Africa Booms

According to a forecast by the International Monetary Fund reported in Fin Week, a list of the world's top ten fastest growing economies includes seven African countries. Angola already tops the list at 20% growth, Mozambique is the world's fastest growing non-oil based economy. Even the destroyed Zimbabwean economy offers hope; the Beitbridge border crossing between Zim and SA is the busiest border post in Africa, in terms of cargo volume shifted.



What does this mean for KZN entertainment media producers? Hopefully African economies where consumers are increasingly flush with cash and looking to spend their new-found monies on entertainment items..... Nollywood will surely be there, so what about us?

A Tale of Two Cities

How about this for a commissioning trend to watch? Time Magazine has a story on Gaza - Sderot: Life Inspite of Everything, the French-made multimedia documentary about everyday life on either side of the Gaza-Israeli border.

Though funded by the French-German television channel Arte, Gaza-Sderot was created for the internet, reversing the typical order in which films are shown on television and then posted online. While filming the two crews uploaded daily stories of about five minutes each on the production's website..... The 52 minute documentary was edited from these hours of video postings.

Obama Online

Yesterday marked in a first-of-its-kind event - an online townhall meeting where the President of the United States sought, accepted and answered through the internet, questions on the economy from members of the public.

The event, dubbed "Open for Questions," was streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov, and included an array of hand-picked questions submitted through video or text on the Internet. Nearly 93,000 people submitted about 104,000 questions, 3.6 million votes were cast either for or against questions submitted by others.



Imagine the role of the KZN film industry in creating such a platform for democracy in South Africa? The film sector providing video boothes operated by trained and in-training operators, the ICT sector providing the platform..... Obama, who relied heavily on the Internet during his campaign, called the experiment "an exciting opportunity for me to look at a computer and get a snapshot of what Americans across the country care about." South Africans care too; this could be an interesting way to express it.

Spotify

Another music distribution example with possible relevance for film? - Spotify is a music distribution service that some people believe could spell doom for iTunes (www.apple.com/ itunes) or even for the CD. It launched last October and already has a million users.

Spotify works like this: users download a small application, which allows them to listen to any track from a total of thousands of albums at any time. The key difference between this and iTunes is that customers never actually own the music.



Spotify is the most talked-about start-up of the last year, not just because it provides a service that is much in demand, but also because of its interesting model for financing itself. Premium users, who pay £9.99 a month, do not see advertisements served up to them every 20 minutes. But you can enjoy the music for free if you are willing to watch the commercials.

In other words, the service is funded by both advertisements and subscription, which doesn't leave it solely dependent on one or the other method......

Script Submissions

Film Industry Bloggers is actually a collection of blogs that offer an insiders look at the motion picture industry through the unique eyes of working professionals.

Here, for example is an entry by Rachel Miller who manages the careers of writers and directors of feature films and television. Her clients include writers and directors on THE DAILY SHOW, THE SIMPSONS, and FRANK TV, along with comic book company Bloodfire Studios. Check out her superb list of resources here.



At Film Industry Bloggers she lists her Top 5 Peeves about Query Letters and Submissions for Management Representation - peeves that are equally applicable whether you are applying to the NFVF or the SABC or any other potential funder......

1. If you list 12 scripts in a query letter. If I see 12 scripts listed on a query letter I am going to wonder why hasn’t anything happened with any of them? Put one or at most two in the letter.

2. Saying this script will sell for millions of dollars! Every script I have seen with a letter saying “it will sell for millions of dollars” has been a pass. First, no one knows what scripts will sell and what won’t. If you must say something, just say you believe it is a very commercial idea.

3. X meets Y. Don’t pick two movies that have nothing in common and put them together by saying your script is like X meets Y. I have seen all kinds of ridiculous statements, such as Wall-E meets Schindler’s List. This means nothing.

4. Calling me up and saying I must read this asap. If you give it to me on a Monday and think I am going to read it by Friday, then you are mistaken. You are also mistaken if you give it to me on a Friday and call me on Monday to see if I have read it. Give everyone two weeks to read your script; we are all busy and we have a lot of work to do and are trying to get through everything.

5. Spelling and grammar mistakes. There should be none, ever — either in your letter or in your script. If I am taking the time to read your script, you should have taken the time to go through your work and make sure there are no spelling and grammar mistakes.

