The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) undertakes mission to America to attract investment for film industry

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The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will lead a group of filmmakers to Los Angeles in the United States of America to attend the popular American Film Market (AFM) from 30 October – 7 November 2018.

The delegation will comprise of emerging black production and service companies currently active across different aspects of South Africa’s film value chain such as animation, content developers, distribution and production management. The companies boast proven and credible experience in the local industry, have marketable projects to be showcased to prospective investors at the market. The South African delegation will undertake site visits to identified international studios and make presentations on investment projects for acquisition, distribution and film servicing opportunities. 

According to the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Bulelani Magwanishe, the mission is part of the dti’s efforts to attract foreign investment into the South African film and television sector, showcase the advances and competitive opportunities for international film studios shooting on location in South Africa. 

“The AFM is a great networking platform for South Africa to showcase its attained competencies and will help drive inward investment from international studios. The promotional platform further affords South Africa opportunity to foster closer ties with partner countries we have co-production treaties with and garner increased involvement from large film markets such as the United States of America. We have recognised the importance of the sector’s contribution to the country’s economic growth and job creation imperatives. We have been providing support to the film and television sector since 2004 and have recently launched the revised Film and Television Incentive Scheme. We feel that the revised incentive, compounded by excellent film servicing experience, will make it more attractive to film in South Africa”, says Magwanishe.

He adds that the support provided by the dti to the film and television sector has been a major contributing factor in assisting these sectors to become firmly entrenched on the global stage for film and television production, whilst also providing strong support for local production and employment creation.

During the 2017/18 financial year 99 productions were approved under the department’s incentive schemes, with a projected investment of almost R2.9 billion.  More than 9 000 jobs were projected to be created through this support.   

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa.