were always very strong but during colonialism they were forced into servitude and often subjected to abuse and rape. Dance is one way that African women today can express their plight and dissatisfaction.

One of the dancers in the festival was a woman called Fanny Roselyne from the Belgian Congo, who is the only female dancer in her country,” notes Searll.

The 3D shoot covered three aspects – rehearsals, performances and interviews.

Searll believes that to be fully enjoyed, contemporary dance needs to be understood; therefore the 3D documentary provides context for the 32 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

FIRST SA 3D DANCE – The crew with the 3D camera rig

dances and their story. Also interviewed is the dance officer director of the French Institute, Sophie Renaud, who gives insight into the France-South Africa Season.

South African dancers featured include Via Katlehong, Desire Davids, Sello Pesa, Gregory Maqoma and Jay Pather.

Collaborations The documentary is a 50/50 co-production between Haptics and French company Binocle, with whom Searll has collaborated for some time.

“Binocle is one of the top 3D companies in the world,” he continues.

“They supplied the 3D rigs for this production as well as a French director of photography (DOP) and a French stereographer. I produced and directed the documentary and believe it to be a first of its kind for South Africa,” says Searll.

Because this was a documentary with dancing as its subject matter, Searll and his team had to construct shoulder mount full frame HD 3D camera rigs and use especially mobile integrated 3D cameras to capture the varied action.

“Panavision South Africa’s Clive Shirlaw and James Barth gave us amazing assistance and provided fantastic service.

They supplied Sony F3 cameras equipped with the newly developed Exmor Super 35 CMOS image sensors. We recorded on the internal SxS cards as well as twin synced nanoFlash recorders, giving us 4:2:2 at220Mbps which provided us a wider dynamic range for the 1920 x 1080 full-HD recording. The Sony F3 cameras were faultless and gave us extraordinary images in low light,” explains Searll.

Sean Loeve from Panasonic provided the mobile 3D camera systems, the first ever integrated 3D cameras. Panasonic also provided accurate 3D monitors for verification.

Searll has shot a lot of 3D with various Panasonic 3D cameras and finds them very flexible for quick mobile shooting.

“The AG 3DA1 and AG3Dp1 are fantastic first generation integrated 3D twin lens cameras and perfect for documentaries being light and mobile.

They incorporate dual stream high sensitivity 3mos sensors that have full 1920x1080 pixel resolution with the AV-Intra codec providing high quality 3D HD recording.”

Searll normally shoots 3D with Technocranes and remote heads but in this instance used shoulder mounted 3D rigs with the two Sony F3 cameras. “They were huge but mobile. We couldn’t lay tracks because the sequences were unpredictable and we had to move around quickly. Some of the performances actually took place randomly in the street.

“The F3s were used in the mirror rig configuration where one camera shoots through glass and the other image is reflected. Binocle rigs are incredibly advanced and everything is remotely controlled – zoom, focus, aperture, convergence, horizontal inter-ocular translation (HIT), plus the roll / pitch and yaw all electronically.

“3D relies on very accurate matching of the left eye footage and the right eye footage – the more accurately you align the cameras, the more comfortable it is to view on the screen and the less adjustment it needs in post-production,” he comments.

A digital imaging technician (DIT) was present on set to capture all the footage and re-format the cards. All footage was matched and managed by Haptics’ in-house IT department run by Warwick Soar.

3D post-production is divided between France and South Africa – the offline / online is taking place at Hapitcs and mirrored in Paris. Both teams run the same systems with a dual proprietary Stereo3D toolset, which includes matched eye grading.

There will be two versions of the documentary – a 54-minute film and two 26-minute films. The distribution strategy includes 3D cinema for the art house market; 3D for TV; and 3D Blu-Ray. “Having funded the first phase of production ourselves we are now looking for partners in terms of financing post-production and distribution and are currently completing a 3D teaser,” concludes Searll. – Joanna Sterkowicz

| NEWMEDIA

TV in your hand, pocket, bag…

The recent release of the Walka 7 handheld TV is the latest in a long line of devices developed by DStv Mobile to enhance its offering to subscribers.

at the time.

“However, we quickly realised that the choice of mobile phone is a very personal one for consumers so we couldn’t pin our future on one device. Therefore we launched the Drifta mobile decoder so that subscribers could access the service on their laptops and PCs. “The Drifta evolved from being a side product into a very important strategy on its own. We’ve now grown the Drifta to reach all the major operating systems through two other products, the Drifta USB and the iDrifta for Apple devices,” comments Rayner.

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Stv Mobile, the mobile television division of MultiChoice (owner of the DStv pay-TV platform), first launched its service on DVB-H enabled mobile phones and its Drifta mobile decoder. This was followed by the USB Drifta, the Walka, the iDrifta and now the Walka 7.

The original Walka handheld TV with its 3.5cm screen came out of consumer research which revealed that people liked the idea of a portable TV. “This finding ran counter-intuitive to what we expected,” comments DStv Mobile CEO Mark Rayner. “We assumed that people wanted to carry a single device – their cell phones.

However, our research showed that people wanted to use their phones for voice and data only because they were concerned about battery life.

“The Walka has been well received in the market and we expect that the same will be true of the Walka 7. We wanted to make the Walka 7 a better user experience so it has a much bigger screen and longer battery life than the Walka, as well as stereo sound and a choice of four different aspect ratio settings.”

Rayner stresses that DStv Mobile sees a strong case for both handheld TV devices: the Walka is very portable while the Walka 7 is for subscribers who want a bigger screen and very long battery life.

He continues: “Because South African sports fans have so much choice on any

Content WALKING THE TALK – Mark Rayner

given Saturday, it’s useful to have your Walka with you at live games so that you can check on other sporting events at the same time. We see a lot of DStv Mobile usage in sports and breaking news.

“A significant portion of Walka users are existing DStv Premium subscribers (who receive the mobile TV service free) but a sizeable amount of users are totally new subscribers who just want the mobile service.”

Long journery Rayner points out that DStv Mobile has been a long journey for MultiChoice, which first mooted the idea of a mobile TV service in 2006.

“This was around the time that the European industry organisation Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) developed its DVB-H transmission standard for mobile TV,” explains Rayner. “MultiChoice created a team to investigate the viability of a mobile TV service. Globally mobile TV did not develop as rapidly as it should have because there was no

standardisation. Europe had DVB-H while America, China, Korea and Japan each had their own transmission standards.”

The DStv Mobile team rallied hard to launch a service in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but did not receive a licence from regulator ICASA. Undeterred, DStv Mobile continued its DVB-H trials until ICASA granted the licence in September 2010. Following a series of regulatory challenges the service was finally launched in December 2010.

Rayner notes that despite the late start in South Africa, DStv Mobile was able to launch in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Namibia in 2008.

“Africa is a very important market for us and we’ve just launched a mobile version of MultiChoice’s low cost service, GOtv, in these countries,” he says.

Devices The DStv Mobile service originally launched on Nokia handsets because Nokia was the dominant brand in Africa

DStv Mobile’s offering comprises certain channels that are available on the DStv bouquet, including several SuperSport channels.

According to Rayner the question of specially produced local content for mobile came up in the days when DStv Mobile was trialing its service.

“We commissioned local content during the trials but it didn’t resonate with our customers. There was this idea that mobile content had to be short form and specific to the local environment but our trials and research showed that this wasn’t the case. We discovered that customers wanted to see the same content that they were used to on their TV screens at home,” he explains.

The DStv Mobile business model is currently based on revenue from subscribers and device sales.

“At this stage we’re focused on growing our market and enhancing the viewer experience. Once we’ve grown to a sizeable market then we may introduce adverts on our channels but these may not be in the same form as on TV. “Thus far we’re satisfied with our growth and are performing to expectation,” concludes Rayner.

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 33

NEWMEDIA |

New media explosion

By Ian Dormer

Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic freefall on 14 October 2012 was not only a record breaking skydive attempt that broke the speed of sound with the human body. It was also a record breaking YouTube sensation, proving yet again that the expansion of new media technologies and devices has turned the average media consumer into a new breed of media mogul who chooses when and how they enjoy their content.

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roadcast live on YouTube, the social video sharing website revealed that Felix Baumgartner’s supersonic jump is now the ‘live stream with the most concurrent views ever on YouTube’. Some 30 cameras on the capsule, the ground and helicopters recorded the event.

While it had been pegged as a live broadcast, there was an 18-second delay in case of a tragic accident. At the time of the jump eight million concurrent live streams were broadcasting at one time over the Red Bull YouTube channel.

There were many more viewers via a number of new media and mobile television portals as well as traditional television broadcasting.

New media is a 21st Century universal term used to define all that is related to the Internet and the interplay between technology, sound and images and refers to the various technologies that have emerged or seen rapid growth during the latter part of the 20th century and into the new millennium.

Most people who have an Internet connection are aware of some of the major types of new media, which includes social

34 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

networking sites such as My Space, Facebook and Twitter, as well as blogs and video sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Technologies described as new media are digital, allowed to be manipulated, are networkable and interactive. New media does not include television programmes, feature films, paper-based publications, magazines or books – unless they contain technologies that enable digital interactivity.

The emergence of new media has allowed the democratisation of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content, as well as the real-time manufacturing of new, free-for-all content such as public uploads to YouTube.

Media evolution Until the 1980s media relied primarily upon print and analogue broadcast models, such as those of newspapers, magazines, television and radio. The last 25 years have seen the rapid transformation of media which rely on the use of digital technologies, such as the

Internet and video games.

Digital computers have transformed the remaining ‘old’ media, as suggested by the advent of digital television and online publications. Even traditional media forms such as the printing press have been transformed through the application of technologies like image manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop and desktop publishing tools.

One of the first forms of new media that the general public became familiar with during the latter-20th century was cyberchatting. Whether one-on-one or

within a chatroom, chatting online quickly evolved from a mostly text-based tool to one which also included audio visual capabilities through applications such as webcams. Because of the anonymity afforded by the Internet, many people who engaged in online chatting began reconstructing the narrative of their real lives, posing online under a different name, age, gender or occupation.

