Screen Africa September 2015

SA’s first 4K film

African distribution

Short films focus BROADCAST, FILM, TV, COMMERCIALS, NEW MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS

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VOL 27 – September 2015 R38.00

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| IN THIS ISSUE

13 The Loeries give Durban the nod

24

16 Of music, narcissism and $30 000 shoes

Elements of cinema: shooting the curl

18

38

Surf’s up in 4K!

NEWS

8K – The final frontier?

Reflecting on Mediatech: the differences between European

FILM

INDUSTRY REPORT

NFVF delays a concern for

Of music, narcissism and

the industry............................................. 3 Naspers launches online

and African tech buyers..................... 10 Christie 22,000 Lumen Cinema

$30 000 shoes..................................... 16

Distribution blues............................... 34

VOD service ShowMax........................ 4

Laser Phosphor Projector................ 11

AFDA expands into Africa................... 4 A New York Hustle:

Canon ME20F-SH............................... 11 JVC SR-HD2700 Blu-ray/ hard

‘Get US There’........................................ 6 Colourist Nic Apostoli joins

drive combo deck............................... 11

the Upstairs Ludus................................. 6 African Movie Channel makes European re-entry

Surf’s up in 4K!.................................... 18 Renegade, dreamer

Zola tackles the issue of

Leap beyond the shadows................ 22 Wakaliwood – on the edge

paternity in SA on Utatakho............ 37

Reallusion 3D animation tools......... 11

of Uganda’s action film....................... 23 Elements of cinema:

Broadcast Technology

STUDIOS

shooting the curl................................. 24

Atlas Studios seeks new

Get shorty............................................ 27

supporting role....................................... 9

BBC Earth and BBC First in SA......... 8

ADCETERA

WGSA’s journey to

M-Net brings ‘The Voice’ to SA............ 8 Maggs on Media re-launches

Avoiding social media brand fails.... 12

NATPE Europe 2015.......................... 29 Locarno opens its

point for African broadcast data..... 10

The Loeries give Durban the nod.. 13 Frieze Films’ Rio Allen does fashion in the dark.............................. 14 Leveraging the new industry energy.................................... 14

www.screenafrica.com

TELEVISION

and storyteller..................................... 20

with Lebara Play..................................... 8 BBC Worldwide launches BBC Brit,

with new look......................................... 8 AMX to provide central

Activism meets art............................. 36

facebook.com/screenafrica

8K – The final frontier?...................... 38

NEW MEDIA Slim pickings......................................... 40

FESTIVALS & MARKETS

APP-titude............................................. 42

Regulars Box Office................................................... 43

doors to Maghreb............................... 30 Locarno Film Festival

Production Updates..................... 44 – 47

welcomes Libya .................................. 32

Social............................................................ 48

@screenafrica

Events........................................................... 47

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From the editor

The Team

What happens when the well dries up?

South Africa’s National and Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) came under heavy fire recently for its delay in releasing its decisions regarding the quarter 1 funding applications. I certainly do sympathise with the indignant reaction the state film industry body has received. After all, the NFVF has its mandate and has a responsibility to fulfil it in a timely, transparent and responsible manner and, like all government institutions, must be held to account when it falls short. However, I find myself wondering if we are perhaps missing the point.

It’s very easy to blame the government and we South Africans are experts at it. It requires more effort to focus one’s energy on taking the initiative to improve one’s own lot. By all means, let’s hold the SABC and the NFVF accountable but, in the meantime, what is the industry doing to build and sustain itself to the point where government funding diminishes in importance and even (indulge my Utopian dream) becomes absolutely unnecessary?

Here is a hard truth: no government is ever really under any obligation to support the arts. It is obliged to provide basic services, to ensure the rule of law and to set up and maintain a socio-economic environment in which its citizens have more or less equal opportunity and facility to thrive. Anything beyond that is a bonus. The government does not HAVE to support us and perhaps one day it will cease to do so. What will we do then?

So am I saying we should thank our lucky stars for government funding and just forget about its inefficiencies and irregularities? Not at all. We just need to remember that government spending in any sector is intended to stimulate the economy, not support it indefinitely. While such support is available, we need to find ways to take it and run with it. We should be using state funding today in order to ensure that it is not needed tomorrow. Are we doing that? What are we doing to ensure that markets for local content are consistently growing, becoming more lucrative, and that our understanding of these markets gives us better opportunities to help our next project recoup its costs, let alone make a profit? Are we developing ways to reach new mass audiences?

The industry went into panic mode when the SABC collapsed because it was overly dependent on the state broadcaster. I hope that we are not developing a similar dependency on the NFVF, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The NFVF is just one of many concerns drawing funding from the Department of Arts and Culture’s ever shrinking budget. When the treasury seeks to cut government spending, the arts and culture allocation will be one of the first places it looks. If our GDP continues to contract as it has in the first half of this year, who knows how much or how little the NFVF will have next year? As for the dti and the IDC, they have any number of other industries also vying for their support. They both identified sufficient economic promise in the film industry to dedicate substantial resources to it. If that promise goes unfulfilled, they will shift their focus elsewhere.

And where will that leave us? I don’t have any answers but I suspect that the first step in finding one will be to shift our focus away from government and other potential funders to the audience – those people out there who are just waiting for us to entertain and inform them. While we watch the funders to ensure that they are doing what they should be doing, our potential audience is paying to watch somebody else’s work.

And the market is far less forgiving than public funders: unlike government, the audience will not feel any obligation to give us points for effort.

– Warren Holden

SCREENAFRICA

Editor Warren Holden is a writer and journalist whose lifelong love of film and television prompted him to study for his BA in Motion Picture Medium at AFDA Johannesburg, specialising in writing and directing. After graduating, he worked for three years in the television industry before following his aptitude for writing into the world of publishing. He then worked for five years as assistant editor on the arts and culture publication Classicfeel, before taking the helm of Screen Africa, where his experiences in the separate streams of motion picture and publishing have finally come together. In addition to his work on Screen Africa, he is also hard at work developing stories for film and television and studying for a second degree in economics and African politics.

Deputy Editor Carly Barnes is a writer, journalist and self-professed documentary geek.

Before joining Screen Africa, Carly completed a BA honours degree in Live Performance at AFDA Johannesburg, was named one of Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans (2011) and wrote and performed a one woman show at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival. She ran a small entertainment and production company for more than six years before she began a professional writing career – as a contributor to Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t blogging, exploring the local festival scene or dreaming about travelling abroad, Carly is connecting with creative leaders and filmmakers who are shaping the future of content creation on the continent.

Chanelle Ellaya is a writer and a journalist. She completed her BA Journalism degree at the University of Johannesburg in 2011. While writing is her passion, she has a keen interest in the media in various capacities: In 2012 she co-presented the entertainment and lifestyle show Top Entertainment on TopTV and later that year she was handpicked as part of a panel of five dynamic young Africans to interview Winnie Madikizela-Mandela on a youth focused television show called MTV Meets. Chanelle is an avid social networker and a firm believer in the power of social and online networking.

Between writing and tweeting, she finds time to feed her love for live music.

Sub-Editor: Tina Heron Design: Trevor Ou Tim: design@sun-circle.co.za

Editor: Warren Holden: editor@screenafrica.com

Website & Production Updates: Carina Vermooten: web@sun-circle.co.za

DEputy Editor: Carly Barnes: carly@screenafrica.com

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

Contributors: Oma Areh, Sam Charo, Claire Diao, Ian Dormer, Louise Marsland Andy Stead, Nompi Vilakazi, Christopher J Wheeler

Ifeoma ‘Oma Areh runs WildFlower PR and Company, a Nigerian based entertainment and digital PR company.

She has worked on some of the biggest campaigns in Africa. She is also the convener of Africa’s first ever ‘Digital Entertainment Conference’ #DECAFRICA. She lives in Lagos with her husband and children.

Sam Charo is an independent writer, producer and filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. His passion is sharing great stories about the continent with rest of the world.

Claire Diao is a French and Burkinabe cinema journalist.

She covers the African film industry for various international media and moderates the Afrikamera Festival in Berlin each year. In 2015, she co-founded Awotele, a digital magazine that focuses on African cinema.

Ian Dormer – Born in Zimbabwe, Ian has been in the TV business since the 1980s, having served in various positions at the SABC, M-Net and SuperSport. Ian currently works and resides in New Zealand.

Louise Marsland is a veteran editor and journalist with over 20 years experience in the advertising, media, marketing and communications industries. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, she worked as the editor of AdVantage magazine, as well as Bizcommunity.com. She is currently publishing editor of TRENDAFRiCA.co.za.

Andy Stead is a broadcast industry professional with over 40 years’ experience in both South Africa and the UK, having worked at a number of leading industry organisations including the BBC and Chroma Television. Now retired, he is based in

IN-HOUSE JOURNALIST

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

Journalist: Chanelle Ellaya: news@screenafrica.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Accounts: Natasha Glavovic: accounts@sun-circle.co.za Advertisement Sales: Marianne Schafer: marianne@screenafrica.com Graham Grier: graham@sun-circle.co.za

Cape Town.

Nompi Vilakazi is a South African writer with a history in TV drama series.

She has worked as an editor in the cutting rooms of numerous productions and is currently the script development executive at Coal Stove Pictures.

Christopher J. Wheeler is a writer and educator, who is currently working towards a Ph.D. in film and philosophy.

In 2014, he graduated with an MA in Media Theory & Practice from the University of Cape Town and has since been lecturing media students while continuing his research.

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All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publisher.

South Africa

| News

NFVF delays a concern for the industry The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has been the subject a great deal of speculation and frustration over the past few months. After the delay in the release of Quarter 3 funding for the 2014/15 financial year, a similar delay occurred with the 2015/16 Quarter 1 applications. While the first delay had been due to a late release of funds from the Department of Arts and Culture (the NFVF’s parent body), the second appears to have been the result of an administrative backlog.

Alarm bells first went off when the announcement of Q1 approvals for production and development funding did not take place on 5 June as had been scheduled. The NFVF issued a press release and also took to its social platforms to announce the delay and to explain the reasons for it, but many people in the industry continued to ask questions as to the reasons behind the delay. The list of approvals was posted over a month later, on 13 July, on the NFVF website but that was by no means the end of the story. At the time of writing – near the end of August – a large number of applicants listed as being approved, still have not received their letters of intent and there is a fear that the delay will have a knock-on effect into the next quarter and beyond.

Vuyo Sokupa, the head of development and production at the NFVF, explains the delay: “When we opened to applications for Quarter 4, we announced that we had already met our targets for production and development for the 2014/15 fiscal year. In that last quarter, we were only able to consider applications for archiving and TV formats.

But people still submitted applications for production and development, which we could not consider until the beginning of the next financial year. So by the time we put out the call for Q1 applications, we already had a backlog and we decided to evaluate the existing applications in addition to the new ones. We did not

POST PRODUCTION

anticipate the volume of applications that would come in for Q1. In total we found ourselves with an unprecedented amount of projects to assess and so we needed to postpone the announcement of the outcomes. The quarter had started in April and the council meeting was meant to take place at the end of May – it would have been impossible to finish in that time. So we asked for a special council to be held; instead of going to council on 28 May, we went on 3 July.”

Again the story did not end with the posting of the outcomes. By the end of July, people began to complain that they had not received their letters of intent.

Sokupa explains that the sending of these letters is not a quick process as each letter is individually written for its specific project, containing specific information, advice and request for further action.

“We don’t simply cut and paste,” she says. When you have a large number of applications that you need to write personalised letters for, that takes a lot of time. Once I have written the letters, they go through final internal checks and then to the CEO’s office to be signed.”

Letters of intent were starting to be rolled out at the beginning of August but

confusion still reigns. Sokupa states that interim letters were e-mailed to successful applicants to let them know that they had been approved, that final contracts would be on the way shortly and that the interim letters could be used as proof of NFVF backing. Responses from the industry indicate that not everybody received those letters. Screen Africa contacted a sample of approved applicants and got very mixed responses. Some seemed completely satisfied, saying that they had received their letters of intent by early August and that their projects were on track. Others said that, yes, they had received their letters, but by that time they had almost lost potential funders, had to push back their schedules and even had to replace crew and cast members. One producer even stated that he had absolutely no idea that his project had even been approved until Screen Africa contacted him. By the time of going to print with this report, letters of intent were still rolling out.

It seems clear that there is a major shortfall in communication about how the application, assessment and approval processes work, which even Sokupa admits. “I have already raised the matter

that the industry needs to have a better understanding of our processes and to be kept abreast of the progress of our deliberations.”

Sokupa assures the industry that the delays of the first quarter will not be repeated in the second and that the process for this cycle is on track. It appears that the routine council meeting, addressing second quarter applications, took place as planned on 31 August. “I ask the industry to stay calm and please be patient. There is no crisis – and we promise to be more visible and engage even more in future. We are currently planning a stakeholder engagement session to be held towards the end of September,” Sokupa says.

Despite these assurances, much uncertainty still surrounds the industry’s perception of the NFVF. Earlier in the year, City Press published a report written

by Charl Blignaut, quoting from a statement made by former head of development and production, Clarence Hamilton. The report made various allegations of incompetence, wasteful expenditure and the interference of council members in the operational levels of the foundation. These, together with the latest funding delay, have made enough of a noise for the country’s official opposition to start asking questions in parliament. Democratic Alliance MP Winston Rabotapi, shadow minister of arts and culture, has begun to look into the matter. Dr Allen Grootboom, Rabotapi’s deputy, told Screen Africa that their major concern is that the delay in the disbursement process could lead to fiscal dumping.

He also stated that they were looking into reports of council interference in assessment and approval processes but no specific information was available yet. Meanwhile, the NFVF states that the City Press article has been addressed, with adequate information being sent to all stakeholders.

– Warren Holden

DIGITAL INTERMEDIATE / BASELIGHT

WWW.BLADEWORKS.CO.ZA September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 3

News

|

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SOUTH AFRICA

AFDA expands into Africa

CREATING AN INDUSTRY: AFDA co-founder and chairman Garth Holmes

On 17 August AFDA, the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance, opened its doors to aspiring filmmakers and actors in a new location outside of South Africa’s borders, as part of its expansion programme on the continent.

Helmed by AFDA Cape Town Honours graduate Tsholofelo Ntshingane and co-owner Dr Mothusi Phuthego, the campus is situated in Gaborone, Botswana and offers undergraduate and postgraduate Bachelor of Arts (BA) degrees in Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance.

The Botswana campus is the first of several new campuses planned as part of the institution’s expansion programme.

According to AFDA co-founder and chairman Garth Holmes, plans are underway to expand AFDA’s footprint to additional countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and further north. “We believe we have a standardised model of education that we can apply in different countries and cities,” says Holmes. “If you train people and you create the intellectual capital, then they will create an industry. You can’t have a whole bunch of people with degrees that are very well networked, have divergent and general life skills, and importantly, are very connected with each other – and not make something happen.”

Since its establishment in South Africa 21 years ago, AFDA has grown its presence to include campuses in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port

Elizabeth. AFDA recently announced that it would also be adding two new degrees to its educational offering – a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Business Innovation & Enterprise; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Technology.

Holmes says these new additions offer aspiring professionals in the entertainment industry a more integrated skill set. “For 21 years we have practised a learning system of integrated, collaborative, outcomes-based, market-related learning. Now with these two new degrees we can intercept business art and science degrees to create a pool of talent containing divergent skills across business, computer technology, content publication and management,” says Holmes. He adds that although only currently offered at Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban campuses, these new degrees will also be offered at other AFDA campuses; and that while the degrees will have a focus on the entertainment industry they will not be limited to the arts.

The Botswana campus and expansion plans are part of AFDA’s drive to contribute to an emerging industry on the continent. Holmes concludes: “People create industries; industries don’t create people – particularly in our new economies. These are far more dynamic and have created far more access. They are more competitive and contain more people that are trained – all of this helps to build an industry. And all the schools and institutions that participate contribute to making the industry a success.” – Carly Barnes

Naspers launches online VOD service ShowMax With the current global broadband explosion taking place, a change is occurring in the way people consume media. In addition to watching linear and scheduled television, people are consuming movies and series via an array of video-on-demand (VOD) services.

With this in mind, multinational media and internet company Naspers has launched its internet streaming VOD offering, ShowMax. Speaking at the recent launch in Johannesburg, ShowMax general manager John Kotsaftis expressed his joy in his involvement in the project: “I have been at Naspers for over 10 years now and I’ve worked in a variety of different areas, mainly in the internet space. For the past few years I was at MultiChoice’s pay-TV and I’m delighted to say that I’m back in the internet space, working for the Naspers group again on a very amazing start-up, where we have the opportunity to build something from scratch…

Nothing is as cool as this.”

A key draw card distinguishing ShowMax from other VOD platforms on the market is that its content offering includes a wide selection of local movies, series and kids’ entertainment. Kotsaftis stressed that for ShowMax “content is king”, and local content is increasingly more important to local audiences. In addition to an impressive variety of 4 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

CONTENT IS KING: ShowMax offers users 750 TV series Hollywood and local films, including classic titles, documentaries and kids entertainment, ShowMax offers an impressive 750 titles of television series.

Along with complete seasons of much-loved shows ranging from Game of Thrones, Suits, The Wire and Entourage, to British series Sherlock, local audiences will also indulge in homegrown favourites such as Orkney Snork Nie! In addition, ShowMax brings South African audiences new titles like The Late Late Show with James Corden.

While South Africa is known for its poor bandwidth, Kotsaftis said that there are up to one million internet subscribers in the country who have sufficient bandwidth to use the service efficiently.

Kotsaftis also added that ShowMax is at first targeting the South African market with an aim to launch into others at a later stage.

ShowMax is available at a monthly subscription fee of R99 via an extensive range of smart devices, mobile phones and tablets via iOS and Android apps, as

well as Samsung and LG smart TVs, and laptop and desktop computers that use a variety of web browsers. A single monthly subscription allows five different devices to connect to the portal, via two separate streams.

“This is not a quick exercise; this is a long term view for Naspers. We think this is where the world is going; we think this is a different kind of consumer experience driven by broadband and we want to be there and grow with it,” Kotsaftis said.

