South Africa
Overview
Moonlighting have worked with production companies from the UK, USA, Canada, France, Sweden, India & Germany over the last two years on a number of international commercial productions.
"We worked with Mark Zibert and Scouts Honour (Toronto) on a Stella Artois tvc that focussed heavily on set-build, SFX, stunts and diverse talent – shot in 4 days in studio and also on Kruger – a series of beautiful vignettes shot in and around Cape Town which again focussed on diversity of talent. For the USA, we shot a visually stunning Cutwater campaign with artistic director duo Mathery & 1stavemachine – featuring a series of transforming sets," explains Moonlighting's Beccy Kellond, marketing director and partner.
A number of French commercials included a campaign for Biotherm starring Hollywood actor Nicholas Hoult and shot by Julien Vallon (Frenzy, Paris) using the Junior Bolt (which is now based at Moonlighting partner company Grinder Films) and for BETC – our second campaign for French brand Manor "shot in perfect conditions" out at Atlantis Dunes outside Cape Town. And a "cool highlight" was shooting the Royal Stag commercial for Ransom Films, India & director Bharat Sikka starring Bollywood star Ranveer Singh in a series of gritty urban locations around Cape Town.
For Orange Films, it’s been a busy 2023 with a range of projects from large-scale commercial productions for Smuggler, Biscuit Filmworks, Czar, Canada and Riff Raff amongst others, to a beautiful United Nations PSA for New Land, as well as facilitating a stills artwork project commissioned to Pieter Hugo for a new Travis Scott album.
In the midst of the above, their feature length biopic Rise, telling the story of the South African rugby captain Siya Kolisi, won the Audience Choice Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in June this year.
"Our calendar is looking busy for the final quarter of 2023, with a long-term feature film we’ve produced nearing completion, as well as commercial projects gathering speed in step with our approaching summer," reveals Orange Films' producer and partner Vivian Esterhuyse.
Elsewhere, Film Afrika have serviced a multitude of budget ranges across projects over the last 5 years. Their latest projects include: One Piece for Netflix; Raised by Wolves for Scott Free/HBO; Devils Peak for Lookout Point/BBC&Mnet; King Shaka for Propogate & CBS for Showtime; African Queens for Nutopia/ Netflix; FDR for Radical Media/History Channel; Lincoln for Radical Media/History Channel; Eraser 2 for Warner Brothers, and Noughts and Crosses S2 for Mammoth Films/BBC.
Gallery
Locations
The country boasts an array of architecture and location options – from city life with accessible infrastructure; beaches, vineyards, forests, crop lands, mountains and dunes; to the best of Africa’s bush and savannah settings.
"Our southern hemisphere climate is probably what most filmmakers associate with South Africa, and this remains a strong card in our hand. However, diversity in talent, as well a huge diversity in locations, and crews that are highly-rated across the world, are all part of our strong hand," says Orange Films' Vivian.
"The Western Cape, and specifically locations in and around greater Cape Town area remain the most popular and frequently filmed ones," says Vivian.
Film Afrika's Marisa adds that Cape Town’s location offering is so vast you could film "repeat seasons and never know you were in the same city."
"From pristine, white sand beaches to endless km’s of rugged coast. From dramatic, epic mountains to undulating wheat fields. From desert white sand dunes to dense forest. In terms of architecture our heritage, period buildings mimic the streets of 1920’s London to present day New York. From cosmopolitan Clifton and Camps Bay villas and coastal strip which transports you to the Amalfi coast to a simple unit move to a Brazilian favella just 30minutes along the national highway.
"The multicoloured houses and cobbled streets of the Bokaap nestled ‘above the cape’ cast looking over the V & A Waterfront and working harbour are a working blank canvas. A drive along the R44 in a period action vehicle sets the perfect driving plates along the Pacific Coast Highway; Inland the Karoo rock formations are a national heritage and the national highways create a perfect set for mid-western actions.
