New funding
and initiative launched
to support the skills pool, development and sustainability of the screen
sector
Johannesburg, 10th March
2021: A number of donors, including Sony Pictures Entertainment (through
the Sony Global Relief Fund), the National Arts Council and the National Film and Video Foundation, have contributed towards a
support fund established to provide direct financial relief for screen sector
workers whose livelihoods are affected by the ongoing
Covid-19 lockdown.
The Fund, called the South African Screen Sector Support Fund (SASSSF), will
specifically address the needs of
individuals, SMMEs and organisations affected by the lockdown – which has had a
significant impact on audio-visual content production in South Africa
and on the many companies whose goods and
services support that production activity.
The Screen Sector Support
Fund is the initial project
of the newly established South African
Screen Sector Support
Initiative (SASSSI), which has been set up jointly by The
South African Screen Federation
(SASFED) and the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO), with
programme and technical support from Gray
Global Advisors LLC (GGA). SASSSI’s aim is to preserve screen sector jobs and the sector’s
ecosystem in the wake of the pandemic
and, in the medium term, to work with key stakeholders to support and encourage inward
and local investment, the creation of sustainable jobs, skills development and transformation to deliver significant growth.
The screen sector encompasses all activity related to
the production and distribution of film, television, visual and
special effects, animation, advertising, and short-form and online video content. It covers everyone involved in
creating, performing in, producing and distributing work intended to be viewed on screen. Eligibility criteria are
published as different tranches of funding become
available – and it is SASSSI’s hope that individuals and groups from as many
areas of the sector as possible can be helped
this year.
“SASSSI’s immediate objective is to harness collective
action in order to support the screen sector
community adversely affected by the lockdown,” says SASFED Executive Officer
and Lobbyist, Unathi Malunga. “The
intention is also to secure the screen sector so that it can be revived, revitalised and developed once the COVID-19 crisis has passed.
Sony Pictures
Entertainment is contributing USD250k to the Screen Sector Support Fund (around R3.8m) through the Sony Global Relief
Fund, the National Arts Council is
contributing R570k, and the National Film and Video Foundation is contributing R100k – all to help to provide
much-needed relief to South
Africa's screen sector. This new SASSSI-established Fund will sit alongside the
Covid- 19 Film and Television Relief
Fund that was established in collaboration with Netflix last year and funded with an initial USD500k donation
from Netflix. Those initial Netflix funds have been admin- istered
and disbursed already to over 550 below-the-line workers
in the creative industry.
“We are so grateful for this extraordinary level of support for the local screen sector,”
says the IPO’s Trish
Downing. “It’s a testament to international producers’ confidence in our local
sector and will go a long
way towards preserving its value at this
critical time.”
As with the Netflix-funded Covid-19 Film and Television Relief Fund, all applications to and disbursements from the new SASSSI Screen Sector
Support Fund will
be administered by Tshikululu Social Investments, the country’s oldest and leading
social investment management company. As South Africa’s leading social investment
fund manager and adviser, Tshikululu has vast experience in providing end-to-end fund management solutions, a service
offering particularly relevant over the past year.
“In order to assist those hardest hit by the pandemic within the film and entertainment industry, Tshikululu Social Investments has been appointed to
manage the fund,” says Sibonakaliso Mavuka,
Manager: Special Projects at Tshikululu. “The final decision regarding fund
allocation will be conducted by
independent selection committees nominated by representatives of the local screen sector and Gray Global Advisors – and confirmed with the key donors.”
In addition to inviting new applications for some key
categories, a portion of the funds will be used also to assist
qualifying Industry Organisations that represent those
who work in the screen sector.
The window for applications for grants
from the Fund from individual applicants will open at 09:00
on Thursday, 11th March 2021 and
will close at Midnight on Friday, 19th March 2021.
For applications for
grants from Industry Associations/Organisations, the window opens also at 09:00 on Thursday
11th March and the deadline is Midnight on Monday, 5th April 2021.
