SOUTH AFRICA AND INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS

S.c.r.i.p.t. : Afrique du Sud - cinema et enjeux contemporains

Presses Universitaires de France, February 2021

South Africa has become, in less than 20 years, a pillar of African cinema and the preferred destination on the continent for foreign filming, offering through the diversity of its landscapes and financing opportunities (aid, production costs and favorable changes allowing substantial budget cuts), a panorama of enticing options for international blockbusters such as the latest installment of Avengers: Age of Ultron with Robert Downey Jr. (2015) and Mad Max: Fury Road with South African Charlize Theron (2015), or even Invictus by Clint Eastwood (2009) and Lord of War with Nicolas Cage (2005). The latter was filmed primarily in Cape Town, where the city and its surroundings were used for some fifty-seven different locations featured in the film including the Middle East, Afghanistan, Bolivia and Sierra Leone.

South African cinema itself, strongly supported by the state, is increasingly present at international festivals and continues to be recognized. We can mention the film Tsotsi by South African director Gavin Hood (Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, 2006), and the sci- fi thriller District 9 by South African director Neil Blomkamp, co-produced by Peter Jackson, nominated for four Academy Awards. including Best Film (2010). Additionally, South Africa is an English speaking country, facilitating Anglo-Saxon filming, and has highly trained professionals and excellent infrastructure and production capacity, not to mention the good weather which facilitates the filming conditions.

South Africa's appeal does not stop at the landscapes and production facilities. The South African art scene, and its pool of English-speaking talent, are prized in Hollywood, revealing stars like Charlize Theron, who starred in the latest Mad Max, Hollywood superstar and muse of our dear Maison Dior; or Lupita Nyong’o, winner of the Academy Awards for her poignant role in 12 Years a Slave by director Steve McQueen (2013); or Arnold Vosloo, familiar with Hollywood blockbusters like the excellent Blood Diamond with Djimon Housou and Leonardo DiCaprio which was shot in South Africa (2006).

It should be noted that mainstream South African cinema has always been strongly inspired by foreign cinema, in particular Hollywood for the narrative style and cinematography. Consequently, South African films are more attractive to distributors than films structured in another, less commercial format because of their propensity to be distributed and to attract viewers internationally. Risk-taking is therefore reduced, the existing market.

In addition, South Africa presents strong historical, cultural and ideological themes that are popular with Hollywood screenwriters. From adventure films set against the backdrop of safari, to the injustices of apartheid and the heroism and ideology of Nelson Mandala, the country is teeming with inspiration. These themes were also largely fueled by the wave of South African author films, including the so-called “Critics” movement which accelerated the abolition of apartheid in the late 1980s.

The development of the film sector has been widely supported by the South African government, which identified it early on as a promising and job-creating economic sector, earning today more than R3.5 million (around 20 million three hundred thousand euros) per year of GDP.

South Africa has also strengthened its collaboration with other African countries, particularly French-speaking countries, including its neighbor Zimbabwe, also a fervent host of international productions and whose cinema has always been very well exported to France. international in the festival circuit in particular.

Take the example of television, which is more representative and interesting to assess than the box office, given the scarcity of cinemas in South Africa. Thus, with more than a billion users, the rush for the African pay-TV market is reminiscent of that for the huge Chinese market. The giants Viacom, Disney and Fox have also opened a branch there, deploying their own digital packages throughout Africa, while continuing to broadcast their programs on local channels. Viacom launched its first African channel in 2005 and today has a rich portfolio of international channels with more than 100 million subscribers in 52 countries, managed primarily from offices in South Africa. It should also be remembered that Africa is a lover of sports channels and general entertainment channels. One can easily imagine the market both in terms of local production facilities and the potential market for the programs that Africa represents for Fox International and its National Geographic bouquet, or for the Discovery brand catalog, which also locally produce a large part of their productions. The studios have understood that South Africa represents a strategic position for the penetration of the huge African market and the intensification of cultural and commercial exchanges.

Today, many high-profile productions are filmed in Johannesburg and in studios built around Cape Town, feature films as well as television series, such as the popular one about the pirates “Black Sails”, which was filmed in started in 2013 and is expected to last five years. So what are the advantages and financial assistance available to international filmmakers and producers wishing to involve South Africa? The numerous mechanisms put in place by the State through the National Film and Video Foundation, the Industrial Development Company, and the Ministry of the Economy, make it the main investor in national audiovisual production. The grants go of course to national and international productions, of which Hollywood and European big-budget feature films and television series are prime targets, and credit filming and post-production services. It should also be noted that distributors and communication and promotion agencies for films and audiovisual works also benefit from this policy. The importance of the film industry is such that there are four regional film commissions in South Africa: Cape, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Durban, each actively promoting its region and infrastructure.

Producers have several options when developing an audiovisual project, either feature film or television series. They may choose to retain all of their rights and employ an executive producer or service company to physically produce the work in South Africa, for example. In this case, the work will remain a foreign work and the producers will have access to the benefit of the provisions reserved for foreign filming. To name but a few, there is a 20% tax credit on the production cost of shoots in South Africa which is therefore available to productions with a budget of at least R12 million ( 1.4 million euros). In addition, a tax reduction of 22.5% to 25% applies to productions whose filming and post-production (whose charges must amount to at least R1.5 million (i.e. 170,000 euros), have place in South Africa.

