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AFRICA
Reports by Joanna Sterkowicz
Doing business in Africa
In theory Africa provides an
expansive, largely untapped market
for suppliers of broadcast
equipment and services. In
practice, doing business on the
continent has its own unique
idiosyncrasies, which require careful
consideration and navigation.
As a company which has been
involved in the setting up of several
African TV stations, broadcast services
supplier Telemedia has found the
biggest problem to be budget. “This
translates to no money for
programming,”
explained CEO
Peter Bretherick
at the recent
Screen Africa
Talent &
Technology
Conference in
Johannesburg.
“In 1977 Swazi TV established an
infant service and asked me how to
produce news programming. So I
suggested that they film their radio
presenters reading the news, which
they did.”
Two years later Telemedia saw an
opportunity in Botswana when
diamond mines were being built.
Bretherick approached the CEO of De
Beers with the idea of TV and three
months later, Telemedia built a TV
station at a mine. Programming
creativity was somewhat stifled as the
station would only hire crew with
degrees, even if they were in
agriculture. Advertising on the station
consisted of writing ads on postcards
and placing them in front of a camera.
Bretherick pointed out that the
failure of many African broadcasters to
pay for programming results in piracy.
“They think nothing of superimposing
their logos on programming from
international broadcasters such as DStv.
Telemedia exports to Africa “by
electronic means”. Bretherick
continued: “Therefore we deliver
something intangible because you can’t
see it. A lot of African broadcasters
don’t feel obligated to pay for
something already broadcast so a policy
of money up front is essential. Even
when you do get paid in Africa it can be
problematic. My son was paid $28 000
in cash for a job in Nigeria and had to
transport it in plastic shopping bags.”
Broadcast equipment house Visual
Impact has supplied camera equipment
to many African countries including
Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya and
Tunisia. Said the company’s Marius
van Straaten: “We often partner with a
South African production company
which then partners with a company on
the ground. It’s essential that we have a
detailed brief and where possible we do
technical recces. The host production
company is very important as anything
can happen in African countries. Over
a year ago a client left our equipment
behind in the Congo and we’ve not
seen it since. In such cases you end up
in a legal situation with the South
African company who is liable for the
equipment.”
Van
Straaten
noted that
the advent of
solid state
technology
has made life
easier but
stressed that
equipment
packaging
needs to be made of thick aluminium
with foam and must be waterproof.
Eighty percent of Visual Impact’s
claims relate to water problems.
“Accurate paperwork, as in carnets, is
essential,” continued Van Straaten.
“Make sure serial numbers are 100%
correct. If the customs person tears out
the wrong page of the carnet it becomes
a nightmare and very difficult to
rectify. It’s advisable to put a surety
down on 50% of value of the
equipment. Also, clients should be
aware of the time things takes in Africa
as there is lots of red tape. On one
occasion our equipment arrived at its
destination after the production had
been and gone.
“Be aware of cultural differences in
Africa. There is a culture of bribery in
some countries and be careful not to
anger anyone. Don’t take pictures as
you could land up in a police station.
There is limited technical support in
some countries so you might want to
take your own soldering iron.”
GlobeCast has been supplying
broadcast and satellite services to Africa
since it opened its Johannesburg office
in 1994, with a Kenyan branch six years
later. Said Melanie Gibb: “Doing
business in
Africa is very
expensive. It’s
not a problem
getting
content into
Africa but
rather getting
content out.
During the
Zimbabwe
elections in March they arrested our
staff and impounded our van. It took
lots of time and legal action to get
them out.”
Zim industry opens up
South Africans have heard daily
news in recent years about the
economic collapse and political
crisis in neighbouring
Zimbabwe and wondered how normal
life could proceed in such challenging
conditions. Representatives from
Harare-based production company
Mighty Movies recently attended the
Mediatech Africa technology trade
show in late July in Johannesburg,
armed with a message of optimism and
hope.
“Yes, we were all affected by the
situation in Zimbabwe but we’re
moving on. So why not the rest of the
world?” stated senior producer
Redemta Gwekwerere.
Production manager Tapiwa
Gandiya added: “The future is looking
very good for our industry now but the
country still suffers from a negative
perception. We’re here to tell you that
Zimbabwe is changing very fast and we
are living proof of that. Mighty Movies
has nothing but optimism for the
future so I encourage everyone in this
sector to look at Zimbabwe for
business. At Mighty Movies we have
highly skilled people and good
infrastructure.”
MIGHTY OPTIMISTIC –
Redemta Gwekwerere and Tapiwa Gandiya
It’s worth noting that while at
Mediatech Africa, the company
purchased a crane, a jib and a dolly.
“We’re also looking at cameras, sound
equipment and a flyaway kit,” said
Gwekwerere, who added that no other
production company in Zimbabwe has
the technological capacity of Mighty
Movies.
In existence since 1986, the company
focuses on corporate and commercial
multimedia work, as well as the supply
of news footage. Clients include the
South African Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC), Reuters, APTN,
ABC New York, Channel 7
(Australia), TV New Zealand, CNN,
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, Coca-Cola
Central & Southern Africa,
Swedish International
Development Agency,
National Public Radio
(USA), and a host of South
African production houses
and Zimbabwean
advertising agencies.
“It was mainly the
international work that
kept us going in the tough
times,” noted Gandiya. “As
an accredited company we
have always been allowed to film
everywhere, but inevitably in the
presence of security forces. We recorded
news footage as events unfolded which
we sent to overseas clients. Mighty
Movies never edited or compiled any
news stories itself, nor made any antigovernment
programmes. Survival in
tough times is about creativity and is
dependent on how you structure
agreements with clients.”
Gwekwerere stressed that the
situation since Morgan Tsvangirai took
office as prime minister had improved
in terms of relaxing media restrictions.
“Now journalists and TV crews can
move freely about. People still get
harassed but as long as you are
accredited and know your rights, they
back off. You do have to keep renewing
your accreditation regularly, although at
the moment the industry is between
regulators. It was only in the last two
years that things got very tough in
Zimbabwe.”
In 2002 Mighty Movies was bought
out by African Business
Communications led by Supa
Mandiwanzira and embarked on a
major upgrade, replacing analogue
equipment with digital. Crews shoot on
Sony HDV and Sony DSR cameras
and edit on Final Cut Pro and Adobe
Premier suites. The company has a full
audio studio with voiceover booth.
Mighty Movies has a weekly TV
business programme, Talking business
with Supa, on national broadcaster
Zimbabwe TV. The company has
produced six documentaries for an
NGO called Save the Children
Norway Zimbabwe, which looks at
children in all sectors. A big
international documentary undertaken
by Mighty Movies – Every River has its
People – was shot in Botswana, Angola
and Namibia.
10
SCREENAFRICA – September 2009