Screen Africa October 2013

DISCOP AFRICA IBC REPORT BROADCAST, FILM, TV, COMMERCIALS, NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

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VOL 25 – October 2013 R35.00

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

www.screenafrica.com

VOL 25 – October 2013 R35.00

e.tv boosts local content South African free-to-air (FTA) commercial broadcaster e.tv has commissioned new local content across its various channels, including some of the new channels that launch on 15 October 2013 on sister company Platco Digital’s new FTA platform, OpenView HD. The new channels are eKasi+ (local content), eAfrica+ (African content), eToonz+ (kids progamming), and eMovies+ (films). e.tv’s head of Channels, Monde Twala, admits that filling eKasi+ with round-the-clock local content tailor-made to appeal specifically to township viewers, will be a key challenge in the next few years.

“It will require innovation in the manner in which business models around content are structured,” explains Twala. “Content ideas are not an issue and South Africa has a very healthy and competitive

production sector that is able to deliver compelling and creative programming.

“However, we need to be cautious and work together as an industry; more channels do not necessary result in more production work. We need to look at sustainable ways to be able to fund and also recoup investments made by broadcasters and local producers.”

As from October this year all of e.tv’s locally commissioned content will be delivered and produced in high definition (HD).

Twala continues: “This includes all international content such as movies, kids’ animation and series. HD content will be phased in over a period, across all our themed channels. Content that is not filmed in HD will be upgraded as it is a standard for HD broadcasts worldwide.

“We are working closely with

the production sector and international suppliers to ensure that we deliver a better and improved quality picture for our market. This also means South Africa will remain on par with international benchmarks and that the TV consumers in the country will be the ultimate winners. We have seen significant growth in HDTV sales and as a broadcaster we have to move with consumer trends.”

There has been much media speculation as to whether e.tv’s decision to launch its new channels on OpenView HD (an FTA satellite platform) was motivated by South Africa’s disastrously delayed digital terrestrial television (DTT) project.

The migration to DTT has yet to commence and after June 2015, the International Telecommunications Union will no – continued on next page

SA’s new FTA satellite services The second half of September saw the launch of two free-to-air (FTA) satellite platforms in South Africa – parastatal signal distributor Sentech’s Freevision service, targeted primarily at communities in remote areas with no access to FTA services, and Platco Digital’s OpenView HD platform, which aims to give more choice to households that can’t afford pay-TV. At the Freevision launch held on 30 September in Rosebank, Johannesburg, and attended by

representatives from the Department of Communications and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications, Freevision was described as the single biggest indication yet that South Africa was finally, after five years of government-induced delays, on its way to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

Sentech CEO Dr Setumo Mohapi emphasised the words ‘universal access’ and ‘interoperability’ while explaining that the Freevision direct-to-home

satellite (DTH-S) platform was positioned as a DTT gap filler service. As per the Broadcasting Digital Migration (BDM) Policy of 2012, Sentech is mandated to ensure 100% DTT coverage of the country once the analogue signal is switched off.

Mohapi noted that Freevision was the new incarnation of the Vivid satellite platform, which the signal distributor launched unsuccessfully in 1999.

“Vivid had a promise that it – continued on next page

HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE: Director Sallas de Jager, John-Henry Opperman and cinematographer Tom Marais shooting a scene for Musiek vir die Agtergrond (Background Music). See Page 14

SABC lacks independent editorial voice At the 2013 People to People International Documentary Conference in Johannesburg in September industry professional Patricia van Heerden maintained that the biggest crisis at public service broadcaster SABC was the lack of an ‘independent’ editorial voice authored in the interests of citizens.

Van Heerden, former executive and independent producer at the SABC, said: “I notice, studying other regions of the world, that public service broadcasters channel controllers are most likely

to have been steeped in making content before they attain the directorship of a channel, let alone other more lofty positions where one might be making even greater contributions to editorial decisions.

“Controllers of the BBC, for instance, have been editors, producers and directors in the television industry. It is one thing to have editorial guidelines and policies on paper, it is another to professionally interpret them with the guiding principle of everyone’s right to freedom of speech and create great content for citizens.

“I believe that in the last few years we have not heard an inspiring independent editorial voice coming out of the SABC. The reasons for this are multifaceted.

“I have heard an editorial voice coming out of the broadcaster – continued on next page

Continued from page 1 e.tv boosts local content

differ from that of M-Net’s AfricaMagic pay-TV channels, Twala longer protect the analogue describes eAfrica+ as ‘the signal in Africa. destination of choice Twala responds: “It is e.tv’s for free pan-African strategy to be platform entertainment’. agnostic and make our The channel will channels available wherever it showcase original African makes business sense. The stories, created by fact that e.tv’s channels are Africans, for Africans. available on OpenView HD Content will range from should not be seen as African music, drama and NEW CHANNELS: Monde Twala competition to DTT. We are news to the popular committed to South Africa’s Nollywood genre. digital migration process and look forward “African content goes beyond just to launching a bouquet of channels on this Nollywood movies, we have creative and complementary platform.” diverse stories and programming to As to whether e.tv’s four new channels showcase, like fashion and documentary were originally planned for DTT, Twala programming,” says Twala. comments: “e.tv has always been planning All the new channels are the result of a full for expansion and growth. Our channels market study and review of trends around have been developed over a period of TV consumption and genres, along with a time”. clear brand alignment.

“It’s taken us a good few years to get the Africa channel recipe right, and we continue to shape ourselves according to our audience’s He notes that e.tv decided to launch needs,” concludes Twala. eAfrica+ because the broadcaster has been In terms of the revenue model for the active outside South Africa since July 2009 new channels, e.tv pays transmission costs with a view to become the number one to Platco Digital and derives revenue solely entertainment network in Africa. from advertising.

“Our research has proved that Africans To access e.tv’s OpenView HD offering, are passionate about high quality African viewers will have to pay a once-off content produced by and for Africans,” says installation fee of R1 599 that includes a Twala. decoder and satellite dish.

When asked how eAfrica+’s offering will – Joanna Sterkowicz

SA’s new FTA satellite services channels include SABC1, 2 and 3, SABC News, SABC DTT channels and e.tv DTT channels. The Freevision STB is currently priced at R1 350 but is expected to drop in the future. Freevision uses the IntelSat 20 satellite, which services MultiChoice’s DStv pay-TV platform. Viewers with a DStv dish will not need a new one to access Freevision.

FAR-REACHING PLATFORM: Dr Setumo Mohapi would deliver but it didn’t,” he continued.

“Today we can put Vivid behind us. As we launch Freevision we’re responding to our public service mandate. In two years’ time the television landscape in South Africa will be very different and Sentech needs to respond to this reality. We envisage Freevision as a partnership between ourselves and the FTA broadcasters, namely the SABC, e.tv and the community stations.

“People have expressed concern that Sentech is moving into broadcasting – I can categorically state that we’re not and that we will continue with our responsibility to support broadcasters. Beyond the DTH-S DTT gap filler service, the Freevision platform is on offer to other broadcasters.

In fact, we’ve received enquiries to this effect from two of the new subscription-TV licence applicants. With our ecosystem we can work with anybody.”

Mohapi went on to say that anyone who buys the Freevision set-top box (STB) will have access to the DTT channels as well as other channels. At launch Freevision offers 38 television channels (of which 21 are religious) and 18 radio stations. Television 2 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

OpenView HD Platco Digital’s OpenView HD launch held on 18 September in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, was a much smaller affair, attended only by media and Platco Digital management, as well as that of holding company Sabido Investments Limited, the majority shareholder of commercial FTA broadcaster e.tv.

Platco Digital MD Maxwell Nonge announced that at launch, scheduled for 15 October, OpenView HD will offer 10 channels, including e.tv’s four new digital channels, as well as SABC1, 2 and 3 and SABC News.

This announcement immediately prompted the SABC to categorically refute that its channels would be carried on OpenView HD as there was no agreement to this effect.

Platco Digital expressed surprise at the statement and confirmed that OpenView HD would carry SABC1, 2 and 3 from launch date.

“The SABC as the public broadcaster has various obligations and any attempts by the SABC to prevent Platco from carrying the SABC channels would be unlawful,” said a Platco statement in response.

SABC lacks independent editorial voice that seems to be a skilled whose opinions are confused rhetoric between great,” remarked Van a ‘positive’ nationalism and Heerden. public service broadcast,” “But if you are a mentioned Van Heerden. commissioning editor in say “What is good for the documentaries, surely you ‘image’ of the country and have read the history of the the present ruling party is field and should be at every not necessarily good for documentary screening at the citizens of the country festivals and be at the forefront for which public service of the field debates. broadcast is intended.”

“Commissioning editors CONCERNED: Pat van Heerden Screen Africa made have an over-inflated power several attempts to over producers who in many prompt a response from SABC cases have more experience, are older and spokesperson Kaizer Kgangago but none know the breadth of their genre. Producers was forthcoming prior to going to print. themselves are scared to speak out because if they criticise the SABC they will Difference is feared not be commissioned again. Perhaps we should think of editorialising and not Van Heerden noted that she has often personalising. And if there is a experienced a ‘politically correct’ stifling disagreement have a debate, get out of the voice at the SABC – one that assumes that corridor chatter that is part of the all citizens that are producers should think Stockholm syndrome of working there.” alike. The SABC’s editorial team should understand that they are there to express Solutions the opinions of citizens – the power they have is to curate a dialogue between those Van Heerden suggested ways of addressing opinions as they have the final say as to these problems, such as training of what goes out on the platform. commissioning staff to be great editors, to “It is an immense power to curate debate have knowledge of the history of their field and tolerance by celebrating difference. and to know at least what has gone before You also then give power to the end user as them on their own channels. a ‘thinker’ rather than a consumer, you Additionally she mentioned the training create an audience able to curate a debate of commissioning editors to reflect and in their own minds and come to their own nurture authorship and not to instil cookie conclusions. cutter politics to please the reigning “I am frightened by the idea that ‘our conservative nationalist consensus in the people’ are not interested in anything else SABC building. but seeing their own reflections, a kind of Van Heerden recommended: “Give those myopic narcissistic nationalism. This at a who know content the ability to speak time when a connected world is calling into locally and on international platforms. question the over-structured national Empower the professionals in the building. identities in our geo-political landscape. But “Make sure that the people who head up according to many at the SABC, ‘our content in the building – key editorial roles people’ need a saturation of their own – are actually competent editorial voices, reflections.” and make people who actually know According to Van Heerden there is an content sit on the interviews of the people over-centralisation of editorial power in the being brought in the building to manage managerial strata and a removal of power content. from the professional class of thinkers and “Ensure the heads of content engage in content makers at an editorial level. open editorial sessions with the public, they “It is as if the managerial strata with no are after all answerable to citizens. Ask the authored work behind them are seen as heads of content like the CEO to give an more important to drive the core delivery of open editorial speech every year as to what the SABC, which is content. the vision for editorial is and where it is “Some commissioning editors are merely going. Open this conversation to the bureaucrats. Yet there are many who are public.” – Martie Bester

It’s worth noting that regulator ICASA’s ‘Must Carry’ Regulations of 2008 only apply to subscription services and not, as in OpenView HD’s case, to FTA services.

At the launch Nonge announced that the OpenView HD STB costs ‘around R1 599’ but this price is expected to come down as STB take-up increases.

OpenView’s technology platform is DVB-S2 MPEG 4 with NDS encryption. It broadcasts both HD and SD and can accommodate 1080i and 1080p.

Nonge told Screen Africa that the STBs are manufactured by three local companies, including UEC and Divtech, with one overseas manufacturer – SkyNorth.

“The OpenView HD platform has been in development since January this year. I’ve been travelling the world to get the service up and running on time, specifying the

decoder, the retail distribution, etc. We charge a royalty fee to distributors of R1 per box.

“Platco trialled the OpenView HD service internally. The signal is up and running and we are already broadcasting four channels.

Our headend and uplink facility are situated in Cape Town Film Studios while Platco’s commercial office is in Bryanston, Johannesburg,” said Nonge.

OpenView HD utilises the SES-5 satellite (the same as used by pay-TV broadaster TopTV – so viewers with a TopTV dish will not require a new one for Freevision) and covers all of the English-speaking countries in Africa.

At launch Platco Digital will offer only ready-made channels but will offer a playout service for content aggregators in the future. – Joanna Sterkowicz

From the editor

C o n t e n ts

Broadcast landscape shake-up New free-to-air (FTA) satellite platforms, new digital channels – it’s all happening very quickly in South Africa as two of our front page stories reveal. Parastatal signal distributor Sentech’s Freevision platform is positioned as a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite gap filler for digital terrestrial television (DTT) in remote areas where a terrestrial signal is not accessible. Do I hear you yawn at the mention of DTT? I’m not surprised seeing as DTT was meant to have been launched in November 2008 and completed in November 2011 and hasn’t even begun to roll out yet. Still, Sentech maintains that the Freevision launch signals the onset of DTT. Let’s hope so.

OpenView HD, the FTA satellite platform launched by Platco Digital, the sister company of commercial FTA broadcaster e.tv, is targeted at FTA viewers who cannot afford pay-TV services. e.tv has a platform agnostic commercial broadcasting licence and stresses that its decision to launch the first of its new digital channels on OpenView HD is not related to the DTT roll-out delay, as many (including myself) suspect, and that it remains committed to DTT. The OpenView HD launch has been a tad controversial in terms of the fact that it announced it would carry all of the SABC channels, something that the SABC has refuted.

On the subject of the SABC, one of its former excecutives, Pat van Heerden, believes the public broadcaster has lost its ‘independent’ editorial voice. Van Heerden, a respected and experienced producer, is now a commissioning editor at Al Jazeera English.

She describes the SABC’s current editorial voice as ‘a confused rhetoric between a positive nationalism and a public service broadcast’. A ‘politically correct stifling voice’ is how she puts it, due to an over-centralisation of editorial power in the managerial strata and a removal of power from the professional class of thinkers and content makers at editorial level. I’m sure many would agree with Van Heerden on this score.

All those who missed out on the IBC trade show in Amsterdam should read Ian Dormer’s article ‘What caught my eye at IBC’ with interest, to hear about the spectacular new technologies that attracted his attention. We also provide news of some of the exciting products that launched at IBC. September saw South Africa’s two biggest brand communication awards, the Loeries and Pendoring, unfold during Loeries Creative Week Cape Town. In this issue we include feedback from the judges of both events, while Screen Africa’s resident ‘Adcetera Opinionator’ gives his perspective on all things Loerie.

Enjoy the read.

Editor: Joanna Sterkowicz: editor@screenafrica.com Journalist: Martie Bester: news@screenafrica.com Contributors: Andy Stead, Ian Dormer, Anton Crone, Sekoetlane Jacob Phamodi, Alan J Melville, Professor Keyan Tomaselli Sub-Editor: Tina Heron Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@sun-circle.co.za Website & Production Updates: Carly Barnes: carly@sun-circle.co.za

A ‘Truly South African’ awards event

Reality series reinvents education

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Accounts: Natasha Glavovic: accounts@sun-circle.co.za

Sun Circle Publishers (Pty) Ltd Tel: 011 025-3180

15 Pushing VFX and editing boundaries

SPECIAL FEATURES

PromaxBDA Africa grows; New VFX shop opens in Cape Town; SA student at Telluride ........... 4 ReaGilè provides cinema access to millions; BCCSA perspective on ‘the watershed’ ................ 6 Two new Roodt movies to release; Playwright’s legacy lives on ...................................... 8 Back to the future – medium wave?; Taking audience immersion to the ‘MAX’ ....... 10

e.tv boosts local content; SABC lacks independent editorial voice; SA’s new FTA satellite services .........................1 / 2

www.screenafrica.com

‘What caught my eye at IBC’

Authenticity the cornerstone of music film

NEWS

Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com

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Postal address: PO Box 559, Fourways North, 2086

Subscriptions: Tina Tserere: data@sun-circle.co.za Delight Ngwenya: admin@sun-circle.co.za

Back to the future – medium wave?

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Physical address: First Floor, Process House Epsom Downs Office Park 13 Sloane Street Bryanston, Johannesburg South Africa

SCREENAFRICA

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Playwright’s legacy lives on

IBC REPORT ‘What caught my eye at IBC’ .................20 / 21 Live streaming with JVC ....... 22 The ubiquitous Avid ............. 26 Panasonic goes ‘Wide’; Sony’s 4K focus; DaVinci Resolve 10 released ............................ 27 AJA’s lo 4K with Thunderbolt; QTube InterSite launches ..... 28 DISCOP AFRICA Connecting content producers across Africa and beyond .................30 / 31 DISCOP AFRICA gains momentum ........................ 31 Exciting times for satellite broadcast in Africa .............. 32 Seed Entertainment reaping a harvest ............................. 34 Côte Ouest enhances catalogue; More satellite options for African broadcast market .............................. 36

Joanna Sterkowicz

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

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ADCETERA Ubuntu ............................. 11 How the Loerie (trophies) flew .............12 / 13 A ‘Truly South African’ awards event ...................... 13

FILM Authenticity the cornerstone of music film .......................... 14 Pushing VFX and editing boundaries ......................... 15 Persuasive promotion .......... 16 Director Speak – Jahmil XT Qubeka ............................. 17

TELEVISION Reality series reinvents education ...................18 / 19 Has the DoC’s dithering left digital dead in the water? ...... 19

AFRICA Inside Kona ........................ 38 State-of-the-art studios for East Africa .................... 40

WEB NEWS Standing ovation for Mandela film at TIFF; IDC announced financial results; Felix selected for top international film fest; SABC on Annual Report ‘media misinterpretation’; 2014 SAFTAs judging panel announced; 2014 Jozi Film Fest seeks submissions ....................... 42 Durban freelancer wins short video competition; Widely watched local telenovela reaches 100th episode; Film explores Zim’s longest serving leaders .43

REGULARS Production Updates ....44 – 47 Events ............................... 47 Advertisers List .................. 47 Social ................................ 48

News

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PromaxBDA Africa grows Entries for this year’s PromaxBDA Africa Awards, which recognise the best in on-air marketing and broadcast design and which take place on 22 November at The Maslow in Johannesburg, are up on last year, according to PromaxBDA Africa director Vanessa Sheldrick.

“The increase in entries is not surprising considering we introduced five new categories and had our largest amount of entries ever from the international channels that broadcast on the African continent.

“We are delighted that the Future Award Sponsored by Thackwell & Whittaker has been well received with 23 entries in its first year. Now that we are on the college and university radar we hope to see this category grow. As one educator observed: ‘With award schemes such as The Think Awards, the SABS Design Achievers Awards

New VFX shop opens in Cape Town Hilton Treves, independent VFX supervisor, has started FuseFX, a new company in Cape Town specialising in feature film visual effects, focusing on 3D Cyber scanning for digital doubles.

“We have just completed the supervision on the Warner Brothers project Blended with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore and now we are starting on a project with Universal Films called Dominion. As the VFX market is starting to grow rapidly, it was time to put full focus on that,” says Treves.

KICKSTART: Hilton Treves

4 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Lee Hunt

“FuseFX focuses on everything from props on set to full facial 3D scanning of actors. We also do LIDAR scanning, the process of scanning full sets and locations for use in animation and VFX for post-production.

“We do both creative and technical pre-viz. Basically we do pre-production planning for any major VFX required. VFX is becoming more common in feature work and requires extensive support,” Treves continues.

For post-production Treves is currently using a number of local and international studios including companies such as BlackGinger, Blade Works, Lung and Prime Focus.

“In my opinion, VFX and animation need to be involved at the beginning of a production and FuseFX is ensuring that the process is managed the entire way through,” concludes Treves.

and the M-Net TAG Awards closing down, it is great that PromaxBDA Africa offers students a category to enter’,” says Sheldrick.

The awards ceremony will be preceded on 22 November by the PromaxBDA Africa Conference which will see Lee Hunt of New York-based brand strategy consultancy, Lee Hunt LLC, return to the event as keynote speaker for the third time.

Sheldrick continues: “Lee is back by popular demand and will also be doing workshops with various broadcasters during his visit to South Africa. He will lead a top-line discussion around on-air architecture based on the challenges experienced globally as well as locally.

“We are also in the process of locking off Reemah Sakkaan, head of marketing at ITV in the UK, who will be speaking about the largest 21st century rebrand, which happened all in one day.”

Brand personality expert Linda Button of Tooth+Nail, a regular on the global Promax circuit, will present two sessions on promos.

Continental pay-TV broadcaster

SuperSport is bringing out Olivier Schaack, creative director of Canal+, to give a session on sports promos.

Public service broadcaster SABC is sponsoring AOL’s ‘Digital Prophet’, David Shing, whose closing keynote address will reveal his vision of the ‘brave new world of marketing to come’.

Proudly presented by Clearwater is Los Angeles-based master balloon artist Jihan Zencirli. Illustrating how creativity is the essence of audience and viewer engagement, Zencirli will speak about her work on the international party and wedding scene. Her work has been featured at Spielberg and Kardashian parties.

A session entitled The Awesome Battle of Creatives will see three teams go up against each other on stage to show who can best interpret and executive an impromptu theme through design / animation / live action.

For more information about PromaxBDA Africa visit: www.promaxafrica.tv.

SA student at Telluride Reinhard Delport, an honours student at South African film school AFDA, attended the Student Symposium at the recent 40th Telluride Film Festival (TFF) in Colorado, US, as a guest of Film Finances Inc. Says Steven Ransohoff, co-CEO of Film Finances Inc: “For some time now we had been looking for more ways to help emerging filmmakers and give ongoing support to our industry. We were very excited to sponsor the Telluride Film Festival’s Student Symposium this year.”

