An ongoing initiative at DISCOP Africa has been to foster an environment where producers from across the continent can meet and enhance their network of potential collaborators.
This year’s market featured a Country Zone where industry representatives from Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, The Caribbean Islands, Ghana and Cameroon were hosted. According to event director Patrick Zuchowicki, the aim of this was to give participants more of a presence in the industry, to encourage engagement with each other and for producers from those countries to attend and have a base at DISCOP Africa.
Collaboration between South Africa and Kenya was brought to the fore at the content market, as delegations from the two countries further cemented plans for an official partnership in the future. Following on a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed in 2013 between the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) and the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), KFC film industry development manager Timothy Owase hopes the countries will have an official co-production treaty in place by the end of 2016. “When you look at what Kenya and South Africa have to offer, and you combine the two, the benefits are greater than if each country continues to work individually,” he commented.
According to Owase the Kenyan government has in the last financial year approved a number of film incentives, which will make the country an attractive filming destination for South African producers. On the other hand, he adds that Kenyan filmmakers could benefit from the experience which South African producers have to offer. “When you look at developed countries, there are quite a number of co-production treaties signed. When we look at Africa, there is no single country which has signed a co-production treaty with another. When we join hands we are able to deliver more and achieve more than if we remain working in our own silos as countries,” says Owase.
Okey Nwosu, CEO of Nigeria-based Key Media, attended DISCOP Africa as part of the Nigerian delegation and stated that the country is also working towards having an agreement and a treaty in place with South Africa.
Nwosu added that DISCOP Africa had provided a number of promising opportunities to collaborate with other African producers: “I had a meeting with a South African producer yesterday, and we have planned to continue our discussions around the possibility of a co-production between my company and his.”
