Cape Town’s Hajra Cassim is a winner in the Not-For-Profit Digital Innovators Award at ITU Telecom World 2011, out of 45 finalists from 22 countries around the world.

Held at the end of October in Geneva, Switzerland, Telecom World is one of the globe’s most important ICT events, brought together by The United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Hajra, a trainee director on the Film Industry Learner Mentorship (F.I.L.M.) MICT Seta Sallywood Project, won 8 500 Swiss Francs (roughly R75 000) for pitching the mobile-content-generation showmemobi model to an international investment panel, global leaders in technology, and a huge international audience via the internet. At Telecom World, Hajra met the likes of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon; Carlos Slim Helú, one of the richest men in the world; and ITU Secretary-General, Hamadoun I. Touré

showmemobi is the Sallywood Project’s own mobile content channel on a mobile content platform or mobihood (mobile neighbourhood),  launching at the end of November 2011.

Five-minute mobi-sodes of edutainment are written and produced by trainees on the Sallywood Project, a MICT SETA-funded skills programme created by F.I.L.M. to empower young media entrepreneurs.

“Our showmemobi pitch fortuitously captured the essence of the entire conference, that captivating content essentially promotes the use of technology as the channel becomes increasingly popular,” says Hajra, a former Bandwidth Barn graduate. “I love ICT and I love making movies, so it’s the perfect way to marry my passions.”

In South Africa, there is over 50% youth unemployment. “Six months ago, I was part of that statistic,” says Hajra, a single mother of a four-year-old boy. “Through showmemobi, we want to empower people who are marginalised to tell and sell stories through film electronic and digital media; stories that touch and transform lives and in the process, create employment for emerging micro-entrepreneurs who generate the content.”

The average feature film costs R5million in South Africa. “Mobile jumps the traditional barriers to entry and allows us to make films, reach an audience and interact with them in an ongoing way via mobile,” says Hajra. “It would take me forever to direct a feature, but now in six months I can direct my own mobile series.”

Using Nollywood’s $2 billion annual industry as an example, Hajra believes the key is to make proudly local content in the local vernacular. “We have 11 official languages in South Africa,” says Hajra. “I’m Indian, so mobile allows me to make films in Hindu or Urdu, which – depending on your content – can be hyper-localized and very niche, or totally generic.”

Hajra is currently developing her first series for showmemobi: Cape Town in Joburg, which follows the journey of a rural woman who inherits the Joburg Bar on Long Street. She plans to shoot the five-minute mobi-sodes on her new Blackberry. “It’s mobile for mobi,” she says.

F.I.L.M. project director Seton Bailey accompanied Hajra to Geneva. He says the prize money is going to buy production equipment for F.I.L.M. and showmemobi. He adds that meeting and working with heads of state and other world leaders was life-changing. “Apart from the incredible contacts, we now have a far clearer understanding of how to pitch the huge benefits of our not-for-profit showmemobi mobile-content-generation project to venture capitalists, angel investors and the world,” says Seton. “Special thanks to the MICT Seta and ITU for laying the foundations for our future…”

At the awards, Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General, said, “I have no doubt that many of the young innovators will go on to big things and help further reshape our digital world in ways my generation cannot even imagine.”

Hajra is starting to believe that’s possible after having an epiphany on the trip. “Here was this single mum from a small town, Newcastle, standing outside the UN and engaging with some of the top level telecommunications and business people in the world, carrying the dreams of 40 students in my class at F.I.L.M. It brought me close to tears. I always thought it would be someone else, someone brighter or better. It just shows that if you follow your bliss, doors and windows will open and opportunities will present themselves where none existed before.”

Antonio swung in to the Sallywood Project last week just before going into principal photography and shared with us the better part of a morning of his valuable time to attend one of our workshops where he blew away all our trainees with his very honest experiences, awesome insights and tips on what to do and what not do in pursuing a career as a DP. He also showed us how he has `followed his bliss’, maintaining his integrity, stylistic standards and sticking firmly to his guns throughout his career and how he truly has a heart for transformation & growth and development  of disadvantaged trainees in South Africa.

He also shared his awesome show reel explaining how he managed to pull off some of the truly exceptional commercials he has shot with some amazing directors over the years. Trust and respect are two really important words that spring to mind.

Thanks  so, so so much Antonio and special thanks to Linzi Thomas from My Life  & Kate from Farm Films for making this all possible.

