NFVF Responds to Media Criticism

Eddie Mbalo, CEO of the NFVF, responds in his blog to criticism of the organisation's funding decisions regarding its support (or lack of it) for blockbusters like District 9.



"While the NFVF continuously encourages filmmakers to consider SA audiences in their work as the widest possible viewership for every film means financial success for investors and producers, box office success is not about good PR for the institution....."

Make up your own mind by visiting www.nfvf.co.za

Trend Watch: Advertising Online

More small and medium-sized business advertisers are now spending their advertising budgets online than are buying ads in traditional media, according to a report from The Kelsey Group and research partner ConStat.

The penetration of digital and online media grew to 77% in August 2009, up from 73% a year ago, while penetration of traditional media fell from 74% to 69% during the same period.



"Penetration" is the percentage of businesses using a given type of media, irrespective of spending level. Small and medium-sized businesses reduced their overall spending on advertising and promotion by 23.5% over the past year but Digital/online rose as a percentage of overall ad spend from 22% to 36.8%. Spending on websites and profile pages increased by 26.8%.

Mobile Music Downloads

Only 10% of U.S. cell phone owners listen to music on their devices, according to a report from market research firm Forrester Research.

This compares with 27% of Britons and 70% of Chinese mobile subscribers.

"Part of the reason is that mobile and music providers have focused on their business models first and the user experience second. Europe and Asia have fared better in terms of user adoption, but direct revenues from mobile music remain lean," the report says.


"To benefit from mobile music adoption, music labels need to shift their strategy from direct to indirect revenue gains, services need to become platform-agnostic, and device makers and carriers need to up the ante on innovative offerings."

While 60% of U.S. mobile subscribers polled said they had no interest in purchasing music on their phones, Forrester predicts that the U.S. market for purchasing music via cell phones will reach $263 million by 2013.

TED.com Lectures

Ted.com bills itself as "Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world...." and that's just what it is.

TED.com makes the best talks, lectures and performances on three core subjects - Technology, Entertainment and Design - available to the world, for free. More than 450 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks feature closed captions in English, and many feature subtitles in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.



So educate yourself, and start trend-tracking today.....

Internet Video Viewing On the Rise

Digital Media Wire is carrying a story from Internet audience measurement firm comScore which reports that more people watched online videos in June 2009 than during any other month since the birth of the Internet.

The firm said that more then 157 million U.S. Internet users viewed video online during the month, attributing the surge to a plethora of major news stories, led by the death of Michael Jackson and the Iranian elections.

SA Film tops US box office!

SA-made Sci-fi action thriller District 9, about a colony of space aliens stranded in South Africa, landed atop the North American box office with an estimated R300 million its first weekend, distributor Sony Pictures said on Sunday.



The film was directed and co-written by South African native Neill Blomkamp, making his feature directorial debut after a career of doing commercials. The movie cost roughly R240 million to make - a modest budget by Hollywood standards.

The cast of unknowns stars South African newcomer Sharlto Copley as a bureaucrat leading the forced eviction of alien creatures from a Johannesburg slum, District 9, where they have been settled since their ship stalled over the city 20 years earlier, marooning them on Earth.

Music Fan interrogated over mobile phone vote

One of the hidden risks of pursuing a digital future:

Rovshan Nasirli, a young Eurovision fan living in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, says he was summoned this week to the country's National Security Ministry -- to explain why he had voted for Armenia during this year's competition in May.

Nasirli, like others, used his mobile phone to send a text message expressing his preference, little imagining his vote would eventually result in a summons from national security officials......

The full story here.

SABC wreaks havoc on Independent Producers

The Television Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) issued a strongly worded press release earlier this which which sounds the alarm bells regarding the proposal by the SABC to freeze, cancel and delay various local productions in order to cut costs.



As per the SABC’s 2008 Request for Proposals (RFPs) from the independent production sector, the TVIEC has been informed that only 12 out of the 47 productions due to have been incepted in April 2009 will be going ahead this year. The balance will be delayed or cancelled.

There will be no 2009 RFPs for production in 2010. Furthermore, numerous existing/renewable contracts have been postponed or deferred......

More, as always, at Screenafrica.com.

Seeking South African Documentaries

SnagFilms, is looking to sign South African documentaries for its digital distribution service.