Today, the notion of a new online identity first introduced in chatrooms has expanded to include visual recreation, for example, online gaming like Blacklight

The last 25 years have seen the rapid transformation of media which rely on the use of digital technologies, such as the Internet and video games.

Report By Joanna Sterkowicz

| NEWMEDIA

When it comes to the exchanging of ideas, perhaps the most interesting part of new media has to do with the restructuring of research, social interaction and the currents of writing and dissemination of all information that have accompanied its emergence.

Retribution, a team-based multiplayer first person shooter game set in present day conflicts where you customise your character, weapons and accessories and play war with people you don’t know from a bar of soap, online.

Another example is via the popular web service, Second Life. On Second Life, you ‘enter a world with infinite possibilities and live a life without boundaries, guided only by your imagination’. Here members create their own 3D image, also known as an avatar, and interact with other members in a completely virtual world.

As weird as it seems living a second life, new media was partly responsible in getting Barack Obama elected as President of the United States. He raised a phenomenal $750m for his presidential campaign via the Internet and created an enormously powerful online community that has changed politics forever.

President Obama was the first president to use his Blackberry for daily communications and still conducts his weekly fireside chats on YouTube.

Profound effect Other than politics, new media has had a profound effect on two other fronts of society in the 21st century: the exchange of ideas and economics. Economically, new media is the globe’s commercial skeleton. Fibre optic wiring networks between the world’s cities connect one to another to another….

Every time a customer goes online to shop for that iPod special offer, or the digital camera from a large cyber retail store, new media is on both sides of that transaction.

New media is not only the product but helps to mould the process of electronic commerce. This means that the electronics and associated industries are largely focused on making the hardware that supports new media, while softer enterprises like news agencies, programmers, authors and artists adapt their crafts to the flows of the networks.

When it comes to the exchanging of ideas, perhaps the most interesting part of new media has to do with the restructuring of research, social interaction and the currents of writing and dissemination of all information that

have accompanied its emergence. Web and blog-writing in particular are not particularly revolutionary or groundbreaking but it changes the way people use language or construct basic sentences.

It also allows people to structure and nest information into documents differently like using hyperlinks. Take for instance, the single most influential tool in casual research and data-storage: Wikipedia. It is virtually impossible to search an article that is published on Wikipedia without coming across a hyperlink to another page of data. Wikipedia exemplifies a style of information technology that is based on the interconnectedness of new ideas and past events in a new media mould.

TV on the go New media has given birth to technologies that have made access to information easier and more convenient.

Take for example mobile television, it is not uncommon to see spectators at a rugby or cricket match watching or listening to their mobile TV devices for quick access to action replays or quirky commentary provided by the broadcaster covering the game.

During the Currie Cup semifinal between the Bulls and the Sharks, Odwa Ndungane was shown checking the score of a PSL Soccer game on a DStv Walka while sitting on the bench having been replaced for fresh legs! During Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, thousands of mobile TV users standing in the streets on London watched the parts of the ceremony that they could not physically see, on their handheld devices.

Here in Johannesburg, it is not uncommon to see commuters glued to their Drifta or Walka devices on the Gautrain on their early morning journey to work.

New media has also greatly advanced cellular communications in the past 20 years, through devices and applications that connect with the Internet and other technologies.

Africa is in the midst of a technological revolution, and nothing illustrates that fact better than the proliferation of mobile phones. More Africans have access to mobile phones than to clean drinking

water. In South Africa, mobile phone usage has gone from 17% of adults in 2000 to more than 76% in 2011. Today, more South Africans (29 million) use mobile phones than radio (28 million), TV (27 million) or personal computers (six million). Only five million South Africans use landline phones and four million use hard wired Internet, according to Nielsen, the American global information and measurement company.

Other applications As in other countries, mobile phones are being used in a range of ways aside from talking. South Africa ranks fifth in the world for mobile data usage, ahead of the US, which ranks seventh. The mobile phone as an Internet device is also on the rise – 11% of South Africans use their mobiles to go online, and consumers aged between 25 and 34 are the heaviest users.

Facebook was the most popular social media platform in 2011 in South Africa, used by 85% of mobile subscribers, according to Nielsen. Half of all users of Facebook in South Africa access the site via their mobiles. MXIT, a mobile instant messaging platform, is also popular in the country, with 61% saying they access the site.

SMS text messaging is practically

ubiquitous among South African mobile customers, and is used by almost 4.2 times more people than email. More than two-thirds (69%) of consumers prefer sending texts to calling, in large part because it is less expensive, and 10% believe texting to be a faster way of communicating.

The majority (60%) of South African mobile users said they are aware of mobile banking services offered by banks, but only 21% say they use such services. A much larger number of those aware of the services said they would never use them.

When one considers that just three years ago, there were no smartphones being used on the continent, the pace of change is stunning. South Africa is the biggest market, but other countries on the continent are likely to catch up fast.

What fascinates me about new media is that all businesses have become media companies no matter what they offer in terms of services or products. In order to survive in today’s tough economic environment, a company has to disseminate information – you have to Tweet and Facebook, and show off your services via a video on YouTube.

Everyone has become a master in new media publishing and mastered the technologies needed to create new media content.

As in other countries, mobile phones are being used in a range of ways aside from talking. South Africa ranks fifth in the world for mobile data usage, ahead of the US, which ranks seventh.

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 35

DSPLAYTECHNOLOGIES |

It’s all in the display In any broadcast, television studio, outside broadcast (OB) or post-production application, video monitors play a vital role in allowing the crew to view the shoot and monitor the broadcast as it unfolds.

ANDY STEAD looks at the latest international trends in display technologies.

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o terms such as Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), shadow mask and aperture grill have any meaning to you?

Well, all early colour televisions, monitoring devices and the majority of CRT computer monitors used shadow mask technology. Aperture grill, more commonly known under the trade name Trinitron, was introduced by Sony in 1966.

Both of these technologies are largely obsolete, having increasingly been replaced since the 1990s by Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). We are now entering the realm of Light Emitting Diode (LED), Plasma Display Panels (PDP) and more recently Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED).

It should be mentioned at this stage that a so called ‘LED display’ or ‘LED monitor’ is not really an LED display. It is an LCD TV or monitor with LED backlights. There are many types of backlight sources which include Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL), LED and Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (HCFL). But, nowadays LEDs are most widely used for LCD TVs and monitors because of their costeffectiveness.

Pros and cons CRT – Pros: good colour, great gradation, clear motion, very good for representing analogue SD signal.

Cons: screen not flat, geometric distortion, colour drift due to magnetic fields, bulky and heavy, big energy consumption, eco unfriendly (lead, many rays, etc.), anything over 40” impossible.

LCD – Pros: thin, light and perfectly flat, most cost-effective for the time being, large colour gamut (w/ WCG CCFL or RGB-LED backlight).

Cons: black not deep enough, colour fidelity, motion blur due to slow response of Liquid Crystal technology.

PDP – Pros: flat screen, smoother motion than LCD. Cons: not efficient for high pixel density or small screen under 40”, trades off relationship between power consumption and screen brightness, pixel burn, glare screen surface, insufficient colour gradation.

OLED – Pros: large colour gamut, very thin, fast response of phosphor (but not really fast as CRT due slow driving to hold light).

Cons: low lifespan, colour shift due to different lifespan of RGB phosphors, high cost and low yield.

Plasma vs LCD When HDTV was in its infancy plasma, with its dark blacks and high end picture quality, was the favorite flat-screen technology, especially among the more discerning viewers. However thinner, 36 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

more energy-efficient LCDs with CCFL backlighting became less expensive and started making inroads.

The difference between plasma and LCD was debated for some time, each offering various benefits depending on the cost, model and life span. However, with the advent of extremely sophisticated LED backlighting, and with its unmatched energy efficiency, LED-based LCD is arguably the best flat-panel HDTV technology. The downside is the expense.

A quick survey of the local market shows that flat screen display technology is well and truly entrenched, with only a few reports of CRT displays still in use.

Top colourist at Pudding, Craig Simonetti prefers Dolby monitors.

“The best picture I have seen from a non CRT monitor is definitely from Dolby,” he says. “It’s a LED backlit LCD and is as good as, if not better than any CRT monitor. You can no longer buy a CRT and most domestic viewers are watching OLED, LCD or plasma TVs so doing final quality control check on a CRT does not really make any sense”.

SABC TV Outside Broadcasts still uses CRT monitors for final quality evaluation.

“The latest OB van built in 2010 uses CRT monitors in a few selected positions,” explains projects coordinator Frikkie Schoonraad.” I believe that the colour representation and black level control is better on CRT. However, the rest of the monitors in the OB units are all LCD monitors of various sizes. Most of them are driven by Multiviewer engines with setups that can change according to production requirements.”

Manufacturers’ perspective Sony stopped producing CRT monitors some four years ago due to environmental issues.

Says Sony South Africa’s Jess Goedhals: “We then developed an LCD range of monitors, but customers had concerns with the initial technology. One concern was the inability to reproduce correct black levels. Now, with the development by Sony of OLED grading and professional monitors, we are able to supersede the display performance over CRT.” Panasonic manufactures a wide range of professional monitors, as well as semi-professional models. An example of a top end display is the Panasonic BT-LH1850 professional LCD video monitor which is a powerful new 18.5” monitor developed for field and studio applications.

Local supplier Pro-Sales offers a wide variety of monitors, including Panasonic, and has supplied to several top end studios and post-production facilities.

Sasani Studios’ Kim Smith uses a combination of Plura and TV Logic LCD and LED monitors in their facilities, ranging from 17”to 24”.

“For the control room multiviewers we use Sony and JVC (42” to 52”),” he says, “and for technical monitoring we use Tektronix wfm 5000 and wfm 5200.”

As technology advances so will the quality and usage of LCD, plasma and OLED. Industry professionals and consumers will continue to demand higher resolution and purer colour rendition and there is little doubt that manufacturers will oblige.

| DISPLAYTECHNOLOGIES

An Olympic performance

Re-defining monitor technology Over 1 000 Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) broadcast monitors were used to deliver the recent London 2012 Olympics by the official broadcaster.

