DIFF Indigenous Language Screenwriting Course

With the 30th anniversary landmark edition of the Durban International Film Festival just around the corner, DIFF has announced an exciting call for indigenous language writers to apply for participation in a free writing and scriptwriting workshop. The workshop, run by SA's leading screenwriter Mtutuzeli Matshoba, will accommodate all the indigenous languages if required, (although a reading level of English comprehension will be helpful.)


To be considered for the workshop, please send:

• a one page “treatment” of your life (a creative CV) (in any of the official languages)
• a one page treatment of one of your scripts. (in any of the official languages)
• a covering letter, in English or Zulu, containing your name, contact details and a declaration that you are free and available to attend the workshop between 29 th July to August 1 st from 09h00 to 17h00.

Applications (or requests for more info) are to be sent to diff @ukzn.ac.za or by fax to 0865490221. Closing Date for applications is 10 July.

Comment Requested on ICASA's Draft Regulations

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has published draft regulations and the Position Paper on the commissioning of independently produced South African programming. The draft regulations and the Position Paper follow the publication of the Discussion Document and the holding of public hearings on Commissioning of Independently Produced South African Programming.



The Authority has now invited interested parties who wish to make written representations on the draft regulations (but not the Position Paper) to submit such representations to ICASA by no later than 16h00 on 04th AUGUST 2009. So this affects you directly.

For more information, visit the ICASA website.

CNN - The Screening Room in Africa

CNN's The Screening Room has a three part special on the African Film Industry, including Kenya, Cape Town and Nigeria. You can watch all three episodes online here.

Camera Assistants Course - Cape Town

I'm starting to notice something of a pattern emerging and it's not pretty - here's the latest next great learning opportunity to bypass KZN entirely:

Now in it's 13th year, the 2009 Camera Assistants Course is a mainstay of the South African film industry and has a reputation for supplying thorough, dedicated, committed and professional camera assistants, primarily due to it's intensive bootcamp-style structure. Also known for it's ability to stay up to date with emerging technology, the course also includes an intensive Digital-module which takes up 5 days of the 12 day course.



The Cape Town leg is from the 6th-18th July. Media Film Service plays host, and bookings / enquiries can be directed to Blaise at Media CPT on 021 511 3300.

So: of course I'd love to see KZN film folk taking up this great opportunity. But does anyone else want to enquire if they're coming to Durban next year? Perhaps they think we don't have enough potential camera assistants? I suppose the next challenge from the industry therefore is - do we?? And if we do, HOW DO WE FIND YOU??? In the meantime, here are a couple of Teach Yourself sites and applications.

Durban Film Office at Cannes Lions

From our research we've come up with some estimated but nevertheless informed figures that the TV Commercial sector is currently contributing around R71 million per annum to the KZN economy. Cross referenced to the CPA's annual reports, the average number of production days per commercial during our reporting period was 1.99 days per commercial, meaning that Durban hosted 111.44 tv commercial production days and the average number of freelance crew for a commercial was 46, suggesting a total possible employment in KZN of 5126.24 person days for the year in question.

At just under 30% of the entire turnover of the KZN film sector, TV commercials obviously play an important role in building the industry. That's why the Durban Film Office is attending the world's premier TV commercial production event, the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival. Cost-effectively pooling resources, the DFO is attending as part of a joint Cape Film Commission / Gauteng Film Commission / Durban Film Office initiative, under the banner "South Africa Yes"



PS - breaking news: SA just won two Grand Prix in radio and outdoor advertising.....

Television and Music

Senegalese master-musician Baaba Maal will release his new multi-lingual album, Television, on September 15, a groundbreaking successor to 2001's Missing You.

The title-track refers to that African phenomenon - ubiquitous TV screens. "The television set is like a stranger you didn't ask for coming into your living-room," explains Baaba. "You don't care about who he is: he just seems to come from nowhere and gives you information."

Now we just need to get KZN product onto those screens.....



Television is a collaboration primarily between Baaba Maal and singer Sabina Sciubba and keyboardist Didi Gutman, both members of New York's Brazilian Girls. The result is a stunningly beautiful and diverse record that meshes two genres, generally unfamiliar to each other, to produce an eclectic and romantic sound.

District 9 Movie and its Viral Campaign

Re. Digital (again) - here's something to look out for - the online viral marketing campaign for the new SA Sci-Fi movie District 9. It's produced by Peter Jackson (yes, he of Lord of the Rings fame) and has a clever but also quite relevant story about the integration of aliens. In this case, alien aliens, but there's a lot of apartheid in there, and a lot about the attacks on refugees last year. It looks like it might be the kind of SA tale that works without a lot of finger wagging and point scoring.....



