Entertainment

Experts call on government to streamline film industry

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By Brian Sokutu

With the multi-billion-rand film tourism set for a boom in 2025, experts have highlighted the need for government to establish a streamlined industry process, promotion of the use of iconic locations within South Africa and a dedicated fund.

Against a background of international film productions made locally, projected to grow from R2.52 billion last year to over R6 billion in 2025, University of Pretoria heritage studies lecturer Dr Charlene Herselman and leading film director Vusi Africa called for a restructured approach by government.

Film industry needs ‘better linkages’

For South Africa’s film tourism to thrive, Herselman said there was “a need for better linkages, connecting the film, tourism and market-ready film tourism products”.

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“One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that entities dealing with film tourism are spread across, at least three government departments: Tourism; Sport, Arts and Culture; and Trade, Industry and Competition.

“They are currently dealing at varying levels with incoming film productions — from permitting, location scouting, to tax incentives.

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“We need to establish a streamlined process because a simplified process would encourage more film productions.

“These entities are also working towards the same goal: to promote South Africa as a filming location of choice – leading to economic growth.

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“There is a need to establish a cross-cutting mutually beneficial relationship,” maintained Herselman.

‘Additional tax breaks’

“We can negotiate additional tax breaks for a production if the production company would agree that the film production can be used in an approved way to promote South Africa.

“This is not unusual and happens in many countries in the world.

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“The tourism industry would also not just be the beneficiary of this promotion, but they can also assist the film industry in finding suitable locations.

“After all, who knows a country and its landscapes better than its tourism practitioners?” added Herselman.

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“We know from analytic tools like Google Trends that whenever a new production, like Blood & Water, is released, viewers search for the filming locations.

“If there are no concrete links directing these potential visitors to places, they can visit, their interest will fizzle out, and we will lose potential visitors to more market-ready destinations.

“Fortunately, film tourism products do not need a lot of costly or time-consuming investment to create.

“It can be as simple as creating a map on a website – identifying filming locations.

“This means that there is quite a bit of potential for job creation, tourist guides creating their own film tours to make themselves stand out in a competitive market,” she said.

Investment and growth opportunities

The interest and investment created from film tourism could also have “a snowball effect for both industries – leading to more investment and growth opportunities”.

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Herselman said SA Tourism and Netflix recently formed a partnership titled “Made in South Africa”  — featuring South Africa, “coming with a healthy investment in the local film industry from Netflix”.

Concurring with Herselman, Africa said the rebate system required “significant improvement to compete with more reliable models, such as that of Mauritius”.

“Private sector engagement, particularly from banks and corporates, has been notably absent in recent years.

“This gap stems from the industry’s inability to present a compelling business case to potential investors, which must be addressed urgently,” said Africa.

He said there was “a pressing need for a dedicated fund from Tourism South Africa to promote the use of iconic locations within the country for film productions”.

“Such a fund could serve as an additional resource for both local and international filmmakers – enhancing South Africa’s appeal as a production destination,” he said.

Africa and Herselman said South Africa offered several needs for film producers.

“We have diverse landscapes, so much so that South Africa was accurately described as ‘a world in one country’ by earlier tourism marketing campaigns.

“We can be the setting for any script.

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“South Africa has incredibly skilled film crews and supporting infrastructure that make it possible to produce high-quality productions.

“We also offer low production costs through tax incentives for film productions from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and a very favourable exchange rate,” said Herselman.

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Published by
By Brian Sokutu
Read more on these topics: filmSA tourismtourism industry