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Shoot
Casting –
great
opportunity
Justin Browne from Shoot Casting
Agency says that it was a great
experience to work on District 9.
Browne explains how they got
involved: “A couple of months before
they started shooting, we called the
production and spoke to the cast
co-ordinator and production manager
and asked if we could assist on the film.
The answer was a yes.”
Browne elaborates that the highlight
of working on the film was that it had a
good budget. “This really helped and it
wasn’t a struggle to get our people on to
set. It’s always an honour working on a
film that gets international recognition.
The highlight, though, was being at
the première. Casting agents don’t get
recognised for their part on a film but
District 9 was different and this made
working on the film so much more
rewarding.”
Browne says some of the challenges
was shooting in Soweto. “It was dusty
Picture courtesy Ster-Kinekor
STAR QUALITY – Sharlto Copley gives a memorable performance in District 9
and just a harsh environment to
shoot in.”
Sharlto Copley’s consummate
performance will help pave the way for
South African actors who want to do
international work, says Browne. “He
gave an excellent performance. A
typically Afrikaans guy who takes pride
in his work. South African actors are
actually getting the opportunity to
expand their talents. I think it is great
that they are doing so well.”
Brown concludes: “Shoot Casting
Agency has been in operation since
2003, in which we have grown not only
as a business but as people. We have
learnt that it takes a lot of hard work
and commitment to be successful in
this business. We would love to be
involved in more fantastic films like
District 9 and look forward to the
growth of the industry.”
Chameleon
blown away
When Chameleon Casting
was briefed by Kalahari
Films, they had no idea
how successful District 9
would become, says Janice Meyer. The
reality of how huge D9 is worldwide
was brought home to her at the
premiere held in Johannesburg. “I did
not know what to expect and I was
completely blown away by the real
Hollywood style premiere and this
most amazing movie.
“I cannot believe how much the
South African film industry has grown
in a short time and what amazing
DISTRICT 9
movies we are starting to turn out. I
always said the Australians make great
movies and terrible ads and we make
terrible movies and great ads. Well the
time has come to say we make great
movies too!”
The best part of this movie was the
all South African cast, says Meyer who
was particularly impressed by Sharlto
Copley. “He grabbed us from the first
minute he appeared on the screen. He
has proved to all aspiring actors that if
you can dream it, you can do it.
“We have finally proved to the world
that South African actors are as good as
any of the Hollywood groot name (big
names) and that you don’t have to be a
Hollywood name (with a really bad
south African accent) to draw the
crowds. It is vital that we are finally
recognised for our own talent and do
not need Hollywood stars to sell our
movies.”
Chameleon was formed 17 years ago
and Meyer is determined that the
casting agency will continue to
offer the film industry the best service
possible.
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October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
37

SCRIPTWRITING
The South African Script Writers’ Association (SASWA), committed to protecting the rights of local film and TV
writers, has changed its name to The Writers Guild of South Africa. Karen van Schalkwyk reports.
Writers
Unite!
THE WRITE PROTECTION – Thandi Brewer
Brent Quinn
The film and television industry in
South Africa is a tough game for
producers, directors and actors,
but more specifically writers.
This is especially true now in light of
the recent problems at public
broadcaster SABC. Other broadcasters
are also not really coming to the party
and the global economic recession is
having an impact too.
However, out of all the ingredients
that go into making content and
entertainment, writers seem to be the
worst off. This is the primary reason for
the existence of The Writers Guild of
South Africa. The guild is an integral
part of supporting and looking after
writers’ rights.
Thandi Brewer, chairman, explains
that The Writers Guild of South Africa
is the new name for SASWA. “We’re
building on the proud tradition of 33
years of blood, sweat and tears from
previous councils and organisers.
Anyone who wants to join can e-mail
communications@writersguildsa.org
and we’ll send them the registration
form and requirements. Our focus is
primarily on screenwriting, however all
writers are welcome. The guild has
branches in Cape Town, Johannesburg
and KwaZulu-Natal.”
Senior guild member Brett Quinn
reiterates that the guild is there to
protect writers. “If the miners, bus
drivers and doctors can strike, then
writers certainly need an organisation
to help them get what they are being
cheated out of. Writers come a poor
fourth to producers, actors and
directors in terms of status. Put simply,
which of the four would you rather
date? Exactly! Any project is first
created on the page. Our writers are
definitely not appreciated as much as in
other territories.”
Quinn elaborates: “When I work for
international clients I get paid five
times as much as in South Africa and
on time. This is the kind of precedent
we need to set here.”
Brewer elaborates on how the guild
protects writers’ rights. “Our members
are people who write for television
shows, movies, news programmes,
documentaries, multimedia and
animation. Our primary duty is to
represent our members in
negotiations with film and television
producers and broadcasters.
We aim to protect writers’ financial,
creative and intellectual property rights
and credits.”
Quinn elaborates: “Joining the guild
will help you with protecting your
work. Owning copyright, however, is
not going to make anyone rich: sharing
and exploitation of rights is what really
counts. In South Africa the sad
situation is that our content is underexploited
and this is mainly due to the
broadcasters wanting to own copyright.
It is a bit like buying a taxi, using it
once or twice and then keeping it
locked up in the SABC vault and
insisting nobody touch it.”
The main objectives in terms of these
rights are as follows: The right to be
credited legally, morally, contractually
and appropriately as author of their
work; the right to fair payment for all
uses of their work in all media; the right
to freedom of expression; the right to
freedom from discrimination; the right
to protect their work from distortion or
misuse and the right to free association,
including to act collectively with other
writers.
Regarding the recent
mismanagement and abuse of funds by
the SABC, Quinn comments: “This
mismanagement places all
independents in the same boat. The
boat is a bit like a ferry, overloaded with
refugees, heading for a tsunami of
unnecessary debt. Currently the only
real prospects for unemployed writers
are writing a novel, subsistence farming
or prostitution.”
Brewer says that the guild has many
plans in terms of developing and
training new writers. “For instance our
Durban branch is working on teaming
up with local actors and the Durban
Film Society to run a once-monthly
‘Script Flip’. This is basically an event
where local screenwriters can submit
their scripts for public reading by
professional actors and then get
feedback from the audience. We’re also
hoping to start this in Johannesburg.
We have also started the process of
getting standard writers’ contracts
together and are working in
conjunction with producers and
lawyers. The aim is to have an industry
accepted standard writing contract that
is fair to all.”
The aim of the guild is to build a
powerful network for all writers in
South Africa. Brewer elaborates: “The
guild will become an extremely
powerful force in the industry if writers
join and when the industry starts to
respect their writers. The simple truth
is that one writer alone has less power
than two, etc. No writer should have to
face alone an employer who has violated
his or her rights. That fight belongs to
the guild. We are here to accomplish
collectively what we cannot accomplish
alone.”
38
SCREENAFRICA – October 2009

Making Magic
PUPPETMASTER – Rod Campbell as an enthusiastic amateur, pictured at work on one of his remarkable
sets, painstakingly shooting on 16mm film, frame by frame. In Cambell’s opinion, film is still the best medium
for animation, providing a ‘different look’ when compared with video.
Symphony of Puppets reviewed by Don Briscoe
Here’s a man living in happy
retirement, in Fish Hoek, in
the Western Cape, with magic
on his mind. Roderick E.
Campbell (‘call me Rod’) is an
animation artist as well as puppet and
model maker supreme. Indeed, South
Africa’s very own ‘Walt Disney’.
He has just put pen to paper, with the
encouragement of his
daughter Shani, and
produced an unique
pocket-sized book on
his life and in
particular his
experiences while
producing puppets and
models for childrens’
programmes during
the formative years of
South African
television.
Those of you facing a
mid-life crisis will, in a
quiet moment,
remember with delight
some of those characters
that paraded over our television screens
in the 1970s: Bennie Boekwurm, Karel
Kraai, Maestro Mol, Mango Monkey,
Alfie Armadillo, Wolf and Jakkals,
Sebastian Kitzwallace – and best of all,
Liewe Heksie.
There were innumerable others, all
produced to perfection on magnificent
sets by Rod Campbell and his
innovative and creative team of
specialists. What’s more, under
Campbell’s enthusiastic guidance,
remarkable and unique techniques of
animation and puppet manipulation
were introduced to the world of film
and television.