– Chanelle Ellaya

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SOUTH AFRICA

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A New York Hustle: ‘Get US There’ Launched mid-June, ‘Get US There’ is a group of South African industry hopefuls pooling their time and talents to get themselves to the prestigious New York Film Academy (NYFA).

Each member of the group has applied and been accepted into their chosen programme on merit and together they’re attempting to raise funds to pay their way to a world-class start – all in the hope of returning with the skills, knowledge, experience and exposure that will help them impact South Africa’s growing film industry for good.

The cost of higher education in South Africa, though considerable, pales in comparison to the debt-demanding digits that arise when considering international institutions (which can run as high as $60 000 or R750 000 per year, or more). Many of the members of this ad hoc alliance have secured partial funding from either the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the National Arts Council (NAC) and even directly from

NYFA, but the staggering price involved means that, without further support, most will not be able to cash those cheques.

“Living Expenses in New York City are extremely high,” the group recognises, “and we still need to raise funds for the remaining tuition fees, travel expenses, visas and study material.”

The academy is perfectly positioned to host internationally recognised guest speakers and industry stars (Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ron Howard, JK Simmons, to name a few), and is itself internationally

orientated with programmes worldwide, except – rather noticeably, and so expensively – in Africa. NYFA has, however, recently made visits to South Africa (holding auditions and competitions for partial bursaries for their acting and musical theatre programme back in 2013, and again late last year), but not all are able to take advantage of these specific times and spaces, and so a little initiative is required.

The students hope that they can appeal to organisations and communities, both home and abroad to get them the

rest of the way: “We are offering our skills, talents and time to any organisation or individual willing to sponsor our cause.”

The group is looking for ways to donate their time to community causes, secure sponsorship for industry and charity events. It has also invited individuals, organisations and communities to engage them with requests for both industry and community related services. Get US There will be showcasing its efforts online by creating a collective portfolio of their activities with interviews, articles, photographs, graphics and moving images.

For more information on the ‘Get US There’ group and their activities you can contact them directly at: production.getusthere@gmail.com, or on Facebook or Twitter (@GetUSthere).

– Christopher J Wheeler

Colourist Nic Apostoli joins the Upstairs Ludus “I’m pleased with my decision to launch Comfort and Fame, my own boutique colour-grading company,” says commercial colourist Nic Apostoli.

“Post-production and colour-grading is changing. Considering the rapid growth of The Ludus in Johannesburg and Cape Town – not to mention the fast evolving technological landscape and ever-present need to stay ahead of post-production challenges – it made sense that my grading suites are housed within a facility that’s keeping up with industry demand in a re-imagined way. I needed a home in both cities for Comfort and Fame and this modern facility provided me with that.”

The Ludus has adopted a progressive skills-based model that’s essentially a hub of talented specialists working together.

All team members work within the Cape Town and Johannesburg spaces but they own their specific departments.

Apostoli will collaborate with seasoned colourists Donovan Bush and Michele Wilson as well as online artists Charmaine Greyling and Nicholas Young. Sterling Sound completes the post-production 6 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

bouquet in Johannesburg and The WorkRoom Studios is its counterpart in Cape Town.

“I’m so pleased to be working alongside Nic,” says colleague and colourist Michele Wilson: “The industry needs to pull together and unite as creative craftsmen, rather than chipping away and undermining each other. This way, perhaps synergy and capacity can be built through collaboration. Our aim is for likeminded people to re-imagine how their creative services create a new way of working; less conventional but more inclusive. We need to work together to retain the value of our crafts and find new solutions that offer clients the best creative talent at a satisfactory price.

Doing so is the only way that collective longevity can be ensured in an industry in flux.”

To book colourist Nic Apostoli please contact his producers: Nic Apostoli 0716717730 Ashleigh Oates 021 461 8400 Joe Erasmus 011 326 2827

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www.screenafrica.com

African Movie Channel makes European re-entry with Lebara Play African Movie Channel (AMC) has entered a new partnership with Lebara to distribute their offering on the new Lebara Play OTT TV service; this is the first time AMC is being licensed for distribution outside Africa.

Lebara Play boasts over 150 channels, in 13 languages as well as 3 000 movies from around the world to provide quality entertainment to the large migrant community.

As one of the leading Africa-wide broadcasters, with its service playing out of London, AMC is perfectly placed to deliver new and classic Nollywood and African productions to Europe’s migrant community and African culture fans. This partnership will give Lebara’s European subscribers unlimited access to thousands of hours of prime African cinema content 24 hours a day.

Lebara Play’s premium multi-ethnic TV & movie content is available via PC,

mobile app, tablet or set top box. The new service is currently available in the UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands, and will be in the rest of Europe over the summer.

AMC is available on the West African English bundle on Lebara Play with unlimited access to African TV and movie content.

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BBC Worldwide launches BBC Brit, BBC Earth and BBC First in SA BBC Worldwide recently announced that BBC Brit, BBC Earth and BBC First will launch on MultiChoice’s DStv platform in South Africa, making it the first pay TV platform in the world to launch all three of its new global genre brands. BBC Brit and BBC Earth will be available from 1 September 2015 and BBC First will follow on 18 October 2015. The upcoming launch marks the debut of the brands on a new continent.

Mark Rayner, chief operations officer for MultiChoice South Africa commented: “Our DStv customers will be delighted with the addition of even more compelling BBC content. We’re constantly looking for ways to bring more value and premium entertainment to our customers – by being the first platform in the world to exclusively offer these three channels, just shows our level of

commitment to that promise.”

In South Africa, BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge will be replaced with BBC Brit and BBC Earth with an increased investment into new content, whilst BBC First will launch as a new channel in the region. The new channels will sit alongside BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC World News.

M-Net brings ‘The Voice’ to SA M-Net is adding yet another local version of a successful international talent competition to its slate of reality shows. The Voice South Africa will hit local screens in 2016 and will be screened exclusively on M-Net (DStv channel 101).

Joining a long list of countries – from Afghanistan, Brazil and China to Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam – South Africa is now the 60th country in the world to add a local flavour to The Voice.

“M-Net has become renowned as the home of top-notch reality fare and we’re very excited to confirm that The Voice South Africa will be our big attraction for

2016,” says M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle.

“With its impeccable international track record and blend of undiscovered talent, star power and spectacular sets, it’s the perfect fit for a channel that puts a high premium on great family entertainment. To top it off, The Voice South Africa will be giving local singers the opportunity of a lifetime – to be coached by the absolute best in the local music business.”

Entries will be open to all South African citizens older than 18 years and there’s no upper age cut-off.

Maggs on Media re-launches with new look Maggs on Media, a show which focusses on topical media and advertising issues, re-launched in August 2015 with a smart new look and a debate on the future of advertising and brand building in front of an audience of industry experts and observers. Maggs on Media broadcasts on eNews Channel Africa (DStv channel 403) on Sundays at 10h30 and 15h30; Mondays at 09h30 and 22h30; Wednesdays at 12h30; and Thursdays at 11h30.

The panel consisted of Thabang Skwambane, who runs the FCB agency in

Johannesburg; Koo Govender, CEO at the VWV agency; Phumi Mashigo, co-founder and MD of the agency Ignitive; and Xolisa Dyeshana, chief creative officer at the Joe Public agency.

These experts discussed issues such as: How are people engaging with advertising these days? Is digital all it is made out to be? And what should brands be asking from their agencies?

Viewers are invited to tweet about the new look show using the hashtag #maggsonmedia.

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• Ample power • Control room • Drive-in vehicle access to the studios • Dressing rooms, make-up, wardrobe and artists` lounge • Production offices and edit suited (unequipped) • Boardroom and canteen area • Set store and Art department • Catering area • Water points Additional features increase peace of mind for the production company: • Centrally located in Milpark • Onsite parking • 24-hour security • Backup power 900kva generator • Level 2 BEE certificate

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The Res, produced for SABC. These purpose-built studios are ideally honed for soapie production and at the end of August 2015—will be available to proudly house a new production.

Atlas Studios is carefully designed to nurture people within technology. A grand scheme of all related facilities are positioned close to the studios, but with separate dedicated functions. This well-planned flow, surrounded by the iconic redeveloped 1950’s industrial

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Since 2002 Atlas Studios has played a major role in reviving the Milpark District in Johannesburg into the thriving hub it is today. Atlas is also committed to supporting the local creative industry, and providing specialist facilities to suit TV/Film industry requirements.

The studios helped birth numerous successful SABC sitcoms such as Emzini Wezinsizwa, My Perfect Family, City Ses`la, Moferefere Lenyalong and Stumpo Stomp. Other notable productions they have housed over the years include Coconuts, Pottie Potgieter and Home Affairs. Their range of studios have catered to formats such as TV gameshows, talkshows, commercials, music and corporate videos, interviews and documentaries.

For eleven years, Studio 1 and 2 have been used by Villa Rosa, a Kyk Net soap opera, which drew to a close at the end of July 2015. The studios were originally designed for Anant Singh’s soap opera

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AMX to provide central point for African broadcast data Earlier in the year, Johannesburg-based pan-African network service provider Workonline Communications launched the African Media Exchange (AMX), presented as Africa’s first transnational broadcast media exchange platform.

According to Workonline, the exchange is “expected to revolutionise and simplify the African media industry by allowing broadcasters, content distribution networks and content producers to plug in and exchange information and content, quickly and easily.”

The AMX is the brainchild of Workonline Communications and is intended to provide a central point to facilitate the multifarious data exchange requirements of the broadcast industry, from content owners, to broadcasters, to content storage facilities, to signal distributors.

“We chose a central point for the AMX at the Teraco Data Centre in Isando, which is currently the most connected data centre on the continent. The AMX is quite simply a point within that data centre where broadcast data can flow to and from.”

The benefits of the exchange, Tom Salmon, senior solutions architect at Workonline Communications says, is that it would hugely simplify the process of

FIRST TRANSNATIONAL PLATFORM: Edward Lawrence, director – business development at Workonline

Tom Salmon, senior solutions architect at Workonline

moving data around from point to point among various players in the broadcast industry. “At the moment there is a kind of mesh network where, for each direction in which you may want to move your content, you have a separate connection that you need to manage, with all its separate protocols and formats. With AMX, you don’t need all those peripheral networks. You have one connection coming in and one going out.

You have a centralised hand-off point.”

For those who may be unsure as to what space the exchange will occupy in the industry and how that will affect existing data delivery services, Edward

Lawrence, director of business development at Workonline Communications emphasises that the AMX is not intended to compete with anyone in the broadcast industry. “We have not set out to make this a commercial service and we are not here to compete with services that already exist to deliver data. Instead we are here to facilitate those operations by providing the connectivity and operating a central point through which all kinds of data can flow, to and from any and all broadcast industry entities.”

Although based in South Africa, the exchange is designed to serve the entire

sub-Saharan region. “Several neighbouring countries have already expressed an interest,” Lawrence says.

“The one thing to consider is the cost involved with getting the connectivity to Teraco. That being said, many service providers in Africa already have connections to the data centre. I think that we will slowly but surely get more uptake from other countries and as that expands, our vision will be to get as close to them as possible, which may then mean expanding the AMX to various sites around the region.”

To get access to the exchange, companies pay a monthly connection fee. Lawrence affirms that the plan is not to make AMX profitable from day one.

“Calling the AMX a philanthropic venture would be going too far but we have certainly subsidised it to a large extent.

As a result, the connection fee is low – around R1000 per month. Our vision is to help the African media industry centralise and our primary objective is to create that central point and get everybody connected. After that, the benefits for both data delivery services and the broadcast industry will follow.”

For more information, visit www.africamx.net – Warren Holden

Reflecting on Mediatech: the differences between European and African tech buyers Valentijn Diemel, marketing manager for Netherlands-based broadcast technology developer Datavideo International, attended Mediatech Africa (held in July at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg) for the first time this year – his first time on African soil. We asked him a few questions about his first direct dealings with African clientele.

What were your first impressions of how Mediatech fits into the international scene, compared with the many European shows you have attended?

It struck me that Mediatech was visited more by the people who actually work with the equipment they’re about to buy.

In Europe you often see decision makers or people who are scouting equipment for their directors or technicians. At Mediatech, I could speak to the operators directly, which is refreshing since they supply us with valuable input and feedback.

10 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

Any difference in visitors at Mediatech versus those in Europe?

Their questions are more direct and to the point. You actually see the customer thinking about where to place the equipment in their existing workflow.

Did you see any difference in the market in Africa compared with Europe?

You can feel that Africa is a market where small production facilities work with smaller budgets, as opposed to Europe.

The producers are looking for solid equipment at a lower price level.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Screen Africa’s Warren Holden (middle) with Eric Wiese of Macrovideo (left) and Valentijn Diemel of Datavideo (right) Eric Wiese, managing director of Macro Video Pty Ltd, distributor of Datavideo products in southern Africa adds: “It is an interesting observation that Valentijn made that there is less (if any at all) of a hierarchy in the procurement chain when it comes to purchasing pro AV equipment locally; that the person who will actually

use a piece of kit is the same person making the decision about whether to buy it or not. It is evident from our business that many smaller companies are making a valuable contribution to producing local content in South Africa, using affordable technology.”

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Christie 22,000 Lumen Cinema Laser Phosphor Projector

The Christie CP2208-LP laser phosphor projector during a demonstration session at BIRTV

Christie demonstrated its new laser phosphor (LaPh) projection technology at BIRTV 2015 in Beijing in August. Capable of 22,000 lumens, and 30,000 hours to 50 percent brightness, this new technology features reduced maintenance costs, lower environmental impact, and simplified operational workflows. It also provides a viable, more environmentally friendly alternative to lamp-based projection with reduced operational costs, across a broad brightness range.

The Christie CP2208-LP, Christie’s first laser phosphor solution for cinema, will be available in early 2016, followed shortly thereafter by a family of powerful LaPh products. Christie’s other plans for LaPh illumination in cinema includes offering retrofit kits for those customers who currently have lamp-based digital cinema projectors. Starting first with retrofit kits for 10K lumen class products, followed by future retrofit kits that will be released in lockstep with brighter LaPh projectors as the company moves up to the maximum capabilities of this exciting new technology. Customers interested in the retrofit kits will have the option of purchasing the kits or leasing them from Christie on a monthly basis.

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Reallusion 3D animation tools

Reallusion debuted three new 3D animation tools in August: iClone 6, Character Creator and iClone Live motion capture system. iClone 6 Animation Pipeline featuring the all new 3DXchange 6 completes the chain to import, animate and export content from iClone to any game engine or 3D application. iClone 6 has a completely redesigned QT user interface, Nvidia PhysX for soft and rigid body physics, Allegorithmic Substance for dynamic materials and direct access to fine rendering with the IndigoRT render engine. iClone Character Creator launches an on-demand 3D character designer application to build custom characters from scratch with dynamic morphs, ethnicity, aging, skin, conforming cloth, cosmetics and fabrics. Characters are fully rigged and ready for animation and lip sync in iClone, game engines or other 3D tools. iClone Live Motion Capture System with the Perception Neuron enables any size studio to leverage the power of motion capture. The iClone Live Motion Capture System imports any character rig and characterises it to iClone so a motion performance can be seen on any rig, in realtime while actors perform.

Canon ME20F-SH JVC SR-HD2700 Blu-ray/ hard drive combo deck

• Designed to provide easy duplication and disc authoring of Blu-ray or DVD discs without a PC, the SR-HD2700 adds four recording formats for expanded compatibility with Blu-ray and DVD playback.

• Records live HDMI signal from video camera or DSLR without HDCP encryption • Includes a simple, menu-driven interface allowing users to transfer video files to the internal hard drive, then assemble files into a completed project and output to disc • Compatible with most HD cameras, recorders and production switchers • Features USB and i.Link (IEEE- 1394) ports, SDXC card slot, and composite and S-Video inputs for compatibility with a variety of digital and legacy analogue sources • Able to down-convert HD footage to SD to increase workflow efficiencies

• A professional multi-purpose video camera capable of capturing full colour images in extremely low-light environments • Ideal for use within specialist applications such as TV productions of night-time wildlife, deep sea/cave exploration, astronomy and surveillance • Can be installed in a semi-permanent location with remote control operability • Ultra low-light performance at ISO 4 million • High quality Full HD 1080p/1080i/720p output • Flexible control with auto and custom settings • Compatible with a wide range of EF lenses2 • Remote control of camera settings and built-in ND and IR cut filters possible • Small and lightweight for ease of integration

September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 11

ADCETERA

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Report on the South African commercials industry

Avoiding social media brand fails Facebook had one billion people logging in to the site in a single day at the end of August.

Yet despite the huge growth in social media popularity, brands are still behaving awkwardly in this space, misinterpreting the conversation.

The notorious Bic Women’s Day poster that started a social media frenzy and caused serious damage to the brand’s reputation

For the last 20 years of brand science, we have heard about the ‘authenticity’ of brands. How brands have values, how they inspire emotional connections, how they are ‘loved’, how they are part of our lives. Brands are, however, finding it difficult to relinquish control and ‘allow’ their consumers to have honest conversations about their brands.

The South African marketplace served up three choice examples in August of top brands stumbling on social media to global disgrace and local ignominy. Bic South Africa made global headlines with a Facebook post on national Women’s Day exhorting women to ‘Think like a man’ if they wanted to get ahead. The brand was shamed on social media and mainstream media, globally, in a classic case study of how not to do social.

To a lesser extent, Virgin and Pick n Pay also bore the brunt in the same week, mid-August, after a pro-Palestinian activist was ejected from a Virgin Health Club in Johannesburg for a T-shirt he was wearing that some other members found offensive. The story found traction on social media before the mainstream media got hold of it. Virgin South Africa has been apologising ever since.

Pick n Pay had a standard, albeit stupid, response to a tweet about the satirical content of a ‘mommy blogger’s’ post about the current Stikeez toy craze, which is making shopping with kids difficult, particularly if you have more than one. The mom in question wished a “venereal disease” on the Pick n Pay marketer that thought it up. Pick n Pay ordered that the tweet with the link to the original blog be removed for “highly inappropriate content”… and the internet 12 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

blew up, with tweeters accusing the retail brand of having no sense of humour, of censorship, or gross ineptitude on social media, and so on… and on.