So visit www.d-9.com and play around with the very cool interface and various websites that have been setup to give you an introduction to the origins, look and hardware/technology on the "non-human" aliens that are the focus of Neill Blomkamp's film.

And how does Viral Marketing work? well, just like this actually; I see something I like and send it on to all my friends. It's the kind of word-of-mouth advertising that money can't buy......

SABC responds to TVEIC

Also on ScreenAfrica is the SABC's formal response to the Memorandum of Demands presented to it by the TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) at the national protest action on 4 June

Amongst the claims of support for the Local Industry, SABC claims to have increased the local content budget from R230million to R1.1 billion, and increased the ratios of international to local production from 60:40 to 30:70. It also claims a role in the growth of an independent production sector from 20 companies 2004 to 408 in 2009.



Here's the kicker though: "To ensure diversification of companies doing business with SABC, the SABC is preferentially procuring in the regions other than Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Western Cape."

Wow. So they are diverting commission AWAY from KZN?? Wouldn't that kind of assume that KZN was receiving a bumper crop of productions in the first place???? Read the whole response here and let me know what you think.

Screen Africa Talent and Technology Conference

Make a note: the 6th Screen Africa Talent & Technology Conference will take place on 23 July 2009 alongside the Mediatech Africa exhibition.

Dedicated to the business of broadcast, film, new media and communications media in South Africa and Africa, the Talent and Technology Conference represents an excellent platform for learning and sharing experiences in the fields of technology developments and trends as well as content creation, management and delivery.



With a strong focus on 2010 and Low Budget Production, the conference highlights include panel discussions on 2010 Preparations, New Media, Digital Terrestrial TV, Doing Business in Africa, Film Financing, New Technologies and Platforms, Funding Update and Broadband Internet Opportunities. You know what I'm going to say: will there be a bus from KZN??

For more information visit www.screenafrica.com

The Onion

A whacky but digitally pertinent spoof from the wickedly funny The Onion



"I am a block buster customber called Kathy. Two times a week I drive six miles to hire and return videos"

KZN Music Imbizo

If you want to see a grass-roots movement building opportunities and economic growth - the kind of movement we're going to have to pull off if we want to exploit the benefits of digital media - then sign up for the KwaZulu-Natal Music Imbizo, a fully fledged music conference and exhibition aimed at boosting the SA music industry. The event runs in Durban from September 26th - 28th 2009.



The KwaZulu-Natal Music Imbizo aims at revealing how the industry can create new revenue streams, build loyalty with current customers, tap into new markets, benefit from the film industry, remain competitive, protect its work amongst other vital requirements needed to ensure growth in the South African music industry. (sounds familiar, no??)

The registration process has already begun. For more information, contact Sphe Mbhele: sphe@creativelead.co.za /031 201 6343 or visit the website.

KAFF 2009 Call For Entries

The 6th edition of KAFF (KwaMashu African Film Festival 2009) is calling for submissions of films made in SA, KZN, Africa, and Africa Diaspora – as well as and unique world cinema films that highlight issues about Africa and that can be a reference for industry growth in KZN.

The films (short, feature, docs) must have been produced after October 2008 and must be submitted to KAFF before September 30th, 2009. Organised by K-CAP, the 6th edition of KAFF will be held from December 4th – 13th, 2009.



For more information contact: kcap@mweb.co.za or tel: 0027 31 504 6970 - or read more here.

The Perfect Storm for a Digital Revolution

PriceWaterhouseCoopers have announced expectations that, inspite of recession, the global entertainment media market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7% over the next five years, to reach $1.6 trillion in 2013. The firm projects a decline of 3.9% for 2009, followed by growth of just 0.4% in 2010, before regaining strength and reaching 7.1% in 2013.

Driving the survival is Digital Media. Marcel Fenez, Global Leader Entertainment & Media practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said:

“In some ways this could be called “the perfect storm”. Inside every cloud is a silver lining and in this case, a digital one. Companies who grasp the opportunities which are appearing in this fast changing marketplace and are agile enough to adapt their business models will be able to take full advantage of the potential and new revenue models as they emerge.”

The title of their report?: No Place to Hide from the Digital Revolution

Website becomes TV Show

As if to reiterate the convergence between digital and tv, in the USA, Prometheus Entertainmenthas signed a deal with website Axelist.com, a site that highlights users' complaints, to create a half-hour TV show.

Launched in September 2008, Axelist includes users' rants about employers, neighbors, businesses and other entities. Each episode will reportedly focus on a single complaint, and attempt to reach a resolution.



More at Variety.

