Welcome to Joziwood
20/10/2014
Welcome to Joziwood - a colourful amalgam of made-on-a-shoestring-budget indie films that trip the light fantastic at the world's film festivals and low-budget, straight-to-TV bubble-gum films in the Nollywood style of film making; and the shooting destination of choice for megabudget international feature films and gritty documentaries.
The Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) estimates between 70% and 80% of South Africa's film and TV content is produced in the province. Gauteng's filmed content industry contributes more than R2.5bn a year to the country's GDP, and directly employs more than 8 500 people, plus many more thousands of freelance workers.
Nationally, the film industry is flourishing, stimulated by grants from local film commissions, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), the National Lottery and the Industrial Development Corporation, as well as the department of Trade and Industry's rebate scheme.
The GFC estimates about eight direct and indirect jobs are created for every R1 million spent on film production. Furthermore, a study commissioned by the NFVF found the audiovisual industry contributes more than R670m to the SA Revenue Service yearly - more than repaying the R250m in incentives paid out annually by government.
This local film boom is a recent phenomenon, according to Helen Kuun of Indigenous Films, an independent distributor of African titles.
A decade ago, you'd see three to eight South African films releasing a year. But Tsotsi in 2006 was a gateway occurrence; psychologically, it showed film makers what could be done. Since then, there has been an uptick in volume and success stories.
Over the past two or three years, we've seen 20 to 24 local films being released in cinemas every year - and that's excluding your eKasi: Our Stories [on e.tv] and Mzansi Magic [straight-to-TV] films. These days, there's a new local film coming on circuit every two weeks, on average, says Kuun.
And most of those films are being shot in and around Joburg.
Vuyo Sokupa, the head of programming at Mzansi Magic, says the channel has commissioned more than 300 microbudget movies since 2011 - roughly 50 a year, each with a budget of R300 000.
This is double the initial allocation of a modest R150 000 per film - which might have contributed to Lokshin Bioskop's reputation as a sausage factory, churning out movies of inferior quality.
But Sokupa says they have seen a great growth in quality, especially since we have invested more money into each movie . According to her, a large proportion of these films are shot in Joburg.
The channel has pumped more than R60m into the industry to date, and the Lokshin Bioskop brand has proved such a runaway hit that Mzansi Bioskop, a dedicated 24/7 local movie channel on MultiChoice's DStv platform, was born.
It is our passion to tell home-grown stories, Sokupa says. We see a lot of young storytellers, new writers and directors joining the productions.
The key to the success of these bubble-gum blockbusters seems to lie in giving the viewing public what it wants.
Dramedy is a very common genre that our viewers enjoy. Our audiences love the merger of serious, truthful narratives with a pinch of comedy. I guess this is reflective of how our society handles issues, explains Sokupa.
But Kuun warns that this finger-on-the-pulse approach shown by the straight-to-TV movie-making machine is not being mirrored by South African film makers in general.
I wouldn't necessarily say the industry is robust, because there is not enough variety on the black consumer side. Local film makers are not generating enough feel-good films, like White Wedding and Between Friends, she says.
We need to get away from just making political dramas, and Aids and orphan stories. Those films need to be made, but they are in essence art house films. The main problem is we lack the genre variety in black vernacular languages. We need to make more aspirational love stories and family comedies in those languages.
Universal Pictures recently bought the rights to remake the South African crime thriller iNumber Number, directed by Donovan Marsh. Part of that film's success was its setting on the mean streets of Jozi. Similarly, the Oscar-winning Tsotsi drew much of its authenticity from the Soweto shackland landscape.
Besides boasting world-class infrastructure and abundant creative and technical expertise, Joburg is regarded as an affordable filming location. According to the GFC, the province is ranked as one of the top 10 cheapest cities (out of 143) offering a good physical infrastructure for making movies.
Joburg is a capitalist city, says Kuun. It's cheaper to shoot around greater Joburg than around greater Cape Town. Although the story dictates where you shoot, it's also a budget thing.
And one of the jewels in the city's crown is that it is regarded as home to the Nelson Mandela brand. In recent years, Madiba-themed biopics Invictus and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom have been partially filmed in Jozi.
It has also been the film location of choice of other major international blockbusters and local productions, pumping millions into the regional economy. Recent examples include District 9 (estimated budget: R333.5m), Stander (R344.6m), The Bang Bang Club (R66.7m), Blitzpatrollie (R8m) and Material (R22.2m).
Recently, street and action scenes for the hotly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, due for release in May 2015, were filmed in downtown Joburg.
The city is also seen as being friendly to independent film make
LINK: | http://www.filmcontact.com/africa/south-africa/welcome-joziwood... |
See more stories from filmcontact |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
30/04/2024
Durham Bulls Saturday Game, First Sellout of 2024 Season
The force was strong at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday night, April 27, 2024, as the night netted the ballpark's first official sellout crowd of...