The question must be asked: why do brands still get it so wrong. In all these cases, the story actually started, not on social media, but with the original campaign – with the marketing idea. The Bic SA advert was blatantly sexist and should never have been posted. Was it in line with Bic’s values as a brand? Clearly not. So Bic needs to relook at how all campaign elements, including social media, are approved internally, from marketing strategy to agency accountability. Its reputation was damaged globally.

Virgin SA clearly needs to relook at its crisis management response, as well as internal communications and how brand values translate – from staff to members.

It will have to carefully relook at how its brand values are translated into the marketplace in order to repair the damage done to its brand in the community it serves.

And Pick n Pay needs to rethink its social media strategy. Automated responses and social media ‘by rote’ is not how it works. Social media requires as much thought and campaign management as any other big money brand campaign. Even more so, because the response is immediate. It took only 30 minutes from the original tweet to Pick n Pay’s tweet in response, for social media to ‘blow up’ at Pick n Pay. The sexist Bic SA poster was up on Facebook for two days over the Women’s Day long weekend, racking up the negative responses and garnering world

attention before anyone at the brand realised the backlash that was starting and removed the original post. Brand strategy needs to include 24/7 brand monitoring and a crisis management plan should there be a brand backlash.

Sometimes the original crisis is not of the brand’s own making, but they get drawn into a controversy and they do need to have a social strategy that feeds into the brand plan in order to respond.

So what are the key elements of getting it right on social media, for brands? They have to get it right – customers are interacting more and more with brands via social networks.

BusinessNewsDaily.com reports that consumers have interacted with brands 77% more since 2013. And in 2014, the number of customer messages that required a response or resolution, doubled in 2014, yet five in six messages posted that need an answer from a brand, never receive one…

• Authenticity: Social agency, Cerebra, says that “authenticity and credibility are key elements – it’s one of the most important core principles to what makes social work”. Getting the conversational tone of voice right is so important: don’t lecture, don’t be hectoring, be empathic, understand context. Social media strategy has to be part of digital marketing strategy, which has to be integrated into the business strategy.

• Learn: BusinessNewsDaily.com points out that social networks were built for personal interactions, not for business.

Brands which used social for marketing and brand building, now have to ‘adapt

and learn’ to use it for business too, to respond in real time to customer complaints and queries.

• Build capacity: internal social audits and the integration of digital marketing across the business are essential to build knowledge and social skills within organisations in order to respond appropriately and in time to reputational issues that may arise.

• Harness data: ‘Big data’ is a word bandied about – often without the correct understanding of the term.

All organisations playing in the online space are collecting data on customer interactions via their websites, social media properties, in store, and so on. Having the right tools in place to interpret that data and make predictions as to consumer needs and future wants, is big data.

• Engagement: understand how your customers want to engage with you.

Listen to the conversations online about your brands – whether on your own Facebook page or blogs or the comment sections under articles about your brand or industry.

• Relevance: QuestBack, a social CRM platform, believes that brands make things more complicated than they need to be: “Identify and use social media platforms that are relevant to your customers, provide content that is relevant to your target audience on a consistent basis.

Evaluate what social channels your brand is using, and maintain regular engagement.” – Louise Marsland

LOERIES REPORT

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The Loeries give Durban the nod

Loeries CEO Andrew Human speaking at the DStv Seminar of Creativity

The 2015 Loeries took place from 10 to 16 August in its new home – the city of Durban, South Africa.

Durban certainly was a hit with the Loerie brigade, with CEO Andrew Human proclaiming it home of the Loeries for the next three years: “Durban worked well and the response was very positive. It was great to have the whole industry together in one setting and the networking was great. I got a lot of feedback on what everyone was already planning for next year – now that they’ve seen the lay of the land. We’ll be in Durban for at least three

years and then we’ll review.”

A busy and insightful Creative Week preluded the Loerie Awards as always, manifesting as a week-long creative celebration at numerous beachfront venues. Some highlights from the 2015 Creative Week included the second Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Standard Bank Smartie Awards, which celebrated innovation and excellence in mobile marketing, as well as the much anticipated DStv Seminar of Creativity that saw international creative heavyweights from Facebook Creative Shop, Google Creative Lab and Unilever, to name a few, share their invaluable knowledge regarding the latest trends in brand communication.

“With more and more media options available it’s increasingly harder to communicate with consumers and it’s

clear that creativity is more valued by brands as a resource to add business value,” comments Human. “Video, including television and online commercials, localised activations and sponsorships will continue to grow as important elements in the communication mix.”

On 15 and 16 August, following the week of creative learning and festivities, the 37th Annual Loerie Awards took place at the Durban International Convention Centre. A total of 2 944 entries were received for the Loerie Awards this year, from those entries judges narrowed it down to 1 020 finalists, and of these finalists 299 were awarded across both evenings.

Only two Grand Prix prizes were awarded this year, the first went to KFC and Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, for

their SoundBite campaign in the Applications, Games & Interactive tools category; the second went to Loto Libanais and IMPACT BBDO Dubai for their Black Cats on Holiday campaign in the Branded Content Video category.

“I feel clients are getting a little braver and are starting to trust their agencies more and more than they used to,” says director Kim Geldenhuys of production company 0307 – a 2015 Gold Loerie award winner. “A lot of the fear and caution we were exposed to a while back seems to be slipping away…There seems to be more of a hunger for good conceptual work and awards, and a realisation that we need to pull our socks up if we want to compete internationally.” – Chanelle Ellaya September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 13

ADCETERA | Opinion

Frieze Films’ Rio Allen does fashion in the dark Frieze Films’ newest director, Riordan Allen, recently released his loadshedding inspired fashion film, Eskom Chic: I Got Dressed in the Dark, a stylish black and white, four-minute production featuring striking yet unconventional characters getting dressed in darkness. The avant-garde imagery is supported by sensual vocals by Lucy Tops, over an edgy electronic beat by James Matthes from Pressure Cooker Studios.

Riordan says that he has always been fascinated by fashion films as a genre, by the way in which they combine the high-visual and flamboyant domain of music videos with rich narrative concepts, brought together by a strong brand presence.

“I remember the first time I was exposed to fashion films, I was penning a series of articles on the 2012 Vimeo Awards for the online youth publication

Still from Eskom Chic: I Got Dressed in the Dark Don’t Party, and I was completely blown away by the variety of films nominated for Best Fashion,” Riordan explains. “Almost every medium was represented in that category; there was a short film, a music video, a look book and a documentarystyle film. Sure, each film featured the latest fashion trends and products but conceptually the films did more to promote the brands’ essence than anything else. The films were as creative, if not more, than the fashion editorials you would find in Vogue or Dazed and Confused, it’s a really exciting space to work in.”

Shot in a single evening in Cape Town in June this year, the inspiration and concept for Eskom Chic: I Got Dressed in the Dark came to Riordan during a friend’s dress-up themed party.

“I remember standing in the middle of the lounge watching a bunch of my best friends dancing to Mr Oizo’s Flat Beat, dressed in some of the most bizarre outfits I had ever seen, and I had a lightbulb moment. I wrote a treatment the next day and shot the film the following weekend.”

Directed, written and produced by Riordan, the fashion film is styled by Kelly Red who kept in mind Allen’s prescribed ’dark, ominous, almost dystopian’ look and feel. Riordan, along with DOP Pierre De Villiers, captured the visuals using a Sony FS7 and a set of Zeiss Superspeed lenses.

In an attempt to stay true to the film’s title and concept, Riordan made the decision to light the film using just two torches and a 1x1m LED light. “Lighting a

film that is meant to be set in the dark is quite challenging,” Riordan comments.

“Pierre and I decided very early on that our lighting design should be influenced only by light that would be available to someone experiencing loadshedding. I would say that about 90% of the film was lit with torches, the other 10% was a small LED light to emulate passing car lights from outside the windows.”

Riordan believes that the value of fashion and brand films in today’s media environment is immense. “It sounds like such a buzz word cliché but content really is king in today’s media environment. All the major fashion houses and publishing empires are releasing more and more video content over stills, especially as magazines are moving more content to their digital platforms.” – Chanelle Ellaya

Leveraging the new industry energy

By Mthuli Bam,

head of electronic production at Y&R South Africa Opportunity op·por·tu·ni·ty noun (pl.opportunities), a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Clients are demanding more buy for their rands and the film and advertising industry will need to rethink some of its current financial, cultural and creative realities. That being said, I believe that, if there was ever a time for a ‘can-do’ attitude in the electronic production industry, this is it.

Today’s tough landscape is fertile soil for young, ambitious and passionate directors who don’t view big crews and expensive online solutions as a prerequisite to create pioneering work.

The market is hungry for content, and youngsters are astoundingly familiar with new digital formats and technology. More often than not, new era directors also offer an all-rounder skill set.

We all know that it’s not easy to establish yourself as a regular on an agency director’s list when your reel is lean – even if some work is done for top-ranking agencies and recognised brands.

What’s got to give, then? Personally, I 14 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

think we need more brave agencies that turn to the youth for solutions and to tap into the innovation, skill, talent and resourcefulness of these young directors.

This has served the local music video scene well. According to Jessica Hunkin, writer for Between10and5, South African music videos speak of a newly found self-esteem, with filmmakers embracing their own styles, and inserting a local experience and perspective into their work. Many of our flagship videos were made using makeshift green screens or shot in abandoned buildings.

It’s time to tap into this new energy and for agency and production house producers to stray from what we regard as ‘safe’. Co-founder of Y&R and legendary ad man Raymond Rubicam’s nearly century-old mantra of ‘Resist the usual’ is oddly fitting here. It’s an encouraging and exciting time to do this, and I’m proud to attest to a noticeable spike in young, black directors making a name for themselves in the industry right now. It’s testament to how dynamic the industry has become.

I also believe that agencies should

Mthuli Bam

gear up to service youth-based channels like Vuzu and Mzansi Magic with focused, simple and idea-based ads, as this will be a defining trend in our local landscape in

the next couple of years.

I’m looking forward to being part of this new energy in the industry.

CONFERENCE & AWARDS 20 NOV 2015 THE MASLOW SANDTON

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FILM | DRC

Of

music,

narcissism and $30 000

shoes ON TOP OF THE WORLD: Moïse Ilunga in the title role in John of God

John of God is the debut feature of Congolese-American filmmaker Selé M’poko.

Set in the world of Kinshasa’s music industry, this comedy shows a lighter side of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), pokes fun at the international culture of materialism and undertakes an in-depth study of narcissism that is well researched and hilarious.

A

DRC-US co-production, the film tells the story of a struggling American filmmaker, Brandon (played by Jo D. Jonz) who is sent to Kinshasa to make a documentary film on a Congolese singer named ‘John of God’ (Moïse Ilunga) – the world’s greatest living musician (at least, that’s how he sees himself). The filmmaker secures the help of a local ‘producer’, named Guy (Jean Shaka Tshipamba), to organise the shoot for him. Guy, however, is no producer at all, but a hustler willing to try his hand at anything to make a buck. The inexperienced filmmaker, his fake producer and their over-the-top narcissist subject, not to mention a disenchanted back-up dancer, as well as John’s number one rival Dieudonné (French for ‘God-given’), all add up to one extended, farcical disaster, with the vibrant streets of

16 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

one of Africa’s fastest developing cities as a prominent backdrop.

Born in the US and raised in the DRC, M’poko has worked in the music video and commercials industries in both countries, as well as in South Africa, and says that all his previous work has been building up to this first feature. Screen Africa spoke to him about the film, which has garnered numerous accolades at festivals since its premiere in 2014.

Screen Africa: The film is set in the Congolese music industry. What inspired you to tell a story set in this specific world?

Selé M’poko: I did an ad campaign for a telecommunications company called Celtel, where I worked with 12 different Congolese bands. We interviewed them,

and filmed their rehearsals and concerts.

It was a great experience and a real eye opener. I was a fan of Congolese music but I had never met any of them. I was blown away.

The level of narcissism was so high, it was funny to me. Everyone in the band refers to the bandleader as ‘President’.

They salute and bow to him and they depend on him for their livelihood.

Because of this, they are easily exploited; especially the female dancers. But the music and fashion was incredible. The music industry in the Congo is deeply rooted in the ‘SAPE’ culture. SAPE, pronounced ‘sap’ stands for the Société des Ambianceurs et Peuples Élegants (society of partiers and elegant people).

In South Africa I think they are called ‘Dandies’, elegant men who express themselves through their clothing.

Everywhere they go is a fashion show. They show off their labels and the more expensive the garment, the more respect they get. Then they compete against each other to see who has the best fashion sense. So we have music, fashion, narcissism, exploitation and competition. I knew it would make for an interesting film and a funny one. That’s what I wanted to share with the world.

Especially since most films paint a sad picture of the Congo. I wanted the world to see a different, more positive side. One that would make you laugh instead of cry.

What inspired the character of John of God? Is there a specific person that you know and were satiriSing?

Is there any intentional social commentary in the character and the scenario?

SM: People ask me if John of God is based on the singer Koffi Olomidé. He’s not. He is a combination or representation of all the musicians in the industry. If I had to choose one, it would be King Kester. He was one of the originators of the SAPE movement and took his clothes very seriously. The interview I did with him was hilarious. He had on a pair of $30 000 shoes (that’s what HE said they were worth). He was going to make a guest appearance in the film but unfortunately he fell ill while we were filming and passed away soon after.

In terms of social commentary, yes, I did a lot of research on narcissism when writing this script. It is a personality disorder that not only affects individuals, but companies, sports teams and even nations can be narcissistic. When you’re a victim of that, how do you deal with it?

So yeah, the film is one metaphor after the other. John of God represents today’s society, which is filled with materialism. I wanted to comment on that.

How was the film funded?

SM: I had saved up some money over my career knowing one day I would make a

DRC any short cuts. Make sure the sound is right, make sure the picture is beautiful and the actors are good and understand the characters they play. We in Africa have so many great stories to tell; we are a story telling culture. So if we can present it properly, it should be able to sell anywhere. There are hundreds of festivals out there; you just have to choose them wisely. The world of distribution is changing rapidly: with the coming of new technologies, new opportunities are being created for African content. It’s getting cheaper to make high quality films and with the internet, it’s easier to get a film to market.

But this is a business: making a film for free and asking actors and crew to work for free is not the way go. The better you pay people, the better quality the movie and the more chance you have to sell it.

BUILD-UP TO FEATURE: Selé M’poko

film. After writing the script, I used my savings to make a six-minute pilot. Then I went around to businesses in the Congo and sold product placement in the film.

We got sponsorship from First Bank of Nigeria, Tigo Telecom, Dover Cosmetics and Primus, the local beer. There were also a couple of private investors who bought stock in the film.

Have you made any sales of the film yet? If so, which distributors/ territories have

picked it up? What advice can you give to Africa’s filmmakers trying to find local and international markets for their films? Do you have any particular strategies for approaching international festivals and markets?

SM: We have not sold the film yet; we’re still on our festival run. We only recently started contacting distributors. In terms of advice, I would just say, make the best film you can possibly make. Don’t take

Does this film have a market in the DRC? Is there a significant content market in the country? Or a significant number of cinemas?

What about television or online distribution?

SM: Yes, this film has been very well received in the DRC. People really love it.

It’s a film that is made by them and for them; the characters speak mostly Lingala instead of French and are easily recognisable to the audience. Being half Congolese, half American, I was able to get American quality without sacrificing Congolese authenticity.

There are not many cinemas in the Congo. So again, we are doing something that is a first. When we had the world premiere in Kinshasa, we had to rent a conference room and convert it into a movie theatre. It was the first time a film premiered in Kinshasa and people were very happy with the experience.

The press was very positive. Since then a couple of theatres have opened up.

People in Kinshasa will have the opportunity to see John of God: The Movie on the big screen. Several television stations have approached us – Canal+ is one – but we need to finish the festival and theatrical run before we negotiate with them. The internet is becoming more accessible; people in the DRC are already downloading movies online. The problem is the internet in the Congo is still underdeveloped.

Streaming doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to but there are companies working on it. Soon it will open up and there will be more choices. So we will work with our sponsors to find a formula that makes it convenient and affordable for the population.

What cameras were used on the production and where was post-production done?

Perhaps a few words about your DOP and editor?

SM: We used a few cameras. The principal camera was a Canon 5D Mark III. The New York scenes were shot with a Canon C300. We even used a Go-Pro for a couple of scenes. My editor was

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T Woody Richman who is an AfricanAmerican that I’ve known for 20 years.

He cut my very first short film back in the 90s. He is also Michael Moore’s editor. It was a great collaboration. You have to have a trustworthy editor. A bad editor can ruin a great film. As a director, you want to keep everything. It’s hard to cut scenes, shots and characters that you love. An editor concentrates on the story and pace of the film. It’s another form of storytelling. I had to listen to his judgment despite my pride. In order to do that, I needed to trust him, which I do explicitly. When I saw the results, I was very happy.

We had a few DOPs. I did some of the camera work and we had an American DOP for the New York shoot. But our main DOP was Daniel Albertse, a South African. I don’t think he trusted me at first so it led to a pretty contentious relationship and this affected the entire crew. When the DOP doesn’t trust the director or like his creative choices, the director can potentially lose control of the set. An actor shouldn’t have to witness an argument between the two. With the editor, debates happen behind closed doors, with the DOP it’s in front of everybody. If they get along, the crew is happy because they are given clear directions. It is the most important relationship on the set. Even though it started roughly, we smoothed it out pretty quickly. The working conditions were not ideal and everyone had to go above and beyond the call of duty. He was doing camera and lights with little help. I realised that he cared about the project and wanted to make the best film possible. I learned to be a better communicator and he started to trust my choices. Once that happened, we had a great time on set and we laughed a lot.

He’s a great DOP and we ended up with a beautiful film.

What’s next – both for John of God and for you?

SM: We are going to a film festival in southern Italy called the Salento International Film Festival (5 to 13 September). Afterwards we return to Kinshasa to start a theatrical run. We are talking to distributors in Italy, Belgium and South Africa, so hopefully we’ll see it in the theatres internationally. Eventually we will do a follow up film – I’d love to see John of God go to the US. It’ll be a satire about America’s narcissism.

