While the government considers more equitable ways of aiding the film industry, Justin Pearce reports that a single producer scooped more than half the subsidy money in recent years
Films, including Oh Schucks, it’s Schuster and There’s a Zulu on my Stoep, earned more than R20-million in government subsidies for film production giant, Toron, over a period of four years.
A single production, Sweet and Short, brought Toron more than R5- million in terms of a scheme which paid subsidies to films in proportion to their box-office takings.
Auditor-general Henri Kleuver recently slammed the previous government’s subsidy scheme for allowing such a large amount of taxpayers’ money to be paid out to a single player in the industry.
Kleuver also added his voice to the widespread criticism that the subsidy scheme, administered by the Department of Home Affairs, took no account of creative merit in awarding subsidies to films.
Of the 25 subsidies, totalling nearly R40-million and awarded between 1990 and 1994, 11 went to films produced by Toron Screen Corporation and its subsidiaries, Koukus Productions, Koukus Troika and Independent Film Centre.
In the two years between March 1990 and March 1992, Toron was responsible for eight of the 11 films which received subsidies.
South Africa’s film subsidy scheme was founded in 1957 in an attempt to stimulate the local industry. While the formula has varied over the years, since 1989 films earning over R200 000 at local box offices have received a subsidy proportionate to ticket sales. Until 1993, producers received 70 cents of subsidy money for each rand earned at the box office — this increased to 75 cents in the rand, but at the same time a ceiling level of R2-million was imposed.
Carl Fisher, managing director of Toron’s Independent Television Centre, emphasised the subsidy money was not a handout, but had only been given after capital investment in the films, which had then turned a profit. The total budget for Toron’s subsidised films was almost R50-million.
Toron is owned by the Interleisure group, which also controls Ster- Kinekor and Computicket. Interleisure is controlled by Satbel Investment Holdings, which in turn is owned half by Servgro, a company in the Sanlam stable, and half by Kersaf which is in the Old Mutual stable. Kersaf — with a “Ker” as in Sol Kerzner — also owns the Sun International hotel group.
Government involvement in the film industry is now under review. There is a wide consensus that some kind of government involvement is necessary, as in France, Canada and Australia, to nurture a local industry in the face of dominance by the Hollywood giant.
The new Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology has taken over responsibility for the industry, and has drafted a separate white paper on film which is now awaiting ministerial approval.
Future government policy is likely to include the establishment of a film foundation similar to those which exist in countries such as France and Australia, which will look after the interests of the local film industry.
The foundation will take a holistic look at the film industry, combining a developmental and educational role with a financial one. A film bank is likely to be established as a channel for loans, subsidies and financial incentives to the industry, though various different financial models are still under consideration.
The foundation will offer incentives for foreign filmmakers using South Africa as a location to co-operate with the South African industry as far as possible, in order to develop local skills. It will also facilitate co-operation between the film industry and television which will be necessary for the industry to become self-sustaining.
While the previous subsidy scheme was geared to feature-length movies which could be guaranteed to turn a profit at the box office, the foundation’s brief will be to provide incentives for a much wider range of films. Films of artistic merit, short films, educational films will be encouraged by the new scheme, as well as work by new filmmakers and films made outside of the industry’s present Gauteng heartland.
While the old scheme provided subsidy money only after the film had been made and marketed, the film foundation will probably have money available before production, to fund the development of scripts, for example.
The foundation is also likely to negotiate the distribution of South African films, which are presently neglected by a system geared to the distribution of feature-length American films, with only the exclusive “art circuit” providing an alternative.