--
Conquering the local box office --
Sat, 18 Jul 2015 22:03
--
SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Why is it that so many South African films rarely reach significant success at the local box office? According to a Box Office Report conducted by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), local films box office revenues dropped by 44% from 2013 to 2014 a discouraging figure for local filmmakers.
Vuyo Sekupa, NFVF head of production and development, referred to audience research conducted by the organisation and said filmmakers need to better understand what audiences want in order for their films to perform well. For example, in South Africa films in the comedy genre are known to resonate with local audiences and have a much better chance at success.
Sekupa added that marketing played a big role in the promotion of local films and said, People make a decision about what movie they are going to watch based on the trailer. You ve got to get trailers out and build some kind of a marketing strategy because local films are fighting against a Hollywood machine, with an extensive marketing plan.
Currently English language films are struggling to draw cinema crowds, and Sekupa stated that people want to see movies in their own language. We don t see a lot of vernacular titles out at the box office, and that is something we potentially have to pay attention to, she said.
Restless Global founder Tendeka Matatu added that many local films do not do well financially or sell in international territories, not because people aren t going to cinemas or because they don t want to watch South African films but because filmmakers don t yet fully understand what audiences want to see. He commented, If you make obscure dramas that nobody wants to watch, nobody is going to watch them. If you are in the film business and you want to make commercial cinema, you ve got to understand what sells.
Clive Fisher, acquisitions and scheduling operations manager at Ster-Kinekor, stated that South African audiences are relatively conservative and do not respond well to films which feature strong violence and sex. The minute your film has an age restriction higher than 13, you are losing about 50% of your cinema going audience, said Fisher. He added that a film s cast played a huge role in attracting audiences and that films which feature local soap stars, especially those which are actively involved in marketing the movie, garner larger audiences by leveraging existing fan bases. Fisher referenced Pad na Jou Hart, a local film which performed the best in the period under review in the NFVF 2014 Box Office Report and received over R11 million in gross revenue. He explained how the two stars, Ivan Botha and Donnalee Roberts, had embarked on a roadtrip to promote the film, stopping at beaches across South Africa to meet and engage with fans. They were also actively involved and committed to cinema promotions of the film and Fisher believes this contributed largely to its success.
Related Articles
NFVF presents findings of South African audience research On 16 April 2015, South Africa s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) presented the results of a research project it commissioned to understand the perceptions and preferences of South African audiences when it comes to domestic film and television content...
Read more...
Top SA box office earners 2014 This month we ve decided to keep it strictly local with the top 10 South African films of last year, as per the NFVF s box office report for December 2014 to January. Director Jaco Smit s heartwarming romantic comedy was the biggest earning local film...
Read more...
February s top earners at the local box office blur the lines between fantasy and realityDirector Sam Taylor-Johnson s much anticipated film based on E. L. James s trilogy of novels about an unlikely romance between a na ve college student and a handsome, troubled billionaire scooped the top spot at the box office this month...
Read more...
NFVF releases box office reportThe National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) continually conducts research into varying aspects of the film industry...
Read more...
-- --
-- --
-- Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
29/10/2025
29 10 2025 - Media release SBS, NITV and Screen Australia announce 2025 Digital Originals Shortlist
The 2025 Digital Originals shortlisted teams. Photo credit...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
Governments everywhere are racing to harness the power of AI - but legacy infras...
28/10/2025
AI is moving from the digital world into the physical one. Across factory floors...
28/10/2025
NVIDIA is delivering the telecom industry a major boost in open-source software for building AI-native 5G and 6G networks.
NVIDIA Aerial software will soon be ...
28/10/2025
The race to bottle a star now runs on AI.
NVIDIA, General Atomics and a team of international partners have built a high-fidelity, AI-enabled digital twin for ...
28/10/2025
Along the Pacific Ocean in Monterey, California, the Naval Postgraduate School (...
28/10/2025
To democratize access to AI technology nationwide, AI education and deployment c...
28/10/2025
Leading technology companies in aerospace and automotive are accelerating their ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
-- 