Bonus tip. If you call me and say you would love to submit to me and I tell you to check out our submission policy on our web page and you tell me you don’t have a computer — that is a very bad sign.

So before you send your script to me make sure you have done everything in your power to make it the most professional and well-written script you can.

Slow Down and Fast

The Slow Down and Fast blog highlights the personal journey of a couple of filmmakers attempting self distribution for their film Slow Down and Fast. The goal is to get 1,000,000 views of the short documenterary, but the blog is also for anyone who wants to discover the powerful marketing potential of Social Networking....

Bridging the Digital Divide

At the Digital Music East conference currently unfolding in the USA, Ron Berry, e-Commerce Advisor to the Isle of Man outlined how the government of that little island is trying to be a pioneer in a field where many larger nations are struggling, namely finding a way to compensate musicians in a digital age.



The basic idea is to charge Internet users a flat fee for access to music online through their Internet Service Provider and then pass that money on to the collection societies, record labels and other interest groups.

Could that work for KZN film??

MultiChoice Film Talent Incubator

A couple more days only before the closing date for entries of the 2009 MultiChoice Film Talent Incubator programme, an intense 24 week course open to just 14 aspirant filmmakers that offers free worldclass training and mentorship by top industry professionals.

To apply, you have to be:

* studying or working in the film industry
* previously disadvantaged
* committed to 24 weeks intense training
* able to submit a showreel and cv
* passionate to be a great filmmaker

The MultiChoice Film Talent Incubator runs from April to December 2009 at the Big Fish School of Digital Filmmaking in Auckland Park. The course includes technical specialisation in research, lighting design, cinematography, production management, sound and editing. Interactions and training by industry specialists are core.

Become a Millionaire?

Then switch off your tv set......

Oh dear - that's the recommendations of a Nielsen Media Report on the economics of television watching. They've calculated not just the cost of the tv sets and surround sound systems, not just the hours we waste each week vegging out in front of the box (about 32 hours a week) but also the indirect impacts of the products we purchase as a result of those damn adverts. Over a lifetime they reckon we'd each save ONE MILLION DOLLARS.



Which we could then invest in films, no?

Economic Impact Assessment

Did you shoot a production - feature, television, tvc, stills, corporate, anything! - in Durban or KZN in 2006 or 2007? If so, we need your help with our Economic Impact Assessment.



Please either click here or follow the link to the third questionnaire in the sidebar "ECONOMIC IMPACTS SURVEY), and complete the short multiple choice form - ideally for each production you undertook.

The information you provide is completely confidential and will only be used to collate averages.
Thanks in advance!

Coffee Shorts - Distribution

Coffee Shorts is an independent short film digital distributor helping indie filmmakers and musicians take advantage of the explosion in web video. While one lone talented filmmaker may not get noticed or earn more than pocket change, 100 talented filmmakers grouped together really can, and audiences can instantly find quality short filmmaking without even trying.

We've all seen YouTube clips with millions of online views featuring talking dogs, dancing girls and established music artists; but finding really well made independent shorts can be hard work, which means no solid audiences can really develop and thousands of talented individuals miss out on all the buzz and ad revenue they're helping create.

As a matter of priority, check out their blog entry on film festivals, particularly short film festivals...... Coffee Shots recommends.....

Microcinema
Excellent US screenings tour

Shallow Shorts
Well attended London short film screenings

Clermont Ferrand
Superb short film festival with good market alongside

Vienna Shorts
Quality driven shorts fest

Wreck Beach
The coolest of festivals held by a nudist beach in a dome village in Canada

Melbourne Underground
Trouble making and controversial underground festival

Portobello
Huge and fun film festival in London

Edinburgh
Excellent competition and a great Film UK market run alongside

LA Shorts
Not everything it's cracked up to be but a Hollywood Boulevard screening is nice

Antimatter
Very cool indie festival in Canada

Leeds
Strong international films in Leeds, UK

Brief Encounters
Probably the UK's best short film only festival in Bristol

Euroshorts
Cool shorts festival from Poland, also does some touring

Anchorage
The pleasant people of Alaska

London Shorts
Excellent festival organised by lovely people who love film!

Visit their site for links and more.....

MAPPP-SETA

MAPPP-SETA, the Sector Training Authority that covers the film sector (I'm not writing out the entire acronym, it'll take too long.....) is legally obliged to submit a re-establishment/re-certification application to ensure its continued operation from 2010-2015. As part of this process, MAPPP-SETA has created a questionnaire and is undertaking a roadshow - infomation on both is available here. The KZN session is on March 16th at the Southern Sun North Beach.



