Filming in South Africa

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• Film: a government priority
• A proud track record
• Accessible finance
• Co-production treaties
• The frontier of travel
• More reasons to shoot in South Africa:
• Testimonials
  

A proud track record
Southern Africa has hosted a wide variety of film and television shoots, including:

• Clint Eastwood’s Invictus

• Neill Blomkamp’s District 9

• Ed Zwick’s Blood Diamond

• Terry George’s Hotel Rwanda

• HBO’s Generation Kill

• Fox’s 24: Redemption

• Roland Emmerich’s 10 000 BC

• Anthony Minghella’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

• Mira Nair’s Amelia

• Company Pictures’ The Devil’s Whore

• Jean van der Velde’s The Silent Army

• Andrew Niccol’s Lord of War

South Africans have been recognised at the highest levels, including

• Five South African crew are nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009

• Three South African crew are nominated for Gemini Awards in 2009

• Gavin Hood directed Tsotsi, winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar, 2006

• Don Edkins produced Why Democracy?, the world’s largest ever factual media event. Taxi to the Dark Side, one of the documentaries, won an Oscar in 2008

• Charlize Theron won the Best Actress Oscar for Monster in 2003

• Dion Beebe won an Oscar for Best Cinematography on Memoirs of a Geisha in 2006

• Lead animator Conrad Murrey won an Emmy for Special Effects on The Triangle in 2006

• Francois Verster won an Emmy for A Lion’s Trail in 2006

• Dereck and Beverly Joubert won an Emmy for Eye of the Leopard in 2007

• The Soweto Gospel Choir won a Grammy for Best Motion Picture Song for Down to Earth, their Wall-E duet with Peter Gabriel, in 2009

• Pieter Hugo and Brent Stirton won World Press Photography Awards

Accessible finance
At the start of 2008, the DTI introduced a revised film production incentive, comprising the Location Film and Television Production Incentive Scheme and the South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive Scheme. Those programs paid out R209 million ($26.1 million) on 44 projects last year, a sign of the local government's continued support for the growing film sector.

The Location Film and Television Production Incentive Scheme replaced the Large Budget Film and Television Production Rebate, which the DTI implemented in 2004. The new incentive is available to foreign productions with qualifying South African expenditure of R12 million ($1.5 million) and above, down from the original R25 million ($3.1 million). It provides a rebate of 15% of the qualifying spend.

The South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive Scheme is available to both South African productions and official-treaty co-productions with a total production budget of R2.5 million ($312,500) and above. It provides a rebate of 35% for the first R6 million ($750,000) and 25% for the remainder of the spend.

Apart from the DTI, the other main source of financing is the Industrial Development Corp. (IDC), which caps its investment at 49% of the overall budget.

The National Film and Video Foundation is another source of funding. On documentaries, they fund development up to R50 000 and production up to R100 000. On feature films, they fund development up to R150 000 and production up to R1 million.

Co-production treaties
South Africa has co-production treaties with Canada, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, while further treaties with Australia, Ireland and France are in the process of being finalised.

The frontier of travel
South Africa regularly appears in travel industry awards and at the top of tourism polls. For example:

• Readers of the UK’s Daily and Sun Telegraph voted Cape Town as their Favourite World City, with South Africa cracking the top four in the list of the Best Destinations on Earth.

• Readers of Travel & Leisure Magazine voted Cape Town the third best city in the world in 2008, with an average rating of 86.59%.

• National Geographic Traveler named Cape Town one of 50 Places of a Lifetime.

• iExplore.com, one of America’s most popular online travel guides, ranked South Africa second in its list of the Top Ten World Travel Destinations.

• Readers of The New York Times named South Africa one of the Top Twenty Places to Go in 2009.

• The UK’s Times newspaper, in collaboration with bestselling guidebook publisher DK Eyewitness Travel, included Cape Town in their top ten cities to visit in 2009.

• South Africa was the most popular destination among British gap year travellers in 2008.

• At the 2008 World Luxury Hotel Awards, South Africa won six categories and had 21 finalists. The Arabella Western Cape Hotel and Spa was named Best Luxury Coastal Hotel in the World; The Palazzo Monetcasino was named Best Luxury Casino Resort; Pezula Resort Hotel and Spa was named Best Luxury Boutique Hotel; Chitwa Chitwa Game Lodge was named Best Luxury Lodge; Sabi Sabi Private Game Lodge was named Best Luxury Game Lodge; and De Hoek Country House was named Best Luxury Country House in the World. South Africa was home to the winner and all the finalists in both the Luxury Game Lodge and Luxury Country House categories.

• At the International Luxury Awards held in Lugano, Switzerland, Cape Town was awarded top honours in the Best Entertainment Category.

• At the 2008 World Travel Awards, Pride of Africa: Rovos Rail was voted the World’s Leading Luxury Train; Shamwari Game Reserve was voted the World’s Leading Conservation Company and the World’s Leading Safari and Game Reserve; and The Saxon Boutique Hotel and Spa was voted the World’s Leading Boutique Hotel. In the Africa category of the awards, South Africa took home 17 of the 24 awards.