Film Finances Inc. invited students and recent graduates from Scandinavia, South Africa, China and New Zealand (countries in which it has offices) to go to Telluride.

These students were among 50 in total who took part in a THE CHOSEN ONE: Reinhard Delport special curriculum of workshops and discussions with film talent and executives at the symposium.

Delport explains how he came to be festival. “You get to watch some première selected: “AFDA had a shortlist of students screenings and spend a week talking about who were selected for consideration for the them with other students. There are special Telluride trip. Each of us was asked to write seminars with the directors and actors in an essay about why we love film and what which you really get to question them on the trip would mean to us and I was lucky almost anything you want.” enough to have my essay chosen.

During his visit, Delport saw big names “I’d done some research on Telluride, so I like Kathleen Kennedy, Michael Fassbender, had a small idea of how incredible the director Steve McQueen, Robert Redford festival is. It really is an amazing and Tahir Rahim at the festival. opportunity, especially being part of the “I think for me the greatest part of it was student symposium, so I felt really to have such a personal experience with the privileged to be given this chance.” filmmakers in the individual seminars. It Delport describes the experience as gave me an amazing chance to see that ‘truly unlike anything else’ because students filmmakers are the same anywhere in the have unrestricted access to the entire world.”

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News

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ReaGilè provides cinema access to millions ReaGilè Co-Operative Cinemas are being rolled out across townships countrywide in South Africa. This visionary distribution / exhibition concept was announced at the 2013 Durban International Film Festival.

ReaGilès are fully air-conditioned, pre-fabricated, 60-seat MiniPlexes with +-3-metre, HD screens and 9.2 Channel Discrete HD and Sense Surround Sound. A 30-seat computer and internet centre, kiosk, community care centre and policing centre supports each MiniPlex, located in under-serviced communities and rural area schools.

The 60-seat auditorium is surprisingly spacious, owing to intelligent design, complemented by a green air-conditioning system with energy-saving lighting adequate for all practical activities, which can be turned off for an immediate cinematic experience with Sensurround Sound, provided by the 9.2 channel THX sound system.

ReaGilè offers game-changing business plans for exhibition, filmmaking and job creation while also addressing development issues and providing recreation opportunities. The outcome will be to democratise exhibition, spread ownership and facilitate easy access to screenings. The project is economically viable, with all managerial and financial contingencies taken into account.

VISIONARY DISTRIBUTION CONCEPT: Keyan Tomaselli ReaGilè (pronounced ‘Ree-ah-gee-le’) is a southern Sotho / Tswana word meaning ‘We have built’. The first complex was piloted in Katlehong / Vosloorus in January 2013. A BBBEE-compliant venture established by John Eschenburg, ReaGilè aims to tap into the 40 million people who have no access to cinemas.

ReaGilè Cinemas can elevate South

Africa’s film industry from an exclusive and heavily government-subsidised service provider to commercially viable businesses providing a massive identifiable market for both local and international films.

The ReaGilè roll-out will offer 1 200 mini-cinema entertainment complexes, bringing unprecedented leisure, entertainment and employment

opportunities to communities not currently included within cinema or other leisure time networks.

It is estimated that R350m profit per year can be earned by the local film production sectors while more than 35 000 sustainable jobs can be created.

Township production and exhibition will be stimulated with local movies, including low-budget South African films screened alongside Hollywood blockbusters.

All money spent within ReaGilè MiniPlexes will remain in local communities.

Based on an Ubuntu philosophy that ‘money / wealth must not be taken from the poor to be given to the rich’, ReaGilè applies the dialogic strategic partnership co-operative model.

ReaGilès are housed in prefabricated, container-based structures without compromising on quality. Construction begins with container panels using advanced welding techniques and innovative engineering methods with skills transfer.

Cool and warm air is regulated via an environmentally friendly air-conditioning system. ReaGilè will screen six hours of educational and eight hours of feature films daily with ‘Spectrum’ available for local documentaries and South African language films. – Keyan Tomaselli

BCCSA perspective on ‘the watershed’

‘SAFE HARBOUR’: Alan J Melville

6 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

‘The watershed’ is primarily a mechanism to protect children from harmful television content, although it also protects young adults and other sensitive viewers. In its basic form, it is not a difficult thing to understand: simply, any programme that is broadcast before the designated time may not contain scenes or images of explicit violence and / or sexual conduct and/or nudity and / or grossly offensive language intended for adult audiences.

In the USA, the term used is ‘safe harbour’, in other words a time when there is absolute protection from negative outside elements.

Although the broadcasting codes of conduct are not explicit in this regard, it is generally accepted that radio programming follows the same approach, with producers being responsible for managing the nature and content of programming as the evening progresses.

Practically, a general rule is that material with an age restriction of 18 should not be broadcast before the watershed. South African broadcasters also carefully screen all other material, especially 16-rated material, as some may be potentially offensive, especially to very young children.

A key practice for broadcasters is regular scheduling patterns, as well as overt audience advisories, as these alert parents generally and specifically about upcoming programme content.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has always emphasised that the start time of the watershed period is not a cue to suddenly begin adult programming … it is ‘a watershed, not a waterfall’ is the phrase often used.

In simple terms, this means that the watershed start time signals a progressive increase in the adult nature of programming, not an abrupt switch. This is because children may have been watching the previous programme, and parents need time to manage their exit from the room.

It is also possible that programming for children may start before and end after the watershed period – and broadcasters need to be aware of the previous programme when scheduling the one after.

The subscription broadcasters are at an advantage over the free-to-air broadcasters in respect of the watershed in that their decoder PIN and age-restriction technology allows programmes to be

automatically blocked.

This results in greater control for parents wishing to manage their children’s viewing.

Consequently, the start and end times of the watershed are different for the two types of broadcaster, with the free-to-air start time being an hour earlier than pay-TV at 20h00.

The end-time of the watershed is the same for both, being 05h00 in the morning.

The advent of the digital era will greatly assist the free-to-air broadcasters as they too will then have decoder technology.

A key factor is also the parent or caregiver. The right to own a TV set also comes with the onerous responsibility to manage and monitor the viewing habits of their family.

In general, because of the recognised need to protect our children at source, the BCCSA takes a tough stance on watershed violations, often fining the broadcaster.

That said, it must also be noted that our broadcasters are extremely vigilant in applying the watershed rule: as a result, only 0.25% of complaints received by the BCCSA relate to alleged watershed violations. – Alan J Melville, BCCSA commissioner

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Two new Roodt movies to release Two Afrikaans movies with multi awardwinning filmmaker Darrell James Roodt at the helm release at the South African box office this year. Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee (The Ballad of Robbie de Wee) and Alles Wat Mal Is (Everything Crazy), both distributed by Nu Metro, release in October and November respectively.

Says Roodt: “Alles Wat Mal Is is a romantic comedy written by the team of Afrikaans blockbuster Semi-Soet, so that’s a good start. The screenplay is sparkling and we’ve managed to get the best possible actors. They’ve made a great screenplay wonderful because they have a lot of depth.”

Roodt elaborates that experienced actors Louw Venter (Semi-Soet, Jimmy in Pienk, Die Laaste Tango) and Erika Wessels (Die Wonderwerker, Strike Back, Vloeksteen) bring humanity to the comedy, which makes the film soar.

According to Roodt the main reason for his involvement with Afrikaans movies is that a large number of them are being made with relatively low budgets. “I’ve done a

AFRIKAANS FILMS ‘SMOKIN’: Neil Sandilands in a scene from Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee couple now, but with my last one, Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee, I think I’ve taken a leap forward.

“I really think by making that story, which was a Deon Meyer thriller, I was fortunate enough to cast again with great actors and was just able to let go and tell a story.”

Roodt trusts his cast to guide him through subtle nuances in the text which he may not pick up. He adds: “The same thing can be said of the Zulu and Xhosa films I make. The actors are really good at what they do so they are always able to red-flag something if I’ve missed it, just to keep me in check.”

Alles Wat Mal Is took four weeks to complete in and around Johannesburg.

Location-heavy and shooting to strict time constraints, Roodt says the crew and cast could move forward at a very sophisticated fast pace.

The movie was shot on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. “I am a fan of the 5D because it gives the film a cinematic look. We’ve pretty much used the same crew on both movies and I was fortunate enough to work with cinematographer Will Collinson again.

“We move fast and as a result we don’t have much time to light. But that is where

Will comes into play. He is such a gifted cameraman to work with, he has changed my life.

Roodt concludes: “Because he is much younger than I am I get to experience his visual understanding as opposed to the old school, which is also good. I mean I love the old guys too, like myself.”

Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee releases nationwide on 25 October while Alles Wat Mal Is screens in November.

Both movies are produced by The Karoo Film Company. – Martie Bester

Playwright’s legacy lives on

FORBIDDEN LOVE: A scene from African Gothic The movie African Gothic had its international premiere at the Durban International Film Festival in July. Based on South African playwright Reza de Wet’s celebrated stage production Diepe Grond,

8 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

the film explores the universal themes of abuse, love and isolation against the stifling and claustrophobic backdrop of apartheid.

Born in South Africa, Los Angeles-based executive producer and actor Damon Shalit

(Judging Amy, A List) was inspired to transform De Wet’s play into a movie after playing the role of Frikkie in the stage production in 2005.

“I got cast in the play in Los Angeles and didn’t know anything about Reza at the time. However, the work impressed me so much. It is the kind of piece that reveals itself the more you stay with it. It is very sub-textual and Chekovian,” says Shalit.

“What initially attracted me to the project was the idea of love, and protecting what you love, whether it’s a sibling or the land or your way of life or your traditions, just holding on to that, there’s something valuable about that.”

When the rights to produce the movie eventually became available, Shalit raised money and began the process of preproduction with director Gabriel Bologna (The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond, Boston Girls, Children of Terezin) who is also from the US. Comments Shalit: “I knew he would be the right person to direct the movie, I trusted him. We have a good relationship and working with him on African Gothic was very collaborative. I had a lot of room to be involved creatively. Making the movie became a labour of love.”

With South African-born actress Chella Farrow cast in the role of Sussie, Shalit and Bologna shot the story, which is set on a desolate farm in the Free State, on a ranch in the Californian mountains.

“We shot on the ranch on a tight

schedule over three and a half weeks on a limited budget. But things fell into place one after another, it was as if someone was looking out for us,” says Shalit.

“Like in the story, we were cut off from the world. As crew and cast we were isolated which resulted in us connecting more with each other,” he continues.

The rest of the movie was shot in the vicinity of Beverly Hills, Hollywood with some exterior shots of South Africa.

Says Shalit: “Taking a play and adapting it for the screen was very challenging. I had to figure out how to open up the story and expand it visually.”

De Wet, who passed away from cancer in 2012, was grateful that Shalit had stayed true to the story.

He remarks: “She supported African Gothic fully. I feel a huge responsibility and an honour in carrying her work forward. Making the movie was a way of honouring my past in a sense.”

Jonny Coyne (Alcatraz, Gangster Squad, The Hangover III) is cast as the menacing Grove while the role of Alina is played by Connie Jackson, one of the original members of Dream Girls on Broadway.

Jackson closes the movie with a haunting rendition of South African children’s song Thula Baba, her powerful voice consoling Frikkie and Sussie, abused adult siblings trapped in a perpetual and precarious childhood.

– Martie Bester

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Back to the future – medium wave?

Who remembers the heady days of LM Radio, Capital Radio 604 and even Springbok Radio broadcasting loud (but perhaps not so clearly) on medium wave in South Africa?

With the advent of FM radio, medium and shortwave local broadcasts became a thing of the past as they lacked the quality and stereo capabilities of FM. However, the very fact that so many stations require space on this overcrowded frequency has prompted various other transmission methods in an effort to make use of both medium and short wave frequencies, while maintaining the high quality of FM technology.

One example is the digital radio standard developed by Digital Radio Mondiale™ (DRM), an international not-for-profit consortium, composed of broadcasters, network providers, transmitter and receiver manufacturers, universities, broadcasting unions and research institutes. The aim of the DRM Consortium is to support and spread a digital broadcasting system suitable for use in all the frequency bands up to and including VHF Band III. “DRM is the universal, openly standardised digital broadcasting system designed for all broadcasting frequencies, thus covering very large geographical areas and reaching listeners in remote areas of a country,” says Radu Peter Obreja, marketing director of DRM. Obreja believes that the DRM standard is the only global, all bands, open, efficient and green digital audio broadcasting

DIGITAL SPREAD: DRM Uniwave Di-Wave 100 radio

solution. He continues: “DRM has two major configurations – DRM30 is intended for broadcasts on short, medium and long wave up to 30 MHz and provides very large coverage and low power consumption. The configuration for the VHF bands above 30 MHz is called DRM+, tailored for local and regional coverage with broadcastercontrolled transmissions. These configurations are two digital broadcast modes on a single standard.

“The DRM configurations share the same

audio coding, data and multimedia services, service linking, and signalling schemes. DRM provides high, FM quality sound, combined with a wealth of enhanced features such as Surround Sound, Journaline text information, Slideshow and EPG.” A key feature of the DRM standard is the Emergency Warning and Alert System, which is vital for governments of large countries, where such messages need to be sent instantly to remote areas without

television or mobile phones.

DRM is very cost effective for broadcasters to run, as they don’t have to resort to multiplexes, which are expensive to use and maintain. DRM, by using all radio bands, has a very wide reach in big countries, where the traditional FM signal does not reach. For an FM signal to reach all corners of a large country, broadcasters / governments need to go to huge expenses to install hundreds of expensive transmitters to cover those areas in FM. With DRM, this is not the case. By using the AM bands, the DRM standard reaches all remote areas.

“By having DRM digital broadcasts, there is no longer the need for both broadcasters and listeners to refer to AM or FM,” explains Obreja, “as the radio stations are accessed by their own station names and not by their frequency.”

Capital Radio 604, popular in the 1980s for its broadcasts from the Transkei into KwaZulu-Natal, may well be back on medium wave and intends offering an AM service. It could also launch digital broadcasts using DRM and take advantage of the internet as a listening platform.

The station’s investors include ex-governor of the Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni, veteran broadcaster Kevin Savage and technical guru Mark Williams.

It is believed that there are seven South African applicants for broadcast licences on medium wave pending, all of who are interested in using DRM. – Andy Stead

Taking audience immersion to the ‘MAX’

A NEW WAVE: Fiaz Mahomed

10 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

Southern African cinema chain Ster-Kinekor Theatres has completed an agreement with IMAX® Corporation to install an IMAX® theatre at its flagship cinema complex in the Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Durban by November this year.

After the demise of the original IMAX® theatres in South Africa at the end of June 2010, CEO of Ster-Kinekor Theatres, Fiaz Mahomed is confident that the new wave of the ultra-big-screen experience couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We’ve always been friends and fans of IMAX® at the same time,” says Mahomed.

“However, we weren’t supporters of the model that was presented at the time. We believed that it had a limited lifespan because it wasn’t going to be profitable for anyone in this territory and unfortunately we were proven right.”

Mahomed adds that the original cost of operating IMAX® relative to ticket prices that could be charged didn’t add up.

Secondly, there wasn’t sufficient Hollywood content on this format. “From a business perspective in a cinema environment we need the Hollywood content for people to watch.

“The new IMAX® technology is superior

to what it was in the past and the financial model to run it is a lot more palatable to us, and we believe in this model. The content is significantly better in terms of quality and quantity relative to our market.”

According to Mahomed the inclusion of digital technology makes IMAX® a lot more efficient and he confirms that Ster-Kinekor will screen 23 titles over the next year.

Thor: The Dark World starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins shows first in Gateway’s IMAX® theatre, although a specific date had not been determined at the time of going to press.

“The screen is being built to spec according to the latest DMR technology in Canada. It arrives in October and that date will determine when we can open,” confirms Mahomed.

“IMAX® is a premium experience and we’ll follow the trend across the world for it to work. Although it has to have a higher ticket price, the value will be unsurpassed.”

Mahomed comments that Ster-Kinekor is busy with an evaluation of its number of sites and the company’s intention is to roll out more IMAX® theatres and to be representative of the bigger malls across

South Africa.

Ster-Kinekor is following the worldwide trend that IMAX® is part of existing cinema chains. “Across the world that is the model that is being used and that is part of the reason it has becomes viable,” he says.

“IMAX® will never be as wide as 3D, for example, but it will be wide enough that audiences will have a truly immersive IMAX® cinema experience close to them.

“The track record of IMAX® box-office continues to do very well across the world and there is no reason why it wouldn’t do well here.

We think all the necessary boxes can be ticked and it’s time for Ster-Kinekor to enter the IMAX® world,” concludes Mahomed.

Other titles audiences can expect are Hunger Games: Catching Fire (shot with IMAX® cameras), I Frankenstein, Seventh Son, Robocop, 300 Rise of an Empire, Godzilla, Transformers 4 and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

– Martie Bester

ADCETERA

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OPINION

Ubuntu Anton Crone reflects on the recent Loerie Awards which took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

PSquare works with pirates. That’s what I recall in the haze of hangover. To remember anything else from the recent Loerie Awards in Cape Town, I will have to dig deep. The awards were impactful but the parties were doubly so and I can’t seem to find anything bad to say about anybody except that everybody behaved badly. But let me dig a little deeper, past the dance floor flashbacks and the heady scent of Gold (Malawian) and presto, there it comes wafting up through the haze: the whiff of really bad behaviour. I’ll let it fester. In the meantime, let me tell you about pirates.

The Loeries pre-award seminar had a great line-up of speakers, including the dreadlocked Tim Horwood who expounded on the way media works in West Africa. Based in Nigeria, Horwood heads up creative and production for the likes of VH1 and MTV Base in Africa. In this capacity he deals with many of Africa’s top musicians. Pirated CDs are the means by which a great deal of music reaches West African audiences. Pirates have incredibly

Channel O Party

vast networks and Horwood explained how the popular Nigerian hip-hop duo, PSquare, actually works with these bad boys, selling copies of their work to them first. This way the pirates get the very latest music, meaning they can sell at a premium and PSquare benefits from the pirate’s far reaching and speedy distribution channels.

In essence the pirates have become merchants and their trade is legitimised.

Breaking old rules Only in Africa, as they say, but PSquare’s way of dealing with media touches on a reality that affects marketing worldwide: breaking old rules. We saw examples of this during the seminar. Geoffrey Hantson of Belgian Agency, Duval Guillame Modem, showed us their online viral work which included the Press for Action for TNT Television. When someone presses a button in the middle of a town square it brings the square to life with dramatic TV style dramas, including a mock gun battle,

played out in front of pedestrians. It recorded over 47 million views on YouTube.

German Agency, Jung Von Matt, took Hamburg’s Philharmonic Orchestra onto the streets and into people’s hands. Using customised motion tracking on live video feeds of city streets, internet users could select cars, ships, landmarks and people, assign them audio roles of classical instruments and enjoy a spontaneous symphony as the ‘instruments’ moved about and interacted with others.

Some of the awarded South African work at the Loeries broke old rules. For their longtime automotive client, VW, Ogilvy created Volkswagen Street Quest. Using Google Street View as the platform, they challenged users to ‘pin’ the VWs they found on Street View, thereby highlighting the dominance of VW on our roads. They recorded over 400 000 pins.

Another Ogilvy campaign, Carling Black Label Cup Be The Coach gave rival Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates football fans the chance to select players before a match and even make live substitutions through their cell phones during the match. They recorded over 10.5 million votes.

Seeing this type of work from a South African agency was inspiring. It stood out above the work from traditional media and sits among the best of international work. It does so by breaking the old rules. But what are the boundaries for rule breaking?

Everywhere Library Besides winning a Grand Prix, MetropolitanRepublic’s campaign for MTN Uganda, Everywhere Library, picked up the coveted Ubuntu award which recognises the positive influence brands have on the social and physical environment. The campaign claims to have eliminated the need to build and maintain expensive libraries in Uganda through the use of simple technology. This is an enormous

claim that is not backed up with any proof.

Apparently most schools in Uganda can’t afford the books students need, so every week, for four weeks, they printed and inserted the relevant library books in some of Uganda’s largest newspapers. To access a book, the students had to punch the USSD code on the spine of the book into their phone and this helped students read up on the information they needed. But if one studies the titles of the books one must question the curriculum they are using. Trip Advisor and Guide to 50 Best Restaurants are strange subjects for any school syllabus. Gumboot Dancing, Maskandi, Kwaito and South African Braai are distinctly South African, but it appears there are no subjects relating to Ugandan culture.

Statements such as ‘Eliminating the need to build and maintain expensive libraries’, ‘No place in the world has students more hungry for education than Uganda’, and ‘Students did most of their reading and researching off their phones’, are not substantiated. The whole script comes across as exaggeration, puffery to impress judges, a common trait in case studies for award entries and something our creative industry has to seriously reconsider. And, when it comes to something as important as education in Africa, exaggeration for the sake of winning a prize should not be tolerated. It makes a mockery of awards like Ubuntu, creates a false sense of the reality in Africa and brings our own values as an industry into question.

If Ugandan scholars know a bit about South Africa from their readings on Kwaito, Maskandi, South African Braai and Gumboot Dancing, they might know where the term ‘Ubuntu’ originated. They might know what it truly means. The question is, do we? * The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Screen Africa.

Velocity Party October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 11

ADCETERA

| Report on the South African commercials industry

Compiled by Joanna Sterkowic z

How the Loerie (trophies) flew The leading creative work in the brand communications sector over the past year in South Africa, Africa and the Middle East was awarded at the recent Loerie Awards in Cape Town. Here the four international jury chairpersons give their perspectives about the entries.