The debate regarding the relevant benefits of LCD over plasma continues however.

“Generally, LCD is great for data and still images, but plasma has a better refresh rate and contrast ratio for video when considering large screen televisions,” says Panasonic Broadcast Systems’ Sean Loeve. “Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) was always the leader in the standard definition (SD) world, but I believe the latest broadcast LCD monitors hold up to any professional CRT.” There are only a few manufacturers that produce the panels found in plasma monitors, Panasonic being a leader together with other companies such as Samsung. These panels are then supplied to other manufactures that build the electronics around them and brand them.

“It is hard to say which display technology offers the best picture quality,” continues Loeve. “It depends on what you intend using the panel for. Panasonic produces professional plasma and domestic plasma displays, broadcast LCD and professional large screen LCD displays.

“I think non-CRT technology is being accepted by broadcasters due to several reasons such as the various sizes available, the pricing, the excellent image quality and the lack of available CRTs. I must be honest – I haven’t seen a CRT screen for a while and wonder if they are still available”.

Loeve speculates on the future. “I think we can expect to see panels with ‘truer’ colour reproduction and less delay coming onto the market in the not too distant future.”

Sony has expanded its line of Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Trimaster EL models with two new models designed for professional video production – the PVM series (25-inch PVM-2541 and 17-inch PVM-1741).

“These new models complete a line-up of professional video monitors for the content creation market,” says Daniel Dubreuil, senior product manager at Sony Professional, Sony Europe. “The ability to have monitors that are accurately matched is something our customers have been requesting for quite a while. Our PVM series offers price over performance features, including a ground-breaking dynamic range that lets you see details in the extreme blacks.”

They follow Sony’s most recent display innovation, the BVM-E series of reference grade OLED monitors, with a revolutionary new signal engine. These new products represent the next leap in reference monitor technology, incorporating new processing and imaging capabilities for signal evaluation and a basis of colour and tone comparison.

The new monitors are positioned as a true replacement for Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology in critical evaluation.

The new BVM-E250/E170 series are dedicated for master monitoring purposes while the PVM-2541/1741 offers high quality picture monitoring. Both series are available in 25 inch and 17 inch sizes.

Each model offers full 1920x1080 HD resolution with10-bit signal processing. Both models support multiple colour standards, and include an easy set up procedure, assuring stability and colour and tone matching.

A range of displays Pro-Sales offers a wide range of display device products which include both Panasonic and Konvision at the high end of the range, with Swit and Ruige on the lower spectrum.

Swit’s range of on-camera monitors includes the S-1090H 8, 9 inch LCD and the smaller S-1051C 5 inch LCD monitor. They also offer rack-mount models such as the M-1071H 7 inch X 2 LCD.S-1051H. Konvision manufactures both on-camera and field monitors, as well as rack-mount and desktop monitors such as the 1024 X 600 high resolution 7 inch LCD monitor with LED backlight.

“At this point in time I believe that rand for rand people still prefer Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors,” says Pro-Sales’ Arne Sack. “Customers are resisting the prices of the flat screen display devices, however having said that the new non-CRT units are really improving rapidly.

“In most studios we see the replacement process taking place

as older CRT monitors die. It is only a matter of time.”

Pro-Sales has supplied display devices to the likes of Urban Brew, Aquavision and Ministry of illusion among others, and the demand is growing.

“The major manufacturers – such as Panasonic – are producing these devices, but there is a host of other specialised monitor manufacturers out there,” notes Sack.

“If we look back at the progress over the last decade, one can only expect the progress to accelerate and South Africa is up there with the rest of the world in terms of demand.”

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 37

TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY |

Simple plan for complex problem

Capturing playback solutions Blackmagic Design announced UltraStudio Mini Monitor and UltraStudio Mini Recorder, two new capture and playback solutions featuring 3 Gb/s SDI and HDMI connections plus high speed Thunderbolt technology, at the recent IBC in Amsterdam.

UltraStudio Mini Monitor and UltraStudio Mini Recorder are extremely portable, pocket-sized products powered by their Thunderbolt connections so they can be operated from a computer’s battery or power source. They support all common SD / HD formats for incredible quality video up to 1080p60.

These two solutions are separate products, one for recording SDI and HDMI video and the other model for playing back SDI or HDMI video. For example, when monitoring using NLE software such as Apple Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 software, the UltraStudio Mini Monitor would be the perfect choice. A customer who only needs simple recording for capturing files from professional video sources can choose the UltraStudio Mini Recorder for great quality, at the lowest possible price.

UltraStudio Mini Monitor and UltraStudio Mini Recorder feature advanced high quality video technology allowing customers to go on location for uncompressed and compressed capture and playback tasks at the highest 10 bit SD / HD quality.

With easy plug and play and incredibly fast transfer speeds of Thunderbolt technology, UltraStudio Mini Monitor and UltraStudio Mini Recorder can be moved easily between computers and can capture from decks, cameras and live video sources, and output to monitors, projectors, media servers and more.

At IBC AJA Video Systems announced Corvid Ultra, the latest product in AJA’s Corvid family of OEM technologies, delivering superior I/O, processing and scaling for complex, multi-format 4K/2K and HD/Dual-link/SD workflows.

Corvid Ultra is part of AJA’s OEM programme available to partners to incorporate into software applications or hardware systems to facilitate high-bandwidth / high frame rate performance using AJA’s proven technology.

Corvid Ultra features support for 2K and 4K DI workflows as well as high-quality scaling capabilities for all resolutions. With support for high frame rates (48p and 60p), 4K and stereoscopic workflows, onboard debayering support and two expandable card bays, Corvid Ultra provides maximum performance for the most critical applications. It works with host computers via its incredibly fast 8-lane PCIe 2.0 interface card, which tethers to the 2RU Corvid Ultra chassis via a 3-metre high-speed PCIe cable.

Corvid Ultra’s new TruScale arbitrary scaling engine option allows high-quality up or down scaling of any raster from tiny web video up to 4K. TruScale is real-time and keyframeable, allowing motion video to be efficiently resized while maintaining pristine image quality. It also enables many new and exciting workflows including real-time pan-and-scan of 4K to HD. Corvid Ultra can be expanded with up to two TruScale cards for multi-stream scaling of up to 4K images.

Eclipsing their customers

V E R S A T IL E

Multi-Viewer Up to 16 Inputs Multi-Viewer Full-featured, compact and versatile Multi-Viewer

JHB Tel: +27 (0)11 7709800 KZN Tel: +27 (0)31 5330900 Web: www.electrosonic.co.za

E-mail: sales@electrosonic.co.za

24 Hour Support Lines: AV: 0861 AVHELP (28 4357)

38 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Clear-Com unveiled the Eclipse HX Digital Matrix Systems and Eclipse HX (EHX) Configuration Software at IBC. This distinct set of powerful matrix intercoms offers faster performance, simplified operations and administration and higher system capacity.

Comprising the Eclipse HX-Omega, Eclipse HX-Median and Eclipse HX-PiCo, as well as the EHX software, the Eclipse HX systems are based on the original, powerful and comprehensive Eclipse digital matrix platform. All retain the legacy platform’s unique integration capabilities.

In addition, Clear-Com’s V-Series panels, frame cards and interfaces are compatible with the new Eclipse HX range, providing a seamless logical upgrade path for existing Eclipse customers. What sets Eclipse HX apart from the original Eclipse line are improvements in the software architecture, user interface and system capacity.

Says Peter Stallard, senior product manager, Eclipse, Clear-Com: “In broadcast facilities where matrix intercom systems and resources are often shared across multiple studios, having fast and highly intuitive systems is critical when scarce engineering resources are needed to execute system-wide changes reliably, in real-time and with minimal impact on system users. Also the Eclipse HX systems have the ability to make changes on the fly, which is especially important in OB vans and other live operations.”

| TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY

P

R

B r o a d c a s t

Next generation newsroom solutions

O

-

V i d e o ,

S

A

A u d i o

L &

E

S

L i g h t i n g

Supplying broadcast video, audio, lighting and everything in between for 25 years...

We want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you that have contributed to our growth this year.

We also want to thank every person and company that gave us the opportunity to contribute to your growth. It is always a two way street, that is built on relationship and trust.

Thank you all.

We wish you and your families and friends a very rich Christmas.

From all of us at Pro-Sales.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

At the recent IBC in Amsterdam Avid announced a broad range of newsroom offerings that have cost-effective solutions to help journalists write, edit and produce more and better stories from where they are happening.

Take Avid Interplay Sphere connectivity, NewsCutter or Media Composer software and your laptop, and you have operations that can be conducted for a fraction of the cost of the traditional remote news truck. Avid Interplay Sphere, the industry’s first cloud-enabled centre of distributed news production, is now available for shipment.

Key Interplay Sphere features include: easy, two-way access / connection which enables editors or journalists in the field to securely edit complete stories from any location, collaborate with distributed teams across complex workflows and easily deliver content to production facilities.

The system simplifies workflows — it automatically manages the transcode, upload and check-in to any connected Avid Interplay system and allows users to edit directly from any Interplay asset store; pre-defined output processes simplify editing and automatic check-in on the production asset system.

Intelligent media transfers are ensured. Interplay Sphere speeds the crucial transfer of local media from the field by providing the ability to upload media as a story is being edited, intelligently prioritise media transfer based upon working content and deliver proxy files ahead of full resolution files.

The newsroom is extended to any location; working with full featured NewsCutter and Media Composer editors and Interplay Production, Interplay Sphere enables the full spectrum of media creation, workflow management, collaboration and connectivity.

Said Dana Ruzicka, vice president of segment and product marketing at Avid: “Interplay Sphere opens a new frontier in universal connectivity for news, sports and video production, letting you craft better stories from where they’re actually happening with a full range of media access and collaborative capabilities.”