On a visit to South Africa in the
1970s Bob Shiffer from the Disney
Studios remarked in a special television
article that ‘the standard of puppet
production under Rod Campbell of
SABC Television is of a standard not
seen outside Disneyland.’ An accolade
of considerable merit and honour.
Campbell’s extraordinary talent was
recognised by the SABC Television
Service in the form of an Artes Award
on more than one occasion – the local
equivalent to the internationally
recognised Oscars® and Emmys.
The book, in an easy and readable
style, covers Campbell’s humble early
life and his enthusiasm for “animating
immovable objects”, his passion for
puppets, his remarkable ingenuity in
producing magic for children from
almost nothing. An astonishing talent
which deserves wide recognition.
At times, there is intense poignancy
in Campbell’s writing. An intense man
governed by sincere
religious convictions,
he feels that his career
path, the support of
his family and his
ultimate contribution
to South African
television, has at all
times been guided
by “that celestial
power that defies
complete
understanding”.
Certainly, his
work and that of
his dedicated team
of creative
specialists, had to
overcome extraordinary
difficulties before they achieved the
perfection they were seeking. A
reservoir of talent that was regrettably
not fully recognised by the authorities
at the time. Their creative work of
astonishing quality has disappeared
into what Campbell refers to as
‘Neverland’ – resulting in a considerable
loss to the arts in South Africa.
However, for videographers,
filmmakers, budding animators and
puppeteers, the book carries
considerable detail on animation
techniques and the production of
puppets for the screen which could
stimulate ‘imagineers’ out there to
introduce new wonder into South
African commercial and feature films
This is a humble book, self published
by Campbell, liberally illustrated with
black and white photographs and
produced with the express purpose of
placing on record the outstanding
achievements in animation and model
making at the SABC under his
inspiring leadership.
Get it – and make magic!
Information regarding the book can be
sourced directly from the author on
(021) 785-5256 or 10 Risi Street,
Fish Hoek, Cape Town.
Step-by-step guide to
SA TV writing
For any aspirant
South Africa
writers who dream
of writing for
television, Carol Shore’s
new book, Writing for
South African Television,
not only provides the
theory and principles of
storytelling, but also
practical hands-on
information on how to
approach the medium of
TV.
If you’re wondering
who Shore is, she’s Head
of Scripts of SABC’s popular soap,
Muvhango. Her writing and producing
experience dates back to 1978 and
covers several genres.
Displaying a lively writing style that
leaps off the page, each of the 10
chapters in the book has a kick-ass title.
For instance: “Squeezing into a tightfitting
television format – Let’s lose
some weight! Size does count, you can
never be too thin!” and “Jumping off a
cliff – Presenting your work – You’re on
your own, Babe!”
Starting at the beginning, Shore
gives tips on how to make sure your
BOOK REVIEWS
idea isn’t “fake bling”.
Another chapter
covers storylining a
TV series, something
she describes as
worse than bungee
jumping.
Shore refers to a
writer’s characters as
“strange relations”
and devotes a chapter
to getting to know
them. She also covers
programme formats
and makes the point
that not every story
fits every television format.
Creating a scene is, says Shore, like
dropping into a moving wall of water in
big-wave surfing and requires tight
structure. Other chapters focus on
writing good dialogue, team writing
and writing for long-running series or
soaps.
Writing for South African Television is
published by Crink and is now
available on their online site (www.
crink.co.za). The book will be available
later at certain outlets such as Exclusive
Books, CNA and PNA.
October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
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Twenty-one years in the industry
The May 2009 issue of Screen Africa celebrated our 21st anniversary. Here we
continue the special feature on key players who have been around for a similar
number of years and who have each made a unique contribution to the South African
film and television industry.
TONY BOYERS
The name Tony Boyers has been
synonymous with South Africa’s film
laboratory for decades and he himself
will joke that he’s been “in the same
job” for over 40 years.
“I’d always been interested in
photography and as a kid spent many
hours processing and printing photos in
a makeshift dark room in my
bedroom,” says Boyers. “While at
boarding school I set up a little
darkroom to print motor racing photos
and school sports photos, which we
would then sell to the boys at Jeppe.
“In 1967 I joined Killarney Film
Studios as a printing operator and
worked on weekly newsreels like
African Mirror, Ons Nuus, British
Movietone and Pathé. Two years later
the studios merged with, and moved to,
Irene Film Studios, which in those days
was the middle of nowhere. I spent
many years doing optical effects and
titles.”
Boyers describes those early days as
an exciting time as lab staff would be
involved in Killarney Studios’
production process. One of the early
movies Boyers worked on was Escape
Route Cape Town with international
star Jacqueline Bisset. He would also
often go out with news reel cameramen,
thus learning all aspects of filmmaking.
In 1981 Boyers was involved in
setting up a laboratory in Johannesburg
to focus on the commercial business.
“We opened an optical facility but had
to move it back to Irene because of the
feature boom of the 1980s. At one stage
we had 30 features going through the
labs, all requiring titles and special
effects.”
Eleven years later Boyers was made
manager of the Optical & Camera
Effects Department and was sent to
London for training in Soho and at
Pinewood Studios.
Stress levels in a job where you are
working with clients’ orginal film
are high. Says Boyers: “You only
have one shot at it. No retakes or
‘delete’ and starting again. We
spend a huge amount of time and
effort preparing and testing
machines before putting any client’s
material on a machine but
sometimes it still goes wrong.
That’s the one thing I hate about
this job and then, that phone call to
the client to try and explain what
went wrong.”
In 1998 the Film Lab became
only the second film laboratory in
the world to achieve Kodak
Imagecare status. Boyers became
GM of Film Lab in 2001 and a
year later was asked to take over
management of Chris Fellows
Sound Studios which was then, like the
Film Lab, part of the Sasani Group. It
was the only Dolby accredited mixing
facility at the time in South Africa.
Boyers notes that film processing
technology itself hasn’t changed much
over the years. “What has changed are
the controls, which have become far
stricter under the Kodak Imagecare
Programme. The parameters that we
are allowed to work between have got
tighter and tighter. Fortunately
temperature controllers and motors for
processing and printing machines have
improved.”
For the last 35 years Boyers has
consistently heard that film has only
five years to live. “Digital has been
fantastic in the post-production arena.
It has allowed filmmakers to do things
that they had never dreamed of before.
Sure, the digital systems are creeping in
and taking over, but film still has many
strengths. It is still a great medium to
originate on, it has extremely good
latitude and it is still reasonably bullet
proof and then, of course, it can be
stored for many years. Not only is film
an excellent capture medium, it’s a great
storage medium. Digital is only a
capture medium – there are still
problems around storage for any length
of time.”
TIM
ATKINSON
Tim Atkinson with Mark Kaplan
As someone who has worked since
1965 in the fields of audio, video,
lighting, projection, production and
servicing the electronic needs of
production companies, Tim Atkinson
says he got into the audio-visual (AV)
industry by accident. “At school I had
tinkered with electronics and at the
University of Cape Town [while
completing a BSc Electrical
Engineering (Light Current) Degree] I
did stage sound for concerts and
recorded artists, so I just went on from
one thing to another.”
Atkinson’s introduction to South
Africa in the 1970s of the Electrosonic
multi-projector slide-tape system
brought what the French called ‘Audio-
Visuelle’ to South Africa. He says:
“The concept of two slide projectors
with automated dissolve and change
triggered by silent control pulses on the
associated soundtrack meant that slide
shows now had the fluidity of 16mm
movies, without the associated
production costs and delays. This
opened up a whole new dimension in
business to business (B2B)
communication at that time.
“Electrosonic multi-screen
technology advanced the concept by
combining many pairs of slide
projectors to form giant images on large
screens, and controlling all of them by
silent signals on an associated, (often
multi-channel) sound track. This was
the start of true multi-media
presentations. In association with
Johann Kruger and Multivisio, we
launched almost every
new car in the 1970s.”
In 1978 Atkinson
launched the first
commercial colour
TV studio in Cape
Town.
“We got into TV/
video because while
slide/tape shows were
doing a great job of
assisting our clients to
communicate B2B, it
was time-consuming
to make copies, and
expensive to mount
repeat shows. By
converting the slide/
tape show to videotape,
we solved both these
problems and our clients could show
their presentations using video cassette
recorders and TV sets.”
Together with Alan Joy (now
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contributing editor for Screen Africa),
Selwyn Pogrund and others, Atkinson
started the Cape Town Chapter of the
ITVA and an annual videotape
competition for non-broadcast
producers. This later became the Artes
Awards.