O

ut of 2 978 entries in this year’s Loerie Awards, a total of 238 awards were handed out in the main categories, including four Grands Prix, 26 Golds, 62 Silver, 105 Bronze and nine Craft Golds.

In the categories for entries from outside of South Africa, three Gold, three Silver and eight Bronze Loeries were awarded. The regional judges were Kalpesh Patankar from Y&R Dubai and Alan Edgar from Ogilvy & Mather Africa.

Head of the jury for the TV and Radio categories, Geoffrey Hantson (executive creative director at Duval Guillaume

Modem, Belgium) believes that the South African brand communications industry has a lot in common with its Belgian counterpart.

“Budgets tend to be smaller, meaning that agencies try harder,” says Hantson.

“Ideas are bigger and well-crafted. You can definitely see this in the Radio entries we saw – they are world class. Extremely well-crafted, they provide a complete audience experience. Given the audience demographics in South Africa, I think this makes perfect sense.”

Hantson was a bit disappointed in the TV categories. “South African agencies need to be braver and really push boundaries if they are to achieve an international standard in this category.

“I was also disappointed in the Integrated categories – there were some good ideas but nothing great. Remember that ‘good’ is the enemy of ‘great’. I also missed the relevance in a couple of the Integrated campaigns – there is no point in throwing in a big idea if it has no relevance whatsoever to the brand.”

As to whether there are any outstanding concepts that caught the judges’ notice, Hantson responds: “There were a couple of music video entries that were really outstanding – I saw a lot of courage here that I didn’t see in the commercials.

John Vlismas

“Generally speaking though, one discernible trend in the entries was a lack of courage. A word of advice to agencies is to start with a brave idea that really pushes boundaries, followed by execution – always bravery first, and then execution / production.”

According to Hantson, the entries had a good local feel. “There was a good balance between clarity – even as a foreigner I was able to grasp concepts, with a little explanation from the local judges, and the local flavour.”

He stresses that the South African industry needs to focus on bravery. “Make work that is so good that it makes you

Geoffrey Hantson

Debbi Vandeven

12 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

Jason Little

Goetz Ulmer

proud to be a South African. A good test of this is when you see an ad that makes you feel proud to be a South African, despite your dislike of the creative director or rivalry with the agency.”

On the digital track Debbi Vandeven, chief creative officer at VML, Kansas City, who headed the Digital jury, believes that it is always difficult to comment on the overall standard of entries in a competition.

“There were some really good ones and some that were not quite there. Compared to the US, South African budgets sometimes tend to be more conservative and therefore we see a lot of agencies trying harder, which is encouraging. Simple, strong ideas that are well-executed always come across the best,” states Vandeven.

As to whether local ones measure up to international standards, she comments: “It is challenging to talk of an ‘international standard’, as there is always good and poor work in any region. By the time we judge the entries – whether in South Africa or overseas – a lot of the poorer work has already been filtered out through the selection process, so you are left with work that’s generally of a higher-than-average standard. A lot of the great work I saw definitely measures up to some of the best

| ADCETERA two minutes is ideal. Judges have hundreds of entries to get through and a brief but attention-grabbing video that succinctly communicates the most salient points works best. The main idea should always be clear in the first 20 seconds of the video.

“Something else we see a lot of is that many agencies produce one video for a campaign and enter it across multiple categories, trying to cover all of the different category components in one video. The danger of this is that videos are long and complicated, and not enough info is included on the component that is being judged in that specific category. It may take a bit longer but rather include another video or supporting material that substantiates the entry against the criteria according to which it is being judged,” concludes Vandeven.

Joey Rasdien international work.”

With so much focus on digital technologies these days, there can be the danger of ad agency creatives forgetting that good brand communication, regardless of the platform, starts with a decent idea.

“Often an agency will overcomplicate a campaign in an attempt to throw as many new technologies at it as possible,” continues Vandeven. “This is not limited to South Africa, it’s a global problem across digital categories. We see this everywhere.

I always maintain that a good, strong idea,

well-executed, is always the most stand-out entry and I saw several instances of this while judging the Loeries.”

She notes that Digital categories that were most populated in terms of the number of entries were Digitally Led & Integrated Campaigns and Mobile Apps & Tools.

“But it’s difficult to narrow down which Digital category was the most impressive.

There were amazing pieces across several categories. One word of advice I have for agencies entering creative awards is to keep your videos short – between one and

According to Jason Little, jury chair of the Design categories and creative director at Re, Sydney, the overall standard of entries in these categories was good.

“South Africans are still too conservative and influenced by international trends,” he explains. “In order to really produce excellent work they need to be more radical in their thinking. Award-winning work is work that pushes boundaries.

“Elements of the South African work that

can only call Sefafrican’.

According to O’Kelly, 2013 was perhaps not the best Pendoring ever.

“Judges felt that there was very little breakthrough work, the kind of stuff we’ve never seen before. There were some nice pieces but way too few entries in the Digital and Integrated categories.

“It seems like radio is still very popular in terms of advertisers, perhaps because it’s a channel where ideas can be executed simply without brands having to spend the big bucks. However, overall, the judges don’t believe that the work within the separate Pendoring categories was setting any new trends,” she explains.

O’Kelly points out that the Student category was very weak. “The impression was that everyone is fishing from the same inspiration pond and that most of the work felt similar in execution and craft. There was

a lack of great ideas overall.

“Digital, Mixed media, Integrated and Activations were weak categories as well, which is a pity as these should be the homes of the future stars,” states O’Kelly.

Commenting on the awards ceremony, Klerck says: “Year after year I receive overwhelmingly positive feedback from a large number of guests praising the Pendoring awards evening. This year was no exception. In fact, many have hailed this year’s gala evening as ‘the best ever’, with specific reference to its inclusive, multi-cultural vibe.

“Indeed, we consistently strive to raise the bar, not only in terms of staging a vibrant gala event with top entertainment and due recognition to the winners, but also in terms of the judging.

For example, this year only eight Gold Pendoring trophies were awarded compared to last year’s 21.”

Klerck reports that over the past two years Pendoring has also benefited handsomely from being part of Creative Week Cape Town as it is now widely recognised as being an integral part of the country’s creative industry and fraternity.

“Firmly established as South Africa’s premier ‘Truly South African’ advertising awards event, Pendoring is set to grow this section of the awards, while at the same rewarding the best Afrikaans advertising, thus putting the spotlight on advertising in all of South Africa’s indigenous languages.”

To see the full list of winners visit www.pendoring.co.za

Design talk

E

ight Gold and 26 Silver trophies were awarded in the Professional section of the Pendoring Awards, with only seven Silvers awarded in the Student section.

Says Pendoring general manager Franette Klerck: “2013 saw the introduction of two separate judging panels, for the Afrikaans section and the Truly South African section respectively. This ensured that each and every entry was judged by experts familiar with the different cultures, languages and nuances.”

Judging chairpersons – Ogilvy & Mather

Draftfcb receiving the Prestige Award

South Africa co-executive creative director Mariana O’Kelly (Afrikaans panel) and Festus Festus Masekwameng, executive creative director: Mojo MotherRussia (Truly South African panel) – oversaw 18 judges, sourced from the country’s leading ad agencies.

Says Masekwameng: “The overall standard of entries was ok though not particularly exceptional. This is especially true of the Afrikaans and Student categories. The Truly South African work was the strongest in the competition and amazing in how it reflected current affairs in sports, politics and pop culture. Well done to all the deserving winners.”

He notes that the language groups which represented the most entries in the Truly South African categories were Sotho and what he describes as ‘that universal, colloquial lingo which I

Collateral The overall standard of entries in the Print & Collateral Media categories was high, says jury chair Goetz Ulmer, executive creative director at Jung von Matt, Hamburg.

“However, I don’t find this surprising, as I have seen this from South Africa a lot in the past,” he notes. “The work is most definitely up to international standards.”

When asked if there is such a thing as a South African style in the Print & Collateral Media work, Ulmer responds: “Always black, yellow and white – ha ha! Seriously though, the work is generally well-crafted and there are a few amazing newspaper ads that I wish I would have done.”

The full list of Loerie winners can be accessed on www.loeries.com.

A ‘Truly South African’ awards event The Pendoring Advertising Awards, which recognises the best advertising in South Africa’s indigenous languages, took place on 20 September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

I saw are of international standard but more bravery is needed. There is clear opportunity in each of the Design categories to push boundaries – brands and agencies need to rise to the challenge.”

Little notes that the South African language, humour and traditional / cultural aesthetics definitely came through in the work.

“This is wonderful to see. Retaining the cultural integrity and diversity is important, and this was evident in the entries we saw,” he comments.

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 13

FILM

|

Authenticity the cornerstone of music film South African film Musiek vir die Agtergrond (Background Music) had its world premiere at the kykNET Silwerskermfees in Cape Town in August.

This was the first movie Sallas de Jager wrote, directed and produced after his success as the scribe of box-office favourites Roepman and Verraaiers.

MUSIC FOR LOVE OR MONEY? Ian Roberts

I

n 2002, Sallas de Jager joined popular Afrikaans band Klopjag with John-Henry Opperman, lead actor in Musiek vir die Agtergrond, which was named after an album the group released in 2008.

Drawing on his musical background as inspiration for the film and with invaluable inside knowledge about the music industry, De Jager says: “I am very privileged because I’ve been making music for the larger part of my professional life, which contributed to the creative headspace and environment that was necessary for the film.”

De Jager continues: “I started writing Musiek vir die Agtergrond during the filming of Roepman in 2010. The first script I wrote was called In Beginsel (In Principle) which was good enough to get me into the Sediba Spark Narrative Fiction Scriptwriting Programme at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).”

Subsequently, De Jager was selected for the NFVF’s Sediba Master Course in Scriptwriting.

Midas touch The filmmaker’s production company Bosbok Ses Films, founded with his father Piet, has delivered strong narrative dramas.

“We are privileged to have made critically acclaimed movies, but we are in our start-up years as a production company.

We still have to establish the balance between artistic satisfaction and commercial success.”

To portray the life and career shift highly talented but penniless musician Paul (John-Henry Opperman) makes in Musiek

14 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

vir die Agtergrond, while he has to choose between love and stardom, and as he is catapulted into a ruthless world for which he is ill-prepared, De Jager needed an experienced technical team.

“It’s wonderful that people say I do amazing things but it is absolutely a team effort. Each person contributes to the process. I was privileged to work with some of the most talented people in the industry, and according to me, in the world.”

Two worlds As main character Paul ‘descends’ into the world of commercial music, De Jager and cinematographer Tom Marais (Roepman, Wolwedans in die Skemer, iNumber Number), filming on the Arri Alexa, switched from handheld shots, which created a homey feeling and rough textures in the beginning, to utilising the camera on tracks.

“The moment Paul steps over the threshold and signs the recording contract there are perfect symmetrical lines in every shot. At that stage all the movements are controlled as he enters this organised, sterile environment,” says De Jager.

“Instead of just allowing the story to play out we wanted to make sure that the audience understood the subliminal messages of each sequence and to ensure that the movie entertains the viewer on each emotional level.”

He explains: “The film is about integrity and what happens when that is sacrificed.

The moment Paul comes to his senses we go back to handheld and suddenly audiences feel safe again, representative of

Tom Marais, John-Henry Opperman and Lizelle de Klerk the feeling of safety Paul regains.

“These small things, such as camera adjustments, and hair and costume changes to symbolise the two worlds, were really important.”

Challenges According to De Jager, one of the biggest challenges was portraying the music industry as accurately as possible. “I put a lot of effort in showing how important originality is in that world and how difficult it is for musicians to conform and go a commercial route when they don’t really want to. I needed to convey the message of how difficult this decision was for Paul and what drives him to make that choice.”

“Directorially, the biggest joy was to make a good contemporary movie although it was much more difficult than I thought it would be,” comments De Jager.

“Creative writing instructor Robert McKee says ‘authenticity brings authority’.

“Therefore, the trick in writing and filming

Musiek vir die Agtergrond was to create and maintain characters that were authentic. Audiences have to believe the characters in order to be moved emotionally. It is a type of domino effect that plays off itself.”

Musiek vir die Agtergrond was shot in February and March 2013 in more than 20 locations across South Africa. Postproduction was done by The Refinery in Johannesburg.

Waldemar Coetsee was production designer, Mandy Roberts edited, Janno Muller was responsible for sound design, Marle Drotsky did the costumes, Julia Rubinstein was in charge of make-up while Ferdi Burger was first AD. Director and actor Paul Eilers was executive producer and assisted the actors throughout filming.

De Jager says he ultimately strives to become an auteur. “I am confident when I say that my, and the crew’s, goal is to continue getting better at what we do and I believe that we have achieved that with each successive movie.”

The film won two awards at the Silwerskermfees. John-Henry Opperman received a special mention for his work as leading man while Lizelle de Klerk was chosen as best actress in a feature film.

Co-produced by The Film Factory and D Street Pictures, the movie releases on 11 October nationwide through South African distributor Ster-Kinekor.

De Jager’s next film, which he produced and with Eilers as director, Stuur Groete aan Mannetjies Roux (Regards to Mannetjies Roux) is in post-production at The Refinery and will release theatrically on 13 December 2013. – Martie Bester

| Film

Pushing VFX and editing boundaries

By Martie Bester At the 2013 kykNET Silwerskermfees in August in Cape Town 13 new Afrikaans short films had their international premieres. Original, highly innovative and imaginative, drawing on real-life events for inspiration and fictional portrayals, these movies all earned their big screen time. One film in particular, Prinses (Princess), stood out in terms of its superior visual effects (VFX) and editing quality.

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roduced by JC Snooke and Jennis Williamson of Life in a Bulb Productions in Johannesburg, Prinses, a supernatural thriller, touches on an intergenerational curse and a child’s possession.

“We watched a lot of movies to capture the essence of a thriller (of this nature). The movie Mama by Andre Mushietti was an important reference for us,” says Snooke.

Shooting over four days the producers had to ensure they had the right equipment to create the desired effect on camera. “It was difficult to negotiate the right gear but thanks to our cinematographer Justus de Jager, head gaffer Riaan Hanekom and Media Film Service this process was easier,” comments Snooke.

He continues: “Post-production was the most difficult aspect because you have to trust your team completely. We had an incredible team at FiX Post Production with C.A. van Aswegen in charge.”

Says Van Aswegen: “While in the brainstorming phase during pre-production we had various discussions with Jennis and JC as well as director Morné du Toit about keeping the film grounded and authentic. One of the big concerns around VFX is usually that these aspects tend to ‘want’ to stand out and draw attention, which is exactly what we didn’t want.

“So our approach from the beginning was to do as many of the VFX in camera and edit and save the final VFX process for clean-ups and enhancements and the very focused shots that had to stand out.

“In the end, the biggest challenge with this type of project is always the time constraints. The film was in post-production for 12 days and we only had five days to do all the VFX shots,

including all the rig removals, composites and 3D elements for all 40 shots.”

Unusual genre Van Aswegen stresses that Prinses explores a genre that hasn’t really been dealt with in South Africa and it goes further by doing that in Afrikaans. “All the conceptualisation around the film was completely dictated by the parameters of the script.

“The style, look and feel all had to seamlessly align with the narrative. During many brainstorming sessions with Morné, who also wrote the script and had an intricate understanding of the motivations behind every decision, we finally turned to the sub-text of the film as our main cues for the VFX design direction.”

Van Aswegen observes: “There has been, generally speaking, a certain fear of the unknown around VFX in narrative feature films. However, over the past couple of years a slow exploration of the world of VFX has started to emerge, albeit in a very conservative and tentative manner.

“I believe it is time for the new generation of filmmakers to embrace the endless possibilities that awaits us in the world of VFX filmmaking. And I think Prinses was very much our attempt to start pushing the boundaries of what can be possible.”

According to Van Aswegen the VFX of the film can be divided into two subcategories. “Firstly there are the ‘edit effects’ and then we have the ‘viusal effects’. The edit effects, which are all the time manipulation, ghosting and image break-ups, formed part of the five days that I had to edit the film.

“Once we had the picture locked, the visual effects guys started working on the rig removals, the eye replacements and the

manifestation of the ghost – they had a total of five days to do that.

“While they worked on the VFX shots, we carried on with the sound design, score, online, grade and final finish of the rest of the film. The visual effects team would deliver a shot and Morné and I would approve it or send it back for further tweaks.”

Music Quinn Lubbe, also of FiX Post Production, wrote the original soundtrack. He says: “I listen to and am influenced by a wide variety of composers, but my favourite is Danny Elfman (Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow). There is an odd quality to his music that always hints at something that is a little off or strange which I really enjoy and that I thought would be perfect for Prinses.

He adds: “The editor plays a crucial role in conducting the orchestra of pictures just as I need to conduct the music to complement the story. On Prinses, C.A.’s input was crucial in achieving the final sound of the film.”

Lubbe believes that every element of a film contributes in telling a story and so too the music should always help drive and complement the narrative.

“I had roughly three days to write the music as the film needed to be completed in a very short period. Although this was probably the biggest challenge, it also made the process hugely rewarding as I had to go with what my instincts were telling me and it was interesting to see the results,” he concludes.

Prinses was filmed on the Epic RED at the Moerdijk House in Pretoria with 30 crew and cast members.

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 15

FILM

|

Persuasive promotion International film promotion expert Álvaro Vega presented a master class on marketing and publicity for cinema at the recent Durban FilmMart. Vega has promoted more than 70 films such as Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy and international productions by David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, Mike Leigh and Sofia Coppola.

technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies.

Vega said: “Transmedia is the biggest star in marketing right now. However, it is simply an evolution of the same work we’ve being doing for ages. It’s a mixture between the huge amount of communicative resources we contend with nowadays.

“With transmedia your film can generate other parallel stories apart from your cinema story that allows it to target other media, other sectors and other people. If your film is, for example, based on a novel, try to find the way of involving not only the cinema goers but also the readers.”

Vega emphasised the importance of persuasion in the process of communication. “This may be the most tricky part of this job. The capabilities to persuade are difficult to learn, it’s an art based on personal and social skills that some people just have. Apart from good communication skills, charisma, empathy, honesty and a huge knowledge and love for the human being could be the persuasion cocktail.”

MAKE FILMS FOR AUDIENCES, FOR PEOPLE: Álvaro Vega

“T

he better filmmakers know their own products the better their decisions in terms of price, place and promotion. This means focusing on how much their target audience is willing to pay for their products (price), where audiences can find the products (place) and how they’ll know that the products exist (promotion),” said Álvaro Vega.

“As a science based on human behaviour and common sense, marketing is about finding the right answers,” continued Vega.

“Because competition is so fierce in the industry, filmmakers all maintain the standard of how to write, produce, shoot, promote, and so forth. However, it’s essential to find a uniqueness about your project, to discover something different about it at any of these stages. This will make the key difference between having just one more ‘product’ to promote or one that stands out from the crowd.”

Distribution Vega said self-distribution of films is still an emergency way out and shouldn’t be a goal unless it is part of the spirit of the project.

“The right film and / or product for the market should be able to walk the classical path of distribution.”

He advised filmmakers to try and get their films selected for festivals as well as to find international sales agents who sell films to national distributors and then to TV, DVD

16 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

By Martie Bester

and VOD. “This is the time for experimenting in cinema and apart from simultaneous releases on several platforms some new ways of distribution are also popping up, which means productions are mainly put on the internet as it is the most social and internationally approachable tool. Online film festivals and free releases online give filmmakers the chance of achieving other windows afterwards but, as mentioned, they are still experiments.”

Audience Vega stressed that the essential aspect of promotion is always to think of the audience. “We make films for audiences, for people, so we also communicate for them.

Under this premise, it is valuable to know what audiences cherish.

“Then it’s a matter of knowledge. Know your target audience and you will be able to start to create what they find valuable. Think about their likes, interests, behaviours, concerns, social and demographic issues, and so on. While some people would consider a cast full of celebrities as valuable, others might regard it as the opposite,” he commented.

Transmedia According to Wikipedia transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the

Films never die He continued: “Cinema and music are the most popular forms of entertainment in the world and generate huge amounts of content daily in every kind of outlet. That’s why we need to provide different kinds of material that benefit all manner of communication.

“Press kits that contain general information about the film, posters and photos for print and online media, audio clips for radio stations, audio-visual materials for television and online are also necessary.” Vega said promoting a film through videos, games, merchandising and apps is vital to spread information. After that he suggested drawing up a press release distribution calendar for vital promotion purposes.

“After the press releases, the follow up is essential. Films never die, so promoters should communicate every important aspect that happens at any time. Send out information about film festival screenings, awards or nominations and other platforms of release. After its release, a well-promoted film makes things much easier for the next step in the careers of producers, directors and actors.” Álvaro Vega graduated in marketing, advertising and PR and managed the marketing and publicity for Vertigo Films, one of the main Spanish distributors.

Currently Vega is the CEO and founder of DobleSentido, his own marketing, communication, events and training agency which specialises in cinema.

Compiled by Martie Bester

| Film

Director Speak ‘Nothing will stop me from reaching my dream.’

South African writer and director Jahmil XT Qubeka’s has described his latest film Of Good Report as ‘Red Riding Hood from the wolf’s perspective’. Following the ‘banning’ of the movie at the opening night of the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), Of Good Report has subsequently screened in theatres across South Africa, was officially selected for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has been picked up for international distribution. Never shying away from controversy, this is Qubeka’s third film after the provocative and celebrated features uMalusi and A Small Town Called Descent.