Avid also announced a comprehensive range of enhancements to its industry-leading news solutions, including iNEWS 4.0. Building on its industry-leading newsroom management, news creation and playback control capabilities, iNEWS 4.0 introduces greater scalability with capacity to handle 130% more stories, and enhanced Media Object Server (MOS) support for increased flexibility in news workflows.

Interplay Production 2.7 advances the ability of production groups to create content more collaboratively and automate workflows. It now supports Interplay Sphere, ISIS 2000, Avid DNxHD 85/100 and Media Composer 6.5 / NewsCutter 10.5. Interplay Production 2.7 also features greater workflow flexibility and capacity with support for multiple ISIS shared storage installations.

Media Composer/Symphony 6.5/NewsCutter 10.5 enables editors to create higher quality content, in faster turnaround times. The industry’s platinum-standard toolset for professional editing now features remote editorial workflows with Interplay Sphere and new file support for AS-02, J2K and Avid DNxHD 100.

www.pro-sales.co.za OFFICE. (0027) 11 462 0000 FACSIMILE (0027) 11 706 7140 EMAIL. INFO@PRO-SALES.CO.ZA ADDRESS. 1 ORMONDE STREET, BRYANSTON, 2023 Nov /SOUTH Dec 2012AFRICA, | SCREENAFRICA | 39

TRACKINGTECHNOLOGY |

Innovation in tapeless cameras

Ikegami’s GFCAM adopts industry standard MPEG-2 compression and MXF file format, allowing compatibility with a number of NLE manufacturers. It achieves superb picture quality with full resolution 1920x1080 / 4:2:2 HD images recorded to removable flash memory media, GFPAK. The GFCAM has been designed with special consideration for rain and dust resistance, so it can operate in harsh environmental conditions with outstanding resistance to shock, vibration, rain and sand, providing excellent reliability for stable ENG shooting.

It employs 2/3-inch image sensors (choice of native 1080i or native 720p CCDs) with high sensitivity for ENG applications.

In addition, it incorporates the same sophisticated digital process ASIC as Ikegami’s top-end HDK-79 series HDTV cameras, providing superior colour reproduction.

The camera’s USB 2.0 interface has many functions. Metadata such as record date, location, photographer name, programme name and/or camera number can be input, and Proxy Video (Option) can be exported to an external memory device. Moreover, all camera firmware can be updated from USB Memory.

Status indications and thumbnail images can be instantly viewed on the 3.5-inch LCD color monitor. You can simply select clips using thumbnail images and continuously playback according to a set play list. The camera includes simple editing of recorded clips, so you can immediately transfer the edited video.

Streaming intelligent workflows Leading provider of video transcoding solutions Telestream has announced key partnerships with five industry leaders to expand Vantage workflow automation and control to meet a broader set of customer needs in the file-based ecosystem. New partner capabilities include inverse telecine and standards conversion with Cinnafilm, quality control with Digimetrics, audio encoding and correction with Dolby, transport stream multiplexing with Manzanita and subtitling and captioning with Screen.

“Vantage was built from the ground up with flexibility in mind to enable users to consolidate multi-vendor solutions into unified, real-time, intelligent production workflows,” said Barbara DeHart, vice president of marketing at Telestream.

New partner solutions to be provided under Vantage workflow automation and control include Cinnafilm Tachyon Correct for stellar inverse telecine, including noise reduction, cadence and mixed mode normalisation – and Tachyon Convert for stellar standards conversion, including frame-rate resolution and mode conversion.

In addition Digimetrics Aurora provides file-based quality control for qualitative assessment of audio and video at any stage in the file-based workflow, including audio dropout and video quality.

Dolby DP600 programme Optimizer is the industry-standard device for audio encoding and correction of Dolby audio formats, including Dolby Digital and Dolby E Manzanita TransportStream Multiplexer products bring industry-leading transport stream multiplexing for IPTV, cable and VOD applications to Vantage.

Screen MediaMate delivers subtitles for accessibility workflows, including DVB, OP47, web captioning and multiple language content – and supports increasing demand for captioning of web-based content.

‘Testing’ the Games Over 30 PHABRIX SxE units were in use during the set up for the recent Olympic Games in London and supporting the ‘live’ event which all have agreed has been the most watched games ever.

The PHABRIX SxE units, each with a combined generator, analyser and monitor toolsets, were used to test the elaborate infrastructure throughout the Games venue.

They enabled broadcast engineers from around the world to be up and working in minutes. The unique ability of each unit to generate many test signals and in particular a pathological pattern which it can then analyse with its eye and jitter instruments, was significant to the product’s success at the games. In one simple unit each engineer has the focused toolset to diagnose broadcast equipment in any broadcast environment.

Each SxE can be carried easily in one hand leaving the other hand free to connect a range of signals from SD-SDI, HD-SDI and 3G-SDI to the instruments, without having to put it down. With an extremely low power consumption of just 9W, the SxE can be used untethered for nearly two hours driven by the internal lithium polymer battery. Support of both video and audio made the instrument an instant hit at the Games.

40 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Togo in migration

Report by Martin Chemhere

| AFRICA

The tiny French-speaking country of Togo in West Africa has now joined the race to migrate to DVB-T2.

T

ogo is vying to become the first Francophone African country to move to the digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission standard DVB-T2, an upgrade from the first generation DVB-T. For its technology vendor of choice, Togo chose US-based Harris Broadcast Communications.

“English speaking countries in Africa have been addressed by Harris for many years. Francophones countries were not so well covered in the past but are key in developing the company’s business on the continent,” says Olivier Femenias, regional sales manager, Harris Broadcast Communications.

Togo based African system integration company Generale d’Afrique is the prime contractor providing technical support for the project, while Harris provides the turnkey solution for the television system.

Say Femenias: “The project is well underway and is on schedule after the company was awarded the contract end of December 2011.”

Harris Apex

Increased capacity The migration will introduce a more than threefold increase in standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) television channel capacity, as well as significantly increase the transmission network’s resilience and strength.

Harris helped to define the requirements for the digital transition with Generale d’Afrique, and Togo’s Ministry of Communications. A key influence in the decision to select the technology supplier was its market-leading experience and technology base in the emerging DVB-T2 transmission standard.

Says Helios Rodriguez, director general at Generale d’Afrique: “We selected Harris because of their ability to meet all of our digital TV needs with a sophisticated integrated TV production system.”

Rodriguez adds that his company is pleased with the solution that Harris will supply, and that the adoption of the DVB-T2 standard gives Togo great facilities and future-proofs their network for many years to come.

Renewing infrastructure A complete renewal of the country’s broadcast television infrastructure would see extensive work covering designing, installing and commissioning an entire digital video chain to transmit throughout the country – using a national network of DVB-T2 transmitters and satellite services.

Project specifications comprise the supply by Harris of a complete solution, including three complete television stations with production studios, master control rooms, distribution and post-production centres. These are equipped with material indexing, cataloging and storage; mobile news gathering equipment; satellite uplink and receiving systems at each television site; content distribution systems at the studios (encoding) and each television site (decoding).

In addition there are nine television sites featuring new and refurbished towers, new antennas, electrical equipment, air handling equipment and Harris DVB-T2 transmitters.

Initial scheduling of the work has been segmented into three phases. Phase 1

Harris Selenio

includes the head-end and satellite uplink, which was provisionally scheduled to go on air at the end of October.

Phase 2 is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2013 and involves the deployment of equipment to the transmitter sites for the DVB-T2 network, including the delivery of Harris Maxiva transmitters in October.

Also to be delivered at the same time was the Harris Selenio compression system, in order to be able to ‘remux’ locally and eventually insert local television or radio programmes. Togo already has pylons and antennae.

Master control Phase 3 consists of work on the studio and master control room. This was initially planned in the existing buildings, but the Togo government has decided to build a complete new zone for television and radio.

Femenias points out that construction should start soon and is being conducted by an outside contractor. An on air launch date will depend on the completion of the building, hopefully in the third quarter of 2013.

Says Vincent Pernin, technical manager, Generale d’Afrique: “Harris plays a central role in this groundbreaking digital TV transition – not only in supplying the market’s most advanced digital production, distribution and transmission technology, but also in providing the human resources that are so important to the success of this pioneering project.”

In addition to equipment, Harris will provide a range of consultancy, design and training services to the customer. These include already completed site surveys of the studios and television stations, equipment installation supervision, test and commissioning; and training for all studio kit and production processes, transmission and receiving equipment (system operation and training), satellite uplinks and mobile news gathering systems.

Challenges in the initial phase included the tender specifications which were not well detailed. But with Generale d’Afrique’s knowledge of the African market, they have made some decisions which are driven by several factors.

“One of these factors is easy operation.

As an example, for the master control room, Harris ADC automation systems were proposed. This is the most popular automation, efficient, scalable and easy to use. Besides, it demands a shorter training curve,” notes Femenias.

He concludes that although the budget is tight, they work on cost effective solutions when possible, but without any compromise to the main elements, like Harris Maxiva Transmitters, which come with a high level of redundancy.

In Africa the proclaimed digital switchover date for all countries is December 2015.

While Mauritius is reportedly the first country to switch over to DVB-T2, others like South Africa have been in DVB-T2 trials for years.

Also making progress is Ghana, where transmission models Harris Maxiva would include DVB-T2; Advanced Video Coding (AVC)/MPEG-4 (part 10); High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (HE-AAC); Application Programming Interface (API); and MHEG-5 for additional and interactive services.

Kenya is said to have “missed deadlines” following wide publicity that it would commence digital transmission early this year.

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 41

AFRICA |

Report by Martin Chemhere

Nollywood film flies high Last Flight to Abuja, a film about aviation challenges in Nigeria, is enjoying huge success as it continues to release across Africa.

By the first week of October Last Flight to Abuja had been in Nigerian cinemas for nine weeks, making it the longest running and highest grossing local film of the year.

At the end of September it opened in Ghanaian cinemas. It is headed for eastern African countries Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania in November before releasing in South Africa in December and North America late December.

The film was directed by Obi Emelonye, who wrote and produced, while Charles Thompson co-produced.