Other than that, I’ve started a new script that I am very excited about; a period piece about pre-colonialism in the Congo. I think it could reshape the way we see our past. Most people don’t know how advanced we were on the continent long before the white man got here. We weren’t just naked savages; we had great architecture, trade routes, astrology, medicine and governments – not only in Egypt but all of Africa and specifically the Congo. I want to recreate this. I think it makes for great content.

– Compiled by Warren Holden

September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 17

FILM

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Surf’s

up in

4K!

ON A GOOD WAVE-LENGTH: Focus puller Khalied Manuel and DOP Eduan Kitching, in front of gaffer Tobie de Haas

South Africa’s first 4K film Die Pro tells the story of a group of young surfers whose dream is to be selected to go on a fictional world surf tour called Wave-Seekers. The plot includes accidental death, love and drama, and the shoot was complex by virtue of the many surfing scenes involved which are never easy with ever changing surf and weather conditions.

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SOUTH AFRICA

end look in mind right from the start.

Having a camera with a high dynamic range really helped, but I still had to be very careful with my exposures. So choosing RED and the RAW images it creates, means flexibility for me, not to ‘fix things in post’ because you weren’t paying attention to your exposures on set, but because you are making it part of your arsenal of tools right from the start.

You test and build your look starting with the raw image as your foundation.”

The 5K source image gave the production the confidence to create a true 4K master and also to have some room for re-framing and stabilisation when needed in online. The film was shot 5K full frame on the RED Epic (A and B Unit, land and water) and 4K full frame on the RED Scarlet (C-Unit, aerial). All the cameras had 2:39 aspect ratio guide frames for reference as the final film was to be finished with a 2:39 aspect ratio.

“This production often utilised high frame rates (slow motion) as a way to enhance the drama of the surf action,” says Kitching. “The REDs are very flexible when it comes to switching to a higher frame rate quickly and really saved us lots of time by not having to restart cameras when we wanted to get coverage using high frame rates.”

Finishing in 4K

I

n addition to the complexities of the production, the decision was made to shoot and post-produce in 4K, and with this in mind it was essential that a DOP with post-production experience be in charge of the shoot and technicalities.

Sunny daytime beach exteriors can be a huge challenge for any camera system, and a surf film is bound to have many such scenes. There is light reflecting and glaring off the ocean surface creating extreme highlights all the way to actors running around in pitch black wetsuits during midday on the beach. That’s a big challenge for most camera systems.

Shooting for post DOP Eduan Kitching was the perfect choice for this demanding dual role.

“While not yet able to claim vast experience, I do have a strong background in post-production,” says Kitching. “I use this to my advantage when I’m on set by already thinking about the grade and analysing the lighting, contrast ratio, colour contrast, saturation, colour temperature and mood as if I’m in the grading suite.

“To me it’s really important to keep the

Acquisition in 4K is nothing new locally and is now more common, however Kitching believed that their approach was somewhat unique in the way they planned to deliver a true 4K master for a local Afrikaans film, from start to finish.

“Firstly to make the film somewhat future proof for the coming years, and also to be ready for the possibility of international distribution and film festivals where 4K delivery is becoming more standard,” points out Kitching. “Secondly to show that 4K mastering for local films is much more accessible and possible than producers may think and is not something only international productions with huge budgets have access to.

“The weather and surf conditions were a major challenge throughout principal photography and the pickups week. You just can’t control the weather or ocean

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swells so our schedule had to remain extremely flexible and it could change in an instant. Trying to keep continuity of the surf and lighting conditions was very tricky, eventually you have to try match conditions as well as possible, because you can’t be there for months trying to match shots precisely in a sequence.”

Kitching used power windows and colour isolation tools in the grade throughout the film. “Because the RED raw files are high resolution 16-bit images it really allows for very smooth selections and precise control over specific areas of the frame you are working on,” he says.

The offline edit was completed by Linsen Loots at Wyrd Films in Cape Town using a Premiere Pro CC with QuickTime ProRes 422 LT files. The director, Andre Velts had worked with Loots as offline editor on his previous film Knysna and felt comfortable with him cutting Die Pro. The grade, 2K DCP and 4K DCP were completed at Blixem Facilities in Johannesburg using a Davinci Resolve 11 with Kitching as the colourist.

“Using the locked Offline XML we reconnected straight to source RED Raw files in Resolve 11 to do conform and create final grade, DCP masters and HD masters,” explains Kitching. “Blixem Facilities were excited to be part of the project from the start. They understood that we wanted to push the technical delivery side, but still had to make it work on a medium sized post budget.

“They have previous experience and a solid understanding of the RED RAW workflow in Resolve and embraced the challenge of the 4K delivery for the final film. They too believe that 4K mastering should be much more accessible to local producers than was previously thought possible.”

Post-production was completed on 14 August 2015; the online took about six weeks in total including grade and deliveries. Local release is scheduled for 18 September in 50 South African cinemas as well as two in Namibia.

“We are in discussions with ONS TV for possible distribution in Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada,” concludes Kitching, “and Die Pro will be entered into international film festivals in the meantime.” – Andy Stead September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 19

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NIGERIA

Photo by STANLEE OHIKHUARE

FILM

Renegade, dreamer and storyteller

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NIGERIA

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Stanlee Ohikhuare does not like to be put in any box. “I do not want to be recognised as a brilliant ‘African’ filmmaker,” he states. “I want to be recognised as a brilliant filmmaker wherever I am in the world. Period.” Ohikhuare has over 11 awards and nominations across Africa and last year won two Indie Fest Awards for his web series Kpians and feature film The Verdict.

S

tarting off as a painter, illustrator and graphic artist, Ohikhuare delved into animation over 10 years ago and became one of Nigeria’s pioneers of 3D animation while working on commercials.

A 3D-animated film, Lifespan was his first foray into movie making and in 2012, his first feature film Heavy Beauty was finished. Seventeen productions later, the director has the reputation of being one of Nigeria’s most ingenious filmmakers with a keen eye for detail.

Most of Ohikhuare’s best known works appear to have shades of M. Night Shylaman. They are suspense-filled movies which blur the lines between thriller and fully-fledged horror.

“I would say that horror and thrillers are my favourite genres,” he says. “There is so much room for the imagination to play around.” This would come as no surprise to people who have known the director for a while. With his artistic background, Ohikhaure pays a lot of attention to visual representations and experiments. His movies, including the non-horror ones, are strewn with different elements that elicit a second look or deeper thought from the viewer.

His influences include Salvador Dali and Steven Spielberg.

In movies like Tunnel, a drama starring Femi Jacobs and music star Waje, Ohikhuare’s characters maintain a narrative that is part physical and deeply spiritual. In his multiple award-winning short film Loop, Bola Edwards plays a rape victim, dancing around in phantasm and fear, unable to

differentiate between her imagination and the reality of the situation.

In the critically acclaimed documentary Deadwood, Ohikhuare delivers haunting visuals of pensioners and their harsh living conditions. With Kpians: Feast of Souls the director orchestrates a spine-chilling feature with an obsessive focus on the tiniest details; the light fixtures for the houses, the dust laden keys, the cloying filth and gore, the blood mixed with dirt, broken eggs, flour.

“What differentiates me is my attention to detail,” he is quick to elaborate. “I am very careful about every tiny element. It is the only way I know how to work. It has become my signature.”

Ohikhuare spends a minimum of three months in pre-production and a minimum of six weeks on set. “Preproduction is the most important part of any production,” he says. “When everything is perfect, you can go ahead.

It is very disappointing that people still think that post-production can cover a multitude of errors. It doesn’t.”

“Unfortunately, I think the biggest problem Nigerian filmmakers face is quite simply research. If you are going to tackle an issue, whatever it is, you have to know all there is to know about it! Some filmmakers just jump right in whenever they have an idea and rush into production. It is very embarrassing to watch movies like that.”

Ohikhuare is part of the crop of filmmakers often referred to as the ‘New Nollywood’ – a set of artists charting a new course in movie making in the

region. “There are so many filmmakers working today. It shows that we have what we can call an industry now. The quality is not at its peak of course, but people are putting in a lot of effort to do a great job,” Ohikhuare says.

However, he is not excited about collaborating on a local scale. “I have tried it before and it was not a good experience at all. Discipline is still a big issue here, so I have stopped looking that way. I am more interested in doing something on a global scale. Those are the projects I am going for now.” He does commend some filmmakers who he admits do very exciting work. “Femi Odugbemi has been around for so long, his ability to stay ahead of the trends and keep quality consistent is inspiring.

There are also others for whom I have a lot of respect, like Imoh Umoren and Seyi Babtope.”

Like many Nigerian filmmakers Ohikhuare is not very enthusiastic about Nigerian cinema though. The cinema culture in Nigeria has been in a boom for several years and just recently started regularly showing Nigerian films.

However, the filmmakers complain that they always get the short end of the stick.

“There is zero publicity for your movies; they might show for a very limited time and of course, by that time percentages are cut off and the government gets 20 per cent tax. The filmmaker is left with next to nothing.”

Kpians: Feast of Souls was not welcomed

by Nigerian cinemas because they had not shown any horror movies previously.

“It is incredibly myopic thinking,” he says.

“They are only interested in what they

have distributed, which is not very much.

No Nigerian movie has made it big because of the cinemas but because of the publicity the filmmaker invests into it.”

He commends Nigerian comedian A.Y for producing what has become Nigeria’s biggest grossing movie, the comedy 30 Days in Atlanta. The movie reportedly made over 150 million naira (about $750 000 or R9.7 million) at the Nigerian cinemas alone. “A.Y pulled all the stops in making sure that his investment was profitable and it paid off! Pre-publicity and the cinematic release were very good. From there on, word of mouth took over and I believe it played for more than four months at the cinemas in Nigeria.”

With his production company Mighty Jot Studios, the director and a couple of colleagues offer annual training programmes for aspiring filmmakers. The programme called Tagged Creator Factor, gathers the cream of the advertising and production industry in Nigeria to train over 500 students and enthusiasts free of charge. “We have been doing this for a couple of years now. Many end up with internships and some of them work with me on productions.”

For upcoming filmmakers, Ohikhuare has a couple of words. “Practise, practise, practise, work on your craft, perfect your art! Build your signature up to the stage that once someone sees your work they would know that only you did it. Work on developing whatever it is that makes you stand out from the crowd.” – Oma Areh

September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 21

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SOMALIA

Leap beyond the shadows

CHANGING CONVENTIONAL OUTLOOK: Doug Sydney and Fathia Absie in The Lobby

For a country pillaged by civil war and battling terrorism, Somalia is regarded across the globe as a frontier of insecurity and terror. Far lesser known is its breathtaking arts and vibrant culture, which is overshadowed by the bad news that blitzes our screens.

O

ne Somali filmmaker, based in the United States, is eager to change this conventional outlook about her country while also tackling feminist issues. Not content to take a back seat and watch things happen, she wants to be a driver of change for her people.

Fathia Absie, a 43-year-old Somali native, has been involved with film and broadcasting for many years and is now putting her experience into action to tell stories that are vitally important to Somalis, both at home and in the diaspora.

“I feel a sense of urgency to tell the silent sufferings of the Somali people and share it with the world,’ she says on her website. ‘My hope is to inspire change through the lenses and the power of

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social media.”

The mother of two has been engaged in telling stories about her experiences as an immigrant in a foreign land and as a woman wearing hijab and speaking with an accent. It’s with such understanding that she has been able to delve into social issues that the Somalis face as they battle their own personal demons and that of coping in their new environments.

“My first documentary was called Broken Dreams,” Fathia says. “It was about a number of young Somalis who disappeared from Minneapolis, Minnesota – America’s largest Somali immigrant population. Their parents were shocked to find out that these young people had vanished only to join Al Shabab in East Africa.”

Broken Dreams was released in 2011

and was a success. The film tackles the issue of radicalisation and indoctrination of Somali youth.

“We have to deal with this from the root and not blanket it with public relations charms,“Absie says.

“Radicalisation of Somalis is a fact and we as the Somali community have a role to play by making sure that we talk about it and defend ourselves against this systemic negative understanding about us and our people.”

A freelance writer and filmmaker, Absie has worked with Voice of America as a reporter, and for many years she was in the non-government sector as a social worker, a great experience that enabled her to gain first-hand awareness of issues that affect different communities.

“If you are a storyteller like me, there has to be a back story, a sort of initial route about something you have seen or experienced that shapes your thinking and basically your creativity,” she explains. “One of the things that’s been making me deal with social issues is how I got exposed to diverse immigrant related cases.”

An actor herself, her recent film The Lobby was released in April this year and it premiered at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival in the same month.

The Lobby is her first feature film, a fictional narrative about a man who finds himself intrigued with a woman wearing hijab who forlornly sits in a hotel lobby at odd hours of the night. His curiosity draws him into her world, and they become entangled in a love story as they weave their way through the vagaries of cultural differences.

The film was shot entirely on location in Minnesota with Absie herself as the lead lonesome beauty who falls in love with the American night owl.

Absie says: “This is not your typical Somali story; in fact most Somalis don’t even talk about this, it’s more of a taboo to be in love with someone of a different culture but that mentality has got to be challenged.”

“There has to be a way of identifying our roots as storytellers,” Absie says, “whether we are talking about an immigrant woman falling in love with a white man in America, or a young girl who wants to leave her country and join a radical group like ISIS for reasons best known to her, those common roots have to come through in the stories we tell as Somalis.”

The film was funded by her savings, contributions from family and friends, and was shot on 35mm.– Sam Charo

UGANDA

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Wakaliwood – on the edge of Uganda’s action film While growing up, Isaac Nabwana did not miss out on the joys of childhood: he danced in the rain, played hide and seek in mud-covered parks with his friends – and even pretended to be Bruce Lee. Little did he know that years later this latter boyhood fantasy would determine his career path and mold his imagination to create Uganda’s first action films. The man from Wakaliga, a slum in Kampala, is getting global attention with his Wakaliwood brand.

U

ganda has been brought to the world stage by some big-budget international films; from Raid on Entebbe to The Last King of Scotland, and more recently Queen of Katwe by renowned Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and starring Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o. But away from this Hollywood-charged activity, Wakaliwood’s gritty and sophisticated concepts, laced with a sense of drama, bring to the world a Ugandan cinema with a Michael Bay touch.

Uganda has had it rough, from Idi Amin’s massacring of his citizens to Joseph Kony and his bloodthirsty band that pillaged the northern part of the country, where thousands of lives were lost. Poverty has been a challenge, and youth unemployment has been rising sharply, but all these trials have not dried out the reservoir of creativity that most of the youth delve into to let out their frustrations.

Nabwana is no youth; at 42, he knows, as one gracefully appreciates with age, that wrinkles don’t come alone, they come with experience, and experience informs creativity. This is why he founded

GRITTY AND SOPHISTICATED CONCEPTS: Isaac Nabwana

Ramon Film Company and Wakaliwood – to ingeniously craft films that bring his childhood fantasy to life.

“In the past decade I have shot more than 40 low-budget films with a team of volunteers,” he says. “I am a self-taught filmmaker and most of the things you see are just what I taught myself to do. Now my crew knows what to do and when, if I give a simple gesture or signal.”

Nabwana’s films have an approximate budget of $200 each, the crew consists of his friends, and the films are made with toy guns and food coloring for blood. The filmmaker simply uses readily available gear to make his passion a reality.

“I have always wanted to make action films since I knew film production,” he says. “My idea of violence is not so much seeing a person die and blood welling out of his mouth; it’s more pointing out human aggression and the basic animal instincts that make up who we really are.”

Having witnessed Uganda’s 1981-86 civil war, Nabwana makes films that deal with everyday issues that surround him.

“If you look at African cinema today, you will find that there’s a creative reservation, or conservativeness that most filmmakers suffer from,” he says.

“We Africans have this fear of doing violent themed films because we think that we are doing creativity an injustice.”

The man draws inspiration from Martin

Scorsese and Guillermo Del Toro; to him they are the forerunners of action packed films.

“I grew up watching Rambo and Kung Fu films and as years went by I came to know some of these Hollywood directors and they have always taught me lots of things about action-packed stories,” he adds.

Uganda’s film industry has grown in leaps and bounds; in the recent past, local productions have drawn a huge following. This is because of the use of the Luganda language used nationally.

“Art is rising because we use the local dialect here,” Eugenia Sakajja, a film producer opines. “If you look at some of our biggest names here, like Chameleon and Julianna, they use Luganda to express themselves artistically and I think that has been key in them reaching out to the masses.”

“We use local language because our target market is Uganda,” Nabwana says.

‘But we also want to tell Wakaliga stories to the world with a local touch.”

Wakaliwood released Who Killed Captain Alex in 2010. The trailer has over 2.3 million views with more than 180 000 fans watching the movie on YouTube. The film is regarded as the first Ugandan action movie.

The ride has not been easy; there’s been a myriad of challenges especially

when it comes to distribution.

“When we do a film, we usually market it ourselves,” says Dauda Bissaso, a Wakaliwood actor. “All of us are volunteers, so we go out dressed in Wakaliwood T-shirts to sell DVDs and then we get a percentage of the sales.”

“Piracy is a challenge,” Nabwana laments. “That’s why we distribute films ourselves, because no sooner is a DVD sold than you find a copy in a shop sold cheaply without us getting returns.”

With six films currently in production, Nabwana foresees a future where Africans will be able to brave through their creativity and produce action films without fear of being judged.

“Right now we are doing Bad Black and Tebaatusasula about Ebola among others,” Isaac says. “You have to be bold and daring regardless of people’s opinion; that’s what drives us here at Ramon Film Production.”

He uses Adobe’s After Effects and Premier Pro to cut his films and his actors are not trained for the job but are passionate individuals who want to tell the Wakaliwood story creatively.

“Isaac’s simplistic approach in cinema is beyond what I have seen,” Sakajja offers. “The power of cinema has never been as explosive in this region as it is now, in a time when everyone is in tune with the rise of African film.” – Sam Charo September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 23

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Elements of cinema: shooting the curl US filmmaker Dan Norkunas and surfer Albee Layer are the two swell-chasing cinephiles behind Attractive Distractions, a film which follows top surfers as they sample some of the world’s sickest surf spots. To an audience, a surf film can feel like an invitation into an adventurous world so few of us are brave enough to drop into. Often the product of a handful of passionate individuals performing multiple aspects of production; these films have a way of transporting the ground-bound to utopic locations and thrilling experiences.

