Written by on Sep 9, 2015. Posted in Incentive News

Kenya gives initial approval for new filming incentive support

Lawmakers in Kenya have granted initial approval for a new 30% filming incentive as part of plans to raise the country’s filmmaking profile. The government is under particular pressure to bring Angelina Jolie Pitt’s true-life conservation movie Africa to Kenya.

Africa will be based on the true story of Kenyan conservationist Richard Leakey. Jolie Pitt is attached to direct and her husband Brad Pitt could potentially star.

The production has reportedly faced development challenges over the past year, but Jolie Pitt recently reaffirmed her commitment to the project.

Kenya faces major competition from South Africa, which continues to grow as an international production hub with a generous filming incentive, skilled crew base and studio infrastructure.

Upcoming film The Journey Is The Destination, about photographer Dan Eldon who was killed on assignment in Somalia aged just 22, is set partly in Kenya but had to shoot in Johannesburg, reports Reuters.

“No one loves Kenya more than I do, and it was always the idea to shoot in Kenya,” Eldon’s mother told the outlet: “Every year we heard there would be tax incentives and every year it never happened.”

Kenya has had limited success with international feature films. The country is still best known for the sweeping romance Out of Africa, released in 1985, but there was then a 20-year wait until spy drama The Constant Gardener in 2005.

More recently the Wachowski siblings’ Netflix drama series Sense8 filmed scenes on location in Nairobi. Authorities will be planning to build on this profile boost with the new incentive programme.

(Image: Universal Pictures)