Principal photography commenced in November 2011 in Lagos, although the film’s script was written in 2007. After wrapping in mid-December, postproduction commenced and ended only a few days before the world première in June 2012.

States Emelonye: “We shot for three weeks in Lagos, two of which were at Lagos Airport. We also shot for a few days in Abuja. It was not a very long shoot but our limited budget forced us to be tactical.”

Last Flight to Abuja stars Hakeem Kae Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Pirates of the Caribbean, X-Men, 24), one of Hollywood’s most recognisable black actors. He stars alongside Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, dubbed ‘the Queen of Nollywood’.

REEL STARS – Hakeem Kae Kazim

The cast includes Jim Iyke, AMAA award winning actor Ali Nuhu, Uru Eke, Anthony Monjaro and Celine Loader.

Emelonye explains that the biggest challenge for every filmmaker is finding the money to make their film.

“But after finding the money, then the ‘wahala’ (trouble) of shooting an entire film at a busy Nigerian airport set in. We had to find a plane and ground it for two weeks. Over a hundred cast and crew members had to be cleared through airport security to be next to the tarmac and runway.”

Last Flight to Abuja has been well received critically and commercially and profiled by CNN and the BBC. “This was an expensive film as far as Nollywood is concerned. But when you

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde compare what we achieved compared to similar films from the rest of the world, you would say the money we spent is peanuts,” says Emelonye, declining to comment on the film’s investors.

Last Flight to Abuja is based on a series of fatal air crashes that occurred in Nigeria in 2006. “It is very different from my last feature The Mirror Boy,” says Emelonye. “One common thread is what I call ‘creative brinkmanship’ – an artistic approach that focuses on universal themes that are contemporary, topical and slightly provocative.

“Last Flight to Abuja deals with the thorny issue of aviation safety in Nigeria while The Mirror Boy deals with the issue of identity in children born in the diaspora with a coming of age theme.”

US swamped by ‘afrotainment’ The market for pan-African television content has increased dramatically in recent years, as millions of Africans are now resident in the US. More than 2.7 million African immigrants are in the US today (according to the 2010 US census), prompting a higher demand for new television content from Africa.

Among leading players in the niche business of bringing African content to the pan-African market in the US is the 42 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

Colorado based DISH Network, a satellite television operator that enjoys a large market share.

Just two years ago the satellite company had only one African Francophone channel, 3ATelesud, which aired for seven years. But the numbers of sub-Saharan African people especially from West Africa (mainly Nigeria) and East Africa (mostly Kenya) in the US, have inspired moves to tap a lucrative but hitherto untouched market.

In the past two years, DISH has introduced four new channels – Afrotainment, Afrotainment Music, Africa24 and TV9ja.

Afrotainment is dedicated exclusively to broadcasting high-quality programming in both English and French. It offers award-winning

television series from the best African producers, directors and actors.

Dedicated to African Music, Afrotainment Music is the only 24/7 channel in North America that broadcasts hundreds of African music videos of all genres and from all African countries, as well as live performances.

Africa24 is the first French-language international news channel from Africa that broadcasts continuous news bulletins and covers the latest economic, political and cultural issues from an African perspective.

TV9ja is a premier Nigerian entertainment channel that features the best Nollywood movies, music videos, TV series, reality shows and soccer, as well as viewer-created content.

All four channels air 24 hours.

Emelonye stresses that he only takes credit for the vision of the project and says its realisation is due to his ‘hard working collaborators’ – the crew and cast.

“Then God chipped in to perfect our imperfections,” he says.

In a tragic turn of events, just before the film’s release in early June, a plane crashed into a Lagos suburb on 3 June, killing 153 people.

“I feel I have a social responsibility to run a commentary on my society and this tragic event has given this film added significance, whether I like it or not,” states Emelonye.

He is happy that on an entertainment level, people have enjoyed the film and vindicated his choice of such ‘risky’ subject matter.

A family-run business founded in 1980, DISH’s pan-African content endeavors to appeal to the entire sub-Saharan immigrant population, according to corporate communications executive Danielle Johnson.

“Our pan-African programming package caters for the sub-Saharan African diaspora; in other words, people who moved from Africa to the US from the early 1970s to date,” notes Johnson.

She explains that DISH’s pan-African programming package launched in May 2010 to broaden the pan-African bouquet in an effort to meet the demand of growing African communities in the US. Johnson notes that this market has experienced steady growth since then.

Nigerian Idol, Tinsel (Nigeria) and The Patricia Show (Kenya) are just a few of the most popular African programmes on the bouquet.

August 2012 | RATINGS & STATS This monthly feature selects prominent local productions and ranks them in terms of audience ratings (ARs). Selected foreign programmes are shown only for comparison.

ARs are weighted over the period of transmission and the number of transmissions during the calendar month. Data is supplied by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and processed by Interactive Market Systems (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd.

Audience Ratings

M-Net Rank Programme 1 Captain America: The First Avenger 2 Carte Blanche 3 Cowboys & Aliens 4 A Gifted Man 5 Desperate Housewives e.tv Rank Programme 1 Rhythm City 2 Panic Mechanic 3 News 4 There’s A Zulu On My Stoep 5 Babylon A.D.

Date

Genre

AR

11/08/2012 Sport 28/08/2012 Dram 12/08/2012 Sitc 10/08/2012 Dram 17/08/2012 Dram

11.3 11.2 10.4 10.3 9.5

Date Genre 31/08/2012 Soap 14/08/2012 Soap 04/08/2012 Sport 27/08/2012 Dram 23/08/2012 Soap

Date 19/08/2012 19/08/2012 12/08/2012 13/08/2012 02/08/2012

Genre Movi Actu Movi Dram Dram

Date Genre 06/08/2012 Dram 23/08/2012 Movi 27/08/2012 News 16/08/2012 Movi 12/08/2012 Movi

AR 6.8 5.7 4.5 4.4 4.2

AR 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6

AR 12.3 10.6 10.5 10.0 9.7

We feature the top five shows viewed for each of the channels.

Frequency

Channel

Aug 2012 AR

July 2012 AR

2.6

2.7

W

e

5.4

3.7

S5

2

7.3

7.1

16:30

M-F

3rd Degree

Actu

21:30

Tue

7de Laan

Soap

18:30

M-F

Binnelanders

Dram 18:30 M-F S5 K

Carte Blanche

Maga 19:00

Sun

W M

0.7

0.7

Fokus

Actu

Sun

W

5.3

4.2

Generations

Soap 20:00 M-F S5 1 21.2 21.9

Gospel Gold

Musi

Inkaba

Dram 20:30 M-T S4 MM 0.3 0.3

Isidingo: The Need

Soap

19:30

M-F

S5

3

4.9

5.7

Jam Alley

Vari

18:30

Fri

W

1

5.6

5.6

Live Lotto Draw

Quiz

21.30

W/S S2

2

4.9

5.3

Morning Live

Maga 06:00

M-F

2

1.5

1.4

Muvhango

Dram 21:00 M-T S4 2

8.0 10.2

News at Seven

News 19:00

Daily D

e

7.3

7.4

News at Seven on 3

News 19:00

Daily D

3

2.8

2.9

Pasella

Maga 19:30 W W 2 4.4 3.8

Rhythm City

Soap

Scandal

Dram 19:30 M-T S4 e

8.1 8.5

Selimathunzi

Vari 18:30 Wed W 1

4.6 4.5

Special Assignment

Actu

21:30

Thu

The Wild

Dram 19:00

Top Billing

Maga 20:00

Villa Rosa

Dram 18:00

Yo-TV

Y-Ent Vari Vari D e 1.7 1.6

18:30 Vari

18:30

Sun

M-F

W

S5

S5

2 2

e

0.9 0.8

5.5

5.0

10.3 11.2

W

3

1.1

1.1

M-T

S4

M

8.1

0.1

Tue

W

2

2.5

2.9

M-T

S4

K

0.9

0.7

Top foreign shows Days of Our Lives

Soap

17:30

M-F

S5

1

4.6

5.1

WWE Wrestling Smackdown

Spor

20:30

W

W

e

5.5

5.6

The Bold and the Beautiful

Soap

18:00

M-F

S5

1

6.3

7.1

• Television Universe estimated at 5.232 million households. • One ratings point of all viewers represents about 145 590 viewers

The Collective Dream laboratory in Cape Town and the FILM LAB @ Media Film Service have chosen not to release statistics at this stage. No features have been processed by the Johannesburg Lab, and only one commercial together with five short documentary type productions have gone through the bath. Bulk printing reveals that 26 features were printed.

There were also 50 commercial bulk prints and 955 trailers printed for cinema.

Media Move reports that they did 917 transfers of commercials in September which is down on the previous month, and Adstreams report 1 160 which is up again on the previous month.

We would like to thank the Johannesburg Laboratory, Media Move and Adstream for the information they have supplied to us.

We make no attempt to identify the title of the production, or the production house or any other information as this is often confidential

3

Talk

Key: Day/s refers to the day or days of the week the programme is transmitted. Frequency refers to how often it is transmitted D=Daily, W=Weekly, S (followed by a number) indicates a series of that number of episodes.

Key to genres: Actu: Actuality, Docu: Documentary, Dram: Drama, Educ: Education, Maga: Magazine, Musi: Music, News: News, Quiz: Game Show, Real: Real life, Reli: Religion, Sitc: Sitcom, Soap: Soap, Spor: Sport, Vari: Variety, Y.Ent: Youth Entertainment,

Film Lab Stats

S5

3 Talk

Name

AR 23.4 16.8 16.0 15.7 15.5

Day/s

SABC3 Rank Programme 1 Isidingo: The Need 2 Days Of Our Lives 3 London 2012 Olympics:

Men’s Trampoline 4 Macgyver 5 7de Laan – R

Date Genre 21/08/2012 Soap 15/08/2012 Dram 22/08/2012 Sport 22/08/2012 Sport 31/08/2012 Dram

Start Time

SABC2 Rank Programme 1 London 2012 Olympics:

Caster Semenya’s Race 2 Muvhango 3 Moferefere Lenyalong 4 Bophele Ke Semphego 5 Mokgonyana Mmatswale

The cream of the local productions Genre

The top five programmes

SABC1 Rank Programme 1 Generations 2 Zone 14 3 Soccer Build-up 4 Absa Premiership Chiefs vs Sundowns 5 Tshisa

The above represents a selection of programmes only, and is calculated on the total calendar month’s weighted average of the total audience over all age groups. If you want a particular programme included please contact Enid Venter on +27 (0)11 339-1051 or email enid@ihjoburg.co.za. The purpose of the schedule is to show the types of programmes South African audiences view, and to what extent.