SnagFilms streams over 800 non-fiction films from leading content owners including National GEO and PBS and has an established partnership with NBC/Fox owned Hulu. The goal of SnagFilms is to create a formidable online community of non-fiction films for a discernible international audience.

If you own the digital distribution rights for your documentary, Snagfilms would like to be your digital distribution partner. Contact Erica Motley for more information.

Real Change - Digital Style

By the way - if there is ANY doubt left in your mind about how the digital era is going to democratize and revolutionise our lives then take a brief squizz at the coverage of theIranian crisis at AndrewSullivan.com. Sullivan's become one of my "must-read" daily fixes and he blends news, first-hard tweets, photo-journalism and really insightful comment from a variety of sources in a way that the mainstream media can only dream of.



The Digital Era offers us a total transformation of media in South Africa - what we make, what we see, how and when we see it. Things will never be the same again.

Cab Music

I've been saying for as long as anyone can be bothered to listen that the Music Industry stands to be the biggest unintended beneficiary of the Soccer World Cup. 2 billion people will be watching their edited highlights to an African beat - and then hopefully they'll go on line to try to find more of that South African music for themselves.

And so how can film benefit from this cross over? Very easily apparently. Check out these black cab sessions: load up a couple of musos in the back of a London cab, get them to perform live and unplugged and then post it on You Tube. It's great theatre!

National Heritage Council tender

The National Heritage Council has announced a tender for Research and a documentary programme on the experiences of South African ordinary people, historic events and places that have liberation heritage significance. Who better to complete this than Eastern Cape academics and producers, who sit at the heart of the nation's liberation journey......



Tender document NHC/29/2009 costs R100 and the deadline for applications is 9th September - contact a.motloung@nhc.org.za (or tel 012 348 1663) for more information.

Rooftop Films

This is an interesting Film-Music hybrid - a NYC film festival with various rooftop venues where they show music, some scored with live music, all around the city.

For more, visit the Rooftop Films site

DVD Piracy

If we're going to drive a local production agenda in South Africa, then each of us will have to take a stand against piracy. This is a huge problem: in the United States, the National Consumers League published results of a study conducted that revealed that 90% of consumers believe they should be able to back up their DVDs to a hard drive or copy them to a portable device - and that they'd be willing to pay about $61 for a piece of software that helped them back up their collections. According to the survey:

• 55% of respondents are buying fewer DVDs today than they did a year ago.
• More than four in 10 (41%) expect to be buying fewer still a year from now.
• 41% said the ability to make back up copies would make their collections more valuable
• 40% said it might cause them to buy more DVDs.
• Households with kids have purchased an average of nearly 3 DVDs to replace those lost or damaged.
• Despite studio fears that back-up copying will lead to massive Internet piracy, only 18% of respondents reported ever having copied a DVD to a hard drive.
• Another 5% said they had tried but were unable to.
• The vast majority of respondents (79%) said they have no real interest in copying DVDs.

And, according to DMW, what have the studios come up with to deliver that value to their customers? Litigation against Kaleidescape Systems and RealDVD for providing tools that allow people to back up their DVD collections.

Eastern Cape TV Online?

Did you know there's an Eastern Cape company capable of providing online web broadcasting services? Check out Purple Turtle Communications. The availability of this locally means that even in the hiatus whilst we wait for regional tv licenses to be assigned, there are other (and arguably more affordable) options available, offering the potential of local content, 24/7.



I'd like the Eastern Cape to look at this kind of model for Provincial Communications generally, with costs distributed between departments to ameliorate the costs eg: health, arts and culture, education etc. etc. It could be just the springboard we need to build a local market for local products. Other benefits of this kind of approach include:

• creating an outlet for people to create content so they can generate income from the skills being taught
• offering the province/municipalities a way of communicating with their people
• Since all material used in the channel needs to be created, the whole value chain of production would potentially benefit

And incidentally, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that this could attract its own revenue streams; one local online news network in San Diego, California just received $700 million of development money.....

The Show Must Go On

ScreenAfrica's blog reports on some of the more unconventional methods producers are using to finance their films:

These difficult times have inspired producers, facility houses, studios and crew alike to re-think the narrow-minded adage "time is money" - which is of course fitting in a time when, for many, there is no money!

More at the ScreenAfrica blog.