You’ve all heard of Hollywood, Bollywood & Nollywood.

Over the last 6 months, the F.I.L.M. programme has been truly privileged to host 40 dynamic trainees from all cultures and walks of life who share a common vision on the Sallywood Project, being up-skilled and empowered to tell & sell South Africa’s stories through film, electronic & digital media.

The SAllywood Project is a Former MAPPP-Seta, now MICT Seta-funded, unit-standard aligned F.I.L.M. Skills Programme focusing on passionate, aspiring television & film-makers and media-entrepreneurs from all walks of life, often lacking the resources, opportunities or connections, who nonetheless have original, marketable ideas, content and great stories crying out to be told. They are proudly & demonstrably South African stories; raw, visceral, exciting, intense, rich, diverse, entertaining, immediate & imminently marketable…

The aim of the SAllywood Project is to assist interns to overcome traditional barriers to entry and to create learning & earning, content-generation hubs – empowering young people to tell and sell South Africa’s stories and touch lives by entertaining, informing and playing a small role in transforming society.

This creates a business environment for emerging F.I.L.M. media micro-entrepreneurs creating potential employment and generating income as emerging film, electronic & digital media content generators.

The next 4 months will be the ultimat test in terms of the roll-out of our content generation process, most particularly in the area of mobile content generation, with shommemobi.

showmemobi

The F.I.L.M. Programme, SAllywood Project, showmemobi channel – generating content on a mobile content platform – provides an ideal opportunity to make small productions (mobi-sodes or vid-lets); from conception to completion. At the end of the programme, SAllywood trainees are ideally positioned to generate content for the Film, Electronic & Digital media. Since South Africa has 98% mobile penetration with almost 12 million mobile data users and over 10 million urban users browsing on their cell phones, the mobile phone – as the marketers say – puts your brand in the user’s hand and as everyone is all too aware, Content is King.

showmemobi provides content relating to Empowerment, Up-skilling, Educating & Creating Employment.  While advertising plays a role in aggregating revenue streams, the content is downloaded for free, with vital social & economic development topics cleverly embedded in funky, entertaining content ranging from general Health-Care to Life & Occupational Skills to Public Service Announcements embedded in the Mini-dramas & Series, Current Affairs, Business & Entrepreneurial Skills, Arts, Culture, Music & just simply Celebrating Life

This simultaneously creates a business environment for emerging F.I.L.M. Sallywood showmemobi media micro-entrepreneurs creating potential employment and generating income as emerging film, electronic & digital media content generators & entrepreneurs.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

If you wish to join F.I.L.M. as a trainee please contact Lulu Stone on 021 461 7950 during office hours or e-mail her at lulu.stone@filmsa.co.za

If you wish to join F.I.L.M. as a partner company please contact Seton Bailey on 021 461 7950 during office hours or e-mail him at seton@filmsa.co.za

The Film Industry Learner Mentorship is insisting that all our learners do the FILM ENTRY SKILLS PROGRAMME course as an entry level qualification to be officially registered as a F.I.L.M. learner. The F.I.L.M. Entry Skills training program provides our learners with the necessary competence to enter into our F.I.L.M. skills development program. Once assessed as competent, it will not only provide them with film industry unit standard credits, but it will contribute significantly to their understanding of the context of film and film productions and to functioning more effectively and efficiently within the context of the film industry. It is a really interesting, holistic, integrated course providing insights in terms of how to fit in at a whole range of different levels in the film industry.

Last year we had a really successful two day training workshop with over 40 F.I.L.M. learners who each submit a Workbook and Portfolio of Evidence assessed against 13 film industry unit standards. Learners are awarded a certificate and 63 credits on successful assessment as competent. The response to the program from the learners was really awesome.

The competence and confidence attained by the workshop will enable them to accelerate their scarce skills acquisition and hands-on experience on film productions.

We recently did a fascinating Master Class run by Lulu Stone on how to manage yourself as a business, covering just some of these really vital topics. 

• FILM Budgeting and Taxes Presentation
• How to Manage Myself as a Business Presentation
• Template for a Quote
• Template for an Invoice
• Example of Basic CV
• Budget Planner
• Free Budget Template
• Example of a basic invoice

F.I.L.M. IS GROWING

F.I.L.M. has a growing database of functional, capable trainees with film industry experience and more potential trainees contacting us and enrolling all the time. While our primary focus is the Western Cape film industry we are progressively extending our F.I.L.M. footprint into Gauteng and beyond.