CLEAR VISION: Jahmil XT Qubeka WHAT TRULY INSPIRES YOU? Life inspires me, the genesis of humanity in this realm of forms is what I am all about. What lies beneath the surface, the face behind the many masks we wear. Where we come from, why we are here and where we are going.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WANTED TO BE A FILMMAKER AND HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? When I look back I now realise that I have always been a filmmaker. When I play out my childhood in my head I distinctly remember how I was always full of stories.

A Burt Reynolds film in which he played a stuntman on a movie set gave me my first glimpse of the world behind the scenes. Then I really became aware of the director’s role when I watched an old flick in which Peter O’ Toole played a deranged filmmaker who drove his cast to the edge. Even though he was totally nuts, I understood him, I knew what he was all about.

When I was 11 I watched an insert on Carte Blanche which was a video diary that Mel Gibson made during the making of Franco Zifferelli’s Hamlet. In it he shared his inner most fears about acting. That’s when I knew who and what I was. Nothing was going to stop me from reaching my dreams...

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT OF GOOD REPORT’S SCREENING AT TIFF? I have always coveted being selected for this festival.

Having just returned from Toronto I really feel like I have found a festival home for my work. Each of our three screenings was a full house and that meant everything to me.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A DIRECTOR? I would describe myself as being collaborative yet at the same time I have a very clear vision of what I want. I respect everyone who I work with but get on my bad side and I will let you know it. If I am unhappy with something I will communicate it to you.

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE TOP FILMS OF ALL TIME AND WHY? My top 10 movies change all of the time. Right now, I would say, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane tops my list. It’s such a timeless and ground-breaking piece of filmmaking.

Every young boy at heart should see Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jones. I can’t think of a movie that captures the spirit of childhood like this film does.

A very recent addition to this list is Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England. I just saw it at TIFF, it is a bizarre and extraordinarily cool piece of filmmaking.

WHICH PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON? I have 19 pictures on my development slate. I hope to make at least 50 pictures before I die, that is my goal in life. I want to be as prolific as the great directors of Hollywood’s bygone era who churned out quality film after quality film.

I tip my hat to masters such as Vincent Minnelli, Elia Kazan, John Ford and Al Hitchcock. The list goes on...

WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU’D KNOWN WHEN YOU STARTED OUT AS A DIRECTOR? Two things spring to mind. That it’s just making films, it’s not the be all and end all of who I am.

And that casting is more than half of a director’s job. You cast right and you are halfway there.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN OF GOOD REPORT WAS ESSENTIALLY ‘BANNED’ AS THE OPENING NIGHT FILM OF DIFF? I felt numb and embarrassed for my country. I always knew that I would be exonerated and that everyone would be asking why this happened in the first place.

HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW THAT OF GOOD REPORT HAS BEEN RELEASED AND HAS RECEIVED SUCH POSITIVE FEEDBACK? As a filmmaker all you want is for your work to be seen and

to be engaged with. The banning briefly took that away from me. That is why I responded in the manner I did, for a moment my voice was silenced and my only response was to fight back. I am still fighting, if anything to ensure that such an absurd episode never happens again in the country I was born in.

WHAT WERE YOUR MAIN INTENTIONS WHEN MAKING OF GOOD REPORT AND THE MESSAGE YOU WANTED TO CONVEY WITH THE FILM? I set out to explore the male psyche and why we are so angry, either consciously or not, at women. I wanted to unpack the misogyny that is prevalent in man, not just at home, but all across the planet. It needed to be unpacked in an honest and visceral manner. In cloaking this theme in a serial killer origins story I hoped to achieve it without preaching to my audience. I reckon I have succeeded.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTORS IN THE LOCAL INDUSTRY AND WHY? Everyone is my mentor. I try to learn from each person I encounter. In regards to the technical elements of the craft my ‘Yoda’ is filmmaker and photographer Daron Chatz. He is a generous and selfless mensch who took the time to teach a young, wet-behind-the-ears dreamer everything he knows. I would go to war if that dude asked me to.

HOW DO YOU CHILL OUT? I smoke pot and play FIFA on the PlayStation. I also run a lot and a good gym session puts my mind at ease.

IF YOUR LIFE HAD A SOUNDTRACK WHAT SONGS WOULD BE ON IT? Kanye West’s New God Flow, The Eagles’ Hotel California and Marvin Gaye’s I Want You. Those tracks, among many others, keep me dreaming...

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER HIGHLIGHT? Every time I shout: “That’s a wrap!”

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 17

Television

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Reality series reinvents education

By Joanna Sterkowicz Based on a reality format created by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Fresh One Productions, MySchool Dream School SA shows what happens when 15 school drop-outs are given a second chance to study at a school where celebrity teachers share their knowledge.

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xecutive producer Markus Davies (Battleground Afghanistan, Hola, Lappies, Lupa) of South African company Little Leo Films believes there has been a shift in the reality genre, in that audiences now want meaningful content with an inspirational element.

“I think MySchool Dream School SA will change television as it’s a reality show with positive results. It’s ‘more-ish’ because once you see a bit, you want more. This is reality TV at its best – an awareness show that will get people talking. The ultimate object of the show is to encourage the 15 students to get their matric,” says Davies.

A 13-part, half-hour series, MySchool Dream School SA was shot over two weeks in Cape Town in August 2013 and is set for broadcast on a soon-to-be confirmed local channel later this year.

Davies initiated the project over two years ago when he attended a master class on television formats in Canada.

“It was here that I met Jamie Oliver and became aware of his show, Jamie’s Dream School, which aired on Channel 4 in 2011.

I totally fell in love with the Dream School format.

“The American version of the show broadcasts on the Sundance Channel and has celebrity teachers like 50 Cent, will.i.am, Oliver Stone, Sarah Jessica Parker and John McEnroe,” explains Davies.

He set about finding sponsors for the South African show. “MySchool in partnership with Woolworths was a perfect choice for sponsorship because of its corporate branding and structure. Other sponsors were The Core Group, which donated iPads, while iSchool Africa supplied all the computers. This was hugely important because I wanted the kids to experience technology as it’s the future of education.”

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MAKING THE GRADE: The crew shooting a scene for MySchool Dream School SA

Paul Yule

Helene Brand of MySchool points out that MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet currently raises over R3m per month for schools and charities.

“During the flighting of MySchool Dream School SA we aim to increase our card holders to one million, enabling us to raise R1m per week. With our ongoing focus to contribute to the upliftment of education in South Africa, we felt that supporting a television series that aims to inspire learners to complete their high school education would be a perfect fit for us.

“Our hope is that this show encourages positive and proactive conversations between parents and learners. Doing just a little does a lot and we hope that we have contributed to change the lives of our 15 Dream School learners, and will inspire

more young people to do the same,” says Brand.

Crew and cast Davies brought on Paul Yule to direct the South African series. Yule has worked a lot in the UK with Roy Ackerman, the MD of Fresh One Productions, on award-winning documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 about Basil d’Oliveira and Hansie Cronjé.

Says Yule: “I’d previously worked with Johan Volsteedt, then-headmaster of Grey College in Bloemfontein, on the Hansie Cronjé film. Johan had just retired from Grey and so I asked him to become Headmaster of Dream School SA. Then, an architect friend of mine, Joe Noero, who has done a lot of work at St Cyprian’s School

Markus Davies

in Cape Town, suggested that we shoot at the school with its wonderful facilities and extraordinary setting right below Table Mountain.”

Together with publicist Joy Sapieka, Yule and Davies began to compile a list of potential celebrity teachers, including singer Zolani from Freshly Ground; cricketer Paul Adams; Professor Jonathan Jansen,

head of Free State University; Rivonia triallist Dennis Goldberg; maths teacher Jennifer Jones; and ballet dancer Philip Boyd, among others. Popular Highveld Stereo radio personality Anele Mdoda presents the series.

According to Yule, sourcing the kids proved to be more challenging than securing the celebrities. “We were looking for drop-outs from school, or at least kids who were struggling badly, but the schools themselves kept putting forward their star learners! In the end a talented casting team interviewed and did screen tests on dozens of kids. We also organised an online campaign nationally, co-ordinated by our media partners You / Drum / Huisgenoot.

After that, it was just a matter of putting together a first-class crew, with the excellent Adam Asmal as DOP, and creating a school timetable for us to shoot around.”

Davies adds that the cast is from all over South Africa as the show needed to be demographically representative. He has also set up a MySchool Dream Trust to look after the kids.

Yule and Davies did their best to create an atmosphere of trust on set. The kids were also given their own iPads so they could shoot their own footage, some of which is included in the series.

A three-camera team used Sony EX3 cameras, adjusted to shoot at the highest bit rate of 35Mb/sec. All material was captured at 1920 x 1080.

Yule continues: “The shoot was a very happy one and the kids mostly made amazing progress. For them there was an obvious sense of achievement in actually getting to the end of the school term.

“In storytelling terms, there was also lots of conflict – both between the teachers and the kids and between some of the kids themselves. My job was therefore to be alive to what was going on beneath the surface and to capture that.”

Davies adds: “The subject matter called for a highly experienced, disciplined crew to observe and not interfere with the kids. I really applaud Paul (Yule) and his team.”

Yule describes MySchool Dream School SA as using the medium of television to inspire kids (and their parents) to value what is really important about education.

“It is about how to use education, providing techniques to actually make school meaningful in young people’s lives – and you get to see the results. Above all though, I feel that Dream School SA is a series of wonderful stories about a bunch of 15 kids who represent the future of South Africa. And it turns out there’s lots for us to be optimistic about,” concludes Yule.

Virtual editing environment Post-production supervisor Richard Starkey believes that the most interesting aspect of the postproduction on MySchool Dream School SA is that it is taking place in a decentralised or virtual environment.

Says Starkey: “I’m co-ordinating three editors working on Final Cut Pro, one animation company, one director, one producer, two separate sponsors and their colleagues and one TV station, which has different departments for its promos and the actual episodes.

“I’m working from home in Vredehoek together with lead editor Andrea Shaw, but the others are working in Kenilworth, Muizenberg, Noordhoek and the Cape Town City Bowl. And the TV station is in Johannesburg.”

The editing team has five identical copies of the footage and uses a Dropbox system to upload small project files that link to the person’s local material so the editors can share edits without uploading big Quicktimes every time.

“I think it’s the way of the future, with hard drives becoming cheaper and bandwidth doing the same,” he comments.

Starkey estimates that the cameramen accumulated about 280 hours of EX3 footage, as well as iPad footage shot by the kids in their dormitories.

“The iPads each had 1Gig of data already loaded and most of the kids reached their cap after the first night,” he adds. “In the series we use the iPad footage inside a graphic of an iPad rather than using it as HD footage because it will never look the same as the HD. It’s got a really great feel though and gives us an insight into the behaviour of the kids that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.”

Cape Town facility RGB and Alpha did the animated sequences in the series.

Davies has sent the some episodes to Jamie Oliver to view. “I’m happy to report that Jamie’s delighted with the results. Part of producing a show like this in South Africa is to sell it to other countries. I’m encouraged by the fact that there is strong interest from Channel 4 as well as the US. “MySchool Dream School SA is a solid multi-platform application which encourages interaction. As ballet teacher Philip Boyd tells one of the students: ‘There is no such thing as can’t.’ This show has the universal message: ‘You can; you can pass matric’.”

Has the DoC’s dithering left digital dead in the water?

By Sekoetlane Jacob Phamodi

In 2008, the Department of Communications (DoC) promised us the dawn of a new, golden age in broadcasting. Digital terrestrial television (DTT), we were told, would open South Africa up to high definition (HD) television as a standard, better audio quality in the language of our choice, and even the capability to use our televisions to access government e-services. More importantly, perhaps, the advent of DTT promised more channels, particularly regarding the South African public broadcaster, the SABC, for public-oriented programming.

Being the single largest information and mass communication medium in the country, with a penetration of about 10.7m of the 14.7m households, the SABC plays a critical role in facilitating a national dialogue about the society we imagine for ourselves. Through public programming, it also offers a new hope for the majority of these households who would otherwise have no meaningful access to information on what possibilities exist for them to unlock the opportunities that will enrich their lives.

Five years later, the promise of DTT doesn’t look any more real a possibility than it did in 2008. Instead, as a direct result of an inordinately high turnover of Ministers of Communications and a lack of strong and decisive leadership, DTT is being swiftly overtaken by an inexorable influx of profit-driven commercial satellite broadcasters, to the detriment of public programming.

The rate at which DTT is (not) unfolding in South Africa shows a picture of a project in crisis. South Africa’s DTT dream has effectively become a digital disaster for both the SABC and ordinary people alike: • In the last year alone we’ve seen the DTT commercial launch date change no less than four times; • The manufacture of the set-top boxes (STBs) (or decoders) that will enable the public to receive the new digital signal on their televisions has been interdicted by a commercial broadcaster whose sister company is an emerging satellite broadcaster set on locking users to its own platform; • Because of the choice it offers, subscription satellite broadcasting services are swiftly becoming ubiquitous across affluent suburbs and low income townships alike; and • All too little is being done to equip the SABC, the institution tasked with the singularly important task of delivering public programming that reflects, re-imagines and empowers the public it serves, with the ability to provide additional channels that will incentivise public take-up of the new DTT technology.

And all this is to the detriment of the public broadcaster and, more importantly, public programming which carries inherent public value!

Right now, more than ever, we need brave and decisive leadership from the DoC. A kind of leadership which fully appreciates the ground DTT has lost to commercial satellite broadcasting and the impact this will have on, most especially, poor and indigent households. A kind of leadership that will save public programming in the public interest so that no-one is left behind before this inherent public value is lost altogether.

Sekoetlane Jacob Phamodi is the campaign organiser for the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition. Follow them on Twitter @soscoalition and on Facebook.

Visit: www.soscoalition.org.za

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 19

IBC

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REPORT

‘What caught my eye at IBC’

By Ian Dormer

As the doors closed on the recent IBC2013 show in Amsterdam, a total of 52 974 conference delegates, exhibition visitors, exhibitors and press from all over the world had passed through its doors, intent on learning about the latest technologies involved in the creation, management and delivery of news, sport and entertainment content.

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ore than 1 400 exhibitors filled the 14 halls at Amsterdam RAI and its outdoor exhibition area. As always the conference sessions were a huge success with 431 speakers, from the heads of some of the major broadcasters to technical specialists, highlighting the ever evolving changes in broadcasting.

Special guests of IBC included His Highness Prince Fahad al Saud, creator of Borgen and The Killing, and Indian superstar and veteran of 185 films, Amitabh Bachchan.

More than 140 CEOs and senior executives of the largest media businesses attended the IBC Leaders’ Summit. This year the debate theme was, ‘Please Adjust Your Set: Retuning Your Strategy for the Connected Era’, and discussed how the industry has to refocus its strategy to seize new opportunities.

IBC always focuses on those just entering the industry with its Rising Stars programme, this year giving 249 young delegates the benefits from special coaching and orientation sessions, as well as the opportunity to network with their peers.

As a visitor, it’s always difficult to see everything at the exhibition and conference with the sheer diversity of the industry and the immense scale of products on show.

Splitting your time between stand visits and conference sessions, one soon picks up on trends and themes that shine through, and this year, there was very clear interest being shown in two major fields – cloud services and 4K. It is evident that 4K is here and here to stay. Unlike stereoscopic 3D (which I think

20 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

we can finally put to bed) the development of the SuperHD format, from cameras to video processing and monitors to transmission methods, has exploded.

Post-production techniques are in place, 4K TV sets are available and projection of 4K is possible, but the true success to 4K is in acquisition and there are a number of cameras that really caught my eye.

Latest cameras

ARRI announced the release of its shoulder mount camera, the ARRI AMIRA, a versatile documentary-style camera featuring the same sensor and exceptional image quality as the ARRI ALEXA. Boasting a dynamic range of more than 14 stops, low noise levels, subtle highlight handling, natural colour rendering, breath-taking skin tones and speeds of up to 200 fps, the AMIRA is beautiful and will answer the needs of many a camera professional.

Sony has always been at the forefront of

technology and its F55 and F65 cameras have already taken centre stage for performance and technology. But it’s a small addition to its 4K stable that impressed me most – the PXW-Z100 – a professional 4K handheld XDCAM camcorder. The camera marks Sony’s latest step in expanding the 4K world to everyone. It uses the XAVC recording format first used in the PMW-F55 CineAlta camera. A clever addition is full WiFi control: focus, zoom, aperture settings and ‘record start/stop’ can be remote-controlled using the browser function of a smartphone or tablet.

Of interest too is that Canon’s 4K-capable DSLR, the EOS-1D C, has been cleared for Tier 1 HD acquisition by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This means that the EOS-1D C camera system and its imaging performance comply with the recommended specification for inclusion in HD Tier 1 production, which covers shoulder mounted professional single or three-sensor cameras.

Slow motion As sport broadcasts top the ratings worldwide, a lot of interest was shown in the

Slomo.TV stand. A Russian technology company, Slomo.TV manufactures what is dubbed the world’s smallest replay machine; Simple R. In industry terms Simple R is an 8-channel instant replay device with slow motion.

While currently only available in SD and HD models, the technology is extremely clever and this is one company to look out for in the future.

Display technologies A regular feature of the exhibition is the IBC Production Insight stage. This year they showcased the latest in LED screen technologies. There were hundreds of monitors on display, some impressive, some super impressive. I overheard one vendor stating that with predicted LED and silicone advancements over the next few years, the only hindrance in 4K technology for monitors will be the size of your front door!

It was here that I found another little gem, the Spyder monitor colour calibration unit from Atmos, manufacturers of the Samurai Blade – an external monitor, recording device and deck that attaches to almost any camera. Colour calibration is normally only available on high-end monitors; the Spyder gives the ability to accurately calibrate almost any monitor to the SMPTE Rec 709 colour space with a D65 white point with 100% gamut.

Initially developed for the Samurai Blade only, the partners are finalising development for use on a number of monitors including smart phones and iPads used on set, a clever gadget indeed.

IBC Prototype preview Visitors got a glimpse of what might be headline news at IBC in years to come in the Future Zone, where researchers could share their ideas in prototype. Highlights included demonstrations of the benefits of higher frame rate television systems and the development of IP connectivity in the broadcast environment.

The IBC Big Screen was once more home to complimentary movie screenings, of The Wolverine, ‘courtesy of 20th Century Fox’ and Top Gun 3D, ‘courtesy of Paramount Pictures’, as well as demonstrations of some of the latest cinema gear.

Audio In the audio world, Avid demonstrated its entirely flexible, scalable and customisable, new S6 audio control surface. The S6 has been designed ‘to grow with you at every stage of your business – now and in the future’, the company says.

How? Through a clever, modular design which enables users to build their own work surface.

Of course, S6 is also the ultimate Pro Tools partner, offering efficient workflow through visual feedback and features unique to Avid, but what’s really innovative is that control can be extended to Logic Pro, Nuendo and other EUCON-enabled DAWs, so projects can be mixed on multiple workstations simultaneously from a single control surface.

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REPORT

From software to storage, cloud services are evolving at a rapid rate. For me Sony once again stole the show with the debut of its new production applications and wireless camera integration through the launch of Ci, a dynamic cloud-based video production and library platform, making enterprise-grade capabilities available to creative professionals at all levels, from studios and broadcasters to independent production companies, marketing teams and creative individuals – without the need to buy or maintain costly infrastructure. Pie in the sky? No way, watch this space!

IBC Content Everywhere Following the successes of IBC through the years, the organisers are increasing their global presence by implementing IBC Content Everywhere.

Additional IBC shows will take place in 2014/15 in Amsterdam, Dubai and São Paulo and will cover rich media production, devices, apps, investment, digital marketing, social media, content personalisation, big data, cloud services, second screens and much more. These new events are in direct response to requests from existing attendees at IBC. As always, IBC provided an insight into the future of broadcasting and the exciting thing for me is that after my experience in 2013 – the future looks as bright as ever…all in stunning 4K resolution!

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 21

IBC

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REPORT

Live streaming with JVC JVC demonstrated three main product areas at IBC2013: cameras, monitors and its new tour truck. The main highlight of the show was the live streaming feature offered by the latest version of the GY-HM650 camcorder, which has the ability to stream broadcast-quality images while also recording full HD. In order to demonstrate this convergence of conventional broadcasting and streaming, JVC broadcast a twice-daily show, streamed live from IBC, introducing the advantages of live streaming via the EBU-approved GY-HM650 camcorder.

JVC also launched its latest GY-HM650 promotional tour at the show with a new truck located in the outdoor area of the Amsterdam RAI. This vehicle is fitted with the company’s camera products, and demonstrated mobile connectivity offered by the GY-HM650.

The company recently introduced firmware version 2.0 for the GY-HM650 camcorder. Ideal for news, sport, production and web applications, the innovative live streaming feature of this camcorder enables footage to be streamed live at the same time as recording full HD to the SDHC/SDXC memory card.

When equipped with WiFi, 4G or 3G connectivity via USB, the GY-HM650 can stream live video transmissions via a network connection while simultaneously recording full HD footage.

Dual encoder “Thanks to the camera’s integrated dual encoder, it has never been easier to stream video via high-speed satellite networks, and no single ‘bit’ of your recordings will ever be lost. Many of our European customers also wanted the ability to stream SD images as well as 1280x720 and 1920x1080 full HD, so this has also been added to the camera’s functionality. With the latest version of firmware, the camera can now stream SD at a choice of 0.3 / 0.5 / 1.5 / 3 / 5Mbps rates, 1280x720 HD resolution at 1.5 / 3 / 5Mbps, and 1920x1080 resolution at 2.5 / 5 / 8Mbps rates,” said JVC Kenwood’s general manager Christopher Darnley.

