FILM NEWS

SA company shoots major US film

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:18

Moonlighting Films’ Genevieve Hofmeyr was the supervising producer on Machine Gun Preacher, an action biopic about an American felon turned Christian child activist stationed in Sudan. Released late last year the film, set in the US and Sudan, was predominantly shot in Johannesburg with the American scenes shot in Detroit, Michigan.

“Since it was not possible to shoot in southern Sudan the filmmakers had to find an alternative filming location,” says Hofmeyr. “Approximately 60% of the script was shot in Johannesburg using an entirely South African crew aside from a few key positions such as director, producer, DP, 1st AD, production designer and costume designer.”

Machine Gun Preacher, directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace) and starring Gerard Butler (300), was shot mainly on 16mm Arriflex anamorphic cameras, while using 35mm Arri Cameras for the VFX shots.

Various South African companies also contributed on the production with an estimated budget of US$30m (R241m). Panavision, Panalux and Dragon Grips were the primary rental companies involved, with Bullseye responsible for the set construction.

According to construction manager Clive Pollick of Bullseye, the set included a replica of the orphanage in Sudan. “Marc Forster and designer Phil Messina wanted us to match a real orphanage in the Sudan which has quite a rough brick look and was built using simple tools in the bush.

“The final version of the orphanage took about eight weeks to complete with six of these on site. We had a very experienced local crew of 65 people.”

By Simba Nyamukachi

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