Real Change - Digital Style

If there is ANY doubt left in your mind about how the digital era is going to democratize and revolutionise our lives then take a brief squizz at the electrifying and exhilirating coverage of the Iranian crisis at AndrewSullivan.com. Sullivan's become one of my "must-read" daily fixes and he blends news, first-hard tweets, photo-journalism and really insightful comment from a variety of sources in a way that the mainstream media can only dream of.



The Digital Era offers us a total transformation of media in South Africa - what we make, what we see, how and when we see it. Things will never be the same again.

Another Training Opportunity NOT Coming to A Venue Near You

A 2-day course for Independent and aspiring filmmakers, writers, directors and producers, exploring the craft of filmmaking and the art of being a film director is being run in Cape Town on June 13/14 and in Joburg on June 27/28.

The blurb claims it's a great training ground for candidate film directors, actors and screenwriters who want to pursue a career in filmmaking, and that it "also gives scholars and students the opportunity to make a competent choice in a career decision in the film and television industries; and to develop their independent film projects."

Again, I'm asking why this isn't happening in KZN? I can't help but feel its because these course organisers feel there simply aren't enough of you to make it worthwhile. Mobilization - that's the key.

Stakeholder Meetings

Just back from 2 days of stakeholder meetings in Durban / KZN. It always amazes me that I meet new people each and every time I'm in town. WHERE HAVE Y'ALL BEEN? Keeping tabs on who is doing what and where in the province is one of the biggest challenges moving forward.

Having said that, there was a commitment from the Province to take the Film & Media Strategy to government for approval and adoption, and the KZN Department of Arts & Culture, Sport & Recreation also outlined its programme that really allows young film makers to experiment and play.

Also good news from the Durban International Film Festival: DIFF 2009 will open with a Durban-made move (My Secret Sky) and the Short Film Screenings include the work of some 17 local filmmakers.

More Awards for Izulu Lami

Izulu Lami (My Secret Sky), the first feature film directed by Durbanite Madoda Ncayiyana, has won the coveted AUDIENCE prize at the recent 2009 Tarifa International Pan African Film Festival, held in Tarifa, Spain. 11 year old actress Sobahle Mkhabase, who plays the character Thembi, won BEST ACTRESS.

Here for more information

The World's Most Loved Movies

Box-office records aren't the preserve of Hollywood blockbusters. The Guardian asked its contributing writers around the world to tell them about their countries' biggest homegrown hits

Guess who was top of the list????

TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC)

One of the interesting findings of our research programme has been that the SABC and its commissioning processes really do no favours to Producers generally, and to Producers in Durban / KZN in particular. And it's coming to light that the way the SABC does business (sllooooowwwww payments) is potentially prejudicial to the development of South African content AND South African production capabilities.



In response, the TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) will be holding manned protests at the SABC offices in JHB and Cape Town today - June 4th. However, you can still get involved in KZN, by simply sending an SMS. Says the TVEIC:

We will be calling on South Africa to send an SMS that tells the SABC what people think of the current crisis. We will collate these comments and deliver them to the powers that be as well as the media. The number to send to: 31970. Your SMS must start with the word TV. SMS’s are charged at 50 cents.

Have your say. But make sure you include KZN in the text!

SAFTA Opens for Entries

As noted last week, the South African Film and Television Awards have opened for entry - click here for the entry details.

White Wedding Pirated.

Interesting that the Times would file this story under "Entertainment". Surely it should be under "Crime"?

Pirated Film on Sale for R50.00

It turns out that locally-produced hit movie White Wedding was been pirated within a month of its release. Illegal copies of the film, which was only released on April 29, have for been on sale on the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town for a fortnight already - for a mere R50.



To put this in perspective: the amount of copies seized in a raid this week would account for R250000 in DVD sales which would have taken away up to 15 percent from box office receipts from the film.

Piracy is such a quaint term; images of Johnny Depp and blue Caribbean seas abound. But it's neither sweet nor romantic, it's theft - and it's your livelihood they are stealing.

Mtuzini - Broadband Heaven

According to Toby Shapshak in this morning's Times, the small KZN town of Mtunzini is the "most wired place in South Africa right now."



Why? Because it's where the new Seacom underwater broadband cable hits land. At 1.2 terrabits a second, the Seacom cable brings 10 times more bandwidth than its existing rival, and therefore offers to radically reduce the cost of internet and improve its speed and functionality.

Says Shapshak: "I’ve often been asked why South Africa doesn’t produce Google, Facebook, Twitter or any other of the new breed of Internet companies and entrepeneurs. Simple — no broadband. No cheap broadband. But not for much longer....."

Of course, the opportunities this opens up for tv producers and other film sector entrepreneurs are simply unlimited. And these opportunities are coming first to KZN........