Statistics for September 2012 Through the labs: Johannesburg Features 0

Shorts Commercials 0 1

Doccies 16mm 35mm 5 5 1

Commercials submitted to broadcasters via: Media Move: 917

Adstream: 1 160

information – we supply simply the numbers.

We rely on the co-operation of broadcasters, suppliers of commercial material to broadcasters and local film laboratories for information however at the moment local broadcasters are not forthcoming in providing these vital statistics.

Efforts will continue to be made to build on this statistical data base in order to improve the accuracy, and should readers have comments or other ideas in terms of statistics gathering, please send an e-mail to andy@screenafrica.com. Your comments would be appreciated.

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 43

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com

Those productions in red are newly listed this month E

Production Updates Order of Information

F F IC IE N T

Aspen

1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre

16x16, 32x32, 72x72 3G HD−SDI Effective routing over long distances in a compact design

IN DEVELOPMENT 80 MINUTES Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Drama

JHB Tel: +27 (0)11 7709800 KZN Tel: +27 (0)31 5330900 Web: www.electrosonic.co.za E-mail: sales@electrosonic.co.za 24 Hour Support Lines: AV: 0861 AVHELP (28 4357)

AFRICAN NIGHTS Two Oceans production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker A LION IN THE BEDROOM Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature AMABHUBESI Inkwasi Television Prod: Bell Curle TV Magazine AMKA CORPORATE Panache Video Productions Exec Prod: Haroon Kalla Corporate

general post the finest freelance post-production & creative crew editors * researchers * animators * visual effects artists storyboard artists * directors * sound engineers * writers post-production producers & supervisors

ALSO offering flexible, cost-effective post-production solutions for the commercials industry tel: 0860 111 553 fax: +27 11 706 7949 bookings@generalpost.co.za www.generalpost.co.za after hours emergency number: 076 225 9173

At The Creek Without A Paddle Zen Crew Exec prod: Laura Tarling Documentary BAD MEDICINE Tin Rage TV Production Dir: Enver Samuel Documentary Bagged Izithulu Productions Exec Prod: Donovan Mulligan / Mike Westcott Short Film

Ex Pats Current Affrairs Films / French Connection Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Drama series FOR THE NEW CITY – DANCE ON FILM SWiTCH / Resonance Bazar Prods: James Tayler / Julia Raynham Film FORSAKEN DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature

DAISY Bamboo Media (PTY) LTD Dir: Marguelette Louw Feature Film do good design south africa Concept Interaction Producer: Karl Fedderke Educational

SEBOKENG MPA (Motswako) Dir: Charls Khuele / Zuko Nodada Feature

GRIZMEK Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

SWANK! International Radio Pictures Prod: D Gillard Musical

HISTORICAL KIMBERLEY Spike Productions Prod: Steve Mueller Bsc. Documentary

The Black Blonde Steve Radebe Post Productions Prod:Steve Radebe Feature Film

HOTEL SONGOLOLO The Media Workshop Dir: Benito Carelsen Comedy Series

tHE blood kIng and the red dragon Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Mtutuzeli Matshoba Feature

IIQ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature

JAN SMUTS: AN INTERNATIONAL ICON AHEAD OF HIS TIME Tekweni TV production Prod / Dir: Sandra Herrington / Neville Herrington Documentary

CONSERVATION & BEYOND SuitePeople TVP Prod: Bell Curle Documentary

ROAD ACCIDENT FUND INDUCTION Panache Video Productions Dir: Liesel Eiselen Corporate

SUPERMAMA GoogelPlex Productions Dir: Karen van Schalkwyk Feature

BREAD AND WATER Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Documentary

COILED DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature

RAF INDUCTION VIDEO Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate

GOUE STERRE Suite People TVP Prod: Bell Curle TV Series

Inventing Africa Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving Documentary

CHILLI CHICKS International Radio Pictures, Inc Kit Reynolds TV series

PASSARES (BIRDISH) White Heron Pictures / Casa De Criacao Cinema Prod: Themba Sibeko Feature

SHORT BUSINESS FEATURE WITH BBC / ABC Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Short Business Features

BODA BODA THIEVES Yes That’s Us Prod: James Tayler Feature

CHILDREN OF FAMOUS ACTIVISTS Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Film

Palace of the Faithless Production Company: White Heron Pictures Dir: Themba Sibeko Feature

Genius Inhlakanipo Films Dir: Dumisani Vusi Nhlapo Short Film

IK1 – TOURISTS IN DANGER Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

44 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

ESCAPE Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Beata Lipman Feature Film

BLAST FROM THE PAST Sirius Films Prod: Ian Manly Documentary

BREAKDOWN Bollysamo Pictures / Apeiro Productions Prod Man: Carolyn Gregorowski Feature

Unit C5 RobeRtville Mini FaCtoRies 255 nadine stReet RobeRtville RoodepooRt 1709

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION Gaonakgang Film Productions and Publications Writ: George Phuthiyagae Documentary

KADU’S JOURNEY DO Productions Prods: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature DYINGCRACY Sabstance Productions Producer: Edmund Mhlongo Documentary

THE CONSEQUENCE DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature THE EDGE International Radio Pictures Kit Reynolds TV Series THE FILM MAKER Elle Bolt Productions Prod: Elle Bolt Reality Series The Scores Are In Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Game Show / Entertainment Series VULTURE KILLING FIELDS SuitePeople TVP Bell Curle Documentary WAY TO ROLL Blue Ice Productions Dir: Freddie Strauss Feature

LION GIRL DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën TV Feature

WARD 22 AKA SPECIAL OPS DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Documentary

Lonely Planet Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

Welcome To The Club Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

MHLONGO Inhlakanipho Films Dir / Writer – Dumisani Vusi Nnhlapo Feature

ZERO DIET Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

MUTI DOT MOBI Vuleka Productions.

Prod / Dir: Julie Frederikse / Madoda Ncayiyana .

Feature Film

ZEBRAS DO Productions Dir: Bruce Beresford Feature

NEW BEGINNINGZ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhanhla Ncube Documentary Nongoloza Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature

ZEN FILM CREW MANAGEMENT ZEN Film Crew Management Prod / Dir: Laura Tarling Commercial

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S PRE-PRODUCTION Chabela Day Spa Grey Cloud Production Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video Die Verhaal van Racheltjie de Beer Brett Michael Innes Films Producer: Brett Michael Innes Historical feature film Elegy: forsaken in South Africa Market Street Productions Prod: Paul Van Zyl Short film Holidays for Madmen Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving TV Series IMATU UNION VIDEO FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video JUB JUB DOCUMENTARY (working title) Baxopath Media Nolitha Tshinavha Documentary LET HEAVEN WAIT Revolution real entertainment Prod/Dir: Deon Potgieter Sitcom Mandela Synergy Films Drama / Documentary MISTIFY Gleam studios/ Wilddogs productions Prod/Dir: Sonja Ter Horst / Johnny Swanepoel Independent short film NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SOUTH AFRICA Panache Video Productions Prod/Dir: Liesel Eiselen Genre: Corporate.

PSALTED Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Variety RATE MY PLATE International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project Si-solutions International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project

VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films PM: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video VROU SOEK BOER West Five Films Pro / Dir: Maynard Kraak Feature Film WAY TO FREEDOM Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker Feature Film

IN PRODUCTION 3 Talk Urban Brew Talk Show 3RD DEGREE e.tv Investigative TV series 50 50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs A 400 year old bestseller – The King James Version of the Bible Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE 5 Endemol South Africa Reality ANGLO GOLD ASHANTI SAFETY SERIES SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Sean Gardiner Corporate ABC AMERICA NEWS SPECIAL ON MANDELA Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature News Special

BBC PLANET EARTH LIVE Wild Images Dir: James Smith, Tim Scoones, Roger Webb Documentary

Bopsy Bunny Firefly Animation Prod: Ant Steel Animation Short

The Communist Republic of South Africa Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary Codesign – commercial spot for furniture designers SWiTCH Dir – James Tayler Commercial Cool Cats Red Pepper Exec Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show

AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs

Come Dine with Me South Africa Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality Cutting Edge SABC News Current Affairs

SAFE IN THE CITY Imani Media.