Specific details of eligibility criteria
and application forms are available
on SASSSI’s web site www.sssi.co.za.
“Through this important
initiative, we wish to help support the skills pool and supporting ecosys- tem that makes up the South African
screen sector - which, apart from Hollywood, is the oldest in the world.” says Justin Gray of GGA. “The
sector, which provides a wide range of services to both local and international companies – and brings important foreign investment into the country
– is a significant contributor to the economy
and job creation. It’s vital that we preserve it and support
its further development to position it as a key component of South Africa’s
post-COVID recovery.”
You can help too!
In order to reach and to help as many individuals and
sector-focused organisations as possible, SASSSI is calling for contributions to the
Sector Support Fund from individuals, companies and others committed to securing the sustainability of the country’s
screen sector. The initial focus on relief
for screen sector workers and organisations will continue as long as
funding donated for that purpose is
available. In addition, SASSSI will utilise any funding designated specifically
for recovery and development programmes - with a focus on transformation, workforce
and supplier development and on the infrastructure that will
help to drive the sector
forward.
Individuals, companies or organisations interested in contributing to the Screen Sector
Support Fund are invited to visit the SASSSI
website (www.sssi.co.za) or to
contact info@sssi.co.za for further information.
General Media Enquiries: Melissa Douman
| media@onpointpr.co.za
Fatima Ouanssaidi | media@onpointpr.co.za
Application Enquiries: www.sssi.co.za
SASFED Enquiries: Unathi Malunga
| unathi@sssi.co.za
IPO Enquiries: Trish Downing |
trish@ipo.org.za
Gray Global Advisors
Enquiries: Justin Gray | media@grayglobaladvisors.com
Marianne Grant |media@grayglobaladvisors.com
About SASFED:
The South African Screen Federation (SASFED) is the
national federation of independent film, television and audio-visual content
industry organisations in South Africa.
Founded in 2006 in response to Government’s call for the
independent production sector to speak with
a united voice, SASFED represents a broad spectrum of industry players - via
affiliates - representing several
thousand individual members
and hundreds of member companies
employing up to a hundred
staff.
Full SASFED member organisations currently include: A.S.A.
(Animation South Africa), The Documentary
Filmmakers’ Association (DFA), The Independent Black Filmmakers Collective
(IBFC), The Independent Producers’
Organisation (IPO), The Personal Managers' Association (PMA), South African Guild of Actors (SAGA), South
African Guild of Editors (SAGE), Sisters Working In Film And Television (SWIFT) and Writers’
Guild of South
Africa (WGSA).
SASFED therefore proudly
represents the collective core of South Africa’s creative
sector, for the independent film and television industries.
About IPO:
The Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) is a national
organisation which represents, protects and promotes
interests and needs of independent South African film, television and digital
content producers.
It strives towards creating an empowered, transformed
and representative industry by partnering with
key stakeholders towards the advancement of a sustainable and enabling
environment for producers and,
recognizing their role and responsibilities as the engine drivers of work
throughout the industry
value chain, creating opportunities for workers across
and suppliers to the sector.
The IPO aims to maximise the industry's potential to
contribute to the country's economy, and to preserve
and promote South Arica's national identity and stories. It currently
represents over 70% of working producers in South Africa
About Gray Global Advisors
LLC:
Gray Global Advisors LLC (GGA) is a business advisory firm with interests and associations within
the United States, Africa,
Asia and Europe. GGA was originally founded by Justin Gray and the late for- mer Congressman William
(Bill) H. Gray (who, while Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget
Committee, co-authored the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986).
GGA’s Media Practice advises and partners with major film studios,
other media entities, govern- ments
and non-governmental organizations on issues surrounding the development and
sustaina- bility of Screen Sector
(film, television, games,
advertising, short and long form online video,
anima- tion, broadcasting
etc.) economies.