Equipped with three full-HD 1/3-inch

12-bit CMOS sensors and an integrated wide angle 23x autofocus zoom lens, the camera features exceptional light sensitivity of F12 at 2000 lux.

“And, thanks to dual JVC codecs,” continued Darnley, “the camera records ready-to-edit: .MOV and XDCAM EXTM compatible MP4 or MXF files with rich, descriptive metadata on one memory card, while simultaneously creating smaller, web-friendly files on a second card.

Alternatively, record on the main SD card and simultaneously transfer the material as a live stream via a network connection.

“Video can be broadcast in the background via FTP thanks to the ‘clip trimming’ function, which allows the user to select, copy and dub particular sequences by a single button push, and it’s now also possible to directly control the metadata from the screen. In addition, the latest firmware update brings advances to the control and storage settings, together with improvements in image quality and an innovative autofocus algorithm.”

Thanks to a company called Blitzeinschlag (www.Video-Stream-Hosting. de), JVC’s live stream at IBC could be followed by up to 500 users on the company’s website at the same time.

Outside of the live broadcasts, viewers were able to follow the events as they happened from JVC’s IBC stand.

Prototype monitor The combination of the GY-HMQ10 camcorder and the new prototype PS-840UD monitor, with its huge screen diagonal of 84” (215cm) and a native resolution of up to 3840x2160 pixels made for impressive viewing at IBC. Meanwhile, the GY-HMQ10 camcorder is equipped with a 4K-compatible HD lens (F2.8, 10x zoom) and an innovative Falconbrid LSI (Large Scale Integration) chip that delivers extremely fast HD imaging.

With its 1 / 2.3” CMOS image converter (8.3 million active pixels), the compact handheld camcorder delivers 24p and 50p recordings with resolution four times that of HD (3840x2160 pixels). The camcorder can also be used as a normal HD camcorder, since

JVC GY-HM70 camera

22 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

video can be recorded in full HD (1920x1080) at 50p or 50i in AVCHD format on a simple SDHC/SDXC memory card.

Like the GY-HM650, the GY-HM600 has also received a firmware update, with the following changes: two additional AVCHD modes JVC PS-840UD monitor have been added (1440x1080, 5 Mbps = EP mode); significant enhancements of the Said Darnley: “The GY-HM70 has encoder in terms of the SD recording excellent low light performance making it quality; an expand focus function that suitable for documentaries, events, allows zooming and precise setting of the weddings, conferences and other situations focus point; plus direct access to the where artificial light wouldn’t be desired. In favourites menu. addition, the camcorder features intelligent Other improvements have been made to automatic functions and special features the adjustment settings of important signal including time lapse recording from 1-80 parameters using the ‘knee point setting’; seconds and a slow-motion function to the advanced white maximum has been record at speeds of up to 250 frames per increased to 103%; and there’s simplified second.” application of the ND-filter, ie. an overexposure warning. The new firmware GY-HM150 (Version 2.04) is available for both the GY-HM600 and GY-HM650 and can be JVC also demonstrated its compact downloaded for free via JVC’s website at GY-HM150 handheld camcorder, which www.jvcpro.eu. offers full HD 35Mbps recording to SDHC / SDXC cards in ready-to-edit formats such as Shoulder-mount QuickTime (.MOV), XDCAM EX or MP4.

Weighing just 1.4kg, the GY-HM150 is the camcorder ideal camcorder for journalists, VJs and those relying on mobile flexibility and a fast The cost-effective GY-HM70 camcorder will workflow. appeal to event videographers and Also on show at IBC was the broadcasteducational users who want a full-sized, quality shoulder-mount GY-HM750 shoulder-mount camcorder but have camcorder, which offers the same simple limited budgets. Built around a 1/2.3-inch shoot-to-edit workflow via a choice of .MOV 12 megapixel CMOS imager and JVC’s and .MP4 file formats. Recording 720p, advanced FALCONBRID high-speed 1080p or 1080i images at up to 35Mbps to processor, the camera records 1080/50p, readily available SDHC / SDXC cards, the 1080/50i and 576/50i (SD) footage in the camera can record to both card slots AVCHD Progressive format to dual SDHC/ simultaneously for backup purposes, or SDXC memory cards. switch between slots for seamless relay The GY-HM70 offers a number of recording. innovative features, including JVC’s Optionally, the model allows for hot-swappable dual battery system, which recordings in SD (576i) at a data rate of allows for hours of continuous, 25Mbps. Finally the flexible GY-HM790 uninterrupted shooting. It also includes a studio camera was displayed as both an high quality 29.5mm wide-angle GT lens ENG camera and also with its FS-790 fibre that offers smooth 16x dynamic zoom system in studio configuration. Perfect for a performance, as well as an optical image wide range of applications, including live stabiliser, auto focus, focus assist, and events, sport, documentaries and news, the manual focus, iris and shutter controls. flagship GY-HM790 delivers an exceptional image and the same fast editing workflow as offered by all JVC camcorders.

JVC is well respected for its professional monitors for both production and presentation applications, and IBC played host to the full range from the company.

There was the flagship DT-V Series and DT-E Series of professional production monitors, the portable DT-X Series models and two new large screen LCD models – the PS-420W and PS-470W. In addition, JVC showed its new full HD 55” IPS – the GM-552 – along with a new monitor bridge (DT-X51HX3) that features three HD LCD panels. With exceptional image quality and high reliability, JVC’s monitors deliver the features and performance that professionals demand.

JVC GY-HM650 camera

GY-HM650 | HD ENG camcorder

LIGHTNING SPEED GLOBAL CONTENT DELIVERY

For further information on our camcorders, please visit our website at www.jvcpro.eu.

GY-HM650 ProHD upgradeable mobile news and production camera now features live streaming The GY-HM650 now makes live video streaming possible. When equipped with wi-fi, 4G or 3G connectivity via USB, the GY-HM650 can stream live video transmissions in the background while continuing to record footage.

The camcorder is upgradeable too – if you already own a GY-HM650, it can simply be upgraded via our website, providing the latest streaming functionality together with any future updates for free.

Equipped with three full-HD sensors and an integrated wide angle 23x autofocus zoom lens, the camcorder delivers exceptional light sensitivity of F12 at 2000 lux. In addition, thanks to dual JVC codecs, it records .MOV and XDCAM EXTM compatible MP4 or MXF files with rich, descriptive metadata on one memory card, while simultaneously creating smaller, web-friendly files on a second card.

T: +971 4816 5200 • E: cdarnley@ae.jvckenwood.com

IBC

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REPORT

The ubiquitous Avid At IBC Avid presented details of its Avid Everywhere vision for the industry, which is about enabling creative professionals and media organisations to connect with their audiences in a more powerful, efficient, collaborative, and profitable way. The following Q&A with Avid president and CEO Louis Hernandez, Jr. provides insight into the Avid Everywhere white paper and details the products the company showcased at IBC.

Louis Hernandez Jr.

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Avid S6 mixing control surface WHAT IS AVID’S STRATEGIC VISION? LHJ: With the consumerisation and digitisation of content, media professionals are facing unprecedented challenges, and the industry needs a leader to step forward and provide the direction we are offering with the Avid Everywhere vision. This vision will manifest itself as the most fluid end-to-end distributed media production environment in the industry, a comprehensive ecosystem that encompasses every aspect of the new digital media value chain.

We invite the South African film and television industry to download and read this white paper (avid.com/everywhere) to learn more about Avid Everywhere.

Avid also made another important strategic announcement at IBC. To broaden collaboration across our community of customers and industry partners, we announced the creation of the Avid Customer Association, a comprehensive initiative designed to provide essential strategic leadership to the media industry, collaborate with key industry leaders and visionaries, and deepen relationships between Avid and our customers. With the Avid Everywhere vision and the launch of the Avid Customer Association, we are committed to spearheading the media industry’s fight to overcome the extraordinary challenges we all face.

PLEASE ELABORATE ON THE NEW CUSTOMER ASSOCIATION INITIATIVE. LHJ: Avid enjoys the privilege of counting the industry’s largest and most inspirational media organisations, thought leaders, innovators and storytellers as our customers. With the industry changing so rapidly, it is more critical than ever to work collaboratively with the industry in a more intimate and powerful way. The Avid Customer Association will be run by and for our customers, and will engage our entire community to provide both strategic leadership and influence our future development of cutting edge technology

solutions. We have already had an overwhelming response, and founding members of the association’s executive board represent major media Avid ISIS 5500 online shared storage system organisations from the Americas, including Media Composer 7, Pro Tools 11, Europe, and Asia. and Interplay Production 3.0. At IBC we The Association will hold its inaugural were excited to explain how all of our event on 4 and 5 April 2014 just prior to existing products fit into the Avid NAB in Las Vegas, allowing our members to Everywhere vision. Our most loyal clients interact face-to-face with thought leaders will benefit first to unleash the benefits of and Avid personnel on a wide range of the most powerful platform in the industry. industry topics. We’re also organising Of course, the innovation didn’t stop additional single-focus Avid Customer there. We also underscored our ongoing Association user groups to work on specific product innovation by introducing an topics. all-new, state-of-the-art mixing control surface, the Avid S6, as well as the next WHY DOES AVID generation of its shared storage systems, PARTICIPATE AT IBC? the ISIS® 5500.

LHJ: IBC brings together broadcast and Avid S6 builds on the same proven media leaders and influencers not only from technology that is core to the industryEurope, but from around the world. It is an leading ICON and System 5 product essential forum for Avid to update the families, and is a major new addition to its worldwide community about who we are industry leading family of control surfaces and where we’re going strategically – in for sound recording, mixing and editing. addition to unveiling our latest product Avid S6 is designed for audio professionals innovations, such as we did this year with in the most demanding production Avid Everywhere, the Customer environments, delivering the performance Association, and our new product needed to complete projects faster while announcements. We launched the all-new producing the best sounding mixes. In S6 control surface and ISIS 5500 shared addition, S6 provides mixing professionals storage system at IBC this year, and were with a state-of-the-art solution that easily very pleased with the enthusiasm our scales to meet their current and future announcements generated. In addition, we challenges. take advantage of the opportunity IBC Avid ISIS 5500 is Avid’s next-generation gives us to stay in touch with our industry online shared storage system, offering peers. unprecedented value for small- to mid-sized WHAT PRODUCTS DID YOU post-production, broadcast, education, and EXHIBIT AT IBC THIS YEAR? corporate facilities. It provides critical new LHJ: In addition to showcasing our existing capabilities to help small-and mid-sized broad range of enterprise, video and audio media organisations more easily and solutions, we had, on the floor, the shipping efficiently deliver higher quality, inspiring versions of all the new products we content – by streamlining and accelerating announced earlier this year at NAB, editorial workflows.

IBC

Panasonic goes ‘Wide’ At IBC Panasonic Professional Camera Solutions announced its new Ultra Wide Angle Camera, which consists of a unique panoramic video shooting system that combines four AW-HE120 cameras assembled into a single compact rig configuration. The Ultra Wide Angle Camera is capable of producing panoramic images in HD quality making it ideal for capturing sports games and events.

It stitches the images taken by its four HD cameras (16:9) in real-time to produce seamless ultra wide 180° (64:9) panoramic

images. For sporting action it covers the entire field at once. That makes the moves and formations of all players clearly visible to viewers. The HD resolution is sharp enough to make the shirt numbers of all players easily legible even when enlarged.

The compact rig of the Ultra Wide Angle Camera allows the system to be easily transported and installed in stadiums or on location. A PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom) automatic adjustment function ensures the camera system is immediately ready for use after set-up by eliminating the need to synchronise viewing angles among the four cameras. The Ultra Wide Angle Camera is operated and controlled via a standard IP connection.

Each of the four cameras in the Ultra Wide Angle Camera has a 20x zoom lens.

The included Panoramic Software for PC communicates directly with the cameras via

REPORT

Sony’s 4K focus

4K live camera

The use of 4K content for movies, TV shows, adverts and documentaries is growing rapidly, boosted by the launch of the Sony PMW-F55 CineAlta camera in February and the new XAVC video format, capable of handling both 4K and HD data streams efficiently.

Visitors to Sony’s stand at IBC discovered that a practical live 4K camera system can be constructed with the following components: the PMW-F55 4K camera; the LA-FZB2 Lens Mount Adaptor that accepts existing 2/3-inch HD zoom lenses; the CA-4000 Camera System Adaptor; the BPU-4000 Baseband Processor Unit; and the HDCU-2000 Camera Control Unit. This

TCP/IP and supports HD SDI capturing for high picture quality. The camera system has four 1/3-type 2.2-megapixel U.L.T. MOS sensors that enable Full HD superior picture quality. In addition, the Ultra Wide Angle Camera has four high-performance Digital Signal Processors (DSP) for fine image rendering.

The Panasonic stand

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setup enables fine real-time adjustment of the camera’s 4K image, together with the remote control of intercom, tally and a viewfinder interface that are all required to support live filming. For a complete 4K live shooting and viewing system, the user need only add the PWS-4400 Multiport AV Storage Unit capable of 4K and HD recording, the MVS-8000X Multi-format Switcher for real-time 4K signal processing with a new optional 4K upgrade software, the PVM-X300 Professional 4K LCD Monitor and a SRX-T615 4K SXRD projector.

A 4K live camera system can also add value to HD video productions. Because 4K captures content at four times the resolution of HD, it can be used to film slow motion HD and replay it at up to 240/200fps. Another approach is to use two 4K cameras to cover an entire playing field, while utilising PWA-4KS 4K Stitching Software to extract and replay HD video from any area on the field, and the PWA-TS1 Telestrator Software to add player information and graphics. This capability can significantly raise the entertainment value of a live sports broadcast.

DaVinci Resolve 10 released At IBC Blackmagic Design announced DaVinci Resolve 10, a major upgrade that includes new features for integrating the workflows of multiple different software products used in the film and television industry. The DaVince Resolve 10 public beta is now available for customers to download.

DaVinci Resolve 10 has upgraded on set tools, enhanced editing features, support for OpenFX plug-ins as well as new tools for delivering final project masters to cinemas.

Other changes include the addition of Ultra HD resolutions and additional GPU support on the free of charge DaVinci Resolve Lite edition.

The upgrade has been developed to simplify the integration of different software tools used in the film and television industry, allowing timelines to be moved into and out of DaVinci Resolve and other edit software such as Final Cut Pro, Avid and Premiere Pro. As workflows have changed, more post-production is now started on set during the shoot. Lighting and other aspects of the shoot are also often verified based on colour correction checks and

The Blackmagic Design stand at IBC DaVinci Resolve 10 has new powerful tools to manage this process. The new Resolve Live feature allows colour grading direct from the video input live with full creative power such as primaries, secondaries, power windows, custom curves and more.

Grades can be stored and then re-linked when the camera files are loaded.

DaVinci Resolve 10 includes enhanced editing features and allows online finishing of edits performed in other popular editing

software. This means multiple users can submit scenes in large complex jobs from the applications they prefer to use, and DaVinci Resolve 10 can finish online from the original camera RAW files for dramatically better quality than would be available when finishing in a standard NLE software package.

Editing in DaVinci Resolve 10 also includes a powerful title tool with static, lower third, scroll and crawl titles with

multiple fonts, size, drop shadow and XY positioning. Timelines in DaVinci Resolve 10 also include the support of compound clips with multiple elements including various video and audio tracks. Also, DaVinci Resolve 10 can be used for stereoscopic 3D projects with full support for left and right eye clips in the media pool and the edit timeline.

Using timecode and reel name, DaVinci Resolve 10 will automatically associate the left and right eye of the stereoscopic clips.

Colour correction features have been upgraded in DaVinci Resolve 10, including support for industry standard OpenFX plug-ins with an unlimited number of plug-ins per clip. There are now unlimited power windows per corrector node and the new Gradient PowerWindow™ lets colourists quickly add a gradient across the image.

For project delivery, DaVinci Resolve 10 includes full audio track visibility in the deliver window timeline as well as EasyDCP integration so users can render directly from their project timeline into a Digital Cinema Package for release to theatres.

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 27

IBC

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REPORT

AJA’s Io 4K with Thunderbolt™

The AJA Video Systems stand at IBC At IBC AJA Video Systems presented a technology preview of the new Io 4K, an evolution of its popular devices for professional video I/O, now updated and customised for Thunderbolt™ 2 technology and 4K workflows.

Io 4K connects to any Thunderbolt™ 2-enabled device such as the new Mac Pro, and offers an additional Thunderbolt™ 2 port for daisy-chaining other peripherals such as high-resolution displays and

4 Camera SD OB Van (Triax)

high-capacity storage.

The device offers a broad range of video and audio connectivity, supporting the latest 4K and UltraHD devices. AJA’s proven conversion technology allows real time high-quality scaling of 4K and UltraHD to HD. Io 4K also seamlessly integrates with leading post-production and delivery tools such as Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Creative Cloud, AJA Control Room, Telestream Wirecast 5 and more to be announced.

8 Camera HD OB Van (Triax)

HD DSNG Vehicle

Various Multi Cam Mix Kits

4 Camera SD Flyaway Kit

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28 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

QTube InterSite launches At IBC Quantel launched QTube InterSite – the first deliverable from the revolutionQ project – enabling media to be edited from anywhere and published to anywhere, instantly.

With QTube InterSite, users can search and browse media across local and remote sQ servers and build it into a single timeline which can then be published either locally or to a remote sQ server. QTube InterSite handles all the media streaming and movement automatically and entirely transparently to the user.

It offers Quantel users the ability to produce higher quality packages in a shorter timescale, because users have instant access to all content across the

federation. Even content that is still being ingested at one site can be accessed instantly at every other site; there is no waiting with QTube InterSite.

A stream-based workflow, users view and make creative decisions on low bitrate streams and the published result is just metadata: a recipe. QTube InterSite then automatically moves the high bitrate ingredients between sites so the result is available for playout at the right location.

Only the frames used need to be moved, maximising network efficiency and minimising time to air – two key benefits of stream-based workflows. QTube InterSite will be delivered to the first customers in October 2013.

Key Io 4K features include: portable 4K / UHD and HD / SD capture and playback across Thunderbolt™ 2; use with the new Mac Pro for video output up to 4K at 10-bit quality; backwards compatible with existing Thunderbolt hosts; 4x bi-directional 3G-SDI / 4K / UHD HDMI I/O; simultaneous SDI and HDMI outputs; real time 4K to HD down-conversion for HD-SDI and HDMI monitoring; 10-bit high-quality 4:2:2 and

4:4:4 workflow support; two ThunderboltTM 2 ports support hosting, daisy-chaining of displays, storage and more.“Io 4K leverages the latest technology in our industry, all in one sleek portable box,” said Nick Rashby, president, AJA Video Systems. “It bridges 4K workflows to HD, to the latest 4K and UltraHD displays, and to the Mac over the amazing Thunderbolt™ 2 interface.”

DISCOP AFRICA

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Connecting content producers across Africa and beyond Specifically targeted at independent producers and focusing on regional and international cooperation, DISCOPRO forms an integral part of the DISCOP AFRICA multi-platform content market that runs at Johannesburg’s Sandton

AFRICA RISING: Kate Skinner, Russell Southwood, Marc Schwinges and Romanou Kouferidji at DISCOP AFRICA 2012

Convention Centre from 6 to 8 November.

A

round 200 producers, mostly from South Africa and Africa, are expected to participate in the DISCOPRO Programme.

DISCOPRO community manager Azania Muendane has been on an aggressive drive to attract producers from the world over, particularly the USA, who are looking to Africa for co-productions.

“The response to DISCOPRO programme has been positive. We have engaged industry from all over the continent and the rest of the world to tell us what they want to listen to during the DISCOPRO series and what topics are relevant to them. In fact, we even went so far as to solicit presentation proposals.

“We have also invited individuals who are on the fringe of content to come to the DISCOPRO to listen in on the discussions. These individuals include advertisers, bankers, lawyers, brand strategists and those people who are related to, but for whatever reason are not exposed to, such markets. To have such a powerful market and speaker programme as the DISCOPRO here in our backyard, makes it even more opportune to expand

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the conversation further than to just content produce,” explains Muendane.

An important component of the DISCOPRO Programme is the Africa Rising keynote series, which takes place on each morning of DISCOP AFRICA and features three of Africa’s most innovative television and video content distribution entrepreneurs.

Says Muendane: “On the first day of DISCOPRO we want to focus on how to create content on the continent with our keynote speaker Richard Bell, CEO of the Kenya-based Wananchi Group and Zuku TV, and moderator Rick Feldman, a veteran in TV content and former president of NAPTE. Richard will talk about how to accelerate African production and will provide insight into pan-African distribution.

“On Day 2 of DISCOPRO, Brett St. Clair, head of New Products sub-Sahara for Google / YouTubeTM will present the keynote. Brett will discuss all the opportunities that are available for African filmmakers to generate money from the YouTubeTM platform.

“Jason Njoku, CEO of iROKO Partners, the operators of the iROKOtv online platform, labeled the Netflix of Africa, will present the keynote for Day 3. He will tell delegates how he built up a successful company from nothing. Jason will show delegates that there is another life outside of producing content. Russell Southwood, editor-in-chief of Balancing Act, will moderate this discussion.”

Pitching competitions

Conference Track

DISCOPRO includes three genre-specific pitching competitions – for formats, TV series and documentaries. In each competition, 10 previously submitted, specially selected projects will be assigned 15-minute pitching sessions in front of a panel comprising Michelle Garthforth-Venter, Michel Rodrigues, Justin Scroggie and a room full of onlookers.

