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Business Insider SA reports that SA’s film and video industry has been devasted by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, while relief measures offered by government have been inadequate to stave off major job losses.
According to a report by the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), a subsidiary of the department of sport, arts, and culture, SA’s film industry contributed – both directly and indirectly – R7.2 billion to the country’s economy in 2019. This contribution dropped to just R2.9 billion over the past year due to the global pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, approximately 31,444 full-time equivalent jobs were sustained by the film industry. This dropped by around 60% over the past year to just 12,775 jobs sustained in 2020/21. But despite serious job losses – and annualised income derived by employees dropping from R218 million in 2019/20 to R88 million in 2020/21 – government has done little to assist the embattled film industry. Only 17% of respondents indicated that they had not applied for any of the public or private film support measures offered. Yet only 33% of applicants received some form of financial support over the past year. When asked whether the film industry has been afforded adequate support measures, 75% of respondents said no. Respondents cited flawed and convoluted application processes as a major stumbling block. But the tide is slowly turning, helped along by public-private collaborations, like the recently signed partnership between Netflix and the NFVF to fund local filmmakers.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard compiled by Luke Daniel at Business Insider SA
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