KwaZulu-Natal
South Africa
iLembe District Municipality
Sector
Media
The purpose of this initiative is to facilitate the formation, establishment and development of the film office for the group of northern KwaZulu-Natal District Municipalities known collectively for the purpose of this initiative as the Northern KZN Film Office.
Purpose and approach of the project
The purpose of the project was to determine the feasibility of the further development of the existing film office in northern KZN. Its objectives were to:
- Assist in identifying the development needs, opportunities and comparative advantages of film production in northern KZN;
- Inform and guide the district municipality to facilitate the further development of the film office;
- Unlock the latent economic development potential in the film industry in the area;
- Encourage private sector investment and create sustainable job opportunities for local communities.
Review of the Situational Analysis
The film industry includes feature film, audio-visual documentary, television, video, commercial and still photographic production and distribution, and is one of the fastest growing industries in the world.
South Africa’s contribution to the global film industry is less than 1%. Despite a lack of reliable and accurate data to measure the growth of the film industry in South Africa, the few available research documents and personal interviews undertaken with key stakeholders suggested that the industry is growing rapidly in South Africa. The study indicated that the South African industry is primarily located in the Western Cape and Gauteng, with the contribution by the KZN film industry to the SA film industry estimated to be between 10% and 25%. The study also indicated that the industry in
KZN had grown
by about 40% in the past 2 to 3 years. A telephonic survey amongst KZN based film related companies revealed that the industry consists mostly of small firms employing between 2 and 10 persons, and is mostly situated in and around Durban.
In order to support the SA film industry, national government has developed the Film and Television Sector Development Strategy, launched the Film and Television Production Rebate Scheme and established the NFVF. Education, training and skills development in the film industry is done by various training institutions, but the industry lacks a coherent, overall strategy. This is currently being addressed by the NFVF. However, it was noted that the national MAPPP-SETA which is responsible for skills development and learnerships within the industry is dysfunctional at present. A number of provincial and local governments, as well as private individuals have established film offices or commissions to support the development of the film industry in their areas and promote their areas for film production in the national and global film market.
Expected benefits
The estimated average cost per large documentary is conservatively estimated to be about R1 million per production based on international budgets of large documentary productions, which range between $300,000 and $2 million. This figure has been extrapolated to a 2009 figure using an average inflation rate of 8% and become about R1,166 million per documentary.
The potential impact on the northern KZN economy of a feature film produced in the area is about R15.4 million, of which about R8.6 million would be spent on accommodation and travel, about R1.8 million on catering, and almost R3 million on vehicle hire. The potential impact on the northern KZN economy of a commercials production is about R426,203 of which about R92,000 would be spent on catering, R111,000 on vehicle hire and about R186,000 on location costs. The potential impact of documentary production on the northern KZN economy is similarly estimated to be about R460,000.
Attracting about 4 commercials, 3 large documentaries or 1 feature film per year to northern KZN would recover the investment by the district municipalities through the direct spending in the local economies of these productions. Achieving the 5% target within 3 years as stated in the vision, could potentially lead to about R70 million direct spending in the local economies by incoming productions.
The development of more film related businesses and skills in northern KZN will increase the percentage of total costs per production being spent in northern KZN, which in turn will increase the impact of the film office on the total economy.
Declaration of Intent
During the business plan undertaken in
2007, the participating district municipalities of
uMkhanyakude, Zululand, iLembe and uThungulu agreed that a declaration of intent be developed with guiding principles to be formally agreed on by the respective councils. The declaration of intent was to inform the development of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the district municipalities which is to provide more detail on the partnership between the four district municipalities with regards to the Northern KZN Film Office.
For more information about the Northern KwaZulu-Natal Film Office contact Enterprise iLembe:
Kanyi Gasa - CEO
Email Address: enterprise@ilembe.gov.za
Tel: +27 32 946 1256