Comedy

AFRO SHOWBIZ NEWS SABC News International Exec Prod: Jody-Layne Surtie TVMagazine

DADDY’S MESS Dzunde Productions Prod: Thandiwe Mashiyane TV Sitcom

SHAKESPEARE IN MZANSI: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Fireworx Media Prod: Bridget Pickering Mini Series

AFROX AFRICA INSIGHT EPS 4 FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

DIE VIERDE KABINET Jan Scholtz Productions Prod: Jan Scholtz Series

SLENDER WONDER INFORMATION VIDEO Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video

AFROX YEAREND RESULT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

TALK OF THE TOWN SuitePeople TV Productions Bell Curle TV Series The Black Out Dithakeng Projects and Flms Exec Prods: Thabang Nkunyane Short Film THE LOST ANGEL Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Dumisani Nhlapo Feature Film TO CARE FOR YOU ALWAYS Noble Pictures Prod: Claudia Noble Short Film TRUE DREAM South African Great Movies Production Dir: John Wani Feature THE MESSENGER Spirit Word Ministries/Footprint Media Academy Exec Prod: Annalise Van Rensburg Series THICK SKIN Media Navigation Prod / Dir: Dan Akinlolu Feature Film

Alex: A history from below Uhuru Productions Dir: Rehad Desai Documentary ALL ACCESS Homebrew Films Prods: Paul Venter/ Hannes van Wyk / Tammy Anne Fortuin Magazine Show AMBUSH ALLEY NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary ANIMAL COMMUNICATION NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Awesome Africa Steplite Films Dir: Jacqui Logie Tv Series barbour and thorne: 60 years strong Our Time Productions Dir: Juan de Meilon Corporate Video

For Dramas/Newsroom

Carte Blanche (inserts) Modern Times Prods: S Phirippides / J Pienaar Documentary

CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films PM: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

Agape Gabaza Productions Prod: Sarah Ngubeni Magazine

2

BOPSY BUNNY Firefly Animation Studio Exec Prod: Antony Steel Short Films

Child Geniuses Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Prod: Paul Llewellyn Documentary Series

DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Exec Prod: Anne Myers Cookery Series DIY Met Riaan Prods: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EXPRESSO 2 Cordover Trading Prod :Paul van Deventer Lifestyle EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Magazine Programme FORMIDABELE VROUE: LEONORA VAN DEN HEEVER Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott , Wynand Dreyer Documentary FORMIDABELE VROUE: Petronella van Heerden Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott , Wynand Dreyer Documentary Freeway Frog Firefly Animation Prod: Ant Steel Animation Short FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Palesa Mopeli Variety

STUDIO 7

140m SOUNDSTAGE

Bonisanani Kagiso TV Talk Show

AFRICA FACTS SEASON 3 Lebapi Productions Dir: Daniel Moleabatsi TV Magazine

AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music Show

AVAIL ABLE

BINNELAND Stark Films Dir: Danie Joubert TV Drama

STUDIO 4

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For TVCs/Events/Screenings

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Phone +2711 482 7111

GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Exec Prod: Mfundi Vundla Soapie GNLD AFRICA CONVENTION FC Hamman Films Prod: FC Hamman Corporate Video Gospel GOLD Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Music Show GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife HEADLINE 5 Bitch Films TV magazine HEAVEN – Africa Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Hectic 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine Show THE DR. MOL SHOW Prods: Michael Mol Magazine HOUSE CALL Izwe Multimedia / Urban Brew Series Prod: Annalie Potgieter Live Medical Talk Show Imizwilili Ukhamba Communications Music Inkaba Urban Brew Studios Prod: John Kani Telenovela INSIDE STORY Curious Pictures / Discovery Channel Dir: Rolie Nikiwe Feature ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Dirs: Raymond Sargent / Johnny Barbazano Daily TV Drama IT’S MY BIZ Urban Brew Studios Reality business makeover series

www.atlasstudios.co.za

JACK UP YOUR SHACK Let It Rain Films Reality home make over JOU SHOW MET MO en Wickus Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Variety Show Judge For You Self eNews Current Affairs Laugh out Loud Exec Prod: Rapulana Seiphemo Comedy Khumbul’ekhaya Urban Brew Prod: Enel Viljoen Reality KWELA Pieter Cilliers Productions Prod/Dir: Pieter Cilliers TV Magazine LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Satire Live Urban Brew Music Show Live Lotto Show Urban Brew Game Show Maggs on Media eNews Prod: Jeremy Maggs Current Affairs MASSMART CSI REPORT SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Roxanne Rolando/Sean Gardiner Corporate MATRICS UPLOADED Educational Improvement and Study Help Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational MGONGO BY SONY Sony Prod / Dir: James Lennox Lifestyle & Entertainment Million Dollar Race Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 45

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Official Worldwide Olympic Partner

MK Campus Homebrew Films Prods: Jaco Loubser / Ben Heyns Student Show

ROCKING FUTURE Summertime Productions Prods: Sean Gardiner / Tanya Vandenberg Educational Video

TASOL “Old Geezer” Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Commercial

MOFEREFERE LENYALONG Moja Movie Factory Sitcom

ROER Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Cooking Show

The B-Ball Show SABC Commissioning Ed: Dinah Mahlabegoane Variety

Roots Ukhamba Communications Music Show

The Chat Room Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show

Montana 2 Penguin Films Exec Prods: Roberta Durrant Drama Series MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Vesko Mrdjen Talk Show

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MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane TV Magazine Music Moves Me Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Music Show

d mite Unli cialists e

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howard music SACA ADVERT_bold.pdf

MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature

11:18 AM

News Night eNews Prods: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs NIGCOMSAT – TELEVISION COMMERCIAL SERIES SWiTCH Prod: Sarah Wanjiku Muhoho Commercial Nomzamo Tom Pictures / Authentic Images Comedy ONDER DRAAI DIE DUIWEL ROND Sonneblom Films Writer: Chris Barnard TV drama series

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

SERVICES INCLUDE FINAL MIX SOUND DESIGN COMPOSING & ARRANGING M U S I CA L D I R E CT I O N FO R C O R P O R AT E E V E N T S ADDRESS M i n i st r y O f I l l u s i o n B lo c k D S to n ewe d g e O f f i ce Pa r k N o 1 We d g ewo o d L i n k R d B r ya n sto n , J h b , 2 0 2 1

C O N TACT w w w. h ow a rd m u s i c . co . z a +27 (0)72 994 9695 +27 (0)11 463 8538 a d a m @ h ow a rd m u s i c . co . z a

ONS MENSE Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Current Affairs OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Corporate Film PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Insert Dirs: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer TV Magazine Programme PEACE PARKS NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson/ Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series Phoenix Rising...

The Business of Style Phoenix Entertainment and Production Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Reality Docu-tainment POPCRU 7TH CONGRESS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Event POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport – Martial Arts & Combat Project MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Video Religion and the ANC Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary ROLLING WITH KELLY KHUMALO Red Pepper Prod: Cecil Barry Reality Series RHYTHM CITY Curious Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie RHYTHM CITY INTERACTIVE Curious Pictures / e.tv Prod: Viva Liles-Wilkin Interactive Platform Media Rivoningo Asi-B Films Exec Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Kids

46 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER Dirk Mostert Camera Production Dir: Dirk Mostert Talk Show SANPARKS YOUTH & PARKS Francois Odendaal Productions Prod/Dir: Francois Odendaal Genre: Natural History TV Series SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod/Dir: Kee –Leen Irvine Reality SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Series Prod: Romano Gorlei Daily TV Soap SCHOEMAN BOERDERY – MOOSRIVIER Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott , Wynand Dreyer Documentary SELIMATUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira variety series Ses’khona Tswelopele Productions Prod: Phuthi Ngwenya Magazine SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety Shift Urban Brew Talk show SHORELINE 2 Homebrew films Documentary series S.I.E.S (SOCIAL IMPACT AND EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY) Penguin Films Dirs: Roberta Durrant and James Ngcobo Sitcom

The Cypher Spoon Fed Generation Lerato Letebele Talk show The Justice Factor eNews Exec Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs THE REAL GOBOZA 7 Urban Brew Entertainment THE RUDIMENTALS Periphery Films Prod: Simon Taylor Feature Documentary THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary The Tech Report Greenwall Productions Exec Prod: Nicky Greenwall Magazine THE WILD Magic Factory Exec Prod: Bobby Heaney Daily TV Soap TRANSFORMATION STORIES Media Village Productions Dir: Diane Vermooten Documentary THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary THERE ARE NO HEROES AFDA Cape Town Dir: Kyle Stevenson Science Fiction TOP BILLING Tswelopele Productions Prod: Patience Stevens TV Magazine Top 10 at 10 Don’t Look Down Radio/TV Simulcast

SKWIZAS 2 Lillian Dube Productions Prod: Lillian Dube Sitcom

TOUCHING THE DRAGON NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary

SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Vuyo Sokupa Variety

Turn It Out 2 Fuel Media Productions Dir: Ben Brewster Dance Reality show

Siyakholwa – We Believe X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment

VKB BRANDING LAUNCH FC Hamman Films Prod: FC Hamman Corporate Video

SKETCH U LATER Chris Morris Productions Dir: Genna Lewis Comedy series

VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dirs: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit TV Drama

Soccer 411 Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Magazine

WEEKEND LIVE SABC News Current Affairs

Soccer zone SABCSports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine Sony Presents Mgongo Sony Variety Spirit Sundae New Wave Productions Prod: Mishkah Roman-Cassiem Spiritual STRANDED NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary STUDIO 53 M-Net Inhouse Productions Insert Dir: Navan Chetty Mag Programme STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational

When The World Was Here Fuel Media Productions Dir: Mzilikazi Kumalo Documentary Series Why are We so Angry?

Fuel Media Productions Dir: Scott Smith, Shaft Moropane Documentary Series Why Poverty?

STEPS International Exec Prod: Don Edkins Documentary Series Wicket to Wicket SABC3 Lefa Afrika Magazine Workers World Series Cape Town Television Prod: Sharon McKinnon TV Series

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S WORLDSOUTH Leago Afrikan Arts Foundation Dir: Sakhile Gumbi Documentary Xihlovo Grace Bible Church Religion Yilengelo Lakho Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs Zone 14 The Bomb Shelter Prod: Angus Gibson Drama

POST-PRODUCTION 4LIFE NETWORK Bragge Film& TV Dir: Guy Bragge Infomercials A BUSHMAN ODYSSEY Onetime Films Prod: Richard Wicksteed Documentary AFRICA CALLING Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX SHEQ INDUCTION FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercial ALL’S FAIR PianoJ Productions Prod: Pia van Rensburg Short Film AMBASSADOR II Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Animal Doctor (Working Title) Animal Doctor cc.