Atkinson expanded his TV facilities
to include video tape duplication, and a
mobile multi-camera capture and edit
system. “Quanta Graphics and Text
was added and when BetacamSP
became available, we were the first
facility in Cape Town to install a full
three-machine component edit suite.
Not long after that we installed the first
ADO in Cape Town and also the first
Ultimatte,” notes Atkinson.
A high point in his career was the
1989 production of Atkinson’s NTVA
Award-winning company show reel
Much ADO about nothing. Another
highlight was providing editing
facilities to the European Broadcasting
Union TV stations at the time of
Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990.
A few years later Atkinson sold his
broadcast TV facility and ended up
with a number of U-Matic shuttlesearch
recorders and monitors that had
been off-line edit suites. “I discovered
that the film industry used these
machines for video-take-off, whereby a
tiny video camera was placed in the
film camera’s viewfinder, and what the
camera saw was recorded on the U-
matic tape for instant playback. It
wasn’t long before we had several
systems running. The film industry
was in an explosive growth phase at
that time in Cape Town. We developed
better, lighter and faster VTO systems
and also diversified into location sound
recording equipment.”
Formally recognised as an expert in
the AV field, Atkinson has been called
on to testify in a number of high profile
court cases in South Africa where he
has had to examine audio and video
tape recordings to find inconsistencies,
or to verify their authenticity and
originality.
RICHARD
GREEN
As a teenager Richard Green used to
walk up and down the aisles of the Tria
Cinema in Strand, selling ice creams
from a tray attached to his chest. “As
soon as the curtain went up I would
kneel down at the back of the cinema
and watch the film. It was the credits
that fascinated me – I always wanted to
be the person with the biggest credit.”
Years later, intent on being a
cameraman, Green went to see director
Ashley Lazarus (E’Lollipop) armed
with a speech. “But he didn’t ask the
right questions so the interview went
badly. I then came to Johannesburg and
walked all the way from the station to
Northcliff to see Jamie Uys (Crazy
People) for the same reason. Jamie didn’t
give me a job but kindly organised a
chauffeur to take me back. When the
SABC started up I managed to get a
job there.”
Disillusioned with apartheid, Green
left South Africa in 1976 to attend the
London International Film School. He
made a few films in London and
decided to come back to South Africa
in 1980, to see if he could make a
difference. It was then that he started
working as a production manager for
the late legendary filmmaker, Manie
Van Rensburg, on productions such as
Verspeelde Lente, Dr Con se Overberg and
Die Perdesmous.
Says Green: “Manie and I worked
together for about five years and
became close friends. I have fond
memories of him and worked on his
last film, Taxi to Soweto. Manie was
one of those who went to visit the
ANC in exile and then got blacklisted
by the SABC. Several people who are
now prominent in the industry worked
with me in my Manie days, such as
Birrie Le Roux, Diana Cilliers, Tai
Krige and Keith Rose.”
Green, who is primarily a producer,
always wanted to direct and early in his
career directed a film called Praise,
based on the Nadine Gordimer book.
Praise proved to be very successful and
was screened on Channel 4. Green also
directed the groundbreaking TV
series, New Horizons. “We took white
kids into Soweto to see why black kids
were burning their schools as part of
an anti-apartheid protest,” he explains.
The film infrastructure in South
Africa started developing in the late
1980s with the
introduction of the now
infamous tax subsidy
scheme. For about four
years Green worked backto-back
on Avi Lerner
films like Women of Desire,
American Ninja 2 and
Coast of Skeletons.
In 1990 Green and
Phillip Key formed the
service company
Moonlighting Films and
began promoting South
Africa abroad.
Says Green: “Three
years later I sold
Moonlighting and formed
my independent production company,
Richard Green & Associates. My first
slate of films was with UK company
Peakviewing.
“Together with Michael Chaise and
John Stodel, I created the New
Directions initiative for pay-TV
channel M-Net, who wanted to do
something to empower filmmakers.
Over a period of 10 years I produced 32
short films and two feature films for
New Directions, many of which picked
up international awards. Through New
Directions I worked all over Africa,
which I absolutely loved. We shot in
Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar,
Namibia, Ghana, Ethiopia and held
scriptwriting workshops in Senegal and
Uganda.”
In 2003, Green produced the
independent feature film, The Wooden
Camera, which won multiple
international awards, including the
Crystal Bear at Berlin.
Very recently Green worked as AD
on the blockbuster District 9. “I also do
a lot of line producing and will be doing
that on the upcoming Spud. Basically I
look for projects that interest me and
am about to head off for Malaysia on
another job.”
ETTIE
FELDMAN
Ettie Feldman with Edward Fox
As a 15-year old Ettie Feldman began
working at Geva Film Studios, one of
only two film studios in Israel at the
time. Her interest in films had been
sparked by going to matinees at a very
young age.
“I learnt on the job as there was no
film school in Israel then,” says
Feldman. “As a trainee you had to go
through all the different departments –
sound, negative matching etc. I got
hooked on editing because you see the
results of your work immediately. A
film is never shot in sequence, so you
look at miles of out-of-sequence
material and from that you build a
story. It’s magic.”
Throughout her career, Feldman has
worked in Israel, Germany, Holland,
Ireland, England and the USA, yet
chose to settle in South Africa. “I came
to visit my brother in South Africa and
fell in love with the country. At the
beginning of my career here I did
sound editing for Jamie Uys. Thereafter
I joined Killarney Film Studios, editing
commercials for a short while and then
came the feature films and
documentaries.”
Feldman describes the most
challenging job she has worked on as
the local mini-series, Shaka Zulu,
directed by the late Bill Faure. “When
we finished the rough cut, which was
15 hours long, we had to take it to
Germany for a producers’ viewing, as
the Americans and the Germans were
unwilling to come to South
Africa. Shaka Zulu was the biggest
production ever undertaken in South
Africa at the time.
“Towards the end of post-production
I was occupying three sound studios in
Johannesburg: one for ADR (automatic
dialogue replacement), one for foley
effects (ie. replacing the live recording
of sound effects created by a foley artist
working in sync to picture) and the
third studio for sound mixing. The
logistics were a nightmare, not to
mention the post-production crew’s
little fights.”
Every single production she has ever
worked on is special to Feldman. “Each
has its own colour and they are all dear
to my heart. Feature films are my first
love, though.”
As to format
preference, if Feldman
had her way, no-one
would ever work on
tape. “Film has such a
degree of depth and
warmth that the new
technology is trying to
achieve on tape without
success. Will it ever?
Directors seem to like
offline editing as it is
very easy to keep on
changing the cut, and
boy oh boy, we keep on
changing! In the days
of film, directors were
forced to make up their
minds not only in
editing but in filming as well, because
the producers kept an eye on the
shooting ratio.”
Asked to comment on how editing
technology has changed since the days
when she started out, Feldman
responds: “Well, this subject has been
done to death, so I’d rather tell you why
I stopped smoking. Nobody in the
industry could believe it because I
smoked 80 Gitanes a day. It all
happened while editing Bravo Two Zero
for the BBC, when I was using the
Avid Film Composer system. The
smoke from the cigarettes used to clog
the system and I was forever calling
Kim Smith, the engineer, to clean the
machine. I had to decide between
smoking and editing: well, you know
the answer. By the way, this would
never have happened with linear
editing systems. May be I should be
grateful to the digital systems.”