Two finalists will receive $1 500 each in development money, production guidance and a complimentary market badge for DISCOP AFRICA 2014.

People who don’t make the cut for the pitching sessions may still be able to meet with overseas commissioning editors and financiers on a one-to-one basis thanks to DISCOPRO’s matchmaking programme.

“The pitching competitions are DISCOP AFRICA’s way of ensuring that tangible opportunities exist for content producers to sell their product at the market,” comments Muendane. “Not everyone will win the prize on the day but, they will have their projects heard by local and international broadcasters, sales agents, buyers and distributors who are purposefully coming to the DISCOP to obtain content.

“In terms of submissions for the competitions, we’ve received queries from renowned producers who have produced some great works in the past.”

According to Munedane, DISCOPRO’s Conference Track was developed in partnership with trade associations and governmental bodies representing Africa’s most active production communities.

“Our Conference Track is designed around understanding the dynamics of the international TV content co-production business,” she continues. “One of the sessions, The Co-production Soup, will feature Terrence Khumalo of the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), who will give the South African perspective on co-production.

It’s worth noting that South Africa has co-production treaties with Canada, Germany, Italy, UK, Ireland, France, New Zealand and Australia.

“Joining Terrence on the panel will be Macenje ‘CheChe’ Mazoka from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), who will talk about how broadcasters respond to co-production. Kwame Boadi, president of the Producers Guild of Ghana, will discuss co-production from a West African

| DISCOP AFRICA

DISCOP AFRICA gains momentum

SEEN AT DISCOP AFRICA 2012: Krisen Pather and Jeremy Nathan

Guy Pita Basilua and Chris Bubu Agamamanga

David Kau

Content buyers, sellers and producers from South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world are registering in droves to attend the multi-platform content market, DISCOP AFRICA, which takes place at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre from 6 to 8 November.

he French Embassy in Kenya, Marvista Entertainment, MCS, Zulu Coast Film Office, Cracin Productions, The Star newspaper, Goquest Media Ventures, and Media Intelligence are the latest companies to confirm their participation at DISCOP AFRICA, dubbed ‘Africa’s Premier TV Content Industry Gathering’.

These are among the 431 companies that had registered for DISCOP AFRICA at the time of going to press. Other companies include Durban FilmMart, Durban International Film Festival, Hally Bell, Colorbarmedia, Whitestone Cinema Ltd. and Bmd Entertainment Côte Ouest, M-Net, Zee Networks, Dreamworks, CBS International, NBC Universal, A+E Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, Televisa, Caracol, Armoza Formats, NHK, Al Jazeera, Wananchi Group and Nollywood Entertainment.

T

South African public service broadcaster SABC will be at DISCOP AFRICA to look for programming. Says GM of SABC Channels, Leo Manne: “As an African broadcaster we are committed to continue telling South African and continental stories through our platforms.

“Spearheaded by SABC2, which currently flights African-produced titles such as the Kenyan-production, Lies That Bind, we will attend DISCOP AFRICA with the intention of identifying potential content that will enhance our role as an African public broadcast platform that tells African stories.”

Also participating at the market is South Africa’s first free-to-air commercial broadcaster, e.tv, which celebrates its 15th birthday this October.

According to e.tv’s head of channels, Monde Twala, e.tv’s presence at DISCOP

AFRICA will be from both a content acquisitions and sales perspective.

“It will be an opportunity for the channel to interact with the production industry and producers from across the continent, including broadcasters,” explains Twala. “Our core focus this year at the market is going to be extending discussions to partner with producers from across the continent.” e.tv will be launching four new channels in mid-October on Platco Digital’s OpenView HD platform.

Twala continues: “At DISCOP AFRICA we will be looking to aggregate content across all our channels. It’s important that we engage with the production sector and distributors.”

For more information about DISCOP AFRICA visit: www.discop.com

perspective, Nelly Molokoane of South Africa’s Department of Trade & Industry (the dti) will also be a panelist.

“This session is heavily loaded with South Africans, including producer Neil Brandt, who has done quite a lot of co-productions in Africa. Also on the panel is Mike Dearham from Côte Ouest, which has spearheaded the distribution of content throughout Africa.”

Dearham will also be on an export readiness panel, speaking about how to take a business to an international level. This discussion will be presented together with Jeremy Nathan of DV8 Films.

At the time of going to press, Muendane was in discussions with producers from Nigeria’s ‘Nollywood’ film industry, as well as Indian ‘Bollywood’ producers, to set up a discussion about these industries which have proved phenomenally successful in the country as well as in the respective diasporas.

Sure to be of interest to DISCOP AFRICA delegates is a session titled The Art of the One-Line Pitch, presented by Michel Rodrigue and Justin Scroggie of UK-based company, The Format People. This will be a

reminder to producers that it takes only one line to hook a commissioning editor.

There will be panels devoted to discussions around money, with input from South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the dti.

Also participating will be a representative from the Nexim Bank of Nigeria, which is trying to find a business model to fund Nigerian productions.

Animation is on the Conference Track agenda. Says Muendane: “The success of the South African animated feature film, The Adventures of Zambezia 3D, proved to the rest of the world that we can produce Hollywood-quality animated films, and much more cost-effectively. This fact was also evident at the recent Annecy animation film festival and market where South Africa had a strong presence.

“For instance, Cape Town-based Strika Entertainment started off with a comic series in the City Press newspaper and now it’s gone viral all over the world. The Strika model allows brands to maximise their brands in the series. At DISCOPRO t he Strika team will discuss how to use animation as an effective

advertising channel.”

An often overlooked aspect of film production is dubbing. Producers looking to distribute across Africa and its diaspora need to dub their films and TV programmes into other languages so as to cater for a range of different audiences. US production company, The Kitchen, will present this session.

“It’s key for us to unpack the business of TV and film, beyond the creative aspect of the industry,” stresses Muendane.

A light-hearted panel will be The Revival of Francophone Comedy, presented by Gregoire Furer, the president of the Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland.

Another discussion will show how viewers of sport on TV have gone from being passive to active. Gary Rathbone, head of sport for Zuku TV will look at the power that sport wields on TV, while international sports agent Leroy Newton will discuss the trends in sports programming and reveal what people are acquiring.

Michael Wanghu, a US-based producer who creates lots of African content, will participate on the panel called First, target Africans.

Wanghu will encourage local producers to create content that is relevant to their home audiences first, before trying to sell it internationally.

As a key sponsor of DSICOPRO, the Wananchi Group will present a session entitled Africa’s Silicon Savannah.

Muendane continues: “There is a lot of silent movement in the East African industry. Wananchi will talk about how Kenya attained this position, what the regional advantages are, opportunites and the various growth engines, technological and otherwise.”

A session called The Disruption of TV will show how the online experience has affected TV and how broadcasters are competing with the new platforms. This session will reveal just how much of the broadcast landscape has been fragmented and how broadcasters are responding to consumer decisions in an era when content has become cheaper and more accessible.

For more information about DISCOP AFRICA and DISCOPRO visit: www.discopafrica.com.

October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 31

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DISCOP AFRICA

Exciting times for satellite broadcast in Africa This year will be an exciting one in the broadcast industry with developments signalling the beginning of a new era on the African continent.

So says Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou, senior vice president: Commercial Africa for global satellite operator SES. “It’s an exhilarating time in the industry and in Africa with a number of platforms growing direct-to-home (DTH) satellite broadcast television on the continent,” continues Guimba-Saidou. “East African pay-TV broadcaster Zuku TV recently

A NEW ERA: Ibrahima Guimba-Saidou completed its migration on the SES fleet to the newer SES-5. Zuku TV is part of Wananchi Group Holdings and is East Africa’s leading home entertainment operator with a substantial customer base in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.”

The migration of Zuku TV from the SES satellite NSS-12 to the newer SES-5 began in February 2013. SES-5 was launched last year and is positioned at 5 degrees East, one of the company’s flagship orbital slots, which supports customers across the continent to grow Africa’s DTH and broadcast services.

In another recent development, SES signed a 15-year contract with Platco Digital, a sister company of independent broadcaster e.tv, to broadcast a new free-to-air (FTA) service in South Africa with future plans to expand across Southern Africa.

The contract for two transponders, with an option for additional capacity in 2014, will allow the DTH transmission of Platco Digital’s OpenView HD platform, South Africa’s first FTA satellite TV channel, to audiences in South Africa’s urban and remote areas. SES will provide the satellite

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capacity on the SES-5 satellite.

“This agreement is an important step for the growth of the major South African free-to-air broadcaster in Africa’s dynamic emerging markets,” explains GuimbaSaidou. “It shows that satellite can help broadcasters overcome the challenges of terrestrial coverage, reach large audiences and extend their services with free-to-air programmes. SES is well established to provide broadcasters with the highest quality satellite capacity to build a high-value neighbourhood and grow DTH satellite TV across the continent.”

Maintaining the momentum is SES’s 10-year contract on SES-5 with StarTimes Communication Network Technology.

StarTimes is China’s most influential system technology provider and network operator, and the fastest-growing digital TV operator in Africa with over 2.6 million digital terrestrial television (DTT) subscribers.

StarTimes has also acquired SES’s 20% shareholding in South African pay-TV operator ODM. This new partnership with SES enables StarTimes to have a DTH platform in addition to its existing DTT and mobile TV (CMMB) platforms in sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership will illustrate how the combination of DTH and DTT is a key enabler in Africa’s migration to digital TV and will help set the pace in the continent’s digital migration race.

DISCOP AFRICA

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Seed Entertainment reaping a harvest

Seed Entertainment in Johannesburg is an independent distribution company in Africa. Headed by CEO Buli Maliza, the company distributes feature films, documentaries, music specials, drama series and reality programming. This year the company will feature prominently from 6 to 8 November at DISCOP AFRICA. uli Maliza says that Seed away from challenges.”

Melissa: Joan Knows Best?, You’re

B

PLANTING FOR FUTURE HARVEST: Buli Maliza

34 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

Entertainment has expanded its business reach since the company’s inception in 2004. “When I started the company Seed Entertainment initial focus was on television, then DVD, theatre, etc.,” says Maliza. “Now the industry has evolved and you have to evolve as well.

IPTV, mobile streaming is now here...”

When Maliza started distribution she was the only black female in the business in Africa. “Over the years I’ve seen one or two female entrepreneurs who wanted help and that is when I realised I was making inroads in the industry. That is when I knew I’d made a difference to other women’s lives.”

Maliza travels extensively in Africa and internationally. “If I want to sell content I have to hop on a plane and go to Nigeria, Ghana, the DRC and Namibia; wherever I am required to travel, nationally and internationally.”

At the moment Maliza is learning about the airline business and the opportunities that exist in that market. “In 2005 I first dealt with South African Airways, supplying content via a UK-based company.”

Seed Entertainment was represented at DISCOP 2012 for the first time and Maliza mentions that the experience was positive, one which prompted her to take a double stand at DISCOP 2013.

“Last year at DISCOP I met a lot of industry people and made good contacts with visitors from different parts of the world. This year I want to focus more on making sales and doing business.

I see this as a challenge and I don’t run

She also has high hopes for a children’s programme that she wants to introduce to the African market. “I think it is going to do sensationally well. When I source content I use my background in marketing and advertising to guide me. I used to acquire content for television and that is how I look at things when I am buying – as a marketer and an advertiser.

“I ask myself questions such as how I would market content in order to increase ratings, how I would be able to attract revenue through this product, if I was an advertiser what would appeal to me? I look at everything holistically, which is why my content performs wherever it is placed.

“We are really excited about our content this year at DISCOP. We have so much to offer, from the Robert Redford production Iconoclasts to the documentary Murder on Honeymoon to documentaries on Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé.

“There will also be music offerings featuring artists like Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Lil Wayne.

“I’m bringing more music, children’s programmes and reality television to DISCOP. Nobody thought reality television would stay, we thought it was just a phase, but it is growing tremendously.”

As American programming determines trends, Maliza looks at how content performs in the domestic market in the US. “You have to keep up with markets and trends. Reality shows are on the rise while the soaps are on the decline.

“We have exceptional offerings of Joan &

Cut Off and Beverly’s Full House.

“Then there are talk shows such as Iyanla Fix My Life, which debuted with unprecedented ratings on OWN, comedy series Life’s Too Short featuring Johnny Depp, Liam Neeson and Sting, produced by Rick. It is hilarious, imagine Johnny Depp in comedy.”

Maliza is excited about distribution in Africa. “In terms of the African market we are experiencing thrilling times as broadcasters are launching more channels than before. People used to think there was nothing happening in Africa, but that is certainly not the case anymore.

“Now is the time for Africa and Africans,” she says.

In terms of Seed Entertainment’s growth in the industry, Maliza has high hopes for the future.

“I see how the company evolves every day. The registered name I used was ‘Harvest Consultancy’. But I am trading as Seed Entertainment as I am planting seeds everywhere.

When I consult clients I see myself planting seeds so they can harvest them.

“My catalogue isn’t huge but I have ‘oysters’. At some stage I might get to a point where I will use the word ‘harvest’ as a business name, but at the moment I am still sowing seeds,” Maliza concludes.

DISCOP AFRICA

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Côte Ouest enriches catalogue Independent film and television disribution company Côte Ouest Audiovisuel has participated in all previous editions of DISCOP AFRICA. Says the company’s senior vice president Mike Dearham: “We regard DISCOP AFRICA as a critical forum to augment our understanding of the exciting changes and new players involved in the sector. Although our primary focus is to sell content, our acquisition emphasis will be strong and visible in terms of our engagement with producers. As such, our sales and promotional thrust will target all buyers across all media platforms.”

Côte Ouest secures exclusive distribution partnerships with leading global media content companies seeking access to the African continent, such as Viacom International Media Network, Disney, Sony and MGM. “Ahead of DISCOP AFRICA we have enriched our catalogue with select content from all of these partners, including titles like Real Husbands of Hollywood, Let’s Stay Together, and Reed Between the Lines, from the Viacom stable.

“We will also present a fine selection of African content that deeply resonates with African culture and tradition, but with particular emphasis on creativity and

innovation. To this end we have partnered with such talented producers as the Kenyan-based production company called Spielworks. Their catalogue is a true axis of excellence and includes work such as Lies That Bind, Higher Learning, Jane & Abel and many more. The works of talented Ghanaian filmmaker Ken Attoh, who has produced the Adams Apple collection of feature films, will also be showcased,” he says.

At DISCOP AFRICA Côte Ouest will unveil what Dearham describes the very best African Diaspora collection ever assembled. Examples include Spike Lee’s recent film, Red Hook Summer and recent Sundance nominee, Blue Caprice (starring Isiah Washington), among several others.

“We will also announce our new TV show project, Saburi,” continues Dearham. “It’s a dynamic, character-driven television series named after our sassy protagonist Saburi.

The series follows the conventions of a detective comedy genre where the heroine uses her deductive ability, social skills, and prowess to solve problems and maintain peace in the world of the story.

“Originally conceived by Côte Ouest and Dv8 Films, Saburi is not just a portal into a world of comedy and detective work, but a prism into heroism, socio-cultural and

economic interpretations and contradictions. During the market we will present more details of this TV show through a fast track presentation but also by organising key events such as a cocktail function.”

He notes that when Côte Ouest initially launched its distribution operations in Africa, its principal strategy involved the distribution of Hollywood content to African TV buyers.

“The subsequent addition of the telenovela genre to our product portfolio sparked tremendous success right from the outset. In more recent years, we have

placed increased emphasis on acquisition and development of African content, which now represents the largest component of our catalogue. Our express goal is to pursue aggressive strategies to identify, source and acquire the very best African content available.

“In terms of content genres – we will be pursuing content genres emanating from the African continent and Diaspora, such as cooking shows, talk shows, live music concerts, travel and adventure, kiddies’ content, reality shows and religious programmes. Of course the key focus will be drama series and African telenovela.”

Eutelsat, one of the world’s largest satellite operators and a core part of the African broadcast infrastructure, has been present at DISCOP AFRICA for the last four years and has used the occasion to introduce a new satellite for the African broadcast market.

POWERFUL AFRICAN COVERAGE: Rodney Benn Says Rodney Benn, regional vice president for Africa: “We introduced EUTELSAT 36B in 2009, which now hosts the pay-per-view platforms DStv and ZAP. In 2011 we showcased EUTELSAT 16A. This satellite is the most important FTA than 25 French-speaking channels for platform for Africa and broadcasts more sub-Saharan Africa. Last year we introduced

EUTELSAT 70B, offering powerful coverage over Eastern and Central Africa.”

According to Benn, DISCOP AFRICA is an important event for Eutelsat.

“We use the occasion to meet and discuss with our clients and establish new contacts. Eutelsat will also use the opportunity to introduce our new satellite EUTELSAT 3B that will be launched early next year. This satellite will have C, Ku and Ka coverage over Africa and will provide a real opportunity for the implementation of digital terrestrial television (DTT) over the continent.

He continues: “Eutelsat is one of the world’s leading satellite operators with capacity on 32 satellites; the vast majority of which have a strong reach across Africa.

The video market is one of the biggest parts of our business. Our satellites broadcast 700 channels for Africa, which represents over 50% of the 1 300 satellite TV channels available across the continent.

“We are committed to furthering communications in the African market and recently launched four new satellites, EUTELSAT 21B,

EUTELSAT 70B, EUTELSAT 3D and EUTELSAT 25B, all of which have extensive African coverage.

“In addition, three out of our next seven satellites to be launched will have capacity for the African market and will bring cost-effective connectivity across the continent at competitive rates.”

Benn mentions that the African broadcast market is moving fast, with the launch of new pay-TV platforms, the transition to DTT and the emergence of HD. “From our experience with analogue switch-off in European markets, we know that satellite is vital for achieving a fully digital broadcast environment: for delivering channels to national transmitter networks and for direct-to-home satellite reception of DTT channels by homes beyond the range of terrestrial networks or with poor reception,” Benn adds.

He raises the important matter that satellite broadband represents a huge market and has driven Eutelsat to pursue a number of initiatives, including a platform called IPEasy for SMEs and residential users.

“This is a Ku-band platform operated on our EUTELSAT 16A satellite, which provides broadband services that can be bundled with the reception of TV channels from the same satellite for triple play.

“Satellite broadband can also distribute content via a Wi-Fi hot spot to small devices like tablets and laptops. In addition to the family TV set, viewers can watch content on low-energy tablets,” Benn concludes.

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36 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

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Africa

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Inside Kona IAN DORMER recently had the opportunity to visit the set of AfricaMagic’s all-new East African telenova, Kona, at pay-TV broadcaster M-Net’s new studio complex, located off Nairobi’s Ngong Road.

LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE: The cast of Kona

K

ona is an intriguing daily drama based on a story around a boxing gym and the Oyange family.

The synopsis of Kona is as exciting as the production elements that make it all happen. It reads: “Where glitz and glamour meets grit and sweat, love and family confront betrayal and solitude; success and triumph are pitted against failure and desperation. In a world where only the strong survive, where you’re only as good as your next move, where love and betrayal are interchangeable… we follow the world of the Oyanges...”

Not only is Kona gripping content but this M-Net AfricaMagic initiative is a massive boost to the Kenyan

production scene.

When the show went to air on Monday 26 August 2013, they already had 179 episodes in the can. For Kona producer Appie Matere the show is ground-breaking in many ways.

“We shoot an episode a day, soap-style, edit an episode a day, final mix an episode a day and broadcast an episode a day.

There is a very young crew working on the series; it’s a learning curve for all of us but we are using state-of-the-art equipment which helps smooth out the process,” explained Matere.

According to Kona executive producer, Laurence Lurie of Johannesburg-based The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd, producing daily

“We shoot an episode a day, soap-style, edit an episode a day, final mix an episode a day and broadcast an episode a day. There is a very young crew working on the series; it’s a learning curve for all of us but we are using state-of-the-art equipment which helps smooth out the process.”

– Appie Matere

Producer Appie Matere on set

38 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

drama always presents the same challenges, regardless of where it is produced.

“Once the crew and cast commit to the production, you are three-quarters of the way there,” continued Lurie. “The crew and cast of Kona are entirely East African. We did a little training up front using people we had previously worked with on the South African soap, Egoli. However, the Kenyan crew are experienced and adaptable, and we have comfortably shot an episode a day since day one.

“The equipment supplied by M-Net Africa was all brand new, including cameras, pedestal, and lighting, as well as the control rooms and post-production facility. It is the first time I have worked on a production where every single piece of gear came straight out of a box,” commented Lurie.

“Working in Nairobi is very similar to working in Johannesburg, except for the traffic and not living at home for 18 months.”

Lurie had worked extensively with M-Net Africa since 2008 on Big Brother Africa.

“I originally pitched the concept for the Kona series, which at that stage had a working title of TKO, to Erika Klopper, head of Local Productions at M-Net Africa.

Fortunately they liked the idea and commissioned the series. It has changed very little from original concept to end product,” he said.

Control Two is the main control area for

Part of the Kona studio set

Kona and controls studios 3A, 3B and the exterior sets. The space was designed specifically for a drama team and split into three areas for production, vision and audio.

Life-changing For many of the Kona team this is a life-changing experience. Fifty-year-old Muthoni Gathecha who plays Ayira, has never acted before, which is difficult to believe when you see her in action.

Originally given a small role over two episodes, the production team spotted her natural ability and offered her a lead character.

Said Matere: “For an industry to grow you need stars. Kona, thanks to AfricaMagic, has set that platform. We are now producing Kenyan stars and showcasing them to the whole of Africa, this is what we need for Kenya to go to the next level.”

