This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Durban Film Office (DFO), the eThekwini Municipality’s film industry development unit. To reflect on this important milestone, as well as report back on achievements to date, and to share insights from consultations with local film industry, and its strategic vision, the DFO hosted a stakeholder engagement at the ICC on Wednesday, 20 March.
In welcoming the stakeholders the eThekwini Municipal Mayor, Cllr Gumede said, “As we feel the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the global economy, and as we observe that the world is digitally dynamic, and ever-changing, creating new roles for people to be economically active in ways we have never imagined, it is vital that as a city we remain ahead of the game”.
“As government we act as an enabler for economic development, and with the express goal to eradicate the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment, we are mindful of the role that film plays in driving a particular economy and how film and the moving image feeds into this new digital economy. The Durban Film Office, plays an important role in keeping our economic development hub in touch with the film industry, as well as being strategic about how filmmakers can be supported to ensure this City continues to strive to become a hub of film activity with endless possibilities of economic growth”.
“The film industry is not merely about the creative process and end product, there is an entire value chain that benefits from it: from locations and infrastructure, logistics and services, hospitality and catering, post production and distribution amongst other things,” said Toni Monty, Head of the Durban Film Office. “Then as a by-product, films “sell” the City as a tourism destination and, or a film production destination of choice. These economic drivers are what we are looking at harnessing going forward.”
The DFO was established in 2003 by the Ethekwini Municipality as a sector development office mandated to promote and support the development of local film and television industry in Durban. Since its inception, the DFO has spearheaded several developmental programmes to build capacity and awareness of the local industry, one of these being the Ethekwini Filmmakers Association (EFA) in 2011, after the DFO recognised the need to establish a collective voice for emerging Durban filmmakers and supported the association, through various mediums including workshops to aid them in their field of filmmaking.
Over the years, the DFO and DFM has also formed strong partnerships with “sister city” festivals in Nantes (3 Continent Festival) and the International Film Festival of Rotterdam; festivals and markets such as Berlinale, Hotdocs Canada and Caribbean Tales Canada, Sundance Film Festival (USA), International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (Netherlands), and funding and investment agencies such as National Film and Video Foundation, Westgro and Department of Trade and Industry. Going forward Monty explained that the DFM has upcoming relations with the Motion Picture Association and in 2018 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the DFO and the KZN Film Commission to ensure good intergovernmental cooperation and programme synergies.
A key focus of the strategy is to develop programmes to attract functioning production hubs into the City. “We supported the establishment of Stained Glass Productions studio in KwaMashu that produces the “most watched” SA TV soap, Uzalo, on home turf. To date, this production hub has contributed R190 million over three years to the local economy and employed over 600 locals across the value chain. ‘We also have strong relations with Durban film producers VideoVision, who have invested in, produced and distributed countless South African films, including the current television drama Imbewu.” Encouraging additional productions hubs in Durban will go a long way in stabilising the local industries growth path. Other TV shows include the highly popular Nat Geo Series Snake City and the reality show eHostela.”
Durban has also played host to many film productions that have gone on to be either box-office hits or snapped up for the global festival circuit, providing enabling environments for film-makers to network and develop relationships globally. Successful films made in the City, include amongst many others, Izulu Lami, Otello Burning, Keeping up with the Kandasamys (with a sequel about to be launched this year), White Wedding, the Spud series, More than Just a Game and Deep End currently on circuit in 26 cinemas around the country.
The DFO statistics over 15 years illustrate the steady growth of the industry. Its permit office works with an average of 150 productions per annum, issuing in the region of 250 film permits annually. Since 2003 the Durban Film Office has assisted over 3000 productions to film in EThekwini locations which has created employment of over 30 000 crew days over the last 15 years. These production activities contribute R329 million to the local economy annually. A key aspect of the strategy is to promote a service culture in the City and increase these numbers over the next 5 years.
Going forward, and in consultation with the industry, the DFO has developed a Sector Strategy, which will essentially focus on four pillars. “We need to grow the local business network through the design of programmes to encourage local film business formalisation which will allow these business to access more opportunities,” explained Monty. “Another pillar is to encourage new market entrants, which we would achieve by the creation of a transformation and localisation policy, and within this further grow the existing content development- and market access programmes. We also need to attract film and television hubs to the City through the creation of a policy to entice TV series production, which provide consistent opportunities for film-makers. This will include a framework to promote “Digital Durban” which will aim to attract post-production and visual effect opportunities. Finally, the DFO aims to grow a film service culture through a strong marketing approach to uncover, showcase and promote the services available in the City and to build a film service community and promote Durban as a Film Friendly City.”
–Photo shows film industry stakeholders and staff of the Durban Film Office join Head of Economic Development, Shunnn Tulsiram, Head of the DFO (in suit) Toni Monty and Cllr Sipho Kaunda (right) cut a 15th anniversary cake at an engagement with film industry stakeholders on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.