INVITATION TO ADVENTURE: Still from Attractive Distractions

Dan Norkunas and Albee Layer on directing: Many people have the idea of making a surf film, but one of the hardest things you face while putting together a crew and traveling is convincing someone to pay you for it. We were lucky to have Albee open his pockets and dedicate his pay to the film. We also had help from a few of his key sponsors that made the finalising and post-production possible.

Being effective and making the right trips is so important. If we had failed on a few of our trips or had bad waves it would have greatly affected our end product. Waves are constantly changing and really unpredictable. You need to consider elements like water and the location of waves, as well as effectively placing a water cinematographer and positioning a land angle, in order to capture the best shot possible.

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Dan Norkunas on cinematography: Patience is probably the most important skill when it comes to shooting a surf film – waiting for the perfect conditions and the right spots. We did a bit of hiking and searching for waves off the beaten path which forces you to pack light. We are a small team, usually with one cameraman and a few surfers, so our equipment is minimal.

We chose to shoot the whole film minus a few shots on a Red Epic camera.

It has its issues with the salty environment but it’s by far the best camera for surf and action sports in general. The Red camera allows for ultra hi res footage with a variety of slo mo options. This is perfect for action sports and being able to capture moments in a variety of speeds.

Dan Norkunas on editing: In editing our film we wanted a blend of fast-paced action contrasted with slow tempo water and scenic footage. We accomplished this by switching up the music and utilising sound design. Once we saw this clip of Clay Marzo in a barrel, captured by our friend and renowned water cinematographer Chris Bryan, we knew that it was a 100% lock in the film.

The only issue we had was how to incorporate a 30-second shot in a film where most of the clips are three to four seconds max. We specifically searched for a slow music track for this shot and we brought in a few friends – Cody Carter and Jon Spenser – to help sound design the clip. Having the appropriate track and sound design gave an amazing clip just a little more life.

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Dan Norkunas and Jon Spenser on sound: Dan Norkunas and Albee Layer on writing:

Albee Layer on producing: We had little budget and most of the costs of the film were paid out of pocket.

We just had to run with a small crew, our cinematographer Dan Norkunas and a few surfers. On trips we did our best to be productive and linked up with local filmmakers that were willing to help out.

Lucky for us Maui has such a long surf season with all types of waves so we could film a good bit of the movie at home. Making this film required asking people with all types of production skills, from music to post-production, for help and reduced fees.

We came up with the concept of comparing waves to women, and how they share similarities in emotions and characteristics. We wanted each trip to be based on a type of wave and how its characteristics could be related to relationships with women. Once we had brainstormed a few key points, we had writer and surfer Maxwell Klinger put together the final story.

This is a good scene to reference our concept. Clay is an amazing surfer who has a totally different approach to waves.

This wave is one of our shallowest on Maui. It’s hard to surf and most people barely make the drop. Their relationship with this wave is fear and frustration.

Clay’s is the opposite. He knows its quirks and moods better than anyone else.

Much like a relationship, a wave’s unpredictability becomes easier to read and appreciate over time.

The music in this film was selected based on songs we liked and those which were achievable budget wise. Working with limited funds means 90% of the songs you like aren’t affordable, but it’s really important to have a solid soundtrack. We used songs from artists like Ben Howard that had some sense of pace and emotion. Our narrative was abstract and we just wanted to find music that helped create emotion and exemplify the footage we had.

We rarely capture live audio at a surf shoot, or have the luxury of an audio person there to record the scene. Some of the waves are also far out and hard to obtain audio for. We filled the holes by recording audio at a few waves locally and later manipulating these sounds with other layered audio. Attempting to make the wave audio seem natural and not overly dramatic or forced is a tricky process.

Compiled by Carly Barnes September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 25

FILM

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Director Speak Mumbai-born Partho Sen-Gupta is an award winning filmmaker and the director of Sunrise, which received top honours at this year’s Durban International Film Festival. When he’s not conceptualising his next big film idea, Partho turns up his playlist of electronic dance music and focuses on being a dad…

What was the biggest lesson you learnt as a Bollywood art director’s apprentice?

On the first day I was told to keep quiet, listen, watch and learn. It was the greatest film school in the world.

What made you want to transition from art director to director?

After working for more than 10 years, I felt incomplete as an art director and I wanted to push the director aside and tell the story myself.

Sunrise is your second Best Film Award at Durban International Film Festival, the first being for Hava Aney Dey in 2004. What about your films do you think resonates so well with South African audiences?

Both times the audiences liked my film; the shows were always sold out. People stopped me in the days following the screenings to congratulate me on Sunrise this time.

However, winning Best Film doesn’t reflect the audiences, but the juries. The awards I received for Sunrise are especially important for me because the jury was an all-African one.

What is your favourite African produced film and why?

Bamako by Abderrahmane Sissako because it has a very distinctive narrative style, which differs from the Western influenced cinema that we are used to seeing. Sissako uses a West African style of the Griot tradition of oral storytelling where song, history and satire are mixed together in the same narrative. The film features an international trial which takes place in a courtyard of a Malian house. For me, Bamako is a unique African film.

Describe yourself in three words: Slow, patient, meticulous – or at least that’s how I would like to see myself.

Where do you get your story ideas from?

I am fascinated by the details that other people don’t see; that gives me story ideas: observing the world around me in close detail and using them as a basis to 26 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

make a link between the objective and the subjective.

Then I try to live in the minds of those characters and think like them.

Delphi cinema at the Berlin International Film Festival. It was an exhilarating moment.

Which five film characters would you invite to a dinner party?

Edward Scissorhands, Jackie Brown, Ava (Ex-Machina) and The Blues Brothers.

What is your favourite one-liner from a film?

“I’ll be back!” (The Terminator). That’s what I feel like saying when I finish a film because it takes so long to fund films.

If you could shoot a film anywhere in the world, where would it be?

It’s the story, not the location that drives me; good stories are everywhere. Places exist in the subjective vision of the character, who might see it completely differently to another person. An enslaved person on a beautiful island cannot see its beauty. I don’t like picture postcard locations.

What do you do when you aren’t making movies?

I think I am always working on story ideas and scripts.

There are a few in different levels of development and funding. Sometimes some of these projects stop and get stalled or get put off indefinitely. The rest of the time, I am a father and a partner: school runs, assembly, swimming lessons, cooking lunches and dinners, etc.

What has been your proudest moment as a director?

My proudest moment as a director was when the audience of 600 people clapped after the premiere of my first film Hava Aney Dey at the

What songs make up your most recent music playlist?

• ‘G-Stone’ by Kruder and Dorfmeister (EP 1994) • ‘Born in the Echoes’ by The Chemical Brothers (2015) • ‘The Day is my Enemy’ by The Prodigy (2015) What was your most memorable moment on the set of Sunrise?

Because we shot the film during the Monsoon season, one night it rained so much that the old building we were shooting in became completely flooded and risked collapsing. The plaster from the ceiling was falling down in pieces and the actors were wading in ankle deep water. I think I’ll always remember that moment.

What would surprise Screen Africa readers most about you?

I am working on the development of a film set in South Africa. I am really looking forward to it.

Compiled by Carly Barnes

SHORT FILM FOCUS

Get shorty

| Film

SHORT ON THE RISE: Still from Lena and Leo

Dynamite comes in small packages (or so the saying goes) and in recent years an affection for the short film has been reignited in the hearts of audiences and filmmakers alike. No longer regarded purely as a student craft, short filmmaking is evolving into a respected and popular art form. Though the vast majority of shorts are self-funded and not considered by their makers as profit-spinners, possibility awaits in the increasing number of platforms and initiatives which support this growing medium.

Cinematic comeback Traditionally short films have been cinematic benchwarmers. Do they live on TV? Not really, as duration and subject matter vary greatly from film to film.

They’re not the kind of thing most people would pay to watch in a cinema, considering it’s hard enough nowadays to fill the theatre for a feature film screening.

Although when curated as part of a block screening or short film festival, they seem

and with shortening viewer attention spans they make a good fit for online viewing. Sean Drummond, global coordinator of the Shnit International Short Film Festival comments: “If we don’t like something these days, we switch off, or switch over. Our attention spans are quite a lot shorter. With a short you’re in it, you’re entertained, and you’re out. Short, sharp, concentrated ideas, emotions, moments, insights.”

But it’s not just audiences that are being increasingly enticed by the short film format; Shnit’s international entries have almost quadrupled in the past five years. “It was a bumper year for entries,” says Drummond of this year’s local leg of the event. “We’re showing around 35 local films this year, and it was the hardest battle for screen time I think we’ve had in the history of the fest in Cape Town.”

Long story short to get bums on seats. According to Darryl Els, co-founder and programme director of The Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg, audience interest in short film programmes has significantly increased over the years. A short film juror at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) this year, Els says the current standard of local short filmmaking “is really incredible.”

The internet has certainly given audiences greater access to short films;

Though a different beast to its big brother, the feature, a short operates on the same basic principles in terms of what makes it captivating and worthy of hefty viewership. Palesa Shongwe, writer and director of uNomalanga and the Witch, which won the Best South African Short Film Award at DIFF this year, says: “The most important thing to consider for me is the story – which needs to fit neatly into a short duration, capture the imagination,

as well as interest and move the audience in a short space of time. There are no formulas, I think, only parameters.”

Jarrod de Jong, director of the International Mzansi Short Film Festival (IMSFF) and a filmmaker himself, stresses the importance of understanding the limitations of the short film format. “There are people who make the mistake of trying to squeeze a feature film concept into a short film. Keep it simple,” he says.

De Jong uses the comedy short Picture Perfect Heist, directed by Alan Shelley and written by Brent Palmer, as an example. “It couldn’t be simpler. A bunch of guys are on their way to steal a painting from an art gallery. There is some hilarious dialogue in the car en route.

They get to the gallery, they steal the painting and it all goes horribly wrong.

The end. This was made with minimal crew, no money and three cast members and yet it works so well.” In fact, Picture Perfect Heist is currently in development for a feature film.

Els maintains that shorts can offer a sharp observation of collective or individual experiences, and says: “Often the short films that have the most impact on us as viewers are those that reflect in a succinct way, a certain aspect of society or ourselves. As Richard Brody wrote on the subject, ‘like all great short stories, it’s not just a tale, it’s a microcosm.’”

September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 27

FILM

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SHORT FILM FOCUS

Still from Unomolanga and the Witch

Just shoot!

So why make a short? As a filmmaker, it’s likely you’ll only be able to cover your costs – if you’re lucky. “Make a short film because you can – because you have the skills and the networks,” says Jen Mostert, producer of upcoming short films In Light of Is and Scribblings.

“Secondly it is a calling card. You are not only proving to yourself as a producer that this team could work, but to a

Still from Scribblings

28 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

potential investor or distributer you can say: here is what we have done.” When working on feature films and thus with much bigger budgets, Mostert says it is crucial for her to partner with filmmakers and writers whom she trusts and so creating a short film is a sure way to test these waters. “It’s a big ask and a big leap of faith for an investor and if you haven’t worked with that director or writer, it’s hard to know whether, over a four or a six week shoot, followed by three months in post, you’ll be able to collaborate

effectively and deliver what you agreed to.”

Yolande Botha, director of Lina and Leo, a short which featured at this year’s IMSFF, says that in some ways a short film is “basically an expensive business card”. But, Botha adds: “It’s definitely a way to learn through experience and hone your craft. You can also be more experimental and find your own voice.”

Drummond refers to this artistic expression as filmmakers “cutting their creative teeth” but adds that shorts also

fit into a bigger picture. “Shorts are an essential foundation stone of any country’s industry, and we’re in the early stages of a new wave of filmmaking in South Africa that I believe is going to be driven largely by shorts. We need to secure that foundation and start focussing on taking our short films to the world, as proof of concepts for longer projects, or as standalone works in themselves.

There’s a huge marketplace for them, and an appetite for our stories, and we need to serve that.” – Carly Barnes

SCRIPTWRITING

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WGSA’s journey to NATPE Europe 2015

The biggest challenge that South African screenwriters face once they have written their script is selling it. The industry is small and there are a limited number of broadcasters and producers. An agent would ideally navigate this terrain for a writer; however as Thea Aboud from the Writer’s Guild of South Africa (WGSA) points out, there are no agents to sell scripts within the South African market. The journey to international platforms such as National Association of TV Programme Executives (NATPE) Europe 2015 came about as a direct result of writers looking for opportunities to sell their work.

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his was the first time that there was a South African writers’ delegation at NATPE Europe. “The impact they had on the market is that they brought a sense of enthusiasm and possibility,” comments Rod Perth, NATPE CEO. Being given the opportunity to sell their ideas on the international stage certainly did give the WGSA delegation a strong sense of possibility.

Why NATPE Europe Many markets in the world look for produced content. NATPE is one of few where buyers will consider paper pitches. This is ideal for writers as once their work is produced they no longer own the copyright.

Perth says: “There is always a value for writers and creators to learn and be associated with the buying and selling of content. Sometimes writers live in a cocoon. They are not exposed to the dynamic of things that affect their future.

So understanding how a market place works and that it involves building relationships and contacts is important.”

Networking: The market experience Understanding that the primary activity at a market is building relationships was a significant learning curve for many of the WGSA delegation. Polani Fourie, a writer from Cape Town, says: “I came to the market with the intention of signing a contract. I found that this takes time. It’s about building relationships.”

The process of building relationships is, in part, created by the market schedule,

the line-up of which provides insights into the particular needs of the region.

Formats and co-productions are central to this process. Knowing that formats are in demand is exceptionally useful when it comes to navigating conversations with potential buyers.

At NATPE, with 230 buyers, mostly from Eastern and Central Europe, and 240 sellers from the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa, securing meetings is essential.

The meetings provide the opportunity to make connections with networks, distributors and producers. The experience of the meetings was a source of pertinent feedback and a great source of encouragement to the South African contingency.

The meeting Veronica La Marque Stewart, a writer from Johannesburg, comments that the trip to NATPE was her second trip with the WGSA. She went with the first Writer’s Guild delegation to Miami.

Stewart points out: “Miami was big; I was not able to get appointments. I was lucky in Prague because it was a smaller market. I was able to secure five meetings and found that because the buyers had more time I made real connections with people. The feedback was instantaneous.

They gave advice and input. This helped me to open my mind and to look at my project on a bigger scale.”

The time available might be unique to the Prague market because of its size however the value to the writers was in being able to pitch concepts in a relaxed environment. They also found that their ideas interested international players; it

was apparent that South African writers have a fresh voice. If the idea was good the buyers were willing to engage regardless of how far into development the concept was. There was also interest shown in how soon the finished concept could be available.

Formats: What the buyers are looking for “The smart writers in Hollywood understand that they need to be as relevant as possible in terms of the location of the market and the region,” Perth comments. Finding out what buyers were looking for was one of the learning curves at NATPE. Formats were highly sought after in Prague.

Having a reality format helped to secure meetings and was often a great conversation starter. This resulted in the buyer being open to discuss other projects that a writer may have. Going with more than one project to the market really came in handy too.

The future Mingfen Lee, one of the NATPE Europe organisers, expressed her view that travelling in a big group brought huge benefits. The keynote breakfast address

by Adrian Hodges, an award-winning writer and show runner, was specifically scheduled with the guild in mind. She also adds that “everybody knew the Writer’s Guild. In a few years the guild will become better known at the market and if people need writers they will remember them.”

– Nompi Vilakazi September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 29

FESTIVALS & MARKETS

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opens its doors to Maghreb

© Festival del film Locarno / Sailas Vanetti

Locarno

GLOBAL QUALITY: The Locarno Open Doors film lab awarded eight grants to film projects from the Maghreb region.

This year the Locarno Film Festival’s co-production lab, Open Doors, focused on the Maghreb region.

Despite a call for boycott organised by the Swiss BDS against the festival’s invitation to the Israeli Film Fund, eight projects were awarded.

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aunched in 2003, the Locarno Film Festival’s Open Doors focuses on a different part of the world each year.

After Francophone Africa (2012) and English-speaking and Portuguesespeaking Africa (2014), this year was dedicated to four countries from the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia), 10 years after its first focus on this region.

Two projects withdrawn from Open Doors For the first time, Open Doors suffered from a cultural boycott, launched in April by 200 international filmmakers and producers including Ken Loach, Hany 30 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

Abu-Assad and Jean-Luc Godard. The reason? The festival had planned to dedicate the Carte Blanche section of its programme – a selection of films from a chosen country that are currently in post-production – to the Israeli Film Fund.

“We are not against the fact that the festival invites Israeli filmmakers or movies,” explained the Swiss activist Birgit Althaler during the conference organised by the Swiss group BDS in Locarno. “We call for a boycott of Israeli institutions that support the state’s policies.”

The pressure on the festival did not lead to a suppression of this Carte Blanche. Instead, Locarno changed the name of the focus to ‘First Look’. On 29

July the Tunisian producer Lina Chaabane (Nomadis Image) posted on Facebook: “This seemed to be an insensitive way to disguise the awkwardness. As a result, we have decided to withdraw our films and projects selected by the festival.” These were Nejib Belkhadi’s Retina, produced

by Nomadis Image; and Mohamed Ben Attia’s Inhebek Hedi, produced by Propaganda Productions. Three other Tunisian projects scheduled to be screened at Open Doors were also withdrawn: Raja Amari’s Tunisian Spring, Ben Attia’s Selma and Belkhadi’s Bastardo.

Out of the 120 projects received from the Maghreb, 12 were selected: four from Algeria, four from Tunisia, three from

Morocco and one from Libya. When the festival began, only 10 were in the running, including Tunisian Nadia Rais’ Aller Simple, which was initially withdrawn but finally re-entered in the competition owing to the attendance of the filmmaker. Many directors signed the petition drawn up by BDS but attended Open Doors nonetheless, not finding the ‘empty chair policy’ particularly useful.