October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
41

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S
FOR FURTHER DETAILS VISIT
www.screenafrica.com
Those productions in red are newly listed this month
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Authorised Distributor
www.avmarksystems.co.za
HOWARDMUSIC
Order of Information
1. Title
2. Production Company
3. Director
4. Genre
IN THE PIPELINE
a lion in the bedroom
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
h2o
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
in a different time
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker/ Jayson de Rosner
Feature
MIXED BLOOD
Uppity Films
Dir: Phillip Noyce
Feature
PROJECT HAMMER
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
TIME FRAME
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
THE HUNTER’S
DAUGHTER
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Speiker
Feature
IN DEVELOPMENT
94.7 MOMENTUM
CYCLE CHALLENGE
International Radio Pictures,
Inc
Dir: Belinda van Heerdan
Commercial
ANIMAL
COMMUNICATION
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
BUSINESS AND THE
BEAST
Current Affairs Films/
Upfront Entertainment
Dir: Yosif Feyginberg
Documentary
CONTROLLING
PASSIONS
First Take Production
Prod: Deon Potgieter
Feature
KAYA
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
KHAZI
Banny Joma Enterprise
Prod: Branny Mthelebofu
Feature
LESOTHO
Current Affairs Films
Prod: Barbara Barde
Documentary
LOVE ON THE ROCKS
Flame Power Multimedia
Exec Prod: Thuso Oitsile
Feature
MOSEME ROAD
CONSTRUCTION
Mutodi Films
Prod: Mutodi Neshehe
Corporate
Q & A WITH DG OF
DEPT OF LABOUR
Panache Video Productions
Exec Prod: Francois de Villiers
Corporate
REPLAY
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
SOUTH AFRICA
RP Productions
Exec Prod: Robert Paltiel
FIFA 2010 World Cup Doccie
Series
SUPERMAMA
GoogelPlex Productions
Dir: Karen van Schalkwyk
Feature
WE DID OVERCOME
Current Affairs Films
Exec Prod: Jane Thandi
Lipman/ Robin Benger
Documentary
WHITE EYED WOMEN
Current Affairs Films &
Fabula Film
Exec Prod: Jane Lipman/
Francesca Borghetti
Documentary
ZERO DIET
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
IN PRE-PRODUCTION
A DIFFERENT MODE OF
BLACK
Nouvele Films
Dir: Dumisani Zungu
Documentary
A SHOT AT THE BIG
TIME
Just Do It Productions &
Moviworld
Prod: Janet van Eeden & Terry
Vallet
Feature
AFROX – SHEQ
INDUCTION
FC Hamman Films
Prod: FC Hamman
Corporate
BACK AT ONE
Brainstorm Entertainment
Prod: Edward Chitate
Feature
CHAMELEON
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
CONFEDERATIONS
CUP
RP Productions
Prod: Pierre Klagyivik
Sports
CONGO
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
CONVATECH
SLOVAKIA
International Radio Pictures,
Inc
Corporate
CRIME STORY
Paki Productions
Prod: Padi Mamabolo
TV Drama
DANGER:
REVOLVISIONARIES
Binary Film Works
Prod: Cecil Matlou
Internet Series
DISCONNECTED
Golden Orb Productions
Prod: Heather Tribe
Thriller/ Suspense/ Mystery
ESPY AWARDS
ESPN Television
DOP: Scott Duncan
Sports Awards Ceremony
FREE PASSAGE TO
ANGOLA
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
IEC – RISE UP
L.Dukashe Productions
Prod: Lumko Dukashe
Commercial
IMATU MEMBER
RECRUITMENT
FC Hamman Films
Prod Man: Odetter van
Jaarsveld
Corporate Video
IMC SA CHAMPIONS
KWM TV Productions
42
SCREENAFRICA – October 2009

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S
IN THE SHADOW OF
THE STADIUM
Current Affairs Films
Jane Lipman
Feature/ Doccie/ Series
KAELO STORIES OF
HOPE
KWM TV Productions
LET’S FIX IT
Kaelo Worldwide Media
TV Series
LIEFLING, DIE MOVIE
Hartiwood Films
Prod: Linda Korstent
Feature
LONMIN PLATINUM
TRAINING PROUDFOOT
CONSULTING
International Radio Pictures,
Inc
Corporate
MOST ENDANGERED
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
NIGHT DRIVE
The Film Factory
Writer/ Dir: Justin Head
Feature
PEACE PARKS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
QUEEN NZINGA
Brainstorm Entertainment
Prod: Edward Chitate
Feature
SOWETO DRIFT
Young Minds Productions
Dir: Pule M
Film/ Drama
THE FIELS (HATFIELD)
Panache Video Productions
Exec Prod: Enrico Sciocatti
Corporate
TIRZA
DO Productions
Prod: Mardou Jacobs/ Brigid
Ol‘n/ Marlow de Mardt
Feature
WILDCATS
NHU Africa
ExecProd: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
YOUTHS
Paki Productions
Writer: Patrick Paki
TV Drama
ZEBRAS
DO Productions
Dir: Bruce Beresford
Feature
IN PRODUCTION
90 PLEIN STREET
Born Free Media
Exec Prod: Carolyn Carew
TV SEries
20 SOMETHING
Red Pepper Pictures
Dir: Deepika Bhoolabhai
TV Magazine Programme
3RD DEGREE
e.tv
Investigative TV series
7DE LAAN
Danie Odendaal Produksies
Dirs: Alwyn Swart
Daily TV Drama Series
AFROX ACCPAC
TRAINING
FC Hamman Films
DOP/ Dir: Odeete van
Jaarsveld
Corporate
AIDS EDUCATION
ZULU VERSION
FC Hamman Films
Dir: Neels Smit
Education Video
AFRO SHOWBIZ NEWS
SABC News International
Exec Prod: Jody-Layne Surtie
TV Magazine
AFRICA AT WORK
Pamuzinda Production
Exec Dir: Daniel Makokena
Current Affairs
AGAPE – CHRISTIAN
MAGAZINE SHOW
Gabaza Productions/
Pitso Communications
Prod: Sarah Ngubeni
Magazine Show
AURUM LANCET SERIES
FC Hamman Films
Dir/ DOP: FC Hamman
Corporate Video
BINNELANDERS
Stark Films
Dir: Danie Joubert
TV Drama
BLUEWAVE AFRICA
JayEllPea Television
Prod: Mark Vorwerg/
Danile Dlamini
Live Broadcast/ Corporate
BLUEWAVE
JayEllPea Television
Prod: Jenny Lenahan/ Sally
Kennedy
Live Broadcast/ Corporate
BREAKING THE RULES
Five Star Films
Prod: Carolyn Projansky
Documentary
COLOSTOMY
Banny Joma Enterprise
Prod: Branny Mthelebofu
Doccie Feature
COPA COCA–COLA
FOOTBALL STARS
Whatwewant Branded
Entertainment
Exec Prod: Dave Keet/
Erik de Jager
TV Series
COUNTDOWN 2010
Fuel Media
Prod: Moyika Sisulu
TV Magazine
CRAZ-E
Red Pepper Pictures
Dir: Billi-Jean Parker
Daily Youth Show
DENNIS THE
PROFESSOR: BATTLE
FIGHTER
Batho Media
Prod: Branny Mthelebofu
EASTERN MOSAIC
Red Carpet Productions
Magazine Programme
EGOLI (THE FEATURE)
Brigadiers Franz Marx Films
Exec Prod: Burgert Muller/
Pieter Venter
Feature
EKASI STARS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
FLORIDA ROAD
Prod: Brad Glass
Bollywood Feature
FLESH
Franz Marx Films
Morne Ebersohn
TV Series
GARY PLAYER GOLF
FC Hamman Films
Prod: FC Hamman
Business College Video
GNLD GR2
FC Hamman Films
DOP/ Dir: FC Hamman
Corporate Video
GENERATIONS
Morula Pictures
Exec Prod: Mfundi Vundla
SOAPIE
GNLD all africa int
convention
FC Hamman Films
DOP/ Prod: FC Hamman
Corporate Event
GNLD CONVENTION
SESSIONS
FC Hamman Films
Prod: FC Hamman
Corporate Video
HEARTBEAT
Eminent Productions
Prod: Elmo Pienaar/ Marinus
Loots
Talkshow
HOUSE CALL
Izwe Multimedia/ Urbanbrew
Series Prod:Annalie Potgieter
Live Medical Talk Show
HOW TO BECOME A
ZULU IN 30 DAYS
Afromol Vision
Exec Prod: Johnny Alpha
Feature Comedy
HUM AAP AUR PYAAR
Red Pill Productions
Exec Prod: Upen Patel
Feature
INTO THE DRAGON’S
LAIR
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
INTRODUCTION OF
THE CHILD FRIENDS
SCHOOLS FRAMEWORK
Panache Video Productions
Dir: Liesel Eilselen
Corporate
ISIDINGO
Endemol South Africa
Dirs: Raymond Sargent/
Johnny Barbazano
Daily TV Drama
JAM ALLEY
Red Pepper Pictures
Prod: Lindi Lucouw
Youth Music
October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
43

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S
JESUS IN HILLBROW
Afromol Vision
Exec Prod: Johnny Alpha
Feature
JOURNEY TO THE CORE
Hooper Productions
Dir: Suniti Kala
Factual Series
KAMP DIT UIT
Bobo Production
Prod: Alexa Strachan
TV Magazine
KINGSLEY
Nkanyiso Communications
Dir: Bonginhlanhla Ncube
Feature
KWELA
Pieter Cilliers Productions
Dir: Marie Minnaar
Magazine Programme
LACONIA
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
HERITAGE
Adjusting Your Sails to Weather all Storms
Authorised financial services provider
Brokers to Leading International Production Houses
Call us for a copy of the 3rd Edition of
“FILM AND TV INSURANCE CHECKLIST”
Contact Sheryl Reynolds
Telephone: (011) 944-7628 Fax: 086 529-4042
general post
the finest freelance
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editors * researchers * animators * visual effects artists