• Table Mountain is one of the finalists to become one of the New7Wonders of Nature

• Readers of Travel and Leisure Magazine voted Singita Sabi Sands and Singita Kruger National Park the Best Hotel in the World for the third time in 2008, a new record. Readers of Conde Naste Traveller agreed.

• South Africa featured in the UK Herald’s list of the top 10 best value-for-money holiday destinations.

• The Country Brand Index Report named South Africa ninth in its Value for Money brand category, not to mention sixth in its Authenticity category.

• The readers and editors of The New York Times even agreed that South Africa is the definitive destination for "affordable luxury," saying our country is fast "becoming one of the best bets for American travellers looking for high-end experiences at relatively low-end prices."

• Winchester Mansions, a beachfront boutique hotel in Cape Town, came 26^th in the Top 100 Best Value listing of Budget Travel Magazine and TripAdvisor.  

• The 2008 Ethical Traveler Report named South Africa as one of the developing world’s Ten Best Ethical Travel Destinations, based on our commitment to environmental protection, social welfare and human rights.

• Phinda Private Game Reserve, Tswalu Kalahari Reserve and Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve were all included on the latest National Geographic Adventure list of the 50 top eco-lodges.

• Tswalu, the largest private reserve in South Africa, won the Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Award in 2007.

• The Ethisphere Institute even voted Cape Town one of the ten cities in the world most likely to become global sustainability centres.

• Le Quartier Francais in Franschoek was voted the best restaurant in the Middle East and Africa in the annual S. Pellegrino list of the World’s 100 Best Restaurants. La Colombe in Constantia, Jardine’s and Aubergine in Cape Town, and Rust en Vrede in Stellenbosch all cracked a nod in the listing.

• Doing Business 2008, a joint publication of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, ranked South Africa 35^th out of 178 countries for ease of doing business – ahead of Spain, Brazil and India.

• South Africa is also the 35th best place in the world to do e-business, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2007 E-Readiness Report.

• South Africa ranks fourth in the world for auditing and reporting standards, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009.

More reasons to shoot in South Africa:

1. Cost-effectiveness

2. Varied locations within close proximity of each other

3. World-leading, non-unionised crew

4. English is spoken across SA

5. Cape Town is regularly voted in top two cities in the world

6. South Africa is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and one hour ahead of Central European Time, so has compatible timezones with Europe.

7. South Africa’s summer is during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter

8. SA offers a first-world infrastructure of top-of-the-range equipment, Internet connectivity, cellphone coverage, roads and air links.

9. Cape Town Film Studios will offer Hollywood-style studios from May 2010

10. Cape Town has the fifth best blue sky in the world.

Testimonials

Shooting 24:Redemption in South Africa was the highlight of my six years on the show. It was nothing short of exhilarating.
24 executive producer and Emmy Award-winning director Jon Cassar.

Shooting Doomsday in Cape Town was an adventure in an amazing landscape. The crew was awesome. The locations were spectacular. The weather was incredible.
Cult director Neil Marshall (Doomsday, The Descent)

We had to find one base where we could re-create all the countries of the world. We chose South Africa…
Gareth Neame, executive producer, The Philanthropist

The African location heightens things. The perfect, sparkly sand dunes and big skies add an epic quality. The whole look and feel raises things.
Flashbacks of a Fool actor Daniel Craig, better known as Bond, James Bond

Cape Town is amazing. I could live there. In fact, I plan to move there one day.
Michael Kenneth Williams, star of The Philanthropist and The Wire

It's hands down the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
Dennis Iliadis, director of Last House on the Left

The crew is unfuckingbelievable out there... I've seen a lot of stunts in my time; that was up there with the top three. This is the kind of can-do attitude I miss in Hollywood.
Award-winning commercials director Dante Ariola

The Lion of Judah is probably the most efficient production I’ve worked on in my entire career, since I started in 1971.The quality of the animation is very, very high.
Legendary animator Tom Roth (Shrek, Dinosaur)

It's been a phenomenal experience. The service has been over the top, while Cape Town has everything - the vibrancy and vibe of the UK, the mountains and the water and the lakes of Switzerland... It's a lethal combination."
Shailendra Singh, Joint managing director, Percept Pictures, India

I loved every minute of working in South Africa. It was a rare combination of passionate and hard-working crew, beautiful landscapes, and a first-class support system that was dedicated to making the creative vision a reality.
Shamim Sarif, Director, The World Unseen

Johannesburg is Milton Keynes with thunderstorms. You go out. You have a lovely ostrich. You drink some delicious wine and you walk back to your hotel, all warm and comfy. It’s the least frightening place on earth.
Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear presenter

There is so much visual detail in Johannesburg, every single pixel of
it, the dirt, the barbed wire, the weeds. It's incredibly rich visually.
District 9 director Neill Blomkamp 

