FILM NEWS

Toronto deals for SA co

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:53

Jane Lipman

Producer / director Jane Thandi Lipman of Johannesburg-based Current Affairs Films secured deals for three projects in development and pre-production at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, including one with Canadian company White Pine Pictures for the drama series / feature film, The Great Karoo.

“Current Affairs optioned the novel of the same name by Fred Stenson about the Canadian Mounted Rifle brigade’s involvement in the South African war of 1899,” explains Lipman. “It’s a rich and diverse story about men, war and horses. Peter Raymont, producer of the award-winning documentary Prosecutor, is my Canadian partner on the project.”

Lipman also signed a co-production deal with Toronto-based Mo-D Productions for the 3D project, Animal Lingo. This 6x30-minute series focuses on how animals communicate with each other on key issues such as sex, death and birth. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with an undisclosed international broadcaster which is putting up 25% of the budget.

“I’m also in negotiations about a series on high end jewelry called Masters of Dreams with my Canadian partner Barbara Barde,” continues Lipman. “It’s an inside look at jewelry and jewelry design. Our French partner on the project is Eric Ellena. The French industry organisation CNC in Paris has committed to the project and there is great interest among European broadcasters.

“So far we have a number of big jewelers on board such as Chopard and Stephen Webster, who designs jewelry for Madonna and is with the company that works on England’s Crown Jewels. Negotiations with other high profile jewelers in Italy, Brazil, South Africa and the US are underway. A distributor in London is very keen on the project. At the moment Master of Dreams is envisaged as a four-part one-hour series.”
While at Toronto Lipman also had meetings about a feature film project in the early stages of development.

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – November 2011 (view here)

« go back