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tel: 0860 111 553 fax: +27 11 706 7949
bookings@generalpost.co.za www.generalpost.co.za
after hours emergency number: 076 225 9173
LIVING PROOF
– LAUNCH
PBJS Seattle
Prod: John Moffit/ PBJS
Launch Video
MASUPATSELA
Free Range Films
Prod: Tina-Louise Smith
Documentary Series 2
MEMBAZ ONLY
Touchdown Africa
Prod: Zimkhitha Jwente
Talk Show SABC 3
MOTSWAKO
Carol Bouwer Productions
Prod: Vesko Mrdjen
Talk Show
NUTRIDAY CASH
MANIA SHOW
Bragge Film & TV
Dir: Guy Bragge
Game Show
PASELLA
Tswelopele Productions
Insert Dirs: Liani Maasdorp/
Werner Hefer
TV Magazine Programme
PILLOW GUNS
Mutodi Films
Dir: Mutodi Neshehe
Short Film/ Drama
PLANET X AFRICA
Enhanced Digital Media (TY)
LTD
Exec Prod: John Rousseau/
Craig Tarling
TV Series
QUIZ ME
TsikoProductions
Prd Man: Shakira Chettiar
TV Game Show
RHYTHM CITY
Curious Pictures
Series Prod: Anthony Shaw
e..tv Soapie
RHYTHM CITY
INTERACTIVE
Curious Pictures/ e.tv
Prod: Devon Brough
Interactive Platform Media
ROBERT SOBUKWE: A
GREAT SOUL
Born Free Media
Prod: Carolyn Carew
Documentary
SABC SPORTS PROMOS
Kwm TV Productions
Prod: Guru Kali
SCANDAL
Ochre Moving Pictures
Series Prod: Romano Gorlei
Daily TV Soap
SELIMATHUNZI
Shonyama Productions
TV Variety
SINEKGHONO
Blue Wizard Productions
Prod: Selvan Munsamy
SABC 2 Education
SIYADLALA
Izwi Multimedia/ Urban Brew
Exec Prod: Annalie Potgieter
Minority Sports Mag
Programme
STATE OF EMERGENCY
Mahala Media & Sonrise
Entertainment
Exec Prod: Michael Lee
Documentary
STATION STRANGLER
Crime & Investigations Unit,
Etv
Prod: Meggan Raubenheimer
Documentary
STUDIO 53
M-Net Inhouse Productions
Insert Dirs: Navan Chetty
Mag Programme
SUPER SWIMMER &
TELKOM SPLASH
Media Ventures
Dir: Chris Moolman
TV Magazine
TAKE 5
Combustion Pictures (Pty)
Ltd
Dir/s: Faqeek Dyer/ Shandu
Nesengani/ Navan Chetty/
Deeno Naidoo
TV Magazine programme
THE AFRICAN SOCCER
SHOW
African Soccer Television
Prod: John Parr
TV Series
THE FIRST LADY IN
STERKWATER
Banny Joma Enterprise
Exec Prod: Branny
Mthelebofu
Documentary
THE MOMENT OF
MOKOLOLO
Banny Joma Enterprise
Exec Prod: Branny
Mthelebofu
Documentary
THE BIG QUESTION V
Pandamonium Productions
Dir: Kate Stegeman/ Emily
Richards
Michael Schneider
TV Series
THE CRADOCK FOUR
Shadow Films
Prod: David Forbes
Documentary
THE GARETH CLIFF
SHOW
Imani Media
Dir: Bobby Heaney
Talk Show
THE ZOO THAT SAVED
THE WORLD
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Docuemtary
THE WAS AND FEAR
AMOCINE
Dir: Joaquina Bebe
Feature
THIBELA TB CONSENT
VIDEO
FC Hamman Films
Prod Man:Odette van
Jaarsveld
Corporate
TOP BILLING
Tswelopele Productions
Prod: Patience Stevens
TV Magazine
TRANSITIONS
Format Productions
Paul Emmanuel
Short Film
TRAVELLING
UNPLUGGED
Touchdown Africa
Dir: Byron Taylor
Travel Reality Show
TRUE DREAM
South African Great Movies
Production
Prod: John Wani
Feature
TSELENG
KWM TV Productions
Prod: Leana Pool
UMNOTFO WAMI
Blue Wizard Productions
Prod: Selvan Munsamy
Educational
uasa international
convention
FC Hamman Films
Pm: Odette van Jaarsveld
Corporate Event
VIBE’Z
Touchdown Africa
Exec Prod: Sebolelo Phakisi
Reality TV Show
VILLA ROSA
Spectro Productions
Dir/s: Vickus Strijdom/
Abdries van der Merwe/
Leroux Botha/ Isabel Smit
TV Drama
VODACOM THUMB
WARS
Fuel Media
Prod: Donald Clarke
TV Series
WHAT’S BREWING
JayEllPea Television
Line Prod: Danile Dlamini
Live Broadcast/ Corporate
WOLF WOLF
TUT Film School
Tebogo Dube
Feature
WORLD OF GOLF
FC Hamman Films
Prod: Fc Hamman
Marketing Video
YO.TV
Urban Brew Studios
Insert Dir/s: Herbert Hadebe/
Sebulelo Phakisi/ Terri
Cooperman/ Guy Hubbard
TV Children’s Programme
ZOLA 7 SERIES
Ochre Moving Pictures
Factual Entertainment
POST-PRODUCTION
AFRISAM TRAINING
International Radio
Pictures,Inc
Dir: Kit Reynolds
Corporate
AFROX PERMIT TO
WORK
FC Hamman Films
Prod Man: Odette van
Jaasveld
Drama
44
SCREENAFRICA – October 2009

P R O D U C T I O N U P D A T E S
DARFUR
ZenHQ & Event Film
Prod: Chris Roland/ Uwe
Boll/ Dan Clarke
Feature
DOOMSDAY
Rogue Pictures
Dir: Neil Marshall
Feature
DRAWING THE LINE
Current Affairs Films cc
Prod: Jane Lipman/ Nevile
Josie
TV Series 2
EGOLI – PLACE OF
GOLD
Franz Marx Films
Head Dir: Ken Leach
Soap Opera
FAMILY BONDS
Sosiba Entertainment
Deon Potgieter
TV Sitcom Series 2
FOLLOWING JESUS
FC Hamman Films
Prod: Susan Cherian (USbased)
Drama Series 2- 6
GNLD HIGHLIGHTS
VIDEO
FC Hamman Films
Prod: FC Hamman
Corporate Video
GLAMOUR AND
GLORIA
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
HOPEVILLE
Curious Pictures
Dir: John Trengrove
Feature
KENNEDY’S BRAIN
DO Productions
Prod: Marlow de Mardt/
Brigid Ol‘n
Feature
KRUGER CAMP
CREATURES
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
LOYISO GOLA FOR
PRESEIDENT
Competent Artistes
Prod: Paul Tilsley
Feature
LOFKLEUTERS & JAN
DE WET 4
FC Hamman Films
DOP/ Dir: FC Hamman
Education Video
MODERN MIGRATIONS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
OUT OF AFRICA
– FROGS IN DEMAND
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
PHOEBUS APOLLO
EXCLUSIVE ALLIANCE
International Apollo Exclusive
Alliance
Exec Prod:H. Delport
Commercial
RACE-IST
Race-ist Film Company
Film Publicist: Nicolle van-
Rensburg
Feature
SECRET OF WHALES
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
SOUTHERN CROSS
Mutodi Films & Kwacha
Media
Dir: Kalumbu Kapisa
Feature
SPOON
Inspired Minority Pictures
Feature Film
STIFF
Videovision Entertainment/
Tom Pictures
Dir: Craig Freimond
Comedy Feature
SUMMER IN CAPE
TOWN
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
SUMMER IN NEW
ENGLAND
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
THEMBA
DO Productions/ Zeitsprung
Entertainment
Prod: Michael Souvignier/ Ica
Souvignier/ Josef Steinberger/
Brigid Ol‘n/ Marlow de Mardt
Feature
THE AMBASSADOR
Two Oceans Production
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
THE KALAHARI
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
TROOP
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
VKB TOP 100
HIGHLIGHTS
FC Hamman Films
Editor: Annie Hamman
Corporate
WILD WALK
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
WOMEN IN
TECHNOLOGY
Current Affairs Films
Dir: Jane Lipman
Documentary
YOUR DATE WITH
DESTINY
Di Rosen Productions
Prod: Di Rosen
TV Series
COMPLETE
A KALAHARI TAIL
NHU Africa
Exec Prd: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
ALBERT SCHWEITZER
Two Oceans Production`
Prod: Giselher Venzke/ Bertha
Spieker
Feature
ANTARCTICA
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
DESERT WANDERERS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
DRAGON MOUNTAINS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
FIFA 2009
CONFEDERATIONS
CUP
RP Productions
Live Football
FOR WHICH I AM
PREPARED TO DIE
Lindy Wilson Productions
Prod: Lindy Wilson
Documentary
GET BUSHWISE
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Children’s Wildlife Series
GORILLAS: A JOURNEY
FOR SURVIVAL
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
ICEMAN
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
LEGENDS OF THE LAKE
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
MENDA CITY
A Mandela Film Production
Exec Prod: Victor Okafor
Feature
OF JOURNEY, HOME
AND TREASURE
Journey, Home & Treasure/
Media Resources
Dir: Feizal Mamdoo
Feature Documentary
PLANET AFRICA
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary Series
RAINBOW NATURE
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
THE CHEETAH DIARIES
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
THE GREAT PINK S
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary Series
THE NATURE OF LIFE
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Documentary
THE SEARCH FOR THE
KNYSNA ELEPHANTS
NHU Africa
Exec Prod: Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
THIS TIME TOMORROW
Purple Pictures Studis
Exec Prod: Sam Boye
TV Series
WANDERING WILD
NHU Africa
Exec Prod:Sophie Vartan
Wildlife Documentary
Screen Africa relies on accuracy of information
received and cannot be held responsible for any errors or
omissions which October occur.