I loved it here. Cape Town is very beautiful.
John Malkovich, actor, Disgrace

I think this country is absolutely fabulous. I’m completely blown away by it and it’s been a really enriching and life changing experience for me.
Hilary Swank, actress, Red Dust, Amelia

South Africans are the hardest working people, just tireless, fearless, funny, warm, abrasive. That whole crew was stellar. Nobody slacked off; nobody let somebody else do their work. It was really fantastic.
Monica Potter, actress, Last House on the Left

When I came here, I absolutely loved it, primarily because I'd lived for a long time in both the US and India, and Cape Town seems to find the balance between the two. On the one hand, there are precise systems in place, like I'm used to in the US, but on the other hand, they're a lot more flexible here than in the US, which is important when you're juggling actors' schedules. Everyone speaks English, so communication isn't a problem. It's been a wonderful working relationship so far. We'll definitely be back to make more films.
Nagesh Kukunoor, director, 8 x 10

I’d never been to Prague or Cape Town before and I was absolutely blown away, particularly with South Africa. Culturally and socially it’s a phenomenal place. It’s incredible to be in a country where things have changed so quickly over the last 15 to 20 years that you can actually feel it on the street. The time we’ve spent in South Africa has been gold for me. I’ve met some people that I’m sure will be life-long friends and I’ve been introduced to cultures that I want to learn more about. For me, being a black person, to be able to spend a major amount of time in Africa is a really big deal. People in the States always talk about how much they want to go to Africa, so I feel so lucky that I got a job which took me there.
The Philanthropist actor Jesse L. Martin

South Africa is an absolutely beautiful country and the people are amazing.
Neve Campbell, actress on The Philanthropist

Filming in Cape Town has been incredible. I had never been to Africa before and I was bowled over by the beauty of the city and the spirit of the people. I think Cape Town is one of the most spectacular cities in the world. Its geographical features are breathtaking. Every day I woke up there and I was in awe of the city; it never gets old. The vibrancy of the city and the people really give an added energy to the show. I could go on and on about how much I love the city.

I remember flying back from Mozambique to Cape Town with Michael, the plane was landing and the sun was just setting over Table Mountain and Lion‟s Head. It was so spectacular. I turned to him and said, “We are so lucky. This is the best job in the world,” and he turned around with a huge smile on his face. The opportunity to tell such a relevant story, a story about change and helping others and to be able to do it in some of the most beautiful places on earth is really a gift.

My favorite days on set were during the pilot episode when we were shooting in the township of Khayelitsha. The opportunity to spend time in that kind of place was incredible and all the people were just so generous and lovely and so full of happiness and life despite the conditions. Amidst all of that poverty we found the most generous, happy people. The children were all over us, laughing and playing and dancing with us. Their smiles said everything. I had the time of my life although I did get in trouble from wardrobe for getting dusty footprints all over my black dress from the little girl who kept crawling up into my lap! That is the kind of experience you never forget; once in a lifetime. It can’t help but change you and the way you see the world.
Actress Lindy Booth (The Philanthropist)

The beaches of Africa are wider, the skies bigger, lighter and brighter... The location lends a richness and an intensity of feeling that adds abundantly to the thematic thread.
Baillie Walsh, director of Flashbacks of a Fool

This country, South Africa, changes you. It is the new frontier of travel. It is a destination for all the people of the world. I love the warmth of its sunshine. I love its wild spaces, its people, its cities and its attitude to make things go right.
Franz Beckenbauer, German football legend

I love this crew; they’re absolutely fantastic. I would work with every single one of them again, and that’s not always true. I’ve found the South African crew to be so sturdy, and so caring, and so funny. Nothing’s a problem. They know camera, they know the track, they know the crane. Everything just works.
Anthony Minghella (RIP), director, No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

It’s a beautiful country, the way the light falls here in Africa. It’s a high adrenaline experience being in Africa.
Nicolas Cage, Lord of War actor

I wake up every morning and see the beautiful sunrise. It’s different every day; it makes the city (Cape Town) almost artistic. It’s a magical place.
Salma Hayek, actress, Ask the Dust

That’s one of the unique things about South Africa. It can double for so much of the world.
Jared Leto, Lord of War actor

I love Africa in general. South Africa and West Africa, they are both great countries.
Paris Hilton, celebrity

If I were 29 or 39 ... or even 49, I would pack up everything and move here… The country is exquisite. I lost my voice in Cape Town, which I think was because I was in a permanent state of gasping with wonderment.
Anita Roddick (RIP), founder of The Body Shop

I find myself being incredibly moved being here in this most beautiful country that I’ve ever been in.
Emmy-winner Loni Price, director of Master Harold… and the Boys

The lovely thing about South Africa is that you can mix business with pleasure. You’ve got the most beautiful game reserves and coastline, the most fantastic wineries, and some of the best restaurants in the world. Our experience of South Africa has been second to none.
Richard Branson, business icon