Paul Black is managing director of Edmonton-based Great North Releasing.

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Edmonton: The first Southern African Film and Television Festival was held in Capetown Nov. 13-17. Great North had the opportunity to participate both as a distributor in the market and also as a producer, sitting on a panel discussing the North American market and meeting with a number of producers in coproduction forums.

The market was attended by more than 750 registrants over the five days. These included broadcasters, producers, distributors and craftspeople. It was very much like our Banff Television Festival in that regard. The market had over 40 booths where distributors, producers and broadcasters displayed their product. There was also a craft section for production and servicing companies.

Panels covered topics ranging from selling into North America and coproduction possibilities in Europe to making inexpensive films and regional productions.

Canada was well represented ­ Michelle Gray came down from the cbc office in London, Emmanuelle Petry of Nelvana’s Paris office attended, and Atlantis in Amsterdam was represented by Jennifer Tucker. There were also a few Canadian producers now living in South Africa who dropped by to say hello.

The broadcasting scene in Southern Africa is going through a reorganization. sabc has recently restructured its channels and producers and viewers alike are trying to adjust to the new schedules and programming.

M-Net, the satellite service, has over one million subscribers and is going strong. It broadcasts five channels including Kids tv and Super Sport. Other satellite delivery systems are also becoming available such as Direct tv and are making a strong push for subscribers. A new licence will be given out in the summer of 1997 and its ownership will likely have a strong foreign component.

There is a severe shortage of broadcast dollars for licence fees in the region. A very large part of the problem is the lack of subscription fees that sabc receives due to delinquent accounts. It seems that half of the viewers don’t pay for their service, resulting in lost revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars. This figure rises monthly and apparently ‘nothing can be done.’ M-Net, on the other hand, has no trouble whats’ever collecting its fees. The result is that there is very little money available for licence fees from sabc, even to its own production community.

On a panel of African broadcasters, each gave an overview of their company and bemoaned the fact that while they all try to support the local producers and commission programs from them, it is exceedingly difficult to raise revenues. This is partly due to the number of languages they broadcast in (11 on sabc 2, for example), but more than that, M-Net buys up all the best programs. Not only d’es it buy more than it needs, but it seems to be able to acquire all media rights.

Something needs to be done very soon.

Suggestions were made to share programming, allow second-window broadcasts to the local broadcasters and that perhaps distributors should only license satellite rights to M-Net. All of the African broadcasters require advertising revenues to function, and with M-Net’s success, they are on a short, slippery slope.

The production community is large, vibrant and experienced. The commercial business is strong, features are shot here regularly, and two series ­ Egoli from South Africa and Sinbad from Canada’s Atlantis ­ are both located here.

The business is split between Johannesburg and Capetown. Jo’burg is the stronger of the two, but Capetown is gaining ground quickly. A new group, the Independent Producer’s Organization, was inaugurated during the week and had a splashy function under African skies (I couldn’t resist). I was very impressed with their ideas and their drive to succeed.

We were constantly on the go with meetings and discussions and found ourselves as busy as we are in Cannes. We picked up some programs for our catalogues and I expect more to follow over the next few months.

A lot of time was spent discussing coproduction. For many reasons there is little support from sabc for coproduction. While producers have attempted a few in the past on their own, they are extremely frustrated by the seeming lack of support and there is an element of distrust between the two parties.

Of course the lack of money is a problem for sabc, but on another panel I had a strong sense that they seem to be just trying to cope and get through the day. Producers have concerns that M-Net puts very little money into local production ­ but it sure knows how to acquire.

Canada and South Africa are about to sign a coproduction treaty and a lot of time was spent discussing these possibilities. There are many, many stories in South Africa. We hope to capitalize on a few of them.

One of the producers’ problems is their total lack of knowledge of the international marketplace. This extends into the film and television sectors. Due to the manner in which they were told to do business in the past and their isolation from the rest of the world, they have little knowledge of the international business of distribution and production. They do not want to only service foreign productions but would also like to take ownership of their work. It is a major concern and one which the ipo will try to rectify right away.

This market was of enormous help to the community. It was a big success for South Africa and Great North. Sales will continue to be difficult and for small licence fees, but there is an opportunity for Canadian producers. It was very apparent to all that our governments and broadcasters recognize the importance of supporting our producers and keeping Canada’s stories on television screens and in film theaters around the world.

Many people at the market expressed their congratulations on our foresight and appreciation of our own unique culture. Many were envious. Southern Africa, I believe, represents an opportunity for Canadian companies looking for new ideas, unusual stories, fabulous locations and qualified partners.

It’s worth a look.