E-mail production updates to:
info@screenafrica.com
Vital Sta’ tis’ tiks
Cape Town again reports a drop in overall workflow. Two
feature films have been processed – one 35mm and the other
16mm. More international commercials have been through the
bath this month, and there is a pick-up in this area. In fact the
international footage is almost double that of local productions.
Looking ahead there are several feature films in the pipeline, and
the commercial footage is picking up.
Johannesburg has benefited from feature work, and
commercials are on the increase. On the print front the
laboratory reports a busy period mainly with bulks.
The commercials submitted by Media Host are similar to the
past month with a slight decrease.
We would like to thank the laboratories and Media Host for the
information they have supplied to us. We make no attempt to
identify the title of the production, or the production house or
any other information as this is often confidential information –
we supply simply the numbers.
Statistics for August 2009
Through the labs:
Johannesburg
Features Shorts Commercials Doccies 16mm 35mm
2 0 32 11 19 26
Cape Town
Features Shorts Commercials Doccies 16mm 35mm
2 0 17 0 7 12
Commercials submitted to broadcasters via media host
July 1 124
October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
45

Audience Ratings
July 2009
This monthly feature selects prominent local productions
and ranks them in terms of audience ratings (ARs). Selected foreign
programmes are shown only for comparison.
ARs are weighted over the period of transmission and the number of
transmissions during the calendar month. Data is supplied by the South
African Advertising Research Foundation and processed by Interactive
Market Systems (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd.
The cream of the local productions
the top five programmes
SABC1
Rank Programme Date Genre AR
1 Generations 22/07/2009 Soap 27.02
2 Jika Ma Jika 22/07/2009 Musi 20.09
3 Laduma Soccer Build- Up 23/07/2009 Spor 19.14
4 Montana 14/07/2009 Dram 19.08
5 Mtunzini.Com 02/07/2009 Dram 18.80
SABC2
Rank Programme Date Genre AR
1 Muvhango 14/07/2009 Dram 13.37
2 Moferefere Lenyalong 12/07/2009 Sitc 12.13
3 7De Laan 20/07/2009 Soap 11.19
4 Gospel Time 19/07/2009 Reli 8.96
5 Nuus 14/07/2009 News 8.94
SABC3
Rank Programme Date Genre AR
1 Days Of Our Lives 21/07/2009 Soap 7.89
2 Hulk 18/07/2009 Movi 7.72
3 Music 09/07/2009 Musi 7.38
4 Michael Jackson:Moonwalker 05/07/2009 Musi 7.32
5 Filler:Harry Potter & The Half Blood Pr 13/07/2009 Docu 7.07
M-Net
Rank Programme Date Genre AR
1 Iron Man 05/07/2009 Movi 1.40
2 Hancock 26/07/2009 Movi 1.38
3 Carte Blanche 12/07/2009 Maga 1.31
4 Wanted. 19/07/2009 Movi 1.27
5 The Incredible Hulk 12/07/2009 Movi 1.26
e.tv
Rank Programme Date Genre AR
1 Scandal 02/07/2009 Dram 12.27
2 Rhythm City 14/07/2009 Dram 12.12
3 International Raw 12/07/2009 Spor 11.47
4 The Hot Chick 04/07/2009 Movi 10.98
5 The Rundown 12/07/2009 Movi 10.05
We feature the top five shows viewed for each of the channels.
Key: Day/s refers to the day or days of the week the programme is transmitted. Frequency refers to how often it is
transmitted – D=Daily, W=Weekly, S (followed by a number) indicates a series of that number of episodes. Television
Universe estimated at 5.232 million households. One ratings point of all viewers represents about 145 590 viewers.Key
to genres: Actu: Actuality, Docu: Documentary, Dram: Drama, Educ: Education, Maga: Magazine, Musi: Music, News:
News, Quiz: Game Show, Real: Real life, Reli: Religion, Sitc: Sitcom, Soap: Soap, Spor: Sport, Vari: Variety, Y.Ent: Youth
Entertainment,
Name
Genre
Start Time
Day/s
Frequency
Channel
July 2009 AR
June 2009 AR
3rd Degree Maga 21:30 Tue W e 3.79 5.30
7de Laan soap 18:30 M-F S5 2 9.99 9.53
50/50 Maga 19:30 Mon W 2 4.74 4.59
Binnelanders Dram 18:00 M-F S5 M 0.89 1.11
Carte Blanche Maga 19:00 Sun W M 1.21 1.24
Egoli-Place of Gold soap 18:30 M-F S5 M 0.75 0.90
Fokus Actu 18:30 Sun W 2 5.68 6.16
Generations soap 20:00 M-F S5 1 22.95 22.85
Gospel Gold Musi 09:00 Sun W 2 5.39 4.94
Isidingo:The Need soap 18:30 M-F S5 3 4.20 3.96
Jam Alley Vari 18:30 Fri W 1 8.27 10.09
Morning Live Maga 06:00 M-F S5 2 1.87 2.22
Muvhango Dram 21:00 M-T S4 2 8.44 7.93
News at Seven news 19:00 Daily D e 5.84 5.59
News at Seven on 3 news 19:00 Daily D 3 3.61 3.38
Pasella Maga 19:30 W W 2 6.07 5.65
Rhythm City soap 18:30 M-F S5 e 9.36 10.38
Scandal Dram 19:30 M-T S4 e 8.36 8.83
Selimathunzi Vari 18:00 Sat W 1 10.40 9.45
Special Assignment Docu 20:30 Tue W 3 2.92 3.48
Top Billing Maga 19:30 Thu W 2 4.11 3.78
Zola 7 Maga 20:30 T W 1 12.61 12.43
Top foreign shows
Days of Our Lives soap 17:10 M-F S5 1 6.77 7.10
WWE Wrestling Smackdown Spor 20:30 W W e 9.19 9.35
The Bold and the Beautiful Soap 18:00 M-F S5 1 12.30 11.35
The above represents a selection of programmes only, and is calculated on the total calendar month’s weighted average of the total audience
over all age groups. If you want a particular programme included, please e-mail Enid Venter at enid@ihjohannesburg.co.za.
