The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup will be held in South Africa from 11 June-11 July 2010 and broadcast to an estimated cumulative audience of 26 billion in 214 countries and territories.

As the International Broadcast Centre for the World Cup, Johannesburg’s MTN Expo Centre is expected to host 3 000 broadcast journalists from around the world; the V&A Waterfront will be hosting a World Media and Legacy Centre; and the BBC will be based in a multi-million studio on the rooftop of Somerset Hospital in Cape Town, broadcasting panoramic views of Table Mountain and Robben Island around the world.

While South Africa hopes the World Cup will generate unprecedented interest in the country, our film industry has mixed opinions on whether the sector will benefit.

Certainly, not many South Africans will be filming the actual games, as Swiss-based Host Broadcast Services (HBS) has exclusive rights as the dedicated host broadcast company for the tournament until 2014.

As the official national broadcaster, The South African Broadcasting Corporation will have some freedom to shoot additional footage at the stadiums, while non rights holders will only be able to film outside.

Foreign feature films shoot here with just one or two foreign crew but the incoming television teams rarely feature even one or two locals.

To their disappointment, South Africa’s service industry has discovered that, for the most part, they’re too advanced for the needs of the incoming journalists, who’re more interested in hiring fixers.

Local crew and suppliers seem more likely to benefit than the production companies themselves.

To add injury to insult, service producers are also concerned about how the World Cup will impact logistically. As the Cape Film Commission’s Debbie Bentham admitted in last month’s issue, “Unfortunately FIFA events do take precedence.”

The cities are expected to focus almost all their available resources on making sure the World Cup is a success, and film may become a victim of this tunnel vision. 

While local producers were rescheduling projects requiring cityscapes to before or after the World Cup and booking their flights as far in advance as possible, the World Cup may not be as big of a disruption as initially expected.

The original predictions were that Cape Town would attract as many tourists for the World Cup as normally come during peak season in December, but foreign ticket sales have been disappointing, with FIFA releasing hotel rooms and airlines even introducing World Cup specials.

As Chris Roland of ZenHQ says, “Now that the World Cup is just around the corner, the realities have finally come into focus. We now see costs dropping, such as accommodation, and there is plenty of availability, although the top hotels seem to be holding out for the higher prices on luxury suites. We’re prepping a film that is shooting in Cape Town right through the World Cup, and not sweating it. The reality is there are only a handful of games in Cape Town in a concentrated area. Call times are much earlier than games, so we’re not worried about traffic jams delaying production, although we have booked locations and accommodation away from the stadium area. The only obstacle we see is the increased number of productions during this period – it seems everyone has scheduled shoots to catch a game or two!”

Similarly, Lance Samuels of Out of Africa isn’t worried: “Barring flights and accommodation in the very popular areas, I think it’ll be fine to shoot – just avoid the stadiums and the inner cities.” In either case, the disruptions will have little impact for the Cape Town industry, where as Moonlighting’s Philip Key points out, “The World Cup could not be at a better time - when normal film activity is at an annual low due the winter months.”

However, it may still hit Joburg harder, as this is their peak season.

A number of shoots have already been confirmed for the period of the World Cup: Out of Africa will be shooting The Runaway for Company Pictures and Sky as well as starting the sixth season of ITV’s Wild at Heart, while Film Afrika is shooting Outcasts for BBC and Kudos, using Stellenbosch as their home base and building warehouses in Kuilsrivier.

The World Cup has already had some positive spinoffs. There has been a flood of soccer-themed films and documentaries, including Bruce Beresford’s Zebras, Stefanie Sycholt’s Themba, Junaid Ahmed’s More Than Just a Game, the UK-Rwanda-SA co-production Africa United, and Schucks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa 2010, starring local comic icon