Independent film producer and director David Golden and production company Reel Edge Studios endeavour to raise the bar of South African television production with new series The Message. Principal photography is set to start on Thursday 6 June 2013.
Set in Johannesburg, The Message centres on an ultra-elite team of Special Forces Operators who return from a high-risk mission in the Congo, only to find an even greater threat waiting for them back at home.
A video, recovered by the National Intelligence Agency, depicts a masked man threatening domestic terrorism on a nuclear scale. All evidence confirms that the threat is real. The team follows a trail of blood and bodies, a kidnapped scientist and a captured terrorist.
Coming face to face with their enemies and learning that their adversaries are just as skilled as they are; the action ensues into a chaotic running gun battle through the streets of Hillbrow.
Award-winning director and producer Golden is writing, producing and directing the pilot episode of The Message and will shoot the pilot over three weeks in and around Johannesburg with producing partner Elena Ioulianou.
With major international interest in the project, Golden says: “American television is in a Golden Age and I feel that in South Africa, a place of enormous talent with regards to cast, crew and suppliers, it is time to join that golden age. The Message will thrill and entertain on an unparalleled level in South Africa.”
The Message stars Carl Beukes, Garth Breytenbach, Arno Carstens, Vuyo Dabula, Pallance Dladla, Tom Fairfoot, Greg Melville-Smith and Thandi Puren.
The premiere date of the pilot is Friday 1 November 2013.
