14 March, 2017 - 08:02
In the past two years, the South African film industry has witnessed a new phenomenon - locally written, directed and produced romantic comedies starring local casts have been performing decently at the box office. By Edward Tsumele
Films such as Say Sweet Something, Mrs Right Guy and Happiness is a Four-Letter Word have debunked the notion that domestic films gain traction with local audiences only when they star Hollywood actors.
These films generated millions of rand at the box office as audiences flocked to see them.
Ster-Kinekor CE Wanda Matandela, whose company screens about 280 films annually at more than 500 cinemas in SA and the rest of Africa, says the key to box-office success is that the story must connect with the audience.
It is not for me to tell producers what kind of movies to come up with.
However, what I can say is that romcoms have done very well on the local film scene. For example, Happiness is a Four-Letter Word achieved R13m, Mrs Right Guy made R4m and Say Sweet Something also performed well, he says.
People will always be attracted to a story that relates well to their own life experiences. Add that to casting people who are well known and have done well on certain productions in the past, then you are likely to do well at the box office, says Matandela.
Mrs Right Guy, starring Dineo Moeketsi as the lovelorn Gugu Hlatshwayo, was in cinemas in 2016.
Dineo is one of the hottest properties on the South African entertainment scene at the moment, director Adze Ugah said at the time of the film's release. Not only is she a talented presenter but she was also the face of music magazine show O-Access. Mrs Right Guy is the perfect vehicle for her big-screen debut.
It's a modern take about millennials and the struggles they face in finding true love. But it's also a fun, escapist comedy about the pitfalls of romance and the challenges facing the contemporary single woman.
Moeketsi has appeared in several theatre productions, including Grease, The Fifth Floor and 66676, and played the role of Lindiwe in the SABC 1 youth drama series Soul City in 2010.
In 2014, she co-hosted (with rapper Shugasmakx) the Mzansi Magic reality series My Perfect Proposal. She currently plays Naledi in the e.tv soap, Scandal.
Matandela says the local film industry has been growing steadily in recent years and this is expected to continue.
We are seeing filmed entertainment revenues on a steady upward curve.
According to PwC's 2016 Entertainment Review, total filmed entertainment revenue in SA will reach an estimated R3.9bn in 2019, up from R3bn in 2014, off the back of an average growth rate of 5.6%.
In addition to this, box-office figures are showing steady growth and will be worth a forecast R972m in 2019.
However, this growth has been fuelled by Hollywood movies, with Bollywood, Nollywood and South African movies contributing to that growth, especially in recent years.
What we are seeing is that SA is a very diverse country with different population groups interested in certain genres.
For example, movies aimed at the Afrikaans-speaking market have been doing very well for some time now, and so have movies from Bollywood. Black South Africans tend to like movies featuring black Americans and locally made movies that have good stories they can connect with and which feature local big stars they know.
However, in recent years we also have seen black South Africans embracing Bollywood and Nollywood movies, depending on the story being told. The bottom line is that a good story that touches on human emotions will always attract human beings, no matter who they are, says Matandela.
He says in order to build a sustainable local film industry, there is a need for collaboration between film makers, distributors and exhibitors to ensure all the value chains are on the same page with regards to growth.
Ster-Kinekor is engaged with the industry, including at film festivals such as the Durban International Film Festival and Joburg International Film Festival, which launched in 2016.
We are required to meaningfully address both current skills and the skills we need in the future, including commercial acumen. This requires a more formalised partnership between film schools, studios, distributors and theatres to drive value through comprehensive training across the film and cinema lifecycles, says Matandela.
Exhibitors are well positioned to understand the value of the consumer experience. Delivering greater depth in this experience requires a more collaborative partnership.
He lauds the Department of Trade and Industry's launch of the South African Emerging Black Filmmakers Incentive in September 2014. It provides qualifying film makers with at least R1m to fund their films.
In the past, domestic film makers claimed that one of the problems hampering their success was that homegrown films were allocated few screening venues and, if a film gained audiences, its scheduling was too short.
Here at Ster-Kinekor, we use one simple business model: if a movie attracts enough people, it will be allocated enough screens and will be scheduled accordingly, says Matandela.
www.businessdaylive.co.za
Film Finance
Africa South Africa
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
09/05/2025
Berklee Online Signs Transfer Articulation with Conservatorio Nacional de M sica The new agreement allows CNM students in the Dominican Republic to transfer i...
09/05/2025
Wooden Camera, a leading innovator in camera accessories, is proud to announce the launch of a new line of products for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. These ...
09/05/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions is expanding its popular Series 5000 platform with three new 12G-SDI cards. The new cards provide ...
09/05/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has completed a project to migrate ON TV, the major independent broadcaste...
09/05/2025
NUGEN Audio launches its new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck. A mono, stereo and multichannel dialog clarity meter, the software provides an objecti...
09/05/2025
Disguise the technology platform and solutions provider that powered MDL Beast Soundstorm 2024, Dubai Expo's Al Wasl Dome and visual displays at the Burj ...
09/05/2025
CVP has announced it will demonstrate its cutting-edge broadcast, live production and studio solutions at MPTS 2025. Taking place at Olympia London from 14th - ...
09/05/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, and White Peaks Solutions, the prominent e...
09/05/2025
SportsEngine Play, the first-of-its-kind streaming service for youth sports, has agreed to a multi-year extension with AI-automated sports content leader, Pixel...
09/05/2025
Friend MTS, a leading global provider of content protection services, today announced that TOD, the premier sports and entertainment OTT subscription service fo...
09/05/2025
ZEISS announces that it is in development on a new virtual lens technology that will allow visual effects and compositing artists to apply an authentic lens loo...
09/05/2025
At the 2025 Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), Cerberus Tech will showcase the latest major enhancement to its Livelink IP video delivery platform the...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...
08/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real time visualization, has named Paul Maroni as Vice Pres...
08/05/2025
This year's UK Pavilion in hall 5, once again managed by Tradefair, will provide visitors with the unique opportunity to discuss and be involved in cutting ...
08/05/2025
Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its latest energy-efficient transmitters and 5G Broadcast technologies, designed to support network operators and content provider...
08/05/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations ...
08/05/2025
SEATTLE LumaTouch is partnering with CNN Academy to improve mobile storytelling techniques and support training across all of CNN Academy's training simulat...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association ...
08/05/2025
Senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake has announced that One America News Network (OAN) will provide newsfeed services for fre...
08/05/2025
EdMon Expands as AI-Driven Post Production Workflows Gains Traction in Sweden an...
08/05/2025
Using Luma Mattes in Adobe Premiere Pro
Graham Quince May 7, 2025
0 Comments
This very quick tutorial shows you how to take an RGB clip and apply its ...
08/05/2025
OpenDrives Unveils Free Your Data' Initiative with New Astraeus Cloud-Nativ...
08/05/2025
Student Spotlight: Grigori Balasanyan The Armenian composer, who was named Boston Conservatory at Berklees 2025 student commencement speaker, talks about his ...
08/05/2025
08 May 2025
VEON Shareholders Re-elect Board at 2025 AGM, Founder Augie Fabela ...
08/05/2025
Comedy and entertainment channel U&Dave bring back their #1 ranked programme of ...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Unveils New Premieres Spanning Film and Music
Slick Rick's Victory with Idris Elba a...
08/05/2025
May 8th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces Lineup for Inaugural Storytelling Summit
11-Day Industry Event Launches with Tal...
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
08/05/2025
Expect even more chaos this July with Harriet Webb leading the returning cast, p...
14 March, 2017 - 08:02 