For three days, filmmakers and producers met international film professionals to set up some deals around their projects. They also had to pitch in front of a jury comprised of Luciano Barisone (Visions du Réel), Thierry Jobin (Fribourg Film Festival),

| FESTIVALS & MARKETS

Jacques Laurent and Ahmed El Maanouni (ICAM) and André de Margerie (ARTE) to possibly win some awards.

Past, present and future of Maghreb countries Two out of the 10 projects focused on the pre-colonial and colonial eras. Narimane Mari’s Le Fort des Fous (Algeria, winner of 30 000 CHF Open Doors Grant), produced by Allers Retours Films (Algeria) and Centrale Electrique (France), depicts a Utopian society in the Algerian Sahara before colonisation. Fyzal Boulifa’s Pagan Magic (Morocco, winner of a 10 000 CHF Open Doors Grant), produced by In Vivo Films (France), relates forbidden magic rituals contrasted with colonial beliefs.

Two Algerian projects recounted the dark era of Algeria in the late 1990s: Yanis Koussim’s Ruqya (winner of a MAD Solutions Award to support film distribution in the Arab World), produced

by Mille et Une Productions (France) and Amin Sidi-Boumédiène’s Le Sacrifié, produced by Thala Films Production

(Algeria). Whereas Karim Moussaoui’s En Attendant les Hirondelles (winner of the €10 000 CNC Award), produced by Taj Intaj (Algeria), places its story in the 2000s. Koussim uses the horror genre to depict the amnesia of a massacre survivor working as an exorcist, while Boumédiène mainly focuses on a policeman seeking a terrorist and confronting Tuareg beliefs that a Jinn (supernatural creatures in Islamic mythology) from the desert is responsible for a series of murders. By depicting social stories about ordinary people faced with extraordinary choices, Moussaoui confronts Algeria’s recent past.

The Tunisian projects remind us of the recent Arab Spring. Mehdi Ben Attia’s L’amour des Hommes (winner of a MAD Solution award), produced by 4 A 4 Productions (France), recounts how a widow begins a new life after her husband’s death; and Nadia Rais animated project Aller Simple (winner of a 10 000 CHF Open Doors Grant), freely adapted from the Syrian novel The Epistle of Forgiveness by Abûl ‘Ala al-Ma’arri, is

an attempt to look at a system “collapsing beneath the weight of dogma and prohibition,” says Rais.

The only documentary selected at Open Doors was Khalid Shamis’ The Colonel Stray Dogs (winner of a €6 000 ARTE Grant), produced by Big World Cinema (South Africa). Focusing on Libya’s present, future and past through the journey of some of the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, who were mostly exiled in the 1980s, Shamis’ feature mixes hidden and personal history into a political reflection.

A global quality of the projects Two other Moroccan fiction films, Saint Inconnu by Alaa Eddine Aljem (winner of a €20 000 ICAM Prize), produced by Le Moindre Geste (Morocco), and Hassan Legzouli’s Dieu Reconnaîtra les Siens, produced by Zilis Films (Morocco), were also presented. Aljem’s film deals with rumours and beliefs around the grave of

an unknown holy man, which possibly hides a thief’s hoard. Legzouli recounts the journey of a Muslim fundamentalist, long presumed dead, who returns to his hometown.

“This year, I was surprised by the global quality of the projects,” concludes Luciano Barisone, who has worked for Open Doors for fifteen years. “This is why there were so many awards. Even the projects which were not awarded prizes were interesting.”

The Open Doors Lab was supported by the Direction pour le Développement et la Coopération Suisse (DDC), the city of Bellinzona, Vision Sud-Est, Investing in Culture & Art in the South Mediterranean (ICAM) with the support of the European Union, the French Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), ARTE, European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), Producers Network, Film Market, Cannes Film Festival, TorinoFilmLab and the ACE Producers. – Claire Diao September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 31

FESTIVALS & MARKETS

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LIbYa

Locarno Film Festival welcomes Libya

BELIEF IN CINEMA: Najmar Own, Kelly Ali and Muhannad Lamin

At Locarno Film Festival this year, three Libyan filmmakers attended the Open Doors programme to screen their shorts. Screen Africa spoke with them about the current situation in Libyan cinema.

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hey were there. Finally. After many struggles to get a Swiss visa – such as staying 20 days in Tunisia to apply at the Swiss embassy there, since there isn’t one in Tripoli anymore – Kelly Ali, 32; Najmi Own, 23; and Muhannad Lamin, 25; were attending Locarno Film Festival for the first time.

“I was happy to be invited by the festival but after two days, the official documents issues started,” says Own. “Our Schengen visa to participate in a BBC Media Action project in Lampedusa, Italy has even been rejected.”

Born in Tripoli (except Lamin, who was born and raised in Misrata, 200km to the east of the capital), Ali, Own and Lamin A scene from Muhannad Lamin’s 80

32 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

grew up in open-minded families, which allowed them to study arts at the Advanced Institute of Art Techniques – aka Tripoli Art School. Raised in an artistic family (his father, a well-known actor in Libya), Own was encouraged to study in this field, whereas Ali left his business management career and Lamin his IT studies for cinema.

In this public institute dedicated to various arts (music, graphic design, theatre), filmmakers can follow a three-year course with 200 other students “with few women and lots of students dropping out.” It is there that Noe Mendelle, director of the Edinburghbased Scottish Documentary Institute,

came to deliver a creative documentary course. “We were invited by the British Council in Libya shortly after Gadaffi’s death,” states Mendelle. “We did three training sessions between 2012 and 2015 in Tripoli and Benghazi. The last one, with the Tripoli Art School, lasted 18 months.”

Out of this training came thirteen three 10-minute short documentaries, with those of Own, Ali and Lamin among them. Own’s Mission Impossible recounts the impossibility of producing a movie with the support of the government or local producers; Ali’s Land of Men depicts the difficulties faced by women in a male-dominated environment; and Lamin’s 80 offers a brilliant depiction of a man put in and delivered from jail the day Gadaffi was removed from power.

Unfortunately, Ali, Own and Lamin cannot give the name of a Libyan feature director. “There were some Libyan movie theatres but people do not pay attention to this art,” explains Ali. “There is no nightlife and no hobbies in Tripoli.”

“At night, we only hear the sound of guns,” adds Mendelle.

A still from Kelly Ali’s Land of Men

Nevertheless, there are various TV and radio stations “but they’re all the same,” laments Own. Through illegal distribution on DVD and the internet, people can watch contemporary films “but the internet is very slow and not reliable because of power cuts,” explains Lamin.

To obtain funding to make a movie is quite complicated as it is difficult to reach someone from the Ministry of Culture, based in a huge building: “If you’re lucky to get through the door, people will send you somewhere else and when you come back you won’t find anyone,” Ali says.

Still, the three of them believe in cinema and want to pursue their careers.

“From the inside, Libyan filmmakers should spread this culture,” says Lamin.

“There is a lot of work to be done with schools, TV and organisations to develop this art. And on the other hand, we need lots of help from anyone around us especially in terms of professional bigger projects.”

Let’s see if one day, the Locarno official selection will include a Libyan movie…

– Claire Diao

A still from Najmar Own’s Mission Impossible

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DISTRIBUTION

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Distribution blues As the content creation industries across the continent continue to grow in terms of infrastructure and output, one major obstacle stands in the way of its expansion: the ongoing challenges of getting product to an audience and ensuring some measure of monetary return to producers.

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very film and TV content producing territory on the continent, with the possible exception of Nigeria, finds its sustainability – both financial and creative – severely stunted by these challenges. The problem is a compound one consisting of a number of interlocking factors, such as, among others: a shortage of cinemas; a lack of sales agents and distributors; online, TV and home video distribution channels that are difficult to control and highly susceptible to piracy; and a lack of market understanding.

In some territories, such as South Africa, where the government makes a significant financial contribution to the industry, the content markets are decidedly skewed towards the supply side because filmmakers are essentially pitching and making films for funders, not for an audience. With the exception of the National Film and Video Foundation’s (NFVF) audience research results – released early in 2015 – the demand side of the market and the preferences of

34 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

audiences are not being analysed or factored into production plans.

Chronic oversupplies: labour and content The training sector continues to grow – new institutions emerge all the time and established ones, such as AFDA, are expanding their operations. At the same time, technology advances constantly make production of a relatively high standard easier and cheaper to achieve than it has ever been. So the industry is plentifully supplied with capital (the term is used here in the economic sense, which refers to the technology of production, rather than in the more generally accepted sense, which refers to financial outlay) and labour, to the extent that there is a chronic oversupply of labour to the industry. At the same time the disconnect between producers and consumers means that there is also an oversupply of product. That seems counterintuitive considering that our

overall output is miniscule compared to that of more developed territories. But it does appear to be the situation nevertheless, simply because a large quantity of product does not reach its intended audience nor is it created with a clearly defined target audience in mind.

Chronic undersupplies: sales agents and distributors The problem is that filmmakers – wherever in the world they may be – don’t always work from a strong understanding of the market. They get passionate about a project and off they go. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The truth is that an audience can be found for any decent content – the fact that someone set out to make it, means that there have to be at least some like-minded people out there who will want to watch it.

In developed content markets it is the job of sales agents and distribution companies to find and reach those

audiences. Mayenzeke Baza and Pascal Schmitz of South Africa’s Association for Transformation in Film and Television (ATFT) say that this is one of the major dysfunctions in the South African film industry. Sales agents and distributors are in short supply in the country and filmmakers don’t even take them into account when making their films. South Africans then attend content markets with an emphasis on funding and development, rather than on selling content. “A sales agent needs to be involved in the production from an early stage to ensure that it can find a market,” Baza says.

Most countries on the continent are seriously affected by a lack of distribution companies and platforms. Kenya is one example. Kenyan documentary filmmaker Kenny Mann recently became aware of this lack as she struggled to find outlets for her film Beautiful Tree, Severed Roots.

The film looks into Mann’s family history, relating how her parents fled Nazidominated Europe in the 1930s and

| DISTRIBUTION

established new lives and identities in Kenya. It premiered at Nairobi’s Storymoja Festival at the National Museum and was well received at various festivals around the world, picking up distributors in Europe and the US. “I decided to see what I could do about getting it distributed in Kenya. That’s when I came up against a brick wall,” Mann says.

Mann first tried to get the film distributed with the help of Eddie Irura, managing editor of industry website FilmKenya. DVD copies were made, with 10 given to the shop at the National Museum. For the copies that remained, Mann found her options severely limited.

She experimented with the idea of selling a few copies through a local supermarket – these promptly disappeared without a trace. She was able to sell some copies at screenings at a low price of US$5 each, which didn’t even cover the costs of making the DVDs, but was still too high for most Kenyans; at screenings in the US, she could sell them at $35 a copy. She then attempted online distribution, signing up with now defunct South African-based VOD platform Wabona, again to no avail.

The informal sector Mann’s experiences may have been coloured to a certain extent by the genre

in which she works; documentary is seldom a big seller. However, even popular entertainment content struggles to find an outlet. Although regional broadcasters do option a fair amount of the product that comes out of the burgeoning low-budget, Swahililanguage industries in Kenya and Tanzania – both of which are heavily influenced by Nigeria’s Nollywood system – much of this content is distributed direct to the public by the producers or sold on the street. The absence of formal distribution outlets has led to the growth of a major informal market, from which it is very difficult for producers to recoup any revenue.

“There are no distribution systems in place in Kenya other than the River Road ‘underground’ system,” Mann says.

“Although this is fast evolving into a more professional system that provides local TV with a great deal of content, it only works for filmmakers who can produce content very cheaply and quickly, and who don’t care about the street-life of their work. Three months is about the maximum life of a film on the street – after that, you have to produce another one. There are stories of 600 copies of a film being sold in a day, and certainly there are armies of vendors in the streets and markets of downtown Nairobi. But this unofficial system does not contribute to the national economy, nor is it

controlled or licensed in any way. Anyone can make and sell copies of anything.”

Even South Africa, with its more developed distribution and licensing systems, suffers the backlash of a growing underground market, with cheap, pirated copies of films available at almost every traffic light or flea market in Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town.

The country’s handful of major distributors puts little emphasis on local content, since it is far easier to reach an audience with tried and tested international product. And, as the NFVF research shows, the public don’t see the need to pay the proper price for the content they consume. Many of those included in the NFVF survey even went so far as to say that local content should be free – or at least much cheaper than international content.

Continued expansion And yet the industry continues to grow.

More and more people seek to express themselves through the motion picture medium and training institutions face increasing intake. They train technical operatives, often to a very high standard (South African crews are regarded as among the best in the world) and this is fine, provided there is sufficient, sustainable demand for their services once they graduate and they can ask for

livable rates. Schools also train producers, writers and directors, assuring them that they can be the storytellers they have always dreamed of being. Again, this is fine, provided that they are also trained to provide the entrepreneurial impetus needed to drive the industry – and taught to understand that success in their chosen fields will be the exception rather than the norm.

So far, there are no training institutions addressing the lack of distribution and sales outlets, no courses are offered on how to market and distribute films, no specialists are trained to enter this sector.

Audience development initiatives put forward by governmental and nongovernmental organisations amount to little more than unactionable rhetoric.

The result is a market that is really no market at all: the formal sector a virtual monopsony with one or two large broadcasters and cinematic distributors able to set the prices they desire; and the informal sector an uncontrolled hodgepodge of indifferent consumers who are spoiled for choice. Faced with diminishing budgets and margins in both sectors, content makers seem to have fewer and fewer options to help them build their audiences and sustain their passion and livelihoods.

– Warren Holden September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 35

INDUSTRY REPORT

|

Activism meets art

DISPELLING UNTRUTHS: Still from Stories of our Lives

In some parts of the world there seem to be some slow albeit progressive strides towards shifting societal attitudes and addressing sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination. Meanwhile many countries in Africa are increasingly fraught with homophobic prejudice and anti-gay violence.

I

n the face of this oppression, a number of filmmakers are fighting to dispel untruths and stigmas which are propagated about African lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities. But the continent is a diverse and complex place, and its colonial past has resulted in a backlash reaction to these films – the intentions of which are at times misconstrued to reflect pro-Western narratives.

Our stories, our lives In 2014, Kenyan creative collective The Nest was the source of controversy when their film Stories of our Lives was banned in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal.

The film, which shares the real stories of LGBTI Kenyans, went on to receive international acclaim and attention, but director Jim Chuchu feels this has proven to be a double-edged sword.

“On one hand it’s very important that people know what’s happening to us. On the other hand, that knowledge is the 36 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

very same thing that we are accused of exploiting and using,” says Chuchu.

“When Obama says Africa needs to sort out all these LGBTI issues it only strengthens the idea that it’s a ‘Western thing’.”

Outraged by LGBTI injustices taking place in Africa, Western organisations have begun signing petitions and withdrawing financial aid as a way to put pressure on a number of countries to change their laws and outlooks. This however, only reinforces the idea that gender and sexual equality is a Western concept and gives volume to what is perceived by some Africans as a patronising voice towards Africa’s progress and identity.

Some are of the opinion that international exposure is driving awareness and change around these issues. Jo Menell, co-producer of South African TV shows Sex Talk, Street Talk and feature film Shane which follows the challenging experiences of a young gay man, says: “There is definitely a renewed energy around LGBTI film activism. Not

just film, but exhibitions, theatre, photography and painting. I think this has been helped enormously by the support of the United States government in equating gay issues with human rights issues. Their condemnation of homophobia in Uganda, Zimbabwe and other African nations has given local activists the moral support to confront the problem on their home turf.”

Queer Ubuntu For Chuchu, the real activism has been in the achievement of creating Stories of our Lives and not necessarily the traction it has received. He explains: “The fact that Kenyans made this film was as important as straight people seeing it. There was this notion that there are Kenyans that not only are queer but they can make a film about it and the film isn’t some disgusting two hour session of porn. I feel that even if they restrict the film, the fact that we made it is a thing in and of itself.”

Menell believes that creating films which open a dialogue about LGBTI issues allows society to see the humanity of the individual, a sentiment shared by Dean Hutton, co-curator of the Not Gay as in Happy, Queer as in Fuck You Film Festival which played at the Bioscope Independent Cinema in Johannesburg in May. “I think that what is important about these films is that our lives and queer people’s lived realities are made visible by, between and for queer consumption.

We need to see ourselves in film, because so much of our humanity relies on the expression of authentic human interaction. We are queer through other queers, a Queer Ubuntu if you will.”

Africa rising This year at the Zanzibar International Film Festival, efforts were made to screen and generate discussion around films which reflect LGBTI stories (homosexuality is also illegal in the festival’s host country Tanzania).

Zanzibar’s censorship board approved the three films with little resistance – a promising sign that there is growing openness and tolerance towards platforms for LGBTI awareness. One of these films was a documentary, Red Over the Rainbow, which follows the LGBTI movement in Vietnam. Like many African countries, Vietnam is developing, socially conservative and faces a number of socio-economic challenges. However, same-sex sexual activity is legal and the country is looking seriously at legalising gay marriage in the near future. This open-minded approach brings an interesting perspective to the idea which condemns homosexuality as a symptom of the West.

The modern African identity is still one which is being carved out, and Chuchu feels that it is important that the continent’s creatives, artists and storytellers share and document these chapters in its history. “Our history is such a battleground of ownership,” says Chuchu. “It’s important for us to put down what it’s like to be African right now, what we think it’s going to be like in the future and what we don’t like about our past. Especially in light of this idea of Africa Rising – a continent rising needs to be very careful about where it’s rising to and where it’s rising from. You cannot just absorb other people’s Utopias.”

– Carly Barnes

SOUTH AFRICA

| Television

Zola tackles the issue of paternity in SA on Utatakho Gelman comments: “The main theme is about the factual question of paternity.

Our subject writes into the show because they are unsure if a certain person is in fact their child or father.”

Using in-depth interviews, the series – directed by Thulani Masuka and Moabi Maseko – will uncover the reservations, hopes and doubts of each person involved, exposing exactly how the question of paternity is negatively affecting them. Thereafter, a DNA test is conducted and the final results are delivered, facilitated by a psychologist.

