GEO FOCUS SOUTH AFRICA The Tipping Point
The southernmost country on the African continent, South Africa has emerged as a burgeoning market for the film and advertising markets.
AS ONE OF the African continent’s major media centres, South Africa caters to a diverse range of languages and cultures both within and beyond its own borders. With the success of films such as Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, the country has been put on the map as a serious option for film crews looking for a diverse production location. “Diverse locations, low costs, and cash rebates have transformed the once- troubled region into a major force on the global film scene,” wrote George Szalai about South Africa in The Hollywood Reporter. In response, the Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) amended its film incentive programme last year to help local post-production companies attract foreign work. Among the incentives
offered are up to 2.5 percent of qualifying South African post-production expenditure for post-production of ZAR1.5 million to ZAR3 million (approximately £94,000–£188,000), with 5 percent of expenditure in excess of ZAR3 million. “The objective of the incentive is to create an environment that takes advantage of the country's diverse and unique locations,” commented Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. “Through promoting South Africa as an international destination to attract further international productions and in encouraging the generation of local content production, the country continues to enjoy the benefits of the vibrant and growing film industry.” Beyond post-production costs, the DTI has also looked
>>> AUDIO POST PRODUCTION Inside TheWorkRoom
CAPE TOWN’S TheWorkRoom first opened for business in 2004 as a solo operation with a single mix room and now boasts two fully integrated 5.1 mix rooms and a tracking suite. The facility’s dedicated post-production team, led by director Stephen Webster, handles everything from sound editing, ADR, and Foley to mixing, and Dolby encoding. TheWorkRoom has a number of
film, TV, and radio credits with Grand Prix-winning television commercials in 2009, 2010, and 2012, and several Cannes Lion-winning radio commercials in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, it was nominated as the number one studio in South Africa by the national advertising industry awards – The Loeries. Recent film credits include director
Neill Blomkamp’s latest feature Elysium, starring Matt Damon, Jodie
20 November 2013
Foster, and Sharlto Copley; Long Walk to Freedom directed by Justin Chadwick; Warm Bodies; Jack the Giant Killer; and the South African animation Khumba, directed by Anthony Silverston and starring Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Liam Neeson, AnnaSophia Robb, and Catherine Tate. “The majority of our time is spent
on surround mixing, ADR recording, and sound design,” commented TheWorkRoom director Stephen Webster. “All rooms are equipped with a combination of boutique quality analogue gear as well as the latest Pro Tools HD systems. Our main studio features an Avid D-Command console.” “We keep the industry standard
Neumann U87 microphones for voice and a wide selection of shotguns and lapels for ADR to
to attract more foreign big- budget productions and recently implemented an uncapped 15 percent tax-back programme Yet while the country’s film industry has gone from strength to strength, the relatively young broadcast market is struggling to find its feet.
With 11 official languages to cover (plus broadcasts in German, Portuguese, and Hindi) and a television- viewing population of nearly 22 million, the broadcast industry has seen a boom as of late. Yet it is still dominated by a small number of key players including the state- run South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), which has three channels (SABC1, SABC2, and SABC3); the free-to-air broadcaster
e.tv; and pay-tv
provider Multichoice. This relatively small pool of
broadcasters can be explained by the fact that the industry is less than 40 years old, with the first nation-wide broadcasts taking place in early 1976. The industry is also the most tightly regulated media sector in South Africa and, along with radio, is regulated
by the Independent
Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). Broadcast rights are issued by invitation only and, to date, just two independent television broadcasters have been permitted to operate. Licenses also mandate percentages of local, community, and educational content that broadcasters are required to show. Along with strict regulation, South African broadcast
providers are now facing the switch to digital transmission with the Department of Communication’s Broadcasting Digital Migration Policy aiming for 100 percent digital coverage and the switch-off of all analogue transmitters by 2015 (the original goal of switching over in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup failed).
POPULATION: APPROX. 53 MILLION
satisfy the tastes of both our UK and USA clients,” he added. The regulars from Neve, Emperical
Labs, SSL, API, Avalon, Great River, Avedis, and Mellenia round out the facility’s selection of outboard gear with Lynx Aurora convertors in both main rooms. Monitoring is handled
by Focals in Studio A and C (“some of the best translating monitors I have ever heard”, comments Webster) and Mackies in Studio B, with all rooms also featuring matched 5.1 systems with Blue Sky or Neyrinck surround controllers.
www.theworkroom.co.za
www.audiomedia.com
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