"A short travel delivers you into the Northern cape where you will experience vast arid vistas unlike anything you have seen before. The scattered quiver trees amongst the rock formations translates into a dystopian visual mastery. A short flight inland, you are in the veld highlands regions of Mpumalanga, home to the Blyde River Canyon, game reserves and mystical forest. Further right, Kwazulu Natal transforms the countryside/Terrain into a sub tropical paradise. Rain forests, waterfalls, mangroves and 2000 km of unchartered coastline," says Marisa.
Permits
Permission to shoot across the country is generally easy. Although it’s best to get local partners or crew who know the system to apply. Where the production shoots dictates who you need to apply to….
https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/filming-western-cape-permits-and-opportunities
http://www.gautengfilm.org.za/filming-in-gauteng/conditions-a-permits
Infrastructure and crews
Cape Town Film Studios is South Africa’s main production facility and includes five soundstages, the largest of which is 2,100 square metres. It also offers water tanks and backlot sets. Atlantic Film Studios is a smaller complex, but offers nine soundproof stages, including a green-screen studio plus a large backlot. Producers often convert warehouses into temporary facilities. Experienced crews have the depth to host about six large shoots at any one time.
Moonlighting is one of South Africa’s foremost production services companies, facilitating projects for multiple platforms from commercials and stills to digital / social media formats, documentaries, TV & long form drama. Our clients include directors, production companies, agencies and brands from all over the world including UK, USA, Canada, Germany, France, India, Sweden, Turkey, UAE and beyond.
"We understand that when you shoot abroad, you need to know that you’re in safe, reliable, collaborative hands. After all, you’re entrusting your project, your budget and your reputation to your service company. We get that. We’re a small, focused team so can keep things personal and hands-on while benefiting from Moonlighting’s infrastructure. You’ll often find Shayne and the team huddled over a board, brainstorming the best way to make something work. As budgets get tighter, thinking out of the box is second nature to us and thanks to our combined, huge experience, we usually solve it," says the Moonlighting's Beccy Kellond, marketing director and partner.
With Orange Films' local know-how and time-earned experience, the local outfit support international directors and producers with a home-away-from-home production.
Additionally, Film Afrika is one of the oldest and most established Film and Television Services company in South Africa.
Based in the mother City of Cape Town, Film Afrika is resolutely driven to find the best creative solutions that ensure maximum production value specific to each film and series. Film Afrika delivers a scalable servicing model, to suit any size of budget and keep clients coming to our shores.
"We are known for delivering the highest quality films and television series for the international market, including shows with a US, UK and European setting," says Marisa Sonemann, head of production at Film Afrika.
"We bring together the country’s most experienced and sought-after producers, line producers, legal, business and financial personnel to provide a fully integrated infrastructure and production service."
She adds that the country boast "incredible filming infrastructure", with "cutting edge technologies are readily accessible."
Filmscape’s investment in the volume walls, full post production services, brilliant technical and creative non-union HOD’s, a strong crew base and phenomenal local cast ensures that we can compete on a global scale. The new studio offering in Kwazulu Natal coming in 2025 will "only strengthen the growing local and international market," says Marisa.
Travel and logistics
South Africa is well-connected internationally by air. The main national hubs are Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The country is large enough to offer a multitude of strikingly different visuals that are routinely used by producers to double for locations around the world, whether that be the Middle East, US or other African countries.
According to Orange Films' Vivian, South Africa is a "well-oiled machine" in terms of production service, with their two film hubs of Cape Town and Johannesburg providing the bases. Visa-on-arrival travel for most passport holders, and "superb hotels and restaurants all add to an overall slick experience for international filmmakers."
First person to contact
Priscilla Kolwane, information officer, Gauteng Film Commission
priscillak@gautengfilm.org.za
Size matters
South Africa is well-connected internationally by air. The main national hubs are Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The country is large enough to offer a multitude of strikingly different visuals that are routinely used by producers to double for locations around the world, whether that be the Middle East, US or other African countries.
First person to contact
Priscilla Kolwane, information officer, Gauteng Film Commission: priscillak@gautengfilm.org.za
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