Cinematographer Thulani Kuzwayo shot Utatakho using Panasonic’s HPX3700 and HPX3000 cameras. Maseko explains that the approach he took when shooting the series was to create a look and feel in line with the hard-hitting content of the show. “The look and feel that we are trying to achieve on this show is one which does not look clean and crisp as is the case with glossy versions of ‘Reality TV’,” he says. “What we are striving for is to shoot and light this show as though each scene were a scene from a drama series. We opted for a low-key lighting scheme and we are always trying to control the lighting as much as we can, to achieve this high contrast/low-key lighting, which enhances the character’s narrative.”

Notorious US television talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show and The Ricki Lake Show have long dealt with the controversial topic of paternity.

Now South Africa has its very own reality TV series – one that possesses a lot more tact and better judgement – that focuses on the issue of paternity in the country.

I

n 2013, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) reported that 67 per cent of South African children are raised in a single-parent home. Of the 67 per cent, 39 per cent of children live with their mothers, four per cent live with their fathers, eight per cent reside with an extended family member, 0.5 per cent are raised in child-headed households and the remaining 15.5 per cent live with non-biological parents or in care centres. Furthermore, the research indicates that the bulk of urban single parents are black females between the ages of 25 and 34.

It is clear that the concept of the nuclear family is not ‘the norm’ in SA, moreover paternal absence is at an all-time high, and with the question of paternity determining many rites of passage in the African context; Mzansi Magic’s Utatakho seeks to highlight a prominent social issue that affects the majority of South Africans.

Connect Channel (PTY) LTD Produced by Mpho Legane, the 13-part series – which premiered on Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161) on 7 July at 19h30 – is the brainchild of the production company Connect TV. Executive producer Kopano Gelman explains: “The concept originated internally within the production house and was pitched to the channel. The channel really liked the concept…

We understood the fact that the average South African has dealt with the issue of an absent father, either directly or indirectly. The show seeks to answer the question of paternity to allow the subject to carry on with their lives in a more positive direction.”

Gelman says that after the initial pitch

Closure

HIGHLIGHTING A SOCIAL ISSUE: Utatakho host Bonginkosi ‘Zola’ Dlamini

by Connect TV, Mzansi Magic further developed the concept before commencing pre-production. “The concept was pitched to the channel and we developed the idea further. The concept was then developed into a format by a specialised format producer.

We then went into pre-production when we selected a host and established a ‘look and feel’ for the show. Once this was signed off by all parties, we went into production,” she explains.

Zola Utatakho is hosted by South African Kwaito musician, actor and presenter Bonginkosi ‘Zola’ Dlamini who, in the series, takes on the roles of mediator and investigator. Dlamini was a natural fit as host of the show as he was previously involved in a very public maintenance debacle with the mother of his own children, allowing him to exercise some empathy towards the show’s subjects.

Commenting on the series, Dlamini says: “I really wanted to be involved in this particular programme because it tackles a subject that is very relevant to many South Africans, and very close to my own heart. I want people to see that they can engage; that there can be a powerful positive outcome to years of questions, that using a combination of science and respect, we can have meaningful conversations about paternity, family, future. I think audiences will be inspired and moved by the stories that are told on this show.”

The format Mzansi Magic launched a ‘call to action’, asking South Africans to write in explaining their personal story regarding fatherlessness. A single, 24-minute episode of Utatakho uncovers one person’s story and seeks to answer one of two questions: Is this my father? Or, is this my child?

Mzansi Magic, in a statement released prior to the series premiere, stated that it is important for audiences to note that the series was not designed to deal with the topics of maintenance and fiscal arrangements for child rearing, but more “to give closure to those who simply want to know how and if they are related to each other.”

In an open letter, released by Mzansi Magic, Utatakho host Dlamini appealed to audiences to approach the show with an open mind and heart: “…to everyone who is going to watch I ask only this – please know that this isn’t a Hollywood movie – it’s real life and it’s hard. Some people have made bad decisions; some people have made the best decisions they could at the time.”

“I must admit that doing this show I’ve had many frustrating moments as well.

We can’t help everyone and some roads lead nowhere. On those days, the crew and I, we are just as disappointed… But then there are the days when we see reconciliation or at least the start of a new positive relationship. And on those days Mzansi, Utatakho shows what we all should know – that hope for the future is something we should all have.”

– Chanelle Ellaya September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 37

Broadcast Technology

8K

|

4K UHD 8K

– The final frontier?

8K SHOOTERS: Ikegami SHK-810 and RED Weapon

Today, most of the broadcast world is just starting to test 4K imaging technology and production workflows. There have been a number of successful 4K test transmissions around the world, but the Japanese are steaming ahead with what has been aptly named Super Hi-Vision or 8K ultra high definition, leaving 4K on the shelf.

J

ust imagining a resolution 16 times more than High Definition Television (HDTV) is a bit overwhelming but researchers from NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai , Japan Broadcasting Corp.) believe that the 8K ultra-highdefinition television format is the final frontier in television broadcasting as it is the highest 2D resolution that the human eye can process. In all probability, it will hit the industry sooner than we think…

Bypassing 4K Earlier this year Japanese independent broadcaster FujiTV became the world’s 38 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

first to start streaming 4K Ultra High Definition Television (UHD) while state broadcaster NHK stoically prepares to launch their full 8K services in 2018. NHK’s official viewpoint is to skip 4K and go straight to 8K, posing questions as to whether it was worth broadcasters spending the money on 4K now when 8K is possibly only four to five years away.

The Japanese government has invested well over US$1 billion in the technology so far. With the US market still grappling with the cost of moving to HD, is 4K broadcasting worth a look or is 8K really the way to go? Acquisition is obviously the first stumbling block. As

most manufacturers now offer 4K cameras in an already confused marketplace, how easy is it to produce affordable 8K variants, and more importantly, how quickly?

Well, it’s already started happening.

Last year, NHK developed the world’s first 133-megapixel image sensor designed for full-resolution 8K video single-chip colour camera systems. Full-resolution 8K video requires a 33-million pixel signal for each colour (red, blue and green). The company’s previous 8K camera employed a three-chip system that used one 33-million pixel image sensor for each colour to shoot full-resolution 8K video. It

also used a prism to separate light into three colours, and this made it difficult to reduce the size of the camera.

8K cameras NHK in partnership with Ikegami, have drastically reduced the size of the camera by incorporating a single-chip that is capable of obtaining three-colour signals within a single image sensor without using a prism. The trouble with using a single-chip system with a 33-million pixel image sensor is that you only end up with a third of the full resolution pixels; this makes it difficult to obtain a picture

4K UHD 8K

| Broadcast Technology

8K – UHDTV 7680 x 4320

4K 3840 x 2160

2K – HD 1920 x 1080

quality equivalent to that of the threechip system. The new image sensor has a pixel count of 133 million, which is four times that of the previous 33-million pixel image sensors. This new technology has made it possible to build an 8K camera that is a tenth of the size of the original first generation 8K camera.

Red launched the first mainstream 4K cameras when 1080p seemed like overkill, and now it’s got an 8K RAW model. The Weapon ‘Vista Vision’ features an 8 192 x 4 320, 3-megapixel sensor that can handle up to 75fps, widescreen 8K. At NAB this year Hitachi showcased their foray into the 8K market with a production camera. Hitachi’s new SK-UHD-8060 8K camera also uses a single 33-million pixel CMOS sensor and can transmit simultaneous 8K, 4K and 2K format signals. It uses 40Gbps fibre optic cable transmission. The camera weighs about 5.8kgs, draws about 60 watts of power and has a 12-inch 4K viewfinder and 8K RAW SSD video recorder. The

solid-state disc recorder will record up to 40 minutes of 8K RAW video onboard. As yet Hitachi hasn’t set a price but all indications are that the cost will not be unreasonable.

The 8K viewer experience A major question is whether television viewers actually want 8K and will they pay for it?

The challenge for the viewer is the display size and distance you need to be away from your TV set to experience that sense of reality it conveys. The viewing distance is dictated by the size of the screen. The bigger the screen, the further away from it you need to be. So there is the relationship from the screen size to distance from the screen. It’s different from what is currently being used for 2K and 4K images. You will not be able to perceive 8K picture quality using the 50-inch monitor you have in your living room today. Over 18 million 4K ultra-high

definition televisions have already been sold to consumers despite the fact that UHD content is rare and mainstream TV channels will not support ultra HD resolutions any time soon. Could the same thing happen to the 8K successors, which will be available to the mass market in 2018?

For this reason many believe that 8K will initially have many industrial applications outside the home. These include digital cinema or high-quality remote viewing for groups as a key early application. There are also many applications in the medical and scientific fields. Studies are already predicting the use of 8K in pathology and surgery.

Microsoft, seeing the PC as a dominant gaming platform, have written 8K support into their recently released Widows 10 so that as soon as the screen technology becomes available, gamers will be able to jump right in, without waiting for a new OS to support the new resolution.

As if 8K wasn’t enough, Korean electronics giant Samsung has partnered

with the South Korean government to develop an 11K resolution platform.

Code named EnDK, the project aims to have a prototype 11K display (11 264 x 6 336) completed by the end of 2018.

The resolution from the high number of pixels on an 11K display is claimed to produce an optical illusion that gives viewers an almost life-like depth of field.

You could also potentially watch 3D material without any 3D glasses, goggles or headsets. Samsung not only wants to use the 11K technology for displays, they also want to integrate it into mobile devices such as phones and tablets providing more than 2 000 pixels per square inch on a screen.

Terrestrial 8K broadcast tests in Europe and Japan have been successful and NHK begin test satellite broadcasts in Super Hi-Vision for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, after which they plan to officially launch the service in 2018 and what it says will be full broadcasts in 2020, when Tokyo will host the summer Olympics. – Ian Dormer September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 39

|

Slim pickings

New Media

Though the trend may not have yet reached African shores, in global markets ‘cord-cutters’ and ‘cord-nevers’ are challenging the traditional pay-TV model, as millennials opt instead to buy into online video subscription platforms.

This year saw the emergence of an appealing new over-the-top (OTT) viewing model – the ‘skinny’ pay-TV bundle.

TV à la carte Aimed at a new generation of viewers, skinny packages move away from the fat blanket bundle traditionally offered by pay-TV providers, giving viewers the ability to build their own live programming package for a much more attractive fee.

Sling TV, the first company in the US to offer a live OTT TV service, this year launched a $20 per month live TV bundle which includes about 20 channels from popular networks, featuring content in sports and lifestyle genres. Add-ons to the basic package from an additional seven tiers of available programming cost subscribers $5 more.

Verizon Communications’ FiOS service in April launched Custom TV containing 45 base channels and a choice of two channel packages at $55 per month.

Sports programming is not included in the basic package and subscribers pay $10 more for additional packages. There are rumours that Apple TV will soon 40 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

follow suit, launching its own slim TV package for subscribers later in 2015.

Sling TV states : “The traditional pay-TV industry has not met the entertainment needs of an entire generation of contemporary viewers. We saw this as an opportunity to target a younger demographic, the millennial consumer. The core industry has missed them and we think Sling TV is an attractive option.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission report on average rates for cable viewing, most US households pay $66 for an expanded basic cable service each month.

Pay-TV paradigm shift Numbers show that the pay-TV market is declining, but according to Jeff Heynen, principal analyst at Infonetics, this is not true of all markets. “Traditional pay-TV subscriptions in more mature markets, such as North America and Western Europe, aren’t really growing, and that is

largely due to the rise of online video options,” says Heynen. “In emerging markets, total pay TV subscriptions continue to grow and that is due to the fact that the cost of most pay TV services remains fairly reasonable. In addition, there are few, if any, free-to-air options available that make it easy to supplement a broadband TV service. Finally, broadband penetration and throughput in emerging markets tends to be limited, making it challenging to offer a fullfeatured OTT video service.”

Big programming bundles work for pay-TV providers because even the less popular channels are a part of the deal for consumers. Consumers, who have no interest in certain channels, still carry the cost for those who do. This has caused a lot of controversy for Verizons Custom TV, which does not offer sports programming and as a result is being sued by Disney’s ESPN. Disney claims Verizon has violated its contract and that the channel must be included in all basic packages, though Verizon has denied these accusations.

Many channels’ business models are reliant on bulk numbers and reaching large audiences and a number of networks leverage the success of popular channels in order to have less popular channels feature on the same programming bouquet.

Though South Africa is slow to adopt global OTT viewing behaviour, broadcasters have seen the writing on the wall and are adapting to meet the changing needs of consumers. Inge Hansen, A&I analyst at Nota Bene says: “DStv has been quite pro-active to the threat of emerging OTT platforms by introducing Box Office some time ago, and more recently their DStv Catch-Up

and DStv Everywhere services. These advances have been in an effort to protect their most valuable commodity, their subscribers, by offering customers additional control over their content.”

Hansen believes there is currently only a small percentage of the local affluent population who opt to subscribe largely to online content, but they pose no major risk to a drop in TV viewership numbers.

Future of unbundling Skinny TV critics say the move to pick-and-pay bundles will drive viewing prices up and consumers will soon pay as much if not more than the average cable fee for their customised bundles.

According to Heynen, there is no difference in the price-per-channel from an economic perspective.

Heynen adds: “One thing I think that will be a hindrance to the widespread adoption of skinny OTT bundles is that content owners will sign exclusivity arrangements with OTT providers, so that their channels will only be featured on one OTT provider’s line-up. For consumers that want to mix and match channels, they may have to go to multiple OTT providers to get those channels. So, there is an opportunity for a company like Apple or Google to become the OTT player that bundles the option of all channels.”

It is predicted that pay-TV providers will hold out on offering customisable programming for as long as they can, but this may very well be succeeded by audiences’ growing appetite for choice.

– Carly Barnes

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NEW MEDIA

|

APP-titude

We take a look at the apps which are simplifying workflows in pre-, post- and production.

Costume Continuity Pro Publisher: Cate Hall Ltd Compatible devices: iOS Price: $49.99

How it works: Costume Continuity Pro offers those in charge of managing the wardrobe on set an easy and uncomplicated way of storing continuity notes and photos on an iPad. Multiple photos of costumes and characters may be entered into the app, and are then saved and displayed. Continuity sheets can be sorted and viewed by change number, scene number or story day and airdropped in editable format to another app user. The app also allows you to clearly distinguish between lead cast members and those with smaller roles as well as run numerous projects at the same time Why this is awesome: Costume continuity requires set costumers to record the scenes in which a particular character performs and keep photos of all costumes worn by the actors – key aspects to production planning and character consistency. Over the course of a production, film and TV professionals build up a pile of notes and photographs which need to be managed and updated and so an app which aggregates all of this information electronically and in a way that can be shared with other crew members, keeps this process organised and time efficient.

Green Screener Publisher: Hollywood Camera Work LLC Compatible devices: iOS and Android Price: $7.99

How it works: The Green Screener app is designed to help filmmakers light a green screen flatly and evenly in order to make keying out green screen footage in post-production easier. Using the camera on a particular device, the app breaks down the green channel (or red, blue or luminance) image to have fewer colour variables. The 4, 8 or 16 bands which it is broken down into, correlate to approximately 2-Stop, 1-Stop or ½ Stop resolution.

Why this is awesome: Wrongly lit backdrops and shadows can make keying in post-production a difficult task. When preparing a scene for chroma keying, it is important that the background is lit as evenly as possible so that the colour array and intensity of the background is uniform and narrow. With fewer colours in range, the chroma key effect delivers a much cleaner image and is essential to achieving a convincing suspension of reality. The more time and attention you put towards lighting the screen and the subjects in front of it, the less time you will have to spend re-shooting and editing for the effect.

Using a filmmaking app you think we should know about? Tell us why you think it’s awesome by emailing: carly@screenafrica.com.

42 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

| Box Office

Figures supplied by SAFACT

Remakes dominate at the South African box office this August Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

The Fantastic Four

Tom Cruise shines in all his action hero glory as IMF agent Ethan Hunt once again, in director Christopher McQuarrie’s fifth installment in the Mission Impossible franchise. The film has won critical and commercial success both locally and internationally, cinching the top spot at the local box office this August with R13 663 931 in the three weeks it has been running.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Fantastic Four sees four youngsters gain superhuman powers when they are teleported to an alternate universe, the foursome use their newly found powers to prevent Doctor Doom from destroying planet Earth. Directed by Josh Trank, the film has received largely negative reviews worldwide. It earned R972 448 in its second week running, bringing its total gross national earnings to R3 535 569.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Paper Towns Based on the 2008 novel of the same name

by John Green, director Jake Schreier’s romantic drama Paper Towns – which stars Nat Wolff and well-known model Cara Delevingne – debuted on the local circuit at number five this August. The Twentieth Century Fox picture opened in South Africa with a disappointing R869 785.

Based on Sam Rolfe’s 1960s MGM television series of the same name, director Guy Ritchie’s stylish action film The Man from U.N.C.L.E. stars Henry Cavill, Armie Hamme and Hugh Grant.

The Warner Bros. produced film opened to rave reviews globally, bringing in R1 351 619 in its opening weekend at South African cinemas.

Minions

Trainwreck

Claiming a top spot at the local box office again this month is Universal Studios’ 3D computer-animated fun flick Minions.

Directed by Pierre Coffin and written by Brian Lynch, the third highest-grossing animated film garnered R1 076 377 in its seventh week running at local theatres, a 21% drop on the previous week’s earnings, bringing its cumulative SA box office income to a whopping R43 080 403.

Directed by Judd Apatow and written by Amy Schumer, Universal’s romantic comedy Trainwreck took R582 705 in its second week running on the South African cinema circuit, a 26% drop in its opening weekend earnings, bringing its total gross national income to R1 699 186. The film is co-produced by Apatow and Barry Mendel and stars Schumer and Bill Hader in the lead roles.