M-Net Africa managing director Biola Alabi added: “Kona is about dreams and goals. Despite the struggles we go through in our daily lives, Kona is a story that declares that everyone deserves a fighting chance. AfricaMagic is very committed to fulfilling its objective of promoting relevant local talent and, at the same time, developing skills and creating jobs. Kona is evidence of this commitment.”

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Africa

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State-of-the-art studios for East Africa

By Ian Dormer

Continental pay-TV operator MultiChoice officially opened its brand new state-of-the-art SuperSport and M-Net studios in Nairobi, Kenya, at a glamourous marquee event held at the Jamhuri Polo Grounds at the end of August.

MILESTONE FOR KENYA: Studio 1, the new SuperSport studio in Nairobi

K

enyan sporting greats, including running legend, Dr Kipchoge Keino, were among the glitterati who gathered to witness the launch of the SuperSport and M-Net studios in Nairobi.

Alongside the two-time Olympic champion and chairman of the National Olympics Committee-Kenya, was Pauline Konga, the first Kenyan female Olympics medallist and football icon Joe Kandege.

The KES500m MultiChoice investment in the new studios affirms the company’s commitment to the region to generate content, mainly targeting audiences in the East African community.

Said SuperSport East Africa general manager Auka Gicheo: “This new facility will enable us to produce more content and work with local film producers to generate more appealing programmes for our viewers.”

The move comes as the Kenyan government intends to increase local content from 40% to 60%. This means broadcasters will be required to invest heavily in local production infrastructure ahead of the now confirmed switchover to digital broadcasting in December 2013.

The M-Net studios are already in full production with the just-launched local Kenyan telenovela production, Kona, which is being aired on the AfricaMagic channel, while the SuperSport facility has made it possible to air Tusker Premium League soccer live.

Infrastructure C2S Systems, the broadcast system integration arm of WTS Group in the UK, completed installation of the new studio complex. The high-end four-studio complex was designed for flexibility and rank among the most advanced production facilities on the continent.

Positioned over two buildings (originally

40 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

The control room the Kenya Film Studios), the new M-Net and SuperSport content hub comprises four full high definition (HD) studios, supported by two control rooms, nine post-production suites, two QC (Quality Control) suites and ICR (International Control Room) central distribution, alongside MCR (Main Control Room) and uplink facilities, to take television production in the region into a new age.

The two control rooms were carefully designed to provide both flexibility and suitability for the different types of productions, ranging from live sporting events to recording scenes for narrative series.

Twelve camera channels were installed across the studios: eight for the SuperSport studios and four for Kona, with provision for an additional four in the future.

Challenging integration With completely file-based production workflows in two different and separate production environments, there were some considerable technical challenges in the integration. The two control rooms were carefully designed to provide both flexibility and suitability for the different types of production.

The editing platforms are Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro and Pro Tools for audio. EVS IP Director is used to provide

asset control, and the C2S-designed touch-screen router control helps to simplify routing operations for studio staff while allowing instant status of all paths.

Control One includes a tiered layout for a production team of up to 18 people, working with five VTR / SSD decks, eight HD Sony camera channels, an eight-channel EVS XT3 with two EVS IP Director production positions, two channels of production graphics, separate audio control area and work stations for two producers.

From this location, studios 1, 2 and 3B can be controlled, depending on requirements of the production. Control Two is the main control area for Kona and controls studios 3A, 3B and the exterior sets. The space was designed specifically for a drama team and split into three areas for production, vision and audio. It includes control of three VTR/SSD decks, four HD camera channels, a four-channel EVS NANO XS with two EVS IP Director production positions.

Pre-built The facilities were pre-built and tested in C2S’s Leeds workshop in the UK, before final installation on site, while the studio buildings were being refurbished. C2S provided systems design, installation, equipment supply and custom-made

technical furniture for the project, as well as on-site IT infrastructure. The company also supplied technical support contracts and provided remote support capabilities to allow access to, and management of, all technical networks by both C2S Systems and manufacturer technical support staff.

“This is an emphatic move into the top-end world of TV production,” commented André Venter, head of SuperSport in Africa. “East Africa has a great appetite for high-quality viewing and we intend delivering. Our teams have been training and the equipment couldn’t be more modern. We hope that this reaffirms our confidence in the region.”

The studios have already provided employment for over 150 Kenyans.

“We are not only looking at the number of local content programmes as we will be able to produce the whole ecosystem. This includes skills transfer and building fresh talent which is key to sustain the industry and meet demand,” stated Rispa Muthamia, regional manager of M-Net. MultiChoice Eastern Africa regional director Stephen Isaboke added: “This is a milestone event – not only for the MultiChoice Group, but also for the creative and production industries in Kenya. It confirms the group’s enormous investment in the region and is testament to our emphasis on technological excellence.”

WEB NEWS

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www.screenafrica.com

IDC announces financial results

Standing ovation for Mandela film at TIFF The highly anticipated film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, had its first global screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday 7 September.

Stars of the movie Idris Elba (Nelson Mandela), Naomie Harris (Winnie Mandela), Riaad Moosa (Ahmed Kathrada), Terry Pheto (Evelyn), Deon Lotz (Kobie Coetzee) and Lindiwe Matshikiza (Zindzi Mandela) delighted fans when they stopped to pose for pictures before taking to the red carpet.

The screening ended on a high note with an unprecedented eight-minute standing ovation from a visibly moved audience.

Produced by Anant Singh of South African company Videovision Entertainment, this epic film spans

Riaad Moosa, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Deon Lotz and Terry Pheto at TIFF Mandela’s extraordinary life from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected South African president.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom was directed by Justin Chadwick and the screenplay was written by William Nicholson based on the autobiography Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela..

Felix selected for top international film fest Feel-good South African family film, Felix, has been selected for the 57th British Film Institute’s London Film Festival that screens from 9 to 20 October.

Says director Roberta Durrant: “The programmer saw Felix at Durban International Film Festival, where we won the Audience Award for Best Film, and called me about the wonderful audience response. Being selected for Britain’s premier film festival is a huge honour and hopefully we’ll be able to announce a cinema release in London soon.”

Felix has also been selected for the Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, the Lucas International Children’s Film Festival and The Hamburg FilmFest, both in Germany.

A frame grab from Felix This is the first film fully financed by Sabido Productions, the production arm of Sabido Investments, a South African media group with holdings in a variety of broadcasting, content and production businesses, including e.tv, e.Sat, YFM and Cape Town Film Studios.

2014 SAFTAs judging panel announced The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) announced the judging panel for the 8th annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) on Wednesday 11 September at Killarney CineCentre in Johannesburg.

Judging sessions, which were extended to Cape Town last year, now also include Durban, said SAFTAs coordinator Lala Tuku.

SAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jerry Mofokeng (The Forgotten Kingdom, Tsotsi, Fanie Fourie’s Lobola) is the overall chairperson of the judging committee with Roberta Durrant (Felix, Forced Love, Chandies), also a SAFTA

42 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

Filmmakers Anel Alexander, Jacques Bessenger and Luke Rous Lifetime Achievement winner, as his deputy.

The judging panels are divided in the following categories: direction, art direction, technical and performance. Each panel comprises a chairperson and deputy and eight other industry professionals.

The 8th annual SAFTAs ceremony takes place in March 2014 at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a parastatal which invests in ‘competitive industries’, disbursed a record R16bn into the South African economy in the 2012 / 2013 financial year, and sustained its funding approvals at the R13bn mark recorded in the previous financial year.

These results were announced in the presence of Minister for Economic Development Ebrahim Patel at the IDC’s Annual Results function held on 9 September at their offices in Sandton, Johannesburg.

While his address focused on the IDC’s activities in the industrial, small business development and ‘green’ sectors, the minister did allude to activities within the IDC’s Media and Motion Pictures Division.

“The IDC invested in the new South

Minister Ebrahim Patel African feature film, Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom, which is currently premiering in Toronto and releases in South Africa on 28 November. This film, which by all accounts is of Oscar-quality, is an opportunity for South Africans to see the tangible effects of the IDC’s involvement in local industries.

“Because the IDC exists to co-invest with the private sector; it’s important that they ensure a steady flow of funds in order to be effective. While the IDC is not a commercial bank, it’s not the IDC’s job to eliminate risk, rather its job is to manage risk.”

SABC on Annual Report ‘media misinterpretation’ South African public broadcaster SABC received a Disclaimer of Opinion from the Auditor General (AG) for its 2012/2013 Annual Report because of issues pertaining to conflicting reporting methodologies, as well as a lack of pre-requisite skills in the broadcaster’s financial department.

So said SABC GCEO Lulama Mokhobo at a press conference held at the SABC’s offices in Auckland Park, Johannesburg on 12 September.

“Due to a lack of training, our finance department experienced challenges in migrating from the GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Practice) reporting methodology to the standard utilised by the AG, the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards),” explained Mokhobo.

Responding to reports in the media which stated that the SABC had spent an amount of R1.5bn without any supporting documentation and that this amount had been spent on consultants, Mokhobo stated that R408m of this amount was spent on broadcast costs; R514m on signal distribution; R123m on marketing; R63m on

Lulama Mokhobo (centre) with board member Ronnie Lubisi and board chair Zandile Tshabalala consultancy services; and R79m on personnel costs.

She continued: “The SABC was unable to provide some journals from a sample requested by the AG to substantiate adjustments to these categories of expenditure. However, it is incorrect to surmise that all the supporting documents such as invoices, tender documents and bank payments could not be provided. The issue was that the SABC, being a huge operation with provincial offices, did not have adequate time to collate the journals.”

2014 Jozi Film Fest seeks submissions Submissions for the 3rd Annual Jozi Film Festival (JFF) are open and will be accepted until 18 October 2013. The festival takes place from 21 to 23 February 2014, and will once again highlight the best in filmmaking in the heart of Johannesburg, presenting a multi-genre of films from emerging and established filmmakers.

Competition categories include: Best Feature Film; Best Feature Documentary Film; Best Animated Film; Best Fiction

Short; Best Documentary Short; Best Student Film; Audience Choice Award; and Best Mobile Phone Film.

Stories about Jozi and the city’s habitants, and films made by local filmmakers, will be screened over a three-day period at several venues throughout Johannesburg, including The Bioscope Independent Cinema in the Maboneng precinct in the Jo’burg CBD.

| WEB NEWS

Durban freelancer wins short video competition Durban freelance motion designer Matt Dippenaar has won the MTV Art Beat short video competition.

Dippenaar’s winning clip Bursting will be broadcast on music channel MTV on DStv Channel 130 from 1 October.

The 25-year-old creative will launch his career in broadcast and design with a six-week internship at the MTV headquarters in Johannesburg.

The competition challenges industry newcomers aged 18 to 35 to create a short video using the MTV logo and themes based on the brand values.

Creative director of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa, Tim Horwood, says: “Matt interpreted the brief brilliantly, creating a confident and powerful short clip that communicates the essence of MTV in just a few short seconds of video.”

Film explores Zim’s longest serving leaders The Two Leaders I Know, a feature film about Robert Mugabe and the late Ian Smith – Zimbabwe’s most infamous leaders

Widely watched local telenovela reaches 100th episode

Matt Dippenaar The short clip of an MTV-branded drum exploding with colour can be viewed at www.mtv.co.za.

The battle for wealth and power between the Zungu and the Ndlovu families on Isibaya on M-Net’s local content channel, Mzansi Magic, marked its 100th episode on Thursday 5 September 2013.

With storylines that deal with subjects such as bewitchment, as in the 100th episode, and the use of authentic language to drive the story, Isibaya has been enthusiastically embraced by South African audiences since launching in April 2013.

“The response to Isibaya’s narrative of rivalry, power and money in both rural and urban settings has been amazing,” says Yolisa Phahle, channel director of M-Net’s local interest channels.

“With each episode, social networks are buzzing with speculation about what’s going to happen next. Our industry continues to go from strength to strength and the audience response is a testament to this,” concludes Phahle

– is currently in post-production. Originally, a theatre play of the same name, the film narrates the lives and times of the preindependence (Smith) and postindependence (Mugabe) eras.

Says producer and actor Daves Guzha: “The film is a moving personal evaluation of the political consequences as seen through the eyes of a 40-year old man, who has only been exposed to the rule of Ian Smith, the last leader of rebel Rhodesia (now Daves Guzha

Zimbabwe), and Robert Mugabe, the current leader of Zimbabwe.”

While comparing and contrasting several developments during the two rulers’ periods and labeling Mugabe a disappointment, the film also portrays the current government as plunderers of minerals like diamonds.

The glue in the industry INGRE attentio DIENTS: Experie strong b n to detail and nce, expertise, onding s p agent to rofessional pro ervice, energy , du keep yo ur produ cts to create a ctions in check.

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October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 43

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UPDATES FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com

Those productions in red are newly listed this month Production Updates Order of Information

FOR THE NEW CITY – DANCE ON FILM SWiTCH / Resonance Bazar Prods: James Tayler / Julia Raynham Film

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

FORSAKEN DO Productions Prods: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature

IN DEVELOPMENT Unit 3, Harbour Place, 1061 Schooner Road, Laser Park, Honeydew

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

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

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

IIQ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Feature

At The Creek Without A Paddle Zen Crew Exec Prod: Laura Tarling Documentary

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

BLAST FROM THE PAST Sirius Films Prod: Ian Manly Documentary BODA BODA THIEVES Yes That’s Us Prod: James Tayler Feature BREAD AND WATER Periphery Films Dir: Simon Taylor / Julia Taal Feature Documentary BREAKDOWN Bollysamo Pictures / Apeiro Productions Prod Man: Carolyn Gregorowski Feature CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature CHILDREN OF FAMOUS ACTIVISTS Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Film CHILLI CHICKS International Radio Pictures, Inc Kit Reynolds TV series

do good design south africa Concept Interaction Prod: Karl Fedderke Educational DYINGCRACY Sabstance Productions Prod: Edmund Mhlongo Documentary

Indla lifa P.I.M.P Dir / Prod: Daniel P Nxumalo Drama series Insila yenkosi P.I.M.P Dir / Prod: Daniel P Nxumalo Feature (Zulu) Inventing Africa Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving Documentary IYEZA THEATRE & TV LIGHTING (PTY) LTD Iyeza Theatre & TV Lighting (Pty) Ltd Prod / Dir: Cal Morris Corporate JAM SANDWICH Meerkat Media Prod / Dir: Pauli van Dyk / “MQ”, Alvine Darboux Music reality show JAN SMUTS: AN INTERNATIONAL ICON AHEAD OF HIS TIME Tekweni TV production Prod / Dir: Sandra Herrington / Neville Herrington Documentary

Sirens P.I.M.P Dir / Prod: Daniel P Nxumalo Drama series SUPERMAMA GoogelPlex Productions Dir: Karen van Schalkwyk Feature SWANK! International Radio Pictures Prod: D Gillard Musical The 7P’s to propel change Panache video productions Prod / Dir: Liesel Eiselen Script: Dr Caren Scheepers The Black Blonde Steve Radebe Post Productions Prod: Steve Radebe Feature Film tHE blood kIng and the red dragon Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman / Mtutuzeli Matshoba Feature the book shop P.I.M.P Dir / Prod: Daniel P Nxumalo Drama series THE CONSEQUENCE DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature The Dreaded Evil Eye from Past to Present and Across Cultures It’s a Wrap Productions Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary THE EDGE International Radio Pictures Kit Reynolds TV Series

KADU’S JOURNEY DO Productions Prods: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën Feature

THE FILM MAKER Elle Bolt Productions Prod: Elle Bolt Reality Series

LEADERS of AFRICA The expeditionary force Dirs: nicholas schofield / alexis schofield Documentary

The Flawed Genius of Jan Smuts Tekweni TV Productions Prod / Dir: Sandra Herrington/Neville Herrington Dir Of Photo: Anton Herrington Documentary

LION GIRL DO Productions Prod: Marlow de Mardt / Brigid Olën TV Feature Lonely Planet Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature MANCHE, THE AFRICAN SAINT Get the Picture Prod / Dir: Jacky Lourens / Karin Slater Documentary MHLONGO Inhlakanipho Films Dir / Writer: Dumisani Vusi Nnhlapo Feature Money in the bag P.I.M.P Dir / Prod: Daniel P Nxumalo Reality TV show

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

MUTI DOT MOBI Vuleka Productions.

Prod / Dir: Julie Frederikse / Madoda Ncayiyana .

Feature Film

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

NEW BEGINNINGZ Sukuma Media Dir: Bonginhanhla Ncube Documentary

espAFRIKA presents the Cape Town International Jazz Festival 2013 Espafrika Prods / Dirs: Rashid Lombard / Yana Lombard / John Bright Documentary

Nongoloza Current Affairs Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature

Ex Pats Current Affrairs Films / French Connection Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Drama series

44 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

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

AMABHUBESI Inkwasi Television Prod: Bell Curle TV Magazine

DAISY Bamboo Media (PTY) LTD Dir: Marguelette Louw Feature Film

You can reach us at:

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

HOTEL SONGOLOLO The Media Workshop Dir: Benito Carelsen Comedy Series

CONSERVATION & BEYOND Suite People TVP Prod: Bell Curle Documentary

Tel: +27 (0) 11 431 3053 Fax: +27 (0) 86 689 9233 Cell: +27 (0) 83 426 6634 Email: mojapelepe@gmail.com www.mojapeleproductions.co.za

GOUE STERRE Suite People TVP Prod: Bell Curle TV Series

A LION IN THE BEDROOM Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

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

OUR OB FLEET

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

HISTORICAL KIMBERLEY Spike Productions Prod: Steve Mueller Bsc. Documentary

Bagged Izithulu Productions Exec Prod: Donovan Mulligan / Mike Westcott Short Film

RAF INDUCTION VIDEO Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate

Genius Inhlakanipo Films Dir: Dumisani Vusi Nhlapo Short Film

AFRICAN NIGHTS Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker

BAD MEDICINE Tin Rage TV Production Dir: Enver Samuel Documentary

PIETER CILLIERS PRODUCTIONS Pieter Cilliers Productions Prod / Dir: Pieter Cilliers TV Magazine

Palace of the Faithless White Heron Pictures Dir: Themba Sibeko Feature PASSARES (BIRDISH) White Heron Pictures / Casa De Criacao Cinema Prod: Themba Sibeko Feature

The Scores Are In Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Game Show / Entertainment Series VULTURE KILLING FIELDS Suite People TVP Bell Curle Documentary WAY TO ROLL Blue Ice Productions Dir: Freddie Strauss Feature Welcome To The Club Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature WHIPLASH Get the Picture Prod / Dir: Jacky Lourens / Meg Rickards Other Crew: Tracey Farren, Jenny Hicks Feature Film ZERO DIET Two Oceans Production Prod: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature ZEBRAS DO Productions Dir: Bruce Beresford Feature ZEN FILM CREW MANAGEMENT ZEN Film Crew Management Prod / Dir: Laura Tarling Commercial

PRE-PRODUCTION Abland Property Developers FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video

PRODUCTION Chabela Day Spa Grey Cloud Production Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video Die Verhaal van Racheltjie de Beer Brett Michael Innes Films Prod: Brett Michael Innes Historical feature film El Eljon Projects FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video Elegy: forsaken in South Africa Market Street Productions Prod: Paul Van Zyl Short film Holidays for Madmen Imageworks Prod: Anthony Irving TV Series JUB JUB DOCUMENTARY (Working Title) Baxopath Media Dir: 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 Short film NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SOUTH AFRICA Panache Video Productions Prod / Dir: Liesel Eiselen Corporate video PSALTED Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Variety RATE MY PLATE International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project SAFE IN THE CITY Imani Media.