Over the last 2 years in Gauteng, we provided skills development facilitation and training provision – in chronological order – on Film Afrika’s Sniper Reloaded; Ironwood Production’s Winnie; Moonlighting Production’s Machine Gun Preacher & Film Afrika’s Natale. Our latest national production is Judge Dredd.

Other Kwazulu Natal, Eastern & Western Cape productions included Moonlighting’s Blue Crush, Death Race 2 & 3 (Inferno), Hominid & Retribution, Do Production’s Themba – a Boy called Hope,  & Film Africa’s Free Willy 4 – Escape from Pirate’s Cove, Lost Future, Outcasts, Dark Tide, local Moonlighting low-budget feature, Skoonheid, Moonlighting production Mr Bob in Durban & Film Afrika’s Natale, Treasure Guards & Gettysburg. Others include Target Bin Laden, The History of Great Britain & the History of Civilization with Film Afrika.

Moonlighting’s production Safe House starring heart-throbs Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds was tremendously successful with over 25 F.I.L.M. trainees on board and ably managed by Project Coordinator Lulu Stone and our office admin pearl, Sharon Bradshaw.

Trainees also join the program through the Heads of Department & Managers on SPV Productions, having developed a good mentoring & working relationship with them over a number of productions. As we crew up the SPVs, we enroll these trainees on the F.I.L.M. Certified Learning Programme and they continue their productive mentorship & working association with their regular mentors.

• The biggest challenges we address head-on going forward are
  • To micro-manage & intensify hands-on, in-field training & mentorship oversight & implementation
  • In so doing, winning over mentors & ensuring willing & effective mentorship on productions.
  • To take on more film partners in order to ensure more productions for our trainees to be mentored on.

F.I.L.M‘s APPLICATION FOR ACCREDITATION AS TRAINING PROVIDER

In early 2009, F.I.L.M. applied for Accreditation as a Training Provider in respect of NQF Level 4 – Further Education and Training Certificate: Film and Television Production Operations 61450 & NQF Level 5 – National Certificate: Film and Television Production  SAQA ID: 58394

We have received Provisional Accreditation as a Training Provider and have successwfully completed our assessment as competent for F.I.L.M’s first completed Learnership with our Learners, Monde Mkhontwana & Kgotla Appolus at Film Afrika in Line Production and IT and Philane Ndaba in Line Production and Richard Velembo in Film Production Accounting at Moonlighting Films, we will receive full accreditation.

MAPPP-SETA & SERVICES SETA DISCRETIONARY GRANTS

F.I. L.M. was awarded a Mappp-Seta Internship Discretionary Grant in March in 2009 for 5 beneficiaries

• Natalia Voorslag was mentored as payroll clerk with a view to becoming a trainee film production accountant by Shamila Phillips of Moneypenny film accounting. she has worked as trainee payroll assistant film production accountant  
• Wardah Fritzlar-Fredericks mentored as trainee line producer by Vlokkie Gordon of Film Afrika & thereafter graduated to film productions as a fully fledged crew member and assistant production coordinator and production secretary with seasoned sa production coordinator and mentor, Simon Rhodes on Lost Future – Film Afrika & Outcasts – Film Afrika
• Leith Morkel mentored as trainee sound engineer by Stef Albertyn under the Homebrew Films mantle has now entered full-time employment with Stef Albertyn as of 1 April 2010.
• Richard Velembo mentored as trainee payroll clerk – with a long term view of becoming a trainee film production accountant - by Juanita Davids & Marvin Saven at Moonlighting Films
• Ashley Olivier mentored as trainee unit captain by Lester Sweetman as freelance transport and unit manager and Brad Saunders on Film Afrika’s Free Willy – Escape from Pirate’s Cove & Death Race 3 for Moonlighting Films. He recently completed his first position as HOD on Ironwood production Winnie.

In early 2010, F.I.L.M. received a Discretionary Grant Internship for 20 Interns for 6 months and a Discretionary Grant Learnership for 15 Learners for 10 months. F.I.L.M. subsequently received a further Discretionary Grant Internship in September 2010 for 10 additional interns and an Internship from the CFC & Services Seta for 5 interns in September 2010.

