Music Video

I have a little theory that South African Music wil be the single major "left-field" beneficiary of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Remember all those incessant "highlights" clips from the Germany 2006 tournament? They were all edited to music. So now imagine them done to a thumping kwaito beat instead and broadcast round the world to a gazillion homes. And once the music is familiar, audiences are going to search for it on-line and download both the song and the funky video that accompanies it.



To reiterate the sheer opportunity ahead, record label Universal Music Group announced that it too is generating "tens of millions of dollars" from Google's YouTube. Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of the label's eLabs digital division, said:

"YouTube is not like radio, where it's just promotional, it's a revenue stream, a commercial business. It's growing tremendously. It's up almost 80 percent for us year-over-year in the U.S. in terms of our revenue from this category."

While Caraeff gave no specifics on Universal's revenue from YouTube, a source close to the label told News.com that the label will likely book nearly $100 million in revenue from video streaming this year -- which includes placements on other sites like MySpace and MTV.

Illegal Movie Downloads

Digital Media Wire reports that the powerful The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed suit against three sites that provide links to other sites that offer its copyrighted films for download. The new suits target Campusist.com, Movies-on-Demand.tv and SSWarez.com.

U.S. federal courts have yet to rule on the merits of whether sites that merely provide a search engine or index to other sites that host music and video content for download are in violation of copyright law. Another case, brought by the MPAA against IsoHunt, is currently pending in Los Angeles.

Cragrats

No, Cragrats is not a children's tv programme; it's a theatre, communication and education business that's sprung up in the British town of Holmfirth, described by the UK's Financial Times as "the best exponent of the thriving arts community."

Employing more than 80 staff, and with more than 300 actors on its books, it runs education and training programmes for corporations. Says chairman and co-founder David Bradley;

"People think Holmfirth is the back of beyond but there's a lot of raw talent in this area. The arts scene started with the film industry and the sense of creativity has been built into the area ever since."

Holmfirth was the setting of the BBC comedy, Last of the Summer Wine, and is described by the same UK Financial Times article (Nov 29 2008) as Yorkshire's Hollywood.

Become a You Tube Partner

This week's Sunday Times included an article syndicated from the New York Times News Service; unfortunately I can't find either source on line to link to. The jist of the article is that internet distribution via YouTube in particular, is creating a whole new raft of productions and celebrities. Check out Michael Buckley's work at What the Buck Show as an example.

All he needed was a $2000 Canon camera, a $6 piece of fabric as a back drop and a pair of working lights.....

yet he has successfully created a product with over 100 million views and a positive revenue stream. Buckley achieved this success by becoming a YouTube partner - allowing YouTube to place adverts within and around partner videos and splitting the ad revenues with the creators. A YouTube spokesman said:

Hundreds of YouTube partners are making thousands of dollars a month

But if you look at Buckley's site, you'll see he's not resting on his laurels; there's a whole lot of extra marketing, networking and cross-promotion going on.

So, why not you? It's not going to be easy, but no one ever said it would be.......

Australia and Film Tourism

Time Magazine notes that the Australian tourism sector is fervently hoping that Baz Luhrmann's $130 million epic Australia will do for them what Lord of the Rings did for their New Zealand counterparts: inspire a surge in visitor numbers. Back in June, I blogged on a Sydney Morning Herald report announcing a promotional deal involving Luhrmann, 20th Century Fox and the local tourism bodies to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the film.

Now, I'm picking up word that Australia is not (apparently) a particularly good film - it's more Pearl Harbour-meets-Crocodile Dundee than any modern Gone with the Wind - but that's not necessarily a hindrance to tourism. With the right planning, people will still come to experience the sights and sounds. The thing is, it's got to be planned.

But my other point is really that Baz Luhrmann is Australian, Peter Jackson is a New Zealander. So it could be argued that an extremely successful way to boost film revenues and tourism income is to develop some really talented local directors................Just sayin'.

Umsobomvu Youth Fund

A story to keep an eye on; The Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF) is about to be merged with the national youth commission to form a National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).