MAPPP-SETA is looking for your input on a range of issues, including

* Measures to improve the interaction between MAPPP-SETA and all provinces;
* Skills development programmes and activities that MAPPP-SETA should take
into account when compiling its Business Plan for the next five years;
* MAPPP-SETA current performance in attending and addressing the constituency
training needs

Now in my own personal experience, MAPPP-SETA's impact on funding regional training and development funding has been pretty negligible over the last few years. So to ensure this consultation process is more than just window-dressing, now is your chance to demand some changes and let the organisation know what you need.

Silver Stallion Award for Durban Film

Nothing but the Truth, starring John Kani and produced by Durban's Richard Green won the Silver Stallion Award (runner up best movie) at FESPACO, the Pan African Film Festival in Burkina Faso.

Shot in and arouund KwaMashu in 2006, John Kani plays a librarian who, on the eve of his brother's funeral, looks back on his memories of the past. Kani wrote the play on which the movie is based.



Richard starts work shortly on his next Durban production - Promise Me - about an orphan in a fictional African state who sets off across country to meet the President.

Feedback Meetings - Monday 9th

We would like to invite you to join us for a Film Industry Review feedback session with Martin Cuff on the 09/03/2009 at Botanic Gardens. There are two sessions:

• 10.00 - 12.00 for members of the Stakeholder Committee
  

• 13:00 - 15:00 for aspiring producers and participants of the various Collectives

The purpose of the meetings is to workshop the findings of the study to date and to provide you with an opportunity to give further input before we commence drafting the final report.

Your input is most valued and we do hope you are able to attend.

Kindly RSVP your attendance to Thembani Mthembu on 031 311 4243 or MthembuVT@durban.gov.za

Kind Regards,

Gugu Zungu
Durban Film Office
031 311 4243 (T)

New Media Information

Want to know what countries like China, India, South Korea and even Jamaica are doing with New Media Production? I came across this Futures of Learning website, with all sorts of global projects and programmes for the Durban Film sector to benchmark itself against.

The convergence of consuming and producing digital media has been termed “prosuming” (Lim and Nekmat 2008). This practice has been democratized with the increasing availability of technology tools to (young) Indians from all socio-economic strata. While findings avenues for creative expression is at the heart of prosuming, the objectives differ depending on who is doing the prosuming. For more affluent Indian youth it is often tied to commercial ends that try to capitalize on the growing middle-class Indian youth market and its potential for technology and other companies. On the other hand, enabling poorer young Indians to produce digital media is seen as a way of giving them a voice to express their experiences and attitudes about their lives and neighborhoods.

Sounds like the kind of discussions we have here in SA, no?

iPhone Applications

As a recent Mac convert, I also used my due cellphone upgrade to switch to iPhone. I mention this, not only because I am a smug b******d, but also because I am consistently amazed at the mobile applications I come across that could be used by canny producers......

There's Eternity, for instance, a time-management tool that allows you to log and track your time, create daily reviews, daily, weekly or monthly reports, export your timesheets.

And via the VertigoEffect blog, I came across a Depth of Field application for cinematographers.



Something tells me that this sort of mobile technology is only going to become more inherent in everything we do......

First on Mars

First On Mars styles itself as "your personal guide to network tv on the web" What that really means is a website where you can find and download all your favourite US tv shows for free streaming / download. You build a "playlist" that matches your moods, or simply select your favourite networks and shows. And of course you can share your selections with friends.....



The site's not terribly user friendly, but just imagine this kind of thing as a repository for African product? With a pay-per-play button? Like iTunes for African films.....

Corporate / Training Films

The Safety and Security SETA has announced a Request for Proposals for Discretionary Grants Funding for 2008/9. The tender advert says:

Funding will be made available for qualifying proposals from employers within the Safety and Security Industry that address the following priority areas relating to scarce and critical skills:

• Adult Basic Education and Training
• Skills Programmes
• SMMEs, NGOs, CBOs
• New Venture Creation

So while you probably can't apply for these funds directly yourselves, there's no reason at all why you shouldn't be dusting off your proposals for Training Videos and engaging immediately with your contacts in the local Safety and Security sector. The application deadline is March 13th.