Comedy SAINT & FREEDOM FIGHTER It’s a Wrap Productions Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary Si-solutions International Radio Pictures Exec Prod: Kit Reynolds Community Project Seatbelt Medic FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman TV Commercial SHAKESPEARE IN MZANSI: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Fireworx Media Prod: Bridget Pickering Mini Series SLENDER WONDER INFORMATION VIDEO Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Information Video

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 Video ABC AMERICA NEWS SPECIAL ON MANDELA Current Affairs Films Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature News Special AFRICA FACTS SEASON 3 Lebapi Productions Dir: Daniel Moleabatsi TV Magazine AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music Show AFRO SHOWBIZ NEWS SABC News International Exec Prod: Jody-Layne Surtie TV Magazine Agape Gabaza Productions Prod: Sarah Ngubeni Magazine Alex: A history from below Uhuru Productions Dir: Rehad Desai Documentary ALL ACCESS Homebrew Films Prod: Paul Venter/ Hannes van Wyk / Tammy Anne Fortuin Magazine Show Awesome Africa Steplite Films Dir: Jacqui Logie TV Series barbour and thorne: 60 years strong Our Time Productions Dir: Juan de Meilon Corporate Video BBC PLANET EARTH LIVE Wild Images Dir: James Smith, Tim Scoones, Roger Webb Documentary BIG BROTHER THE CHASE Endemol South Africa Reality TV Binneland Stark Films Prod / Dir: Friedrich / Elsje Stark Daily Soap / TV Series Bonisanani Kagiso TV Talk Show BOPSY BUNNY Firefly Animation Studio Exec Prod: Antony Steel Short Films

TALK OF THE TOWN Suite People TV Productions Bell Curle TV Series

BORDER MARAUDERS NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Wildlife Documentary

The Black Out Dithakeng Projects and Films Exec Prods: Thabang Nkunyane Short Film

Carte Blanche (inserts) Modern Times Prods: Sofia Phirippides / Jon Pienaar Documentary

THE LOST ANGEL Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Dumisani Nhlapo Feature Film

Child Geniuses Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Prod: Paul Llewellyn Documentary Series

TO CARE FOR YOU ALWAYS Noble Pictures Prod: Claudia Noble Short Film

Coca-Cola Rockcorps Tia Productions Producer / Director: Tarryn Crossman Viral Documentary

TRUE DREAM South African Great Movies Production Dir: John Wani Feature

Codesign – commercial spot for furniture designers SWiTCH Dir: James Tayler Commercial

THE MESSENGER Spirit Word Ministries/Footprint Media Academy Exec Prod: Annalise Van Rensburg Series

Cool Cats Red Pepper Exec Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show

WAY TO FREEDOM Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature Film

CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

Workerslife Network Marketing FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video

Come Dine with Me South Africa Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality

XJ-1 Eternal Film Productions Producer: Marius Swanepoel, Dana Pretorius Genre: Sci-fi Feature Film

Cutting Edge SABC News Current Affairs

IN PRODUCTION 3 Talk Urban Brew Talk Show 3RD DEGREE e.tv Investigative TV series 50/50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs

DADDY’S MESS Dzunde Productions Prod: Thandiwe Mashiyane TV Sitcom DIE VIERDE KABINET Jan Scholtz Productions Prod: Jan Scholtz Series DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Exec Prod: Anne Myers Cookery Series

U PDAT ES

DIY Met Riaan Prod: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EM PETROCHEMICALS TOP END Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir:Tommy Doig Training Program EXPRESSO 2 Cordover Trading Prod: Paul van Deventer Lifestyle EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Magazine Programme FORMIDABELE VROUE: ANNEKIE THERON Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET FORMIDABELE VROUE: CISSY GOOL Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET FORMIDABELE VROUE: INA DE VILLIERS Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET FORMIDABELE VROUE: UNA VAN DER SPUY Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET FOX NEWS CHANNEL Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig News Current Affairs Freeway Frog Firefly Animation Prod: Ant Steel Animation Short FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Palesa Mopeli Variety GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Exec Prod: Mfundi Vundla Soapie GOOD MORNING AFRICA Planet Image Productions SA Prod / Dir: Wale Akinlabi TV Magazine

Cnr. Frost avenue & owl street | Milpark | Jo’burg t +27 [11] 482 7111

www.atlasstudios.co.za

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 HITACHI POWER AFRICA MEDUPI & KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary 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 ISEDALE Golden Effects Pictures Dir: Kunle Afolayan Documentary Series ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Dirs: Raymond Sargent / Johnny Barbazano Daily TV Drama IT’S MY BIZ Urban Brew Studios Reality business makeover series JAM SANDWICH Meerkat Media Prod / Dir: Pauli van Dyk / Deon Maas TV Series / Reality Music show JAM SANDWICH IV Meerkat Media Prod / Dir: Pauli van Dyk / Deon Maas TV series Jim Iyke: Unscripted!

Ifactory Live, Greyology Inc. & Oh Africa Exec prod: Michael Djaba Reality TV series (AfricaMagic) JOU SHOW MET EMO en Wickus Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Variety Show Judge For YourSelf eNews Current Affairs Laugh out Loud Exec Prod: Rapulana Seiphemo Comedy

Khumbul’ekhaya Urban Brew Prod: Enel Viljoen Reality

LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Satire

KONA The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd Prod / Dir: Laurence Lurie / Cathy Sykes TV Series – M-Net East Africa

Live Urban Brew Music Show

KWELA Pieter Cilliers Productions Prod / Dir: Pieter Cilliers TV Magazine

Live Lotto Show Urban Brew Game Show

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UPDATES SKWIZAS 2 Lillian Dube Productions Prod: Lillian Dube Sitcom

Turn It Out 2 Fuel Media Productions Dir: Marvin Raftopoulos Dance Reality show

SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Vuyo Sokupa Variety

VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Anton Dekker Corporate Video

Siyakholwa – We Believe X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment SKETCH U LATER Clive Morris Productions Dir: Genna Lewis Comedy series Soccer 411 Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Magazine Soccer zone SABC Sports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine Sony Presents Mgongo Sony Variety Spirit Sundae New Wave Productions Prod: Mishkah Roman-Cassiem Spiritual STUDIO 53 M-Net Inhouse Productions Insert Dir: Navan Chetty Mag Programme

Unit C5 RobeRtville Mini FaCtoRies 255 nadine stReet RobeRtville RoodepooRt 1709

Maggs on Media eNews Prod: Jeremy Maggs Current Affairs MASSMART CSI REPORT SummerTime Productions Prod / Dir: Roxanne Rolando / Sean Gardiner Corporate Video 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 MK Campus Homebrew Films Prods: Jaco Loubser / Ben Heyns Student Show MOFEREFERE LENYALONG Moja Movie Factory Sitcom Montana 2 Penguin Films Exec Prods: Roberta Durrant Drama Series MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Vesko Mrdjen Talk Show MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Exec Prod: Pepsi Pokane TV Magazine Music Moves Me Engage Entertainment Exec Prod: Vusi Zion (previously Twala) Music Show News Night eNews Prods: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs NIGCOMSAT – TELEVISION COMMERCIAL SERIES SWiTCH Prod: Sarah Wanjiku Muhoho Commercial Nomzamo Tom Pictures / Authentic Images Comedy ONS MENSE Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Current Affairs OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Corporate Video PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Insert Dirs: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer TV Magazine Programme Phoenix Rising...The Business of Style Phoenix Entertainment and Production Prod / Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Reality Docutainment POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport Programme Project MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Video

46 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational

Religion and the ANC Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary RETROBOUCHON Tunnelvizion Productions Prod / Dir: Ruan Lotter/Hein Ungerer Short Film 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 ROCKING FUTURE SummerTime Productions Prod: Sean Gardiner / Tanya Vandenberg Educational Video ROER Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Cooking Show Roots Ukhamba Communications Music Show SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER SEASON 4 Dirk Mostert Camera Production Prod / Dir / Ed: Dirk Mostert / Rudi Ahlstrom TV Magazine SANPARKS YOUTH & PARKS Francois Odendaal Productions Prod / Dir: Francois Odendaal Natural History TV Series SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod / Dir: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Series Prod: Romano Gorlei Soapie 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 SHARK STORIES NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Wildlife Documentary 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 / James Ngcobo Sitcom

TASOL “Old Geezer” Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Commercial The B-Ball Show SABC Commissioning Ed: Dinah Mahlabegoane Variety The Chat Room Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show THE CHEETAH DIARIES SERIES 4 NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Wildlife Documentary The Communist Republic of South Africa Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary The Cypher Spoon Fed Generation Lerato Letebele Talk show THE DR MOL SHOW Prod: Michael Mol Magazine THE GREAT PENGUIN RESCUE NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Wildlife Documentary The Justice Factor eNews Exec Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs The Lighthouse Run – 42 Marathons, 42 Days SummerTime Productions Dir: Tanya Vandenberg Documentary 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 TRAPPER IN AFRICA NHU Africa Exec Prod: Vyv Simson / Donfrey Meyer Wildlife Documentary TSHIPE BORWA MANGANESE MINE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary

Calafornia: Valley Christian School Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary DEAR SISTER Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Short Film

VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dirs: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit TV Drama

DONKERLAND Donkerland Drama TV Reeks Producer / Director: Deon Opperman/ Joz Malherbe TV Drama

WARD 22 Tia Productions Producer / Director: Tarryn Crossman Documentary

DRAGON’S FEAST 3D NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary

WEEKEND LIVE SABC News Current Affairs

ERFSONDES Imani Media Dir: Peter Heaney TV Drama

Western Cape Government FiX Post Production Producers: Ernst & Young Health Video 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 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

Fatherland Tia Productions Producer / Director: Tarryn Lee Crossman Documentary Freedom Park Installations Kevin Harris productions / Fix Post production Prod / Dir: Nadiva Schraibman Documentary FROM GUN TO TAPE Content House/Shadow Films Prod / Dir: Jackie Lebo / David Forbes Documentary GETROUD MET RUGBY SEASON 4 Bottom Line Productions Dir: Jozua Malherbe Series HALF OF A YELLOW SUN British Film Institute Dir: Biyi Bandele Feature Film HOME OF THE LEGENDS L. Dukashe Productions Prod / Dir: Lumko Dukashe / Lulu Dukashe Documentary Hong Kong Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Documentary INTEL HISTORY Bragge Film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Corporate IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature Israel Inside (Working Title) Imagination Productions / Wayne Kopping Films Dir: Wayne Kopping Documentary JACK UP YOUR SHACK Let It Rain Films Prod / Dir: Lee Doig TV Series JAM SANDWICH Meerkat Media Dir: MQ Ngubane Music Reality TV series

AFRICA CALLING Two Oceans Production Prods: Giselher Venzke / Bertha Spieker Feature

JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions,Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary

AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

Kemang? lmol Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature Film

AFROX FINANCIAL RESULTS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Hulette Pretorius Corporate Video

Koolcon Corporate Video Producers: FiX Post Production Marketing Video

AFROX RAU INSIGHT 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 AURECON STAFF INSERTS Panache Video Productions Dir: Liesel Eiselen Marketing 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

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 Melodi Jazz Festival 2011 L. Dukashe Productions Dir: Lumko Dukashe Live Concert DVD MICROSOFT 365 Bragge film & TV Dir: Guy Bragge Corporate Video National Heritage Council Educational Outreach Programme Panache Video Productions Dir: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Video Pad na jou hart The Film Factory Prod: Danie Bester, Ivan Botha, Donna Lee Roberts Director: Jaco Smit Genre: Romance Feature Film

PRODUCTION PEACE PARKS NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series PERFECT SHISHEBO Curious Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena Cooking Show PLAY MORE GOLF FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Hulette Pretorius Commercials PREDATORS’ PLAYGROUND NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series 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 Ruut Extra Tia Productions Producer / Director: Tarryn Crossman Commercial/Documentary SA JUNIOR MASTERS Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Sport Programme SCAREDYKAT Dirty Soul Productions Dir: Kyle Lewis Horror Feature Film SCHOOL E-WASTE INITIATIVE/ DESCO/ INCREDIBLE CONNECTION Philip Schedler Productions Prod: Philip Schedler Corporate Shark Stories Talking Pictures Prod / Dir: Garth Lucas/ Ann Strimling Documentary

Vehicle 19 Forefront Media Group / Picture Tree / The Safran Company Exec Prod: Paul Walker Feature VERITAS Media Village Prod: Debbie Matthee Documentary VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod Manager: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Anton Dekker Corporate Video

COMPLETE AFROX AFRICA INSIGHT EPS 4 FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX LPG RESTAURANT TRAINING FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Training Video AFROX YEAREND RESULT FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

SLENDER WONDER MJ LABS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Hulette Pretorius Corporate Video

BAKGAT! 3 The Film Factory Producers: Danie Bester, Pierre Boezaart Director: Stefan Nieuwoudt Feature Film

South african Field Band Foundation Championships Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Documentary

Club Culture Bonngoe Productions Prod: Tumi Rabanye Variety

Stolen Time Prod: Eric Myeni Feature Tanzanian Investment Opportunities Benchmark Productions Dir: Dermod Judge Corporate Video Technology Innovation Agency CEO Address Panache Video Productions Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate Video Technorati Talent Attack TV / Fuel Media Productions Dir: Maxine Nel Technology Magazine Show THE AFRIKANER BROEDERBOND It’s a Wrap Productions Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary THE CHEETAH DIARIES SERIES 3 NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson/ Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series THOSE WHO CAN’T Quizzical Pictures SABC Comedy Series TO THE POWER OF ANNE FiX Productions Prod / Dir: Robert Haynes TV Series TOUCHING LIVES SEASON 3 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 Vallejo Transformation Media Village Prod: Diane Vermooten Corporate

25 Sep – 06 Oct Raindance Film Festival

Nothing for Mahala Production Companies: Heartlines; Quizzical Pictures Director: Roli Nikiwe Genre: Feature Film

ALLES WAT MAL IS Production Company: The Karoo Film Company Directed by: Darrell Roodt Written by: Deon Mayer Genre: Romantic Comedy Feature Film

STETSON HATS Fourth Dimension Films / Creative Photo Services Dir: Neil Hermann Corporate Video

MUSIEK VIR DIE AGTERGROND Production Company: Bosbok Ses Films Directed by: Salmon de Jager Produced by: Danie Bester Genre: Drama Feature Film

WALKING IN VICTOR’S SHOES Current Affairs Films SA Prod: Jane Thandi Lipman Feature Documentary

ZION Letcosmart Prod: Zibusiso Nkomo Feature

Cooking With Siba Prod: Siba Mtongana Variety DIE BALLADE VAN ROBBIE DE WEE Production Company: Welela Studios Director: Darrell Roodt Genre: Drama Feature Film DINEO’S DIARY: A MOGUL IN THE MAKING New Vision Pictures and S2 Multimedia Exec prod: Dineo Ranaka Reality DRAGON’S FEAST 3D NHU Africa Exec Prods: Vyv Simson / Sophie Vartan Wildlife Documentary Series DURBAN/REEF FUEL PIPELINE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary FORMIDABELE VROUE: PETRONELLA Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET FORMIDABELE VROUE: LEONORA VD HEEVER Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET GNLD FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Opening Video GNLD AFRICA CONVENTION FC Hamman Films Prod: FC Hamman Corporate Video Hermanus Social Upliftment Video FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video IMATU UNION VIDEO FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video IMPACT CHRISTIAN MEDIA Impact Christian Media Prod / Dir: Carl Schultz TV Series IPCC CHURCH CHOIR FC Hamman Films Director: Pierre Smith Music Video JAM ALLEY CREW VS CREW SEASON 2 Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Melody Xaba Music Reality Competition JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM Khaki Productions Prod / Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Documentary – kykNET

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OCTOBER

MZANSI LOVE Fireworx Media Dirs: Myrto Makrides, Mmabatho Montsho, Neo Ntlantleng, Zamo Mkhwanazi Anthology series

WELLBODI BIZNES Plexus Films / Four Corners Media Prod: Miki Redelinghuys Documentary

UPCOMING EVENTS

MENTALIST MARTIAL ARTS Panache Video Productions Dir: Ryan Blumenthal Training

VROU SOEK BOER West Five Films Dir/ Prods: Maynard Kraak / Johan Kruger Feature Film

SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

Stuur groete aan Mannetjies Roux Production Company: Bosbok Ses Films Produced by: Piet de Jager Directed by: Paul Eilers Genre: Feature Film

MASTERS OF DREAMS Current Affairs Hambrook Prod / Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman TV Series

U PDAT ES

NUPRO VOERE FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video OSCAR PISTORIUS ABC America Documentary PGC FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video POPCRU 7TH CONGRESS FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Event Prinses Life In A Bulb/ FiX Post Production Director: Morne Du Toit Short Film (Silwerskerm Fees) RISKCON SECURITY FC Hamman Films Producer: Neels Smit Corporate Video

London www.raindance.org

02 – 05 Oct

iMPAC Festival 2013

Irene, Gauteng www.impac.co.za/index.php

04 – 06 Oct

The 48 Hour Film Project

Cape Town www.48hourfilm.com

06 – 08 Oct

Jaipur International ANIMATION Film Festival (JIAFF) 2013

Jaipur, India http://jiffindia.org/jiff13.html

8 – 13 Oct

FiSahara Film Festival

Dakhla, Algeria www.festivalsahara.com

11 – 14 Oct United Film Festival

Tulsa www.theunitedfest.com

18 – 27 Oct

Out in Africa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival South Africa

www.oia.co.za/ 25 – 01 Nov

Banff Mountain Film FestivalSouth Africa

www.banff.co.za/ 30 – 08 Nov

South African Horrorfest Film Festival

Cape Town www.horrorfest.info

30 – 02 Nov

Aluta Film Festival

Kimberley https://www.facebook.com/ pages/Aluta-Film-Festival/165889343444084 31 – 03 Nov

Photo & Film Expo

SHORELINE REVISITED Homebrew films Documentary series

The Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg www.photofilmexpo.com

SING YOUR SONG Dir: Susanne Rostock Documentary

NOVEMBER

SLENDER WONDER GLAM GURU Production House: FC Hamman Films Prod Manager: Odette van Jaarsveld Script: Hulette Pretorius Commercial

1 – 10

Cape Town & Winelands International Film Festival

Cape Town www.films-for-africa.co.za

SPACE, ALIENS, UFO’S AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS Eugene Botha Productions / It’s Wrap Productions Exec prods: Eugene Botha / Anna Teichert Documentary

4 – 6

Cape Town Film Mart

Denver www.denverfilm.org

STAND UP AFRICA On Air Media Dir / Story Ed: Mike Bardsley / Lex Dominguez Documentary

6–8

DISCOP AFRICA

THE 7 P’S OF LEADERSHIP COACHING Panache Video Productions Prod / Dir: Liesel Eiselen Educational (MBA students)

22

THE BLACK JEWS AND THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENANT Eugene Botha Productions / It’s a Wrap Productions Prod: Eugene Botha Documentary Transnet FiX Post Production Producers: Ernst & Young HRS Video TWK AGRI FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video UASA CONGRESS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video

Cape Town www.films-for-africa.co.za

7 – 17

Starz Denver Film Festival (SDFF)

Sandton Convention Center, Johannesburg www.discop.com PromaxBDA Africa 2013

The Maslow, Johannesburg www.promaxafrica.tv

23 – 24

AFDA Annual Film Festival

South Africa www.afda.co.za

26 – 05 Dec

Cairo International Film Festival

Cairo, Egypt www.ciff.org.eg

27 – 16 Dec Wavescape Film Festival

Cape Town www.wavescapefilmfestival.co.za

DECEMBER 17 – 21

Performing Arts Management Today

Austria www.iugte.com/projects/performingartsmanagement

UASA GOLF DAY FC Hamman Films Producer: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video VIENNA BOYS’ CHOIR MUSIC STUDY TOUR SummerTime Productions Prod / Dir: Tanya Vandenberg Corporate WORKERSLIFE FUNERAL PLAN FC Hamman Films Director: FC Hamman Marketing Video WORKERSLIFE INSURANCE FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Marketing Video

Screen Africa relies on the 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

ADVERTISERS LIST AJA Video Systems.......................32 Atlas Studios ...............................45 Avid..................................................23 BlackGinger......................................1 Blackmagic Design..........................5 Canon................................................9 Case Connection, The ................44 Discop Africa.................................29 Europa Dubbing............................35 Eutelsat............................................37 Gallo Music Publishers..IBC General Post..................................44 Jaycor...............................................28 JVC.........................................24 – 25

| Mojapele Productions..................44 Obeco..............................................28 PACT...............................................39 Panasonic..........................................7 PromaxBDA Africa........IFC Pro-Sales.........................................43 Rocket Science..............................21 Seed Entertainment.......FC SES....................................................33 Sony............................... OBC SOS..................................................19 Tempest Car Hire.........................45 TRT Sales........................................41 Vision Cases...................................46 October 2013 | SCREENAFRICA | 47

Social

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NFVF / FPB / GFC Women’s Month lunch

Zama Mkosi

Bubu Mazibuko and Zikhona Sodlaka

Lebo Mashile

Mmabatho Ramokgoshi

Nthabeleng Phora

Sindy Mabe

Zanele Mthembu

Felix première

Hlayani Junior Mabasa and Shirley Johnston

Joe Mafela

Kgomotso Christopher and Letoya Mangezi

Linda Sokhulu

Natalie Haarhoff and Takunda Bimha

Seen at IBC

Kevin Cottam (Ross Video) and Steve Schafer (Concilium Technologies)

Uwe Jansch and Roberta Durrant

Molly & Wors première

Christo Bosman (Summit TV)

Ian Dormer (Screen Africa)

Martin Brasg (GlobeCast), Jimi Matthews (SABC News) and Jacques Andreou (GlobeCast)

Silwerskermfees

New Appointments

Gerrit Schoonhoven and Hanli Rolfes

Burggraaf joins Endemol SA Anton Burggraaf has been appointed as the new head of Entertainment TV for Endemol South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Burggraaf previously produced several of the company’s flagship shows, such as Deal or No Deal, Big Brother and Fear Factor.

He joins Endemol SA after a five-year stint as an executive producer at Ochre Media. His Endemol remit includes scripted and non-scripted entertainment production as well as business development.

Burggraaf replaces Charles Povey who has decided to step down from his role and pursue new opportunities in Australia.

Fry is FFI’s MD in SA Film Finances Inc. (FFI), a world leader in completion guarantees, has recruited industry veteran Jane Fry as its managing director in South Africa.

Says Johannesburg-based Fry: “I am very happy to be part of such a well-known, prestigious organisation.

I have met a lot of the team from around the world and am looking forward to be representing them in South Africa, where I can support and encourage foreign projects to use South Africa as a top destination, as well as servicing and supporting the growing local industry.”

Film Finances SA is currently bonding Elysium director Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi project Chappie, which is in pre-production in Johannesburg. The South African office is working on two Cape Town-based productions: The Giver, starring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges; and the TV series, SAF3, from Baywatch writer-producer Greg Bonann.

Jody Abrahams and Terence Bridgett

Simon Barnard, Anneke Weideman, Katinka Heyns and June Seymour

Lizz Meiring

Warren Adler, Dexter Daniels and Sallas de Jager

Willie Esterhuizen, Carien Botha and Pieter Esterhuizen 48 | SCREENAFRICA | October 2013

Tessa Denton and Brandon Auret

Cherie van der MerweCoetzee and Danie Putter

Ilze and Willie Esterhuizen

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