May 2009

Born in Johannesburg 46 years ago, Gavin Hood is the consummate example of a local boy made good. Hood, who steered the local drama Tsotsi to an Academy Award, left South Africa some time ago to pursue his career in Los Angeles, was back in Johannesburg recently to coincide with the release of his latest directorial masterpiece, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

A Johannesburg-based company responsible for some of the most cutting-edge commercials on TV, Luma Animation, has made a breakthrough into the prime time television filler market with an exciting concept.

Luma, which also has its own in-house game development division and has produced titles for Mini, Garage Games, Cadbury, Nokia and Apple I-Phone, recently embarked on an opening for their showreel ? for this, Jason Cullen, part owner of Luma, conceptualised the animated characters Bun&Bunee.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, my video… if you’re not familiar with these terms, it’s time you brush up on your knowledge of the Web 2.0 social networking revolution or you could be missing out on some powerful opportunities. Different products and services ranging from music, fashion, movies, and to virtually all kinds of things that represent the pop culture, need to associate themselves with their consumers through social networks. Social media is very helpful in spreading the word, as it allows organisations to post various announcements, new services, products, enabling more effective reaching of target audiences.

SA filmmakers continue to be recognised in the continent, with Gugu & Andile winning 3 awards at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in Nigeria last month (April).  We speak to the director Minky Schlesinger about making the movie and her view on the SA film industry.

Jacques Stoltz, senior marketing manager at the Gauteng Film Commission, recently contributed an article to the Annual Guide to the Crocodile Ramble, one of Gauteng?s popular and well-known art and craft routes.  In it, he looks at why Gauteng is fast becoming a global player in the film and TV industry.

Janet King, a winner of “Best Original Score” with the film Sanctuary in the M-Net EDiT (Emerging Dynamics in Television) Awards, believes this student competition provides an invaluable opportunity for film students to produce projects in real-world situations, as well as preparing them for working in the film industry.

Academy award-winning motion control system debut
In an effort to ensure that the best equipment is available to both local and foreign production companies shooting in South Africa, a joint venture between the Visual Effects Company (VFX) of London and Johannesburg-based Reflex Motion Control brings an academy award-winning motion control system, the MILO motion control rig, to South Africa for the 2009 season.

Not only was it the first Renault commercial produced in South Africa, but after weeks of consultation with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and the help of Isaac Maake and Themba Nkosi, Sub urban pulled out all the stops to be the first production company to successfully shoot in Ghandi Square during the week, at peak hour.

Dunkeld Johannesburg-based production house Sub urban recently shot roughly twenty 30 second and one 60 second commercials for Engen in the Gold Island Studios in Corporate Park Midrand. The Agency was Cape Town-based Saatchi & Saatchi and executive creative director Anton Crone spoke to In Focus about the commercials and the locations used.

In this article in our series profiling various manufacturers, suppliers and services that cater specifically to the film and television industry in Gauteng, In Focus spoke to Macro Video, an importer and distributor of high quality video products, and Limousine & Chauffeur Transportation, who offer limousine hire in South Africa to the film industry and corporate users.