The purpose of the schedule is to show the types of programmes South African audiences view, and to what extent.
46
SCREENAFRICA – October 2009

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Piracy hits District 9
“Consequently, all the English subtitles in the film are obscured
by Russian subtitles.”
The camcording was traced by the international organisation,
the Motion Picture Association (MPA), of which SAFACT is a
member. Says Lennox: “The MPA has dedicated resources for
analysing camcordings. There are always watermarks on any
original pirate version. Just by way of comparison, in the case of
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the piracy was due to a studio leak and
not a camcording.”
In Johannesburg pirates keep popping up in the same places
despite the fact that SAFACT always moves them on. The
Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) is,
according to Lennox, doing a great job in assisting the fight
against piracy.
“The real challenge is to stop camcorders in cinemas,”
comments Lennox. “Our low tech solution would be to have
cinema staff walking up and down the aisle looking for
camcorders. That’s what we did with Mr Bones 2 and it was very
effective. The film wasn’t pirated until the second day of DVD
release.”
SAFACT believes that it is vital that anyone involved in the
making of a feature film be sensitised to piracy. “Filmmakers and
their crews need to be committed to avoiding piracy and must
manage the risk. So we would advise no distribution on screeners
and having the film on 35mm for all screenings, even
classification screenings. No digital copies should be sent to film
festivals and the master must be protected at all times. If anyone is
making a film they are welcome to give us a call and we can
advise them on anti-piracy measures that won’t impact on the
budget,” concludes Lennox.
The organisation receives between 50 and 60 tip-offs a month
on Crime Line (ie. 32211), via faxes and through its website
(www.safact.co.za).
Refinery – business as usual
Charl van der Merwe
are going into our busiest
trading period for the year and
we have seen a slow upturn,
but an upturn nevertheless for
the next two months at least.
“We as management believe
in this business, and we made a
decision that if there is one
party who really understands
this business, and knows the
risks, it is the management.
Hence the reason for our
negotiations and discussion
with the current owners of the
Refinery.”
Van der Merwe said it was
important for the industry to
understand that the Refinery
Kenya/SA sci-fi film collaboration
of my heart. Her interpretation of Asha and the story was
painfully tender and through it new, undiscovered layers of the
film came alive.”
She explains the origins of the film’s idea: “The film was
inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about living in a
world where we bought bottled air, only to find out that oxygen
bars have been created and exist in some places in the world.”
On the film’s message she said, “Pumzi is about a world in the
future where there is no water. Some have called it an
environmental short film, others sci-fi. I think it is a cautionary
tale about where we are headed. When I got back to Kenya after
directing Pumzi, I found that the drought in Kenya has made
Pumzi a more tangible reality than is comfortable.
She added, “Creating a futuristic Africa lends itself to a touch of
sci-fi. The main character is also a scientist of sorts; she works as a
curator at the Natural Virtual History Museum. She runs tests
and experiments that create life where she thought there was
none.
“Sci-fi is definitely not a first in Africa, although it is not a genre
used often. More than the genre, I am confident in the story of
the film. The journey of Asha as she discovers life; the rebellion
of Asha when she chooses to follow what she has discovered. I am
confident that the story has heart, softness and courage. That is
what appeals to me more than the way it is made.”
Pumzi was shot in Cape Town in what the writer/director
described as “some of the most scenic and beautiful locations”. She
said that the internal shots were primarily shot at The Good
Hope Centre while the exteriors were shot in the Atlantis dunes,
the producer’s swimming pool and a parking garage.
Kahiu’s passion for film started at 16 when she began to intern in
entertainment companies in Kenya and internationally. This
included working as a production intern at Pinewood Studios,
London; a production assistant in Alexandria Productions,
Virginia; and as a director’s intern at Paramount Studios,
Hollywood, during the production of Italian Job directed by F
Gary Gray.
After attending UCLA’s Master programme in film directing,
Kahiu’s professional debut was directing a behind-the-scenes
documentary, The Spark that Unites (2006) for the film Catch-A-
Fire (Universal Films/ Working Title) directed by Phillip Noyce.
Kahiu honed her filmmaking skills with her first Kenyan film
Ras Star (2007), a short film based on a teenage artist trying to
make it into a talent show despite all odds. The film was
produced for M-Net.
In 2008, Kahiu completed her first feature film, From a
Whisper, based on the real life events surrounding the 7 August,
twin bombings of US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in
1998. The film recently won awards at Nigeria’s Africa Movie
Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Picture. It
also won the Golden Dhow award for Best East African Picture
at Zanzibar International Film Festival 2009 and is still doing the
festival route internationally. M-Net has again commissioned
Wanuri to direct a documentary, this time about the life of Nobel
peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, entitled For Our Land
(2009) as part of the flagship series The Great Africans.
and Waterfront Studios are
completely separate entities
and the Refinery management
was only concerned with
extricating the Refinery from
MFP Holdings.
“It is unfortunate that there
has been such a long delay in
making an announcement
regarding the future of the
Refinery, as this may have
created a negative perception of
exactly what is transpiring,”
said Van der Merwe.
“Furthermore, it’s important
for the industry to understand
that as management, we were
neither directors nor
shareholders of the Refinery,
and in keeping with good
corporate governance we could
therefore not disclose
information of a sensitive
nature.
“Unfortunately this
conundrum did not work in
our favour and has no doubt
caused harm to the reputation
of the Refinery. On the
positive side however and in
terms of the legal structure and
ownership we should be able to
make an announcement within
the next week or so. But
for now it is business as
usual.”
Int’l drama
films in JHB
London based
production company,
is working locally with
Out of Africa
Entertainment.
Strike Back, which is
a 6 x 60-minute drama
series, is a story of
deception, redemption
and revenge, all played
out in the interlinked
lives of two former
soldiers; Major Hugh
Collinson and
discharged veteran
John Porter. Their
paths last crossed
seven years ago. Now,
amidst a new hostage
crisis in the Middle
East, their lives are
about to collide again.
Shooting format is
35mm, processing is at
The Film Lab, and
the dailies transfers
are at The Refinery.
Stock and equipment
is from Media Film
Service.
DOP is Steve
Lawes and the A
camera operator is
local boy Harmon
Cusack, who is
enthusiastic about
shooting 35mm for a
drama series. “Film is
still the best capture
medium. Its large
exposure range is
unbeatable,” he says.
“On Strike Back we are
using two 35mm 3
perf. cameras most of
the time. Our format
is 16:9 and using the 3
perf. we are able to get
25% more value out of
our stock.
“Originally this
production was going
to be shot on HD,”
concludes Cusack.
“But with the
challenges associated
with this shoot, 35mm
was the preferred
choice. Steve Lawes,
our DOP, agrees that
HD would have been
difficult given the
logistics of this
production.”
The series is due for
flighting in early
2010.