30/04/2024
NewFront Life Is a Cabaret for LGBTQ+ Network Revry
Revry, a network celebrating queer culture. said its second annual NewFront presentation will be a cabaret-type spectacle showcasing the spirit of the LGBTQ+ co...
30/04/2024
FETV Viewers Say Howdy' as Wyatt Earp' Joins Lineup
Family Entertainment Television (FETV) said that the Western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp will be joining the network's afternoon lineup startin...
30/04/2024
Bob Bakish Departing Paramount, According to Reports
Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount Global, will depart the company as Paramount explores a merger, according to numerous published reports. The reports ...
29/04/2024
Filming begins and further cast confirmed in Mark Gatiss drama Bookish for Alibi
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
She Speaks Sudan': Thomson launches programme to empower women journalists and civil society actors in exile
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Meet the 2024 Sundance Institute Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Lab Fellows
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
The AN/PRC-158: A Resilient Communications Bridge Between Air and Ground
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
CS President Sam Mehta: Resilient Communications are Critical to Realizing JADC2
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
Clear-Com Enhances The Kennedy Center with Seamless Communication Solutions
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Optimising audio loudness & normalisation across the Media Supply Chain
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New Video Streaming Service
April 29, 2024 -- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LG Adds Allen Media Group's Local Now FAST Channel in 223 Markets
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
Ross Video Unveils Raiden Weather Graphics System
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Melanie Georgieva Joins Panalux as Long Form Sales Direct...
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Earns Patent on Analytics-Based Dynamic Autho...
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 202...
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports selects QuickLink Remote Commentary soluti...
Premier Sports, a premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality remote commenta...
29/04/2024
Glookast picks Jigsaw24 Media as exclusive UK channel par...
Glookast has chosen Jigsaw24 Media as the only UK channel partner to represent their portfolio of ingest and workflow optimisation products. The agreement, sign...
29/04/2024
Clear-Coms Eclipse HX and Agent-IC Technology Illuminate...
Clear-Com played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Leveraging its cutting-edge Eclipse HX Digital Matrix i...
29/04/2024
PlayBox Neo to Promote Latest Smart Media Playout Innovat...
PlayBox Neo will promote its complete range of television channel management, graphic branding and playout solutions to EMEA region media content owners and bro...
29/04/2024
RuPaul Game Show Lingo' Returns to CBS May 24
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN, Amazon Prime Video Reportedly Close To New Deals With the NBA
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy,' Hot Bench' Renewed for 2 More Years
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Irish Sports Broadcaster Premier Sports Taps QuickLink for Remote Commentary
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
BAFTA Television Craft Awards winners announced
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023 By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 29, 2024 The awards cel...
29/04/2024
Watch: How Milk VFX helped create 259 shots for Netflix's Scoop
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch By Jenny Priestley Publis...
29/04/2024
What's going on at Paramount Global?
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Meet the director of media and entertainment and strategic products
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry By TVBEurope Staff Pub...
29/04/2024
Anna Valley brand name acquired by AV company Grand Technix
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors By Jenny Priestley Published...
29/04/2024
Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light First Light Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting Becomes First Company Inducted into NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
Uninterrupted and Tribeca Enterprises Partner for Second-Annual Uninterrupted Film Festival Powered by Tribeca Festival July 9-10 in Los Angeles
April 29th, 2024 UNINTERRUPTED AND TRIBECA ENTERPRISES PARTNER FOR SECOND-ANNUA...
29/04/2024
Rebrand and Refresh: SailGP Talks Bringing its Graphics Operations Inhouse for a Bright New Look to Keep Viewers Illuminated
Rebrand and refresh: SailGP talks bringing its graphics operations inhouse for a...
29/04/2024
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on the Future
Reflecting on a Storied Career: Sean McManus Looks Back While Keeping an Eye on ...
29/04/2024
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement for Knicks, Rangers Playoff Series
Drones Take Flight Inside MSG: How Sky Candy Studios is Upping the Excitement fo...
29/04/2024
Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut in 2024 With Established Creators Returning With New Series and Films
Back to All News Netflix Announces a Diverse Lineup of Polish Titles to Debut i...
29/04/2024
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishap
Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Fanyana feels embarrassed about his sexual mishapDon't miss Monday, 29 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Sm...
29/04/2024
SEA.AI Navigates the Future With AI at the Helm
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik Discusses 1Q24 On CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime"
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
Audinate Adds Major New Features to Dante Connect
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
Bell Media Launches New Portfolio of FAST Channels
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
Study: Broadcast TV Evening News Avoids Serious Economic Issues
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
Hughes Opens Manufacturing Facility and Private 5G Incubation Center in Maryland
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Broadcasting Legend Harry Pappas Dead At 78
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
Televisa Selects Synamedia For Broadcast Distribution Overhaul
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....