The South African film and television industry continues to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and create employment for the services sector, despite the economic challenges that South Africa experienced.
Following a site visit to the Cape Town Film Studios on Wednesday, acting chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Adrian Williams, said Hollywood’s major studios continue to use South Africa for their films.
Williams said the Portfolio Committee not only wanted to oversee the work done by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in the film and television industry, but also wanted to see returns on investment. This was through employment created and transformation achieved as a result of the incentive that the companies receive from the department.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) invited the Portfolio Committee to the set of the “Warrior” television series, which is currently shooting at the Cape Town Film Studios, in an effort to showcase their high-profile project.
The Chief Executive Officer of Cape Town Film Studios, Nico Dekker, said since December 2010, the direct investment and economic impact of productions hosted by the studios led to 47 044 jobs being created and South African production expenditure amounted to R2 billion in the same period.
“The overall contribution the studios made to the South African economy is R6 billion. The manufacturing process at the studios opened doors to a wide range of artisans that normally do not have access to the movie industry. This created significant empowerment to carpenters, painters, builders, garment workers, metal workers, landscapers and horticulturists,” said Dekker.