Our biggest challenge at the moment is to ensure there are enough productions going down to ensure hands-on mentored experiential learning on bona fide local and international productions.

F.I.L.M, B-BBEE & THE DTI REBATE

• We have been engaging actively with the F.I.L.M. partner companies and the DTI for over 2 years.
• Working together with the F.I.L.M. partner companies we have a measure of clarity in respect of skills development requirements for B-BBEE Score-cards and DTI rebate qualification and relevant dates.
• In light of the fact that Accredited Verification Agents will be assessing SPVs and parent companies in terms of the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice and that a Portfolio of Evidence (POE) will be required to make the assessment after each production is completed F.I.L.M. has taken proactive steps to ensure this is successful and the DTI rebate qualification criteria are met.
• F.I.L.M. &  B-BBEE Specialist Zirk Botha have developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) for SPVs and parent companies in order to ensure they qualify for a minimum level 5 on the B-BBEE Scorecard and that we optimize skills development training, preferential procurement & socio-economic development opportunities.
• The F.I.L.M. training programme supplies the film industry with Mappp-Seta accredited training provision and skills development facilitation at a market-related fee. F.I.L.M. also consults to commercial production companies and major film rentals suppliers in the South African film industry, providing skills development facilitation and ongoing training of employees & unemployed trainees at market-related fees.

F.I.L.M. AS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FACILITATOR

• All F.I.L.M. partners are up-to-date on SDL payments & online submission of WSPs and Training Reports and that figures are appropriate and accurate
• In addition to managing the Workplace Skills Plans of F.I.L.M. partner companies, F.I.L.M. has entered into an agreement with the CPA to manage the WSPs and training requirements of their member companies. In return we will receive 25% of their 50% SDL rebate.
• We have taken on the role of SDF for numerous other commercial and long-form companies for very important strategic & operational reasons:
  • To secure the 50% SDL rebate for them to facilitate skills development & training
  • To make F.I.L.M. more sustainable by spreading the dependency on the core F.I.L.M. partner companies and distributing the financial burden as requested.
  • To provide trainees with more companies & productions where they can train (core companies provided too small a production pool).

MEDIA FILM SERVICES & PANALUX & PANAVISION SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FACILITATION

We have also assisting film industry suppliers with B-BBEE consultancy, meeting their skills development quotas & training. We are currently retained by Media Film Service and are conducting a Certified Learning Programme with them.

We have embarked on a similar undertaking with Panalux & Panavision.

SARS REBATE & PARENT COMPANY LEARNERSHIPS

We have embarked on Learnerships in parent companies with 4 learners to date. The have all submitted their Portfolios of Evidence and we await their final assessment. They are Monde Mkhontwana & Kgotla Appolus with Film Afrika & Richard Velembo & Philane Ndaba with Moonlighting Films.

Could we do more? Of course. We always can. We constantly get told we are not spending enough time with trainees in the field and in partner companies; that we are not giving mentors enough guidance, we need to prepare mentors on productions better etc, but what’s good for one is not good for another.

We have a dynamic team of 3 people. Sharon Bradshaw is the Skills Development Facilitator, Lulu Stone as the Project Coordinator and Field Worker and Seton Bailey as the Project Director.

All feedback is more than welcome. Until next time.

Seton Bailey

F.I.L.M.

T +27 21 461 7950  F +27 21 461 7951

2 The Avalon 123 Hope St Gardens 8001 Cape Town South Africa

www.filmsa.co.za

Thank you again one and all for your support we sincerely believe we are impacting constructively on sustainable transformation in the film industry…

Kind regards

The F.l.L.M. Team

lulu.stone@filmsa.co.za

For more information contact: Lulu Stone lulu.stone@filmsa.co.za or Seton Bailey seton@filmsa.co.za

021 461 7950

Under Lulu Stone’s management in the role of F.I.L.M. Project Coordinator & Field Worker the F.I.L.M. programme  has successfully placed trainees under mentors on quite a number of notable feature films including Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, Safehouse starring Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds, Death Race 2 & 3 together with Moonlighting Films, Themba a Boy Called Hope with Do Productions; Dark Tide with Halle Berry, the Emmy nominated Ridley & Tony Scott production, Gettysburg, History of the World, History of Great Britain, History  of Civilization together with Film Afrika and many many more.

Please contact F.I.L.M. should you wish to contact Lulu at lulu.stone@filmsa.co.za or call her on 021 4617950