Alternatively, foreign producers may decide to enter into an international co-production

agreement whereby a South African producer agrees to co-produce and finance the work with the other producers. In this case, the South African co-producer undertakes in particular to produce and finance the part of the filming in South Africa, to organize the local production and casting, and becomes co-owner of the rights to the work up to its contribution to the budget. Numerous mechanisms exist promoting co-productions, such as loans and grants as well as a 35% tax credit applying to the first R6 million (i.e. around 700,000 euros) spent on the territory, then reduced to 25% for the budget balance.

There is also an attractive tax credit for independent producers, under Section 24F of the Income Tax Act, which will allow the cost of producing a film to be deducted from the income of the holder of the rights to the film; thus encouraging private investment in the sector. One of the indisputable advantages of international co-productions is to endow the audiovisual work with the nationality of the co-producing countries, and thus allow them to benefit from aids and subsidies, and other tax advantages reserved for national works, but also to make them more attractive for distributors and broadcasters who are in demand for national works, having legal quota obligations to be met in Europe in particular, for the works they broadcast. South Africa has concluded film and audiovisual co-production treaties with eight countries: Canada, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Thus, any co-production meeting the criteria of the corresponding Treaty is qualified as a national production in each of the co-producing countries, and is then eligible for aid and other advantages offered to national works by each co-producing country. South Africa has also signed a Simplified Film Co-Production Agreement with India. The conditions required for a work to benefit from the advantages of official co-productions vary from agreement to agreement, but some are found such as the conditions of approval, location of filming or nationality of the film's collaborators. As a general rule, producers as well as artistic and technical collaborators must be nationals or permanent residents of the countries in the co- production; the national co-producer must own at least 20% of the rights to the film, the financial contribution of each co-producer is in principle proportional to his share of profits (it should be noted that a purely financial contribution by one of the co-producers is rarely accepted ); the filming and / or post-production must be carried out in one of the countries of the agreement; prior administrative approval in each country is also required before the start of filming, as well as final approval after production of the film and prior to its exploitation; the language of the film is also often an important criterion.

Thus, a film which has received the official co-production stamp receives dual nationality and can thus benefit from the production aid available in each co-producing country, granted at the national, regional and also international levels. For example, a French film may benefit from French but also European aid, such as the European co-production program Eurimage, or even Cartoon for animated films. At the French level, co-producers with South Africa can benefit from a public mechanism set up by the CNC, Aide au Cinémas du Monde, the total budget of which, in 2015, amounted to 6 million. euros. Each year, around fifty projects are supported.

It should also be noted that access to many national advantages is often conditioned by the nationality of the film and reserved for co-productions mainly owned by the national producer. This cultural protectionism stemming from a stated political intention to promote national creations, in particular to protect authors, prevent the flight of public capital abroad, and originally also not to let screens be invaded by foreign productions ( especially Hollywood), has been institutionalized under the name of “Cultural Exception”, the principle of which has been established as a fundamental right of a country where authors are in principle the best protected (“copyright” by virtue of its name designating the “right” protecting the “authors”, unlike the “copyright” designating the “right” protecting the “copy”...) Let us remember the case of the film “Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles” of the French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet about whom the Paris Court of Appeal had marked its position by considering that the National Cinematographic Center (CNC) should not have given its approval to the film produced by a French subsidiary of the studio a American Warner, and had demanded the repayment of the advance on receipts and other aid received (4 million euros between aid granted to exploitation, theatrical distribution and video), in order to prevent the flight of capital to the American studio Warner Bros....

An official co-production can also be sold more easily to national broadcasters, and in particular television channels, which thus contribute financially to the development of upstream projects through pre-sales and the payment of a guaranteed minimum (MG). Most national channels, and distributors in general, have legal obligations to acquire the rights and broadcast a number of national works. It is therefore logical that an international co-production between France, South Africa and Canada (with which South Africa and France have signed respective treaties), for example, will attract the attention of distributors in every co-producer country because it meets its mandatory quotas for national films, and will also generate more “buzz” in the film markets. It should also be noted that South Africa has not signed a co- production treaty with the United States, just like the vast majority of countries, anxious to protect their screens and public funds from Hollywood magnets.

In a recent interview, Greig Buckle, the South African producer responsible for managing the South African side of the blockbusters Lord of War (2005), Starship Troopers (2008), Chronicle (2012), and recently Mad Max: Road Fury (2015) ), highlights the increase in the number of international productions that choose to shoot in South Africa and praises the obvious advantages: the majority of the population speaks English, most of the big houses and laboratories, like Panavision, are present in the country, salaries and social charges represent about 30% or 40% less than in Europe or America, the exchange rate is advantageous, the landscapes are varied and the studios are numerous, and the aid and budgetary reductions available for International co-productions are quite flexible and advantageous for producers.

South Africa therefore has significant attractions for international productions and is now emerging as a light in the cinema of this new century.

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