– Compiled by Chanelle Ellaya

September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 43

P R OD U CT ION

UPDATES FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT www.screenafrica.com

Those productions in red are newly listed this month Production Updates Order of Information 1. Title 2. Production Company 3. Director 4. Genre

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3 TALK Urban Brew Talk Show 20 and Free X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Documentary 50/50 Clive Morris Productions Current Affairs 53 EXTRA M-Net Inhouse Productions Dir: Navan Chetty Magazine A BROTHER’S LOVE 1300 Pictures (Pty) Ltd Dir: Elvis Nkosi Feature A CALENDAR OF EVENTS – MEDUPI & KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Documentary A MAN OF HIS OWN PRINCIPALS Sekgopha Productions Prod: Buhle Mofulatsi / Thapelo Hlagala TV movie AQUELLE’ MIDMAR MILE 2015 Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman Documentary AFRICA 360 eNews News Head: Patrick Conroy Current affairs AFRO CAFÉ SEASON 7 Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Music ArtsCulturex Talent 1000 Championships Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni Series Auditor General Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery/Natalie Varoy Corporate BACKBONE PROJECT Global Access Creative Agency Prod: GA Creative Agency Documentary BIG BROTHER MZANSI Endemol South Africa Prod: Terja Beney, Liza Kleitman Reality BINNELAND Stark Films Prod/Dir: Friedrich / Elsje Stark Series BRAVO! Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine BONISANANI Grounded Media Talk Show Bugatti Together Lucky Fish Productions Dir: Raphaël Crombez Commercial CAINE’S LEGACY Media Navigation Prod/Dir: Dan Akinlolu Short Film CARTE BLANCHE (INSERTS) Modern Times Prod: Sophia Phirippides News Carte Blanche shorts TIA productions Prod / Dir: Tarryn Lee Crossman News CLAASENS DESIGNS MARKETING VIDEOS Panache Video Productions Prod/Dir: Liesel Eiselen Marketing videos

CLASH OF THE CHOIRS Endemol South Africa Prod: Josh Feldman Talent / Reality COOL CATS Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Cecil Berry Children’s Show CORTEX MINING FC Hamman Films Prod Man: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video COME DINE WITH ME SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Reality CUTTING EDGE SABC News Current Affairs Debra Deel Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott, Wynand Dreyer Series DIAMOND BROKER OF CONGO Bendimir Productions PTY LTD Prod: Dede Tshibangu Documentary DIMENSION DATA Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Natalie Varoy Corporate DINNER DIVAS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Series DISHONEST Inhlakanipho Films Dir: Vusi Nhlapo Feature Film Ditokelo tsa Medupi LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature DIY MET RIAAN Prod: Riaan Venter-Garforth Magazine EARTH BEAT Tekweni TV Productions Prod: Sandra Herrington Series EASTERN MOSAIC Red Carpet Productions Prod: Saira Essa / Mark Corlett Magazine END GAME Fireworx Media/ Tunc Productions Prod: Bridget Pickering Dir: Akin Omotoso/ Thandie Brewer/ Thabang Moleya Feature EXPRESSO (Season 2) Cardova Prod: Paul van Deventer Series FACE OF GEMINI Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Series Facility Management Lectures (A4FM) Panache Video Productions Dir/ Prod: Liesel Eiselen Educational Faith Today Impact Christian Media Prod: Carl Schultz TV Series FOX NEWS CHANNEL Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig News Free State Toursim Indaba Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Corporate FRENZY Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Morena Sefatsa Variety GENERATIONS Morula Pictures Prod: Mfundi Vundla Series GOOD MORNING AFRICA Planet Image Productions SA Prod/Dir: Wale Akinlabi Magazine GOSPEL GOLD Engage Entertainment Prod: Sthembile Mhlongu Music

Got It Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate GROEN Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Wildlife HEAT WAVE Ruby Rocket Media Dir: Eddie Edwards TV Series HECTIC 99 Okuhle Media Prod: Wilna van Schalkwyk Magazine HITACHI POWER AFRICA MEDUPI AND KUSILE Betta Beta Communications Prod/Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary HOUSE CALL Izwe Multimedia / Urban Brew Prod: Annalie Potgieter Talk Show IGNITE Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Reality IHAWU LE SISWE Provoke Entertainment Dir: Sechaba Morojele TV Series iParent training clips Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate IMIZWILILI Ukhamba Productions Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music INKABA Urban Brew Studios Prod: John Kani Telenovela In search of our own Open Window school of film arts Prod: Adriaan De la Rey Documentary ISIDINGO Endemol South Africa Prod: Pumla Hoppa, Leo Phiri Soap JOBURG TAXI Xcut Studios Prod: Dave Kaminer Documentary JOU SHOW Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Talkshow comedy KOKKEDOOR 2 Homebrew films Prod: Jaco Loubser and Paul Venter Cooking reality series KOLLIG Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Magazine KONA The Directors Team (Pty) Ltd Prod/Dir: Laurence Lurie / Cathy Sykes Series KOOLCON CORPORATE VIDEO FiX Post Production/ Marketing AV Marketing Video LATE NITE NEWS ON E.TV Diprente Productions Prod: Tamsin Andersson Series Light Girls South African Unit White Heron Pictures Prod: Themba Sibeko Documentary LIVE Urban Brew Music LIVE LOTTO SHOW Urban Brew Game Show Mandela’s Gun DV8 films Dir: John Irvin Feature Marang Estate: Mixed Used Development Nov/ Dec Our Time Productions Dir: Jaun de Meillon Documentary

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46 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

UPDATES MASHELENG1 LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature MASHELENG 2 LMOL Production Dir: Jonny Muteba Feature MassTalk Global Access Creative Agency Prod: Brad Montgomery Corporate MATRICS UPLOADED Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational MOTSWAKO Carol Bouwer Productions Prod: Grant Paul Roy Talk Show MCA Training Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Guy Sclanders Corporate M-NET SHORT FILMS Current Affairs Films Prod/ Dir: Jane Thandi Lipman Film MURDER OF A FORMER FIRST LADY Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary MUVHANGO Word of Mouth Prod: Pieter Grobbelaar Feature MY GENERATION Current Affairs Films Dir: Jane Lipman TV Series My name is Funeka Sabido Productions Dir/Prod: Catherine Rice Documentary MZANSI INSIDER Bonngoe Productions Prod: Pepsi Pokane Magazine NEILL ANTHONY – THE PRIVATE CHEF Okuhle Media Prod: Grant Flynn Cooking Show NET1 – SASSA Betta Beta Communications Prod: Tommy Doig Corporate NEWS NIGHT eNews Prod: Nikiwe Bikitsha Current Affairs in Oscar Pistorius Documentary Inserts TIA Productions Dir/ Prod: Tarryn Crossman Documentary PASELLA Tswelopele Productions Dir: Liani Maasdorp / Werner Hefer Magazine PAWN STARS SOUTH AFRICA Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine, Ed Worster, Johan Naude and Kat Weatherall Reality PHUNDEKA READING PROGRAMME SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Phundeka (NGO) Documentary POWER COMBAT ZONE Mixed Motion Entertainment Dir: Dieter Gottert Sport PROJECT MV Zen Crew Prod: Laura Tarling Music Rands with Sense 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myersin Education RHYTHM CITY Quizzical Pictures Prod: Yula Quinn Soapie RHYTHM CITY INTERACTIVE Quizzical Pictures / e.tv Prod: Viva Liles-Wilkin Interactive Platform Media RIVONINGO Asi-B Films Prod: Asivhanzi ‘Asi’ Mathaba Children’s Show ROLLING WITH KELLY KHUMALO Red Pepper Prod: Cecil Barry Reality

ROOTS Ukhamba Communications Prod: Alfred Mpofu Music SAINT AND FREEDOM FIGHTER Blue Marble Entertainment Dir: Eugene Botha Documentary SA Top Model for a Day Michics Global Communications Exec Prod: Mishack Motshweni TV Series SAKEGESPREK MET THEO VORSTER SEASON 5 Dirk Mostert Camera Production Prod/ Dir: Dirk Mostert Series SAUBA Imagofilm Prod: Tam de Vries Reality TV Series Shreds and Dreams Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM Rapid Blue Prod: Kee-Leen Irvine Global TV Commercial SA’S GOT TALENT Rapid Blue Prod/Dir: Kee-Leen Irvine Talent show SCANDAL Ochre Moving Pictures Prod: Romano Gorlei Soapie SCHOEMAN BOERDERY – MOOSRIVIER Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott / Wynand Dreyer Documentary SELIMATHUNZI Sikhoyana Productions Prod: Baby Joe Correira Variety SHIZ NIZ Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Allen Makhubele Variety SHIFT Urban Brew Talk show SISTERHOOD Red Pepper Pictures Prod: Andy Leze Variety SIYAKHOLWA – WE BELIEVE X CON Films Dir: Munier Parker Edutainment Slender Wonder Doctors Conference Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Prod: Slender Wonder Corporate Video Slender Wonder Patient Testimonial Videos Grey Cloud Productions Dir: Jacques Brand Corporate Videos SOCCER ZONE SABC Sports Head: Sizwe Nzimande Magazine SODA AND Mayoral Awards Global Access Creative Agency Guy Sclanders Corporate SPRINGBOK STORIES Angel Music Studio Productions Dir: Chrissie Rossouw TV Series STUDY MATE Educational Improvement and Study Help (EISH) Exec Prod: Lisa Blakeway Educational SUPERSWIMMER Media Ventures Prod/Dir: Chris Moolman TV Series THE CHAT ROOM Eclipse Prod: Thokozani Nkosi Talk Show THE COMMUNIST REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Jam TV, Creative South Africa, Nkhanyeti Production Prod: Barthelemy Ngwessam Documentary THE JUSTICE FACTOR eNews Prod: Debbie Meyer Current Affairs THE REAL GOBOZA 7 Urban Brew Entertainment

The Revolution Betrayed Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Documentary THE RUDIMENTALS Periphery Films Prod: Simon Taylor Feature THE TECH REPORT Homebrew Films Prod: Jaco Loubser Technology Magazine TOP BILLING Tswelopele Productions Prod: Patience Stevens Magazine TOP TRAVEL (Season 3) Cardova Prod: Bradley van den Berg Series Transnet Financial Results Global Access Creative Agency Dir: Brad Montgomery Corporate Troopship Tragedy (Working Title) Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary TSHIPE BORWA MANGANESE MINE Betta Beta Communications Prod / Dir: Tommy Doig Documentary Vaseline Experience Xcut Studios Dir: Lee Anne Theron 4D AV production VELDKINDERS Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach Documentary Series VILLA ROSA Spectro Productions Dir: Luhann Jansen / Andries van der Merwe/ Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit Series Volkspele South Africa Grey Cloud Productions Dir:Jacques Brand Prod: Bertie Brink Documentary WARD 22 TIA Productions Prod/Dir: Tarryn Crossman Documentary WEEKEND AM LIVE SABC News Current Affairs WIZARD OF ZIM Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary YILENGELO LAKHO Prod: Nndanganeni Mudau Current Affairs ZOOM IN Footprint Media TV Prod: Cheryl Delport Talk show

IN POST-PRODUCTION A BUSHMAN ODYSSEY Onetime Films Prod: Richard Wicksteed Documentary A DIFFERENT COUNTRY Sabido Productions Dir: Lisa Henry Documentary series A Love Letter to Luxor Shadow Films Prod/Dir: David Forbes Short Film A MOTHER’S MADNESS Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Ayesha Ismail Documentary AFROX CO2 PLANT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX FINANCIAL RESULTS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX RAU INSIGHT FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video AFROX SHEQ INDUCTION FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercial BEAUTY CONTEST Phoenix TV Productions Prod/Dir: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film

P R ODUCTION CAESAREAN COMPLICATIONS SummerTime Productions Exec Prod: Professor Eckhart Buchmann Documentary Challenge SOS 2 Blonds and a Redhead Filming Prod: Anne Myers Reality Collide Media Village Productions Prod: Ardeen Munnik TV Series CROSSBOW KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary DEBRA DEEL Khaki Productions Prod: Christelle Parrott TV Series DIE WASGOEDLYN Kilroy Was Here! Productions Prod: Gideon Breytenbach TV Series FASHION GURU SA Pro Media & Spider – Co Productions Prod/Dir: Dee Vanzyl Reality FORMIDABELE VROUE: CISSY GOOL Khaki Productions Prod/Dir: Christelle Parrott/ Wynand Dreyer Documentary HAD BETTER DAYS Uniquely Novel Productions Prod/Dir: Deon VD Merwe Feature Film HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARIES: KIMBERLEY: SOUTH AFRICA Spike Productions Prod/Dir: Steve Muller Documentary THE HOCKEY STICK KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Melanie Rice Documentary HOUSE OF ENCOURAGEMENT Panache Video Productions Dir/Prod: Liesel Eiselen Corporate I AM…CRAIG Away From Keyboard Dir: Samora Sekhukhune Documentary IQILI Impucuzeko Prod: Sharon Kakora Feature Joyous 18 RM Recording Prod: Lindelani Mkhize Other JULIUS HAS A DREAM Creative South Africa, Nkanyethi Productions, Jam TV Prod: Bathelemy Ngwessam Documentary KADARA Media Navigation Prod: Dan Akinlolu/ Biola Karonwi TV Drama Kerels wat Kook Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant Reality TV Series KNYSNA West Five Films Prod/ Dir: Maynard Kraak; Andre Velts Feature Film

LINCOLN CLAN Total Recall Media Ltd Dir: Adebanjo Oluseyi TV Series THE MIME ARTIST Phoenix TV Productions Prod: Koketso Sefanyetso Short Film MURDER ON MILLIONAIRE’S MILE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Barbara Friedman Documentary MY SIGHT FOR SORE EYES Enigma Ace Films Prod/Dir: Ryan Kruger Feature Film NIGHT OF THE MASSACRE Tshepo Lesedi Projects, Mathope & Izibuko Films Dir: Charles Khuele Documentary NEW LAND Plexus Films/ Four Corners Media Dir: Kyle O’ Donoghue TV Series NIGHTCLUB KILLER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Nobathembu Stefane Documentary Nyaope Gangsters LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature PERFECT SHISHEBO Quizzical Pictures Prod: Nthabiseng Mokoena Series PLAY MORE GOLF FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Commercials Pushi- Passion LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Series ROSA 3 Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature SAMURAI KILLER Sabido Productions Dir: Catherine Rice Corporate SECRET PAIN #1 Makoya Entertainment Prod/Dir: Prayer Ndlovu TV Drama SHALLOW GRAVE Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Meggan Raubenheimer Documentary SLENDER WONDER FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video SLENDER WONDER MJ LABS FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video SWARTWATER Quizzical Pictures Prod: Bianca Isaac Dir: John Trengove/ Jozua Malherbe/ Denny Y Miller Series SUPERDAD Two Oceans Productions Prod: Giselher Venzke & Bertha Spieker TV Feature

SURVIVOR Endemol South Africa Prod: Anton Burggraaf, Josh Feldman Reality TELKOM: BUSINESS INSIGHTS WEBSERIES UZI Films Prod/Dir: Steven Hall Corporate The calling LMOL Production Dir: Lizzy Moloto Feature THE FAMILY PUZZLE Site et Sons media productions Prod/Dir : Zamo Missie Feature The Message Reel Edge Studios Dir: David Golden TV Drama Series THE STORY OF LITTLE FOOT Paul Myburgh Film Prod: Paul Myburgh Documentary THE TRANSPORTERS Sukuma Media/ Reality Motion Pictures Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube Documentary TROOPSHIP TRAGEDY Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Marion Edmunds Documentary Traffic Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Series UNDER THE MOUNTAIN Plexus Films Prod: Miki Redelinghuys,/ Lauren Groenewald Short film UNSOLVED – THE STORY OF THE CAPE RIPPER Sabido Productions Prod/Dir: Johann Abrahams Documentary VKB LANDBOU BEPERK FC Hamman Films Prod: Odette van Jaarsveld Corporate Video When I Was Water Shadow Films Dir: David Forbes Documentary XJ-1 Eternal Film Productions Prod: Marius Swanepoel/ Dana Pretorius Feature You Deserve It Penguin Films Prod: Roberta Durrant TV Game Show

U PDATE S

UPCOMING EVENTS

|

SEPTEMBER 27 Aug – 7

WORLD FILM FESTIVAL MONTREAL

Montreal www.ffm-montreal.org 4 – 5 SEAexpo

Johannesburg www.seaexpoafrica.com 10 – 15 IBC 2015: IBC Conference

Amsterdam www.ibc.org 10 – 20

Toronto Film Festival

Toronto www.tiff.net 13 – 14 OMDC International Financing Forum

Toronto www.omdc.on.ca 20 PromaxBDA Africa

Johannesburg www.promaxafrica.tv

OCTOBER 5 – 8 Mipcom

Cannes www.mipcom.com 13 – 15

TV Xperience 2015

New York www.tvxperienceevent.com 15 – 17 Filmares: Indonesia International

Filmmaking Resources Expo

Screen Africa relies on the accuracy of information received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which

Indonesia www.filmares.com 20 – 22

The Broadband World Forum

London www.broadbandworldforum.com

may occur.

E-mail production updates to: online@screenafrica.com

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September 2015 | SCREENAFRICA | 47

Social and Behind the Scenes

|

ShowMax launch

Richard Boorman, Robyn Lok, Anna Vaulina, John Kotsaftis, Chris Savides, Antonin Kral and Victor Eckard

Hosts Aki Anastasiou and Toby Shapshak

Jan Vermeulen, Richard Boorman (ShowMax head of comms), Arthur Goldstuck

Chanelle Ellaya, Roxanne Fagri and Anele Mostert

Star Film Tusker Malt and Lager commercial shoot

Tristan Holmes (Star Films director) standing next to the main Camera.

Tim Beckerling (creative director, NetworkBBDO), Safaraaz Sindhi (copywriter, NetworkBBDO), Caroline Switala (TV producer, NetworkBBDO), Saskia Rosenberg (producer, Star Films), Heidi Kasselman (art director, NetworkBBDO), Tristan Holmes (director, Star Films) and Julie Bonnett (art director, Star Films).

Cinematographer Jamie Ramsey with camera on Easy rig.

Setting up a shot on location in Nairobi, Kenya

Setup on location in Nairobi, Kenya

Maggs on Media relaunch

Jeremy Maggs, Thabang Skwambane (MD of FCB Johannesburg), Koo Govender (CEO at VWV), Phumi Mashigo (co-founder and MD of Ignitive), and Xolisa Dyeshana (chief creative officer at Joe Public).

48 | SCREENAFRICA | September 2015

Jeremy Maggs with Media live studio audience

4K Production Tools for Broadcasters and Video Professionals www.pansolutions.co.za Contact: Sean Loeve Cell: 083 677 4917 Tel: 011 313 1622