FILM COMPANIES EYEING CAPE TOWN The world’s major film producers are eyeing Cape Town and the city looks certain to become the next Hollywood. Nico Dekker, the chief executive of Cape Town Film Studios, which is being built outside Somerset West, has just returned from a trip to LA. Dekker was supposed to meet with three managers in Los Angeles, but when he got there he found 26 were waiting for him.

 

This included the major players in Hollywood, namely Fox, Paramount, Disney, Sony, Universal and Warner.

Apart from saving up to 50% on production costs, the international success of District 9 has proven that South Africa has the technical expertise to compete internationally.

Laurence Mitchell, managing executive of the Cape Film Commission (CFC), says several Johannesburg film producers are also planning to open branches in Cape Town for at least the next couple of years, to benefit from a major number of productions about the 2010 World Cup, in particular.

The BBC has already chosen Cape Town as it’s 2010 base, and apart from soccer, will be producing educational and entertainment programs here.

Last year, the filming of Laconia, a film about a luxury passenger liner that sank during World War 2, brought in R60m in 61 days of filming in the Mother City.

Various Bollywood productions like No Problem, with Slum Dog Millionaire's Anil Kapoor in the cast, as well as Clint Eastwood's rugby picture Invictus, were also mainly filmed in Cape Town.

First there was Hollywood, then came Bollywood and soon the stars will be flocking to Skolliewood.

Kader Khan
Editor
info@yummie.co.za