October 2009 – SCREENAFRICA
47

Close up
Seen at IBC, Amsterdam
Events
OCTOBER
3 – 4 MIPCOM JUNIOR
cannes, France
www.mipcomjunior.com
Kevin Manas (Hi-Tech) Dave Short (Digivision) Adriaan Shipalana (Harambe), Gelfand Kausiyo (SABC
RBF) and Raymond Buckle (SilverstoneCIS)
5 – 9 MIPCOM
cannes, France
www.mipcom.com
9 – 12 AES US
new York
www.aes.org
Photos by Trevor Ou Tim
Harris’ Monica Heck and Sally Wallington
Sasani Africa Party
Egoli’s Leon Nortje, Willie Coetzee, Burgert Muller
and Marge Fieldgate
Mohamed Amin Foundation’s Christel
de Wit and David Johnson
ZSE TV’s Anna Segoe, Tebogo
Chauke and Lizzie Naledi
Alan Worsley (Visual Impact) and Tony
Niemeyer (AJ Niemeyer)
Sasani’s Dudu Nkuna and Charles Chababala
with Screen Africa’s Delight Ngwenya
11 – 14 Southern African Broadcasting Association
Annual General Conference
Maseru, Lesotho
www.saba.co.za
19 – 22 SIEL/SATIS
Paris
www.siel-satis.com
16 Promax/BDA Africa 2009
sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
www.promaxafrica,tv
22 10th Screen Africa Annual Industry Golf Day
cMR Golf Club, Maraisburg, Roodepoort
competition: Better Ball Stableford for
the Screen Africa Floating Trophy
Bookings: Ellen Oosthuizen – 083 268 6868 or
e-mail: ellen.oosthuizen@pixie.co.za
Gaby Keyser 082 967 7669 or
e-mail: gkeyser@absamail.co.za
27 – 30 6th Abuja International Film Festival
Musa Yardua Center /Bolingo Hotel Abuja,
Abuja, Nigeria
Festival Director Fidelis Duker
www.nffo.org /www.fadfilms.7p.com
Charles Junior Mokoka, Charles
Senior Mokoka (Sasani) and Tony
Boyers (Film Lab)
Sasani’s Shawn Ludwig and Andre Vorster, Deon
Kritzinger (M-Net) and Zac Almeida (Sasani)
Thabo Bohula (Film Lab), Kenneth Nkuna
(Ingada), Phineas Mkhize (Film Lab), David
Chauke (Sasani) and Eugene Botha (Sasani)
People to People International Documentary Conference
NOVEMBER
3 SES
Birmingham
www.sbes.com
4 – 11 American Film Market
santa Monica, Los Angeles, USA
www.americanfilmmarket.com
18 – 20 InterBee
tokyo
www.inter-bee.com
Rehad Desai (Tri Continental
Film Festival) and Peter
Anders (Goethe-Institut)
Lolli Goodson (SABC) and
Harriet Gavshon (Curious
Pictures)
Mandisa Zitha (Encounters)
and Makela Pululu (filmmaker)
Motsepe Nkoliswa (filmmaker),
Brian Koma (DTI) and
Siyabonga Lerumo (filmmaker)
LOG ON TO NEWS: www.screenafrica.com
•
TBC
Copley for Ridley Scott
film?
M-Net VUKA! Awards
www.vuka.multichoice.co.za
•
BBC Worldwide may be
privatised partially
•
•
White Wedding enters
Oscar race
Botswana TV
commissions soapie
•
•
Digital TV battle goes to
court
TV industry job losses to
be addressed to DTI
•
•
1918 SA film goes online
A vision for public
broadcasting
•
Mobile phone
applications launched in
Uganda
•
•
TV hunger strikers speak
out
Biggest summer box
office ever
On the move
New CEO for ZSE TV
Eileen Sandrock has been appointed CEO of Sasani
Africa. Sandrock joined ZSE TV, a division of Sasani Africa,
in 2007 as managing director – a position she still holds.
Sandrock has 23 years of progressive experience in TV,
from vision mixing and video editing, to directing and
producing.
In her seven year-stint as a commissioning editor
at pay-TV broadcaster M-Net, Sandrock worked on
productions such as Carte Blanche, Big Brother, Skouspel,
Egoli and Survivor.
A d v e r t i s e r s L i s t
Atlas Studios .................................43
Avmark ..........................................42
Black Magic Design........................7
Blade/BFX........................................1
Case Connection, The.................44
Chameleon Casting.....................36
Christie...........................................21
Durban Film Office
(DFO)...................................24 – 25
Digitalfilm.......................................17
Gauteng Film Commission
(GFC)..............................................33
General Post ................................44
Glasshouse ...................................42
Glory Computers........................39
HDHUB..........................................35
Heritage Insurance .....................44
Howard Music ..............................42
IDC..................................OBC
Kodak..............................................15
Media Film Service.......................34
NDS.................................................29
Panasonic........................................11
Pro-Sales.........................................14
Puma Video.........................FC
Q-Studios.......................................37
SABC...............................................23
Screen Africa.................................36
Shoot Casting................................34
Sony...................................................5
Visual Impact.................................19
VUKA! Awards.................. IFC
48
SCREENAFRICA – October 2009

A
N
SCREENAFRICA
N
I
V
E
R
S
A
R
Y
SCREENAFRICA
Zooming in on the film & Television
production industry in Africa
NEWS
MAGAZINE
Bang Bang Club pg 36 Post-production pg 26 21st Anniversary pg 42
BROADCAST • FILM • COMMERCIALS • TECHNOLOGY • DIGITAL MEDIA
SABC signs
contract with Siemens
The South African
Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) signed a contract with
Siemens IT Solutions &
Mauritius
digital
upgrade
Mauritius Broadcast
Corporation (MBC) has
been upgraded with a R7m
Avid Unity ISIS media
storage solution by South
African-based Spescom
Media IT. This upgrade
which boosts storage
capacity and postproduction
efficiencies,
signals a further evolution
towards a fully digital
environment for the
broadcaster.
MBC's television
network currently consists
of three analogue channels
and six digital channels.
Two new digital terrestrial
channels were launched in
2008 and a project for a 24-
hour rolling news station is
well under way and will
provide an interactive
platform for local, regional
and international news.
– to page 51
Services at the beginning of
April to oversee the roll out of
digital technology solutions
across the corporation.
The contract encompasses
an agreement that will allow
Siemens to oversee, project
manage, consult and deploy
the necessary technology for
the roll out of a number of
specific digital projects.
Priority areas are projects
relating to infrastructure for
Digital Terrestrial Television
(DTT) including new Final
Control Centres (FCC),
playout and storage,
infrastructure for supporting
the SABC’s coverage of the
2010 FIFA World Cup, and,
Township film
goes to Cannes
The Game of My Life, a soccerthemed
feature film shot over
seven days in the Duduza
township just outside of
Johannesburg, will be
represented at the Cannes
Film Festival in May by its
writer/producer Michael J Rix.
Directed by Dumisani Vusi
Nhlapo in his feature film
debut, The Game of My Life is
going straight to DVD for
distribution in South Africa’s
townships via a network of
vendors. “I’m also hoping to
CR
archiving libraries enabling
easy access to content material.
Siemens and the SABC, as
the managing client, will work
in close co-operation to get the
best possible equipment for the
projects. In some cases, the
SABC will purchase the
equipment, in others, Siemens
will evaluate and buy the
equipment on the SABC’s
behalf from suppliers. “This
will, in effect, allow us to
choose the best possible
systems available throughout
the world,” says Richard
Waghorn, Chief Technology
Officer at the SABC.
Siemens, in its project
– to page 51
get the DVDs into stores like
Reliable. We will be doing a
lot of word of mouth
marketing and taking ads in
the Daily Sun. There is also
the potential of selling the film
to a local broadcaster,” explains
Rix.
In January Rix, who singlehandedly
made South Africa’s
first ever claymation feature,
Tengers, put out a call to
interested parties to each buy a
2% share in The Game of My
– to page 51
www.screenafrica.com VOL 21 – MAY 2009 R27.00
EIGHTIES TO NOUGHTIES: Southern Screen & Stage, the first trade magazine
for the South African film and television industry launched in May 1988. It changed its
name to Screen Africa in 1992 and for a while was published in A4 size. Today Screen
Africa is a glossy, world class trade monthly magazine which reflects the South African
and African industries to local and international readers.
M-Net’s new local
content strategy
All local series produced for
South African pay-TV
broadcaster M-Net will now
be piloted as a means of
testing content before series
go into production. In other
firsts, the broadcaster is to
issue commissioning briefs for
its Series and Action channels
and focus strongly on
development.
Newly appointed head of
Local Development &
Production Helen Smit
emphasises the importance of
the development element.
“We’re really keen to develop
our own formats in all genres.
As a broadcaster we want to
perform on all platforms and
to do that you need to own all
rights. However, we wouldn’t
necessarily exclude coproductions.”
It’s no secret that local
content performs well in
South Africa and M-Net’s
locally produced shows are no
exception. “Local content,
which accounts for about 18%
of the M-Net schedule, really
works for us. As long as we
tell stories that are relevant
and that people can relate to,
they will resonate with the
audience and generate good
ARs. We always set AR
targets for each local show
and that target is tied to the
time slot and to the record for
that time slot. Carte Blanche,
for example, performs
remarkably well for an
– to page 51
DIRECTORY &
INTERNATIONAL GUIDE
EMAIL NEWS
EVENTS
www.screenafrica.com
For more information
Tel: +27 (0)11 719-4380
Fax: +27 (0)11 719-4392
Email: editor@screenafrica.com

Behind the scenes of a world-class
post-production company.
Ebony + Ivory 12806
The IDC provides finance for industrial and enterprise development.
To discuss funding of R1 million or more, please call 086 069 3888 or visit www.idc.co.za