One of the UYF’s aims was to promote entrepreneurship among young people, so it provided funding to youth (18-35 years old) and women, so that they could start a new business or grow an existing one. UYF provided finance ranging from R100 000 to R5 000 000.

Which means that while they didn't fund specific film or tv projects, they were known to fund emerging tv production company businesses - in other words, allowing emerging producers to build a proper, structured environment that generated business confidence.

How this will change with the emergence of the NYDA isn't clear. But the Umsobomvu Youth Fund will be attending the Beach Festival at Umgababa Beach from 13- 14 December 2008 and UYF outreah team will be there provide information on all UYF products and services. Maybe a good opportunity to find out for yourself??? Contact Jonathan Nozibele on 031 327 9916 for more info.

You Tube

YouTube attracted 100 million U.S. online video viewers in October, a month in which U.S. Internet users viewed 13.5 billion videos -- an increase of 45% from the previous year, according to a report from comScore Video Metrix.



Google's sites served nearly 5.4 billion videos to U.S. viewers in October, accounting for 40% of all videos viewed.

Fox Interactive Media, which includes MySpace, was second with 520 million videos (3.8%)

A total of more than 147 million American Internet users -- or 77% of the total U.S. Internet audience -- watched an average of 92 videos per viewer in October.

The trailer is for Durban-shot movie Three Cigarettes.

CNBC Africa Job Opportunity

Running in The Times for the last couple of days, the position of Television Anchor Presenter at CNBC Africa for the Business Media slot.

Although the job description notes the requirement for a degree in economics, commerce and/or journalism, the responsibilities of the position include presenting the show, moderating panels of experts, assisting in the show's production including writing, booking guests, editing, monitoring wires and compiling information for graphics.

Incidentally, CNBC does offer training courses; at the end of a half-day course candidates will have a deep understanding of the current media landscape and how to handle themselves in a both a TV and radio interview.

Gaming

Digital Media Wire covers the latest report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project which reveals that more than half (53%) of all American adults play video games, with younger adults playing the most (obviously??)and game play decreasing as age increases,

Eighty-one percent of young adults (ages 18-29) said they play video games, compared with 23% of those 65 or older. While younger adults are still more likely to play games, among older adults (65-plus) who play games, nearly a third play every day, compared to 20% of younger players.

Pew also found that age plays a role in determining which gaming platform players prefer. Overall, the U.S. adult gaming population prefers to play games on computers (73%), followed by consoles (53%), cell phones (35%) and portable gaming devices (25%). However, among young adults, game consoles are most popular (75%) followed by computers (68%).

Fespaco

The Panafrican Film and TV Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) is the largest African film festival across the continent. The next edition will take place from 28 February to 7 March 2009 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.


www.afrikmedia.com

Featuring a tremendous film festival, a vibrant product market that specialises in African films, and a Professionals programme that includes panels, debates, workshops, roundtable, masterclasses and other invaluable learning opportunities, FESPACO is a must-do for African filmmakers.

Entry forms for both the Festival and the Film and Television Market are available here

KZN African Film Festival

KZN African Film Festival, previously known as KwaMashu African Film Festival, is an event aimed at developing the film industry in the city of Durban and the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Featuring films made and produced in South Africa like Jerusalema, Nothing But The Truth and KwaMashu still my home. There will also be training workshops run by film makers, both local and international.

Entrance is free to all events. Contact Xolani on 083 621 6338 for more information.
Venue: Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre and KwaMashu Christian Centre Dates: 4-14 December Website: www.kcap.co.za

Introduction

Ladies and Gentlemen of the "Durban Film Partnership", welcome to your blog. We'll be using this tool to keep you in the loop with all of the things we're doing, the people we're talking to, the issues we're discussing, as part of the Durban Film Industry Review.

First things first, though; as an inclusive process, our meeting in Durban on 28th November agreed the following:

The term “Film Industry” is generally understood to be an umbrella of entertainment media production activities, including feature film, television, tv commercials, stills photography, animation, new media and video games. It also includes a range of development and distribution interventions that support the sector including film education and training, audience development and film festival activities.

Which really means you're all invited - to input, comment, participate. We look forward to hearing from you.