Prods: Greg Simpson, Jonty Acton TV Series Bally Cullen Guesthouse Ad Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Bitter Root Imageworks Dir: Kerry Negara Documentary BLITZ PATROLLIE Diprente Films Prod: Kagiso Lediga Feature BUA NNETE Owami Entertainment Dir: Charles Khuele Short Film Calafornia: Valley Christian School Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary DEAR SISTER Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Short Film DRAGON’S FEAST 3D NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary ERFSONDES Imani Media Dir: Peter Heaney TV Drama Freedom Park installations Kevin Harris Productions Dir: Nadiva Schraibman Documentary FROM GUN TO TAPE Content House/Shadow Films Producer / Director: Jackie Lebo/David Forbes Documentary GETROUD MET RUGBY SEASON 4 Bottom Line Productions Dir: Jozua Malherbe Series

HARTLAND Bottomline Entertainment / Fix Post Production Michael Modena TV Drama

SCAREDYKAT Dirty Soul Productions Dir: Kyle Lewis Horror Feature Film

HOME OF THE LEGENDS L. Dukashe Productions Pro / Dir: Lumko Dukashe / Lulu Dukashe Documentary

SCHOOL E-WASTE INITIATIVE/ DESCO/ INCREDIBLE CONNECTION Philip Schedler Productions Prod: Philip Schedler Corporate

Hong Kong Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary

SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

INTEL HISTORY Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Corporate

South african Field Band Foundation Championships Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Documentary

IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature Israel Inside (Working Title) Imagination Productions / Wayne Kopping Films Dir: Wayne Kopping Documentary JAM SANDWICH Meerkat Media Director – MQ Ngubane Music Reality TV series Kemang? lmol Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature Film KLEIN KAROO Kaapland Films Dir: Regard van den Berg Feature Film JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions,Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary Launch of the Academy of Young SA Scientists Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Documentary LIFE UNDER THE FLAG Lifeundertheflag.Com Prod: Prince Angelo Doyle Documentary LION’S TRACK Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature LOVE ABOVE ALL Firstfruits media Dir: Nthabiseng Gamede Feature Film MARRY – ANN Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary MASTERS OF DREAMS Current Affairs Hambrook Prod / Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman Series Melodi Jazz Festival 2011 L. Dukashe Productions Dir: Lumko Dukashe Live Concert DvD MICROSOFT 365 Bragge film & TV Dir-Guy Bragge Corporate National Heritage Council Educational Outreach Programme Panache Video Productions Exec Prod: Amos Mlaudzi Corporate PERFECT SHISHEBO Curious Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena AFP – Cooking Show PURPLE TOWN Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary RESTYLE MY STYLE Curious Pictures Prod: Anita van Hemert Children’s Programming River of Stones Prod: Wiseman Mabusela Documentary SA JUNIOR MASTERS Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Series on SuperSport

STETSON HATS Fourth Dimension Films / Creative Photo Services Dir: Neil Hermann Corporate Stolen Time Prod: Eric Myeni Feature Tanzanian Investment Opportunities Benchmark Productions Dir: Dermod Judge Corporate TASTE OF RAIN Luna Films / On Land Productions Prods: Bridget Pickering / Richard Pakleppa Feature Technology Innovation Agency CEO Address Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Technorati Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Dir: Maxine Nel Technology Magazine Show The Animal Communicator NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary THOSE WHO CAN’T Quizzical Pictures SABC Comedy Series TO THE POWER OF ANNE FX Productions Prod / Dir: Robert Haynes TV Series TOUCHING LIVES SEASON 2 GHANA Launch Factory Dir: Spero Patricios TV Series TREASURE GUARDS Tandem Communications Exec Prod: Jonas Bauer / Rola Bauer Feature Triple O Monarchy Prod: Mosibudi Pheeha Feature TRUE DREAM ( Revised Version) South African Great Movies Production Dir: John Wani Feature Film Vallejo Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Corporate Vehicle 19 Forefront Media Group / Pictue Tree / The Safran Company Exec Prod: Paul Walker Feature VERITAS Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Documentary VIENNA BOYS’ CHOIR MUSIC STUDY TOUR SummerTime Productions Prod/Dir: Tanya Vandenberg Corporate WALKING IN VICTOR’S SHOES Current Affairs Films SA Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Documentary WELLBODI BIZNES Plexus Films / Four Corners Media Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Documentary

Events | OCTOBER 31 – 1 Nov

Tech4africa 2012

Johannesburg www.tech4africa.com

24 – 2 Nov

South African Horrorfest Film Festival 2012

Cape Town www.horrorfest.info

31 – 2 Nov

Discop Africa

Johannesburg www.discop.com

24 – 3 Nov

7th Kenya International Film Festival 2012

Nairobi www.kifftrust.org

NOVEMBER 27 – 28

My Content

Dubai www.mycontent.ae

29 – 2 Dec

London Feminist Film Festival

London www.londonfeministfilmfestival.com

27 – 6 Dec

Cairo International Film Festival

Egypt www.cairofilmfest.org

23 – 14 Dec

International Images Film Festival for Women 2012

Harare; Bulawayo; Gwanda; Binga http://africanwomenincinema.blogspot.com 29 – 17 Dec

Wavescape Surf Film Festival

Cape Town www.wavescapefilmfestival.co.za

DECEMBER 2 – 10 (TBC) Sound on Screen Music Film Festival

Cape Town www.flamedrop.com

WOLWEDANS IN DIE SKEMER The Film Factory Dir: Jozua Malherbe Movie ZION Letcosmart Prod: Zibusiso Nkomo Feature

COMPLETE Angels Of The Sky CDS-Films Exec Prods: Chris Dos Santos, Andrew MacDonald Feature Film CHINESE SCHOOL, PRETORIA Video clip productions/Panache video productions.

Prod/ dir Rudi Kruger/Liesel Eiselen.

Corporate.

Club Culture Bonngoe Productions Prod: Tumi Rabanye Variety Cooking With Siba Prod: Siba Mtongana Variety DINEO’S DIARY: A MOGUL IN THE MAKING New Vision Pictures and S2 Multimedia Exec prod: Dineo Ranaka Reality FIRESTONE Street Smart Creative DOP: Peter Palmer Commercial JAM ALLEY CREW VS CREW SEASON 2 Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Melody Xaba Music Reality Competition I Am Woman – Leap of Faith Plexus Films and Lisa Chait Prod: L Groenewald, M Redelinghuys, L Chait Television Series Lepelle Northern Water SummerTime Productions Prod: Sean Gardiner Corporate

Lepelle Water Safety Induction SummerTime Productions Exec prod: Elaine Tribe Corporate MENTALIST MARTIAL ARTS Panache Video Productions Dir: Ryan Blumenthal Training MZANSI LOVE Fireworx Media Dirs: Myrto Makrides, Mmabatho Montsho, Neo Ntlantleng, Zamo Mkhwanazi Anthology series ONE LAST LOOK Fireworx Media Pruducer: Dan Jawitz / Philip Roberts Feature OTELO BURNING Cinga Productions Prod/Dir: Sara Blecher Drama SAVING RHINO PHILA NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary SHAKESPEARE IN MZANSI: FORCED LOVE Dirs: Itumeleng Wa Lehulera and Annalet Steenkamp.

Penguin Films Drama mini-series Shoprite Showcase SummerTime Productions Exec prod: Janine Truter Corporate SHORELINE REVISITED Homebrew films Documentary series SING YOUR SONG Dir: Susanne Rostock Documentary SUZUKI “ Braveheart” Bragge film & tv Dir: Guy Bragge Commercial Verraaiers (Traitors) White Heron Pictures/Film Factory / Bos Bok Ses Films / Spier Films Dir: Paul Eihlers Drama YOU LAUGH BUT IT’S TRUE Day 1 Films Dir: David Paul Meyer Documentary

Screen Africa relies on accuracy of information received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. E-mail production updates to: online@screenafrica.com Nov / Dec 2012 | SCREENAFRICA | 47

Social | PromaxBDA Africa

Maurice Marable and Vanessa Sheldrick

Ingrid Bell and Vuyelwa Booi

Daisi Parsons and George Leong

Delarey and Nicci Hattingh

Keith Bete, Claire Higginson and Sifiso Hadebe

Mikael Subedar and Tarryn Gargan

Neo Monese and Neo Majafe

Roger Smythe and Danie Swart Tim Horwood, Chris Wilson and Pippa Tshabalala

GFC Projects Announcement

Anita Khanna (Tri Continental Film Festival) and Romaana Naidoo (GFC website)

Filmmakers Damon Berry and Jane Lipman

Filmmaker and comedian David Kau

Zizi Kodwa (GFC)

SA’s Next Top Filmmaker

Kirsty Galliard

Mpumi Tshabalala and her Mom

Screen Africa’s Linda Loubser and Simba Nyamukachi

Nicholas Ndlovu (star of Look At Me Now!) and Mpumi Tshabalala (winner)

Tee Moleko (General Post) and Griffith Dixon (General Post)

Nhlanhla Maake, Finaula Dowling, M-Net’s Koo Govender, Takalani Mbedzi, Herbert Lentsoene and Sonia Loots

O’Sullivan joins Glasshouse

48 | SCREENAFRICA | Nov / Dec 2012

The GFC’s Tumi Ntshingila and Mthunzi Mogagabe

M-Net Literary Awards

New Appointment |

James O’ Sullivan has joined postproduction facility Glasshouse as editor.

After studying creative brand communications at Vega, O’Sullivan became an assistant editor in February 2012 and worked directly with agencies and production companies on his own projects

by March. These included the Nando’s / Santam spoof ads, three SARS campaigns and a Vodacom supergees music video.

O’Sullivan’s showreel is accessible on www.ghpp.com

Bame Ohiaeri, Nomfundo Sibiya and Nomcebo Bhengu

Advertisers List | Bev Ditsie (judge), Iko Mash (Star of winning film), Mpumi Tshabalala (winner) and Anton Burggraaf (Ochre Moving Pictures)

Palesa Ncaku (star of Above All Ls), Tebogo Kgakoa (finalist) and Nicolas Dorfling (Drivenator)

Kerry and Jamie Taylor, Andrew Dixon and Griffith Dixon (General Post)

Mariki Pretorius (Quizzical Pictures)

Mpumi with family & friends

Wayne Van Rooyen (actor) and Charles Povey (Endemol SA)

TEL214 Jasco Broadcast Nov 2012 FINAL.pdf

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