South Africa is not new to political and economic turbulence, at times testing the resilience of its film industry. The latest crisis is dealing with daily nationwide powercuts which in some areas total over 12 hours. Meanwhile the production of TV commercials remained fairly consistent year in and year out.
On 20 May, a panel of Black women international filmmakers came together to discuss the issues facing the marginalised group in the environment of international film production, challenges facing funding, distribution and the need for community. Moderated by Diversity in Cannes founder Yolanda Brinkley, the panel featured the testimonials and industry nuggets of wisdom from filmmaker and Collectif 50/50 board member Johanna Makabi, writer and director Zoey Martinson, writer and producer Kelley Robins Hicks, and Ida Rose CEO and producer Shantelle Rochester.
With the biggest budget of any A24 production thus far, the American independent entertainment company expresses all creative freedom with Beau is Afraid, released on 21 April. Starring Joker star Joaquin Phoenix, the Ari Aster helmed production explores fear in the darkest comedic and obscure way. Whilst jumping throughout settings during its 3 hour time frame, production made use of Montreal’s landscapes and filming facilities.
Amazon has received a generous tax incentive totalling to USD 35. 3 million for television production in California. The streaming platform’s upcoming big-budget spy thriller debut Citadel will receive USD 25 million for relocating from the UK to California for its second season and an untitled project for the company will receive USD 10.3 million. This incentive pay out marks the largest sum ever offered by the state of California for a single film or television season.
Non-profit training and employment organisation Set Ready have announced their next free TV and film industry training programme. With trainees who have worked on esteemed projects such as Spectre, The Crown and Ted Lasso, Set Ready are giving opportunities to many who might experience barriers with entering the industry. The programme is in association with the JGA Group as part of the Pan-London Creativity squared project funded by the Greater London Authority and European Social Fund. The upcoming event will take place from 28 to 30 March at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.
The city of Madrid was used as a set for 66 series, 47 fiction films and more than 380 advertisements in 2022, according to data from the Madrid Film Office, Madrid City Council's film and audiovisual promotion office.
Image courtesy of Fifth Season FIFTH SEASON has announced the appointment of Jennifer Ebell to an expanded role of EVP EMEA Sales. This is a promotion from her previous role as SVP of EMEA Sales. In addition to this, the company has also acquired new hires from BBC Studios, The Walt Disney Studios., ITV Studios and Vubiquity. These changes are apart of FIFTH SEASON’S expansion of their EMEA television distribution team, following on from the recent promotion of president of television distribution, Prentis Fraser.
Two decades ago, countries began to compete for the hosting of international filming by creating a scheme whereby foreign producers are partially refunded for their monies spent in the country. Government appointed economists calculated the “multiplier effect’ of the monies brought in by foreign productions, how they stimulated economies and how much taxation would be created down the line to render such schemes sustainable.