Good News In Cape Town
So you’ve considered shooting in South Africa, Great. Allow Cape Town and the Western Cape to be your first port of call as one of the top dynamic, resourceful and cost-effective production destinations in the world.
What makes Cape Town a world renowned production destination?
We have
- an abundant variety of natural and architectural locations that can stand in for just about anywhere in the world
- first-class, internationally-renowned crew
- top-of-the-range equipment, and studio facilities
- a "first world" infrastructure of internet connectivity, mobile coverage, and efficient roads and air links,
- cosmopolitan English-language talent managed by experienced modeling, actor and character agencies,
- creative post production services including computer graphic imaging
- a proactive Film Commission offering a one-stop-information-shop for local and international film makers
And we still have great weather – the sun is shining for fourteen hours a day in the Cape in the middle of the European winter. As if that wasn’t incentive enough, the City of Cape Town has recently taken some far reaching steps to ensure that it remains open and available for commercial production.
Firstly the City of Cape Town has publicly acknowledged the importance of the Film industry - and its commitment to it - in a far-reaching film policy (April 2004) that states:
"The City of Cape Town recognises the valuable contribution of filming to the economic and cultural environment of Cape Town, and aims to facilitate a film-friendly environment in all interactions with the industry."
The City of Cape Town has also shown increased support to the local industry. After a meticulous study on the economic contribution of the Western Cape’s film industry, commissioned by the Cape Film Commission, the City of Cape Town has opted to do away with permit tariffs for public spaces, with the exclusion of a few sensitive locations.
The Industry Assessment Report, which was released in March of 2007 has also become the first comprehensive study of it’s sort in South Africa, providing a model for other developing regions’ and country’s film industries.
The report has also statistically revealed very positive growth within the local industry, with production contributing some R3.5 billion to the national GDP, more than twice the previous estimate, and the industry is showing large margins of growth on an annual basis, with commercials being the biggest sector and international feature facilitation showing marked growth.
Despite outlining the region’s industry in statistical information the report also offers insight into other key issues pertaining to emerging film industries such as South Africa’s. Currently the Western Cape film industry offers about 8 507 fulltime jobs, which according to the report is set to hit around 12 455 by 2010 at a conservative growth rate of 10%. This requires that the industry as a whole looks at meeting the required skills pool for the future growth of the industry. The CFC has already engaged in numerous skills development initiatives with regional, national and international partners.
“Our strategic vision is to position Cape Town and the Western Cape as a globally competitive film destination, thereby creating sustainable jobs and business opportunities, boosting tourism, and developing core skills” says Commissioner Laurence Mitchell of the Cape Film Commission
On top of this, the City of Cape Town with facilitation by the Cape Film Commission also manages the FULO (Film Unit Liaison Officer) Project that has been successfully implemented for three years running. FULO’s manage necessary relationships between production crew as well as the relevant safety officers, traffic and the City of Cape Town officials and departments.
The strength of the Rand, has meant that locations and services that once seemed laughably cheap are now more market-related and internationally relevant. However, in order to manage perceptions and to ensure that the gains of previous years are not compromised, the CFC together with government and industry associations have worked exhaustively to ensure that fees for a range of locations from private properties to key sites of natural beauty, have been kept to a reasonable and competitive price.
With the benefits of a South African production remaining constant - from great locations to quality equipment to world-beating service - the industry's own efforts to drive growth remain a positive and telling contribution to Cape Town's continued success. |
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