The Cape Town bug has certainly bitten the cast and crew of ‘Homeland’. Filming of season four of this popular television series was recently completed in the Mother City and it is hoped that Cape Town will once again be home to season five.
The city is designed for filming and remains a firm favourite for the film industry with more than 6 700 permits being issued since the beginning of the year for a range of feature films, television productions and photo shoots, among other categories
A total of 10 309 bookings have been made since January 2014, with 6 741 permits being issued for various shoots. The bulk of the permits were issued for micro shoots (2 596), followed by commercials (1 656) and stills photography (1 413).
A number of local and international movies and series are on the cards in addition to ‘Homeland’ (Season 4), including ‘Stone Cold Jane Austen’, ‘Eye in the Sky’ and ‘The Curse of Hendon’ – all from the USA; ‘Fear Factor’ India; and ‘Endless River’, ‘Ace Hunter’ and ‘Submarine’, which are local productions.
The streets of Cape Town are also popular for car commercials, with the most recent being shoots for Volkswagen and Toyota. Currently, commercials for Opel, Renault, BMW and Kia are being shot around the city, as well as numerous magazine and fashion photo-shoots taking place mainly for the northern hemisphere summer ranges.
‘This booming industry ensures valuable skills transfer from international crews to our local crews, which is critical to the future sustainability of the industry. The exponential growth in this lucrative industry has led the City to explore other options to expand the current capacity for the film industry.
‘Although some shoots can be a bit disruptive, we can safely say the majority of Capetonians are quite star-struck with the number of famous faces being sighted around the city. The impact of this industry on the local economy makes the temporary disruption worthwhile. Added to that are some of our residents who get the chance to be extras in the films and quite possibly use this as a launch-pad to Hollywood or Bollywood,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
The local film industry contributes approximately R5 billion to the economy and has over the past three years created more than 35 000 jobs. It is a labour intensive industry and therefore has a long value chain. The film production sector also adds value to a wide range of other sectors in the local economy through the creation of demand for products and services. The industry showcases Cape Town, its diversity of locations, technical film capacity and talent, and also provides value-added marketing and investment collateral for the city.
Cape Town’s downtown streets are commonly used as production locations because they work as many different cities in the world, while iconic buildings are always in demand as they have character. The iconic Artscape Theatre was turned into the American embassy for the series ‘Homeland’. One of the most popular sites has been the cut-off freeway on the foreshore, which is the biggest unintended boon to the film industry.
‘US Embassy’ at Artscape
‘The film industry plays a vital role in the economy of the Western Cape. It stimulates growth, generates substantial employment, and brings in valuable foreign exchange. It is also one of the best forms of promotion for our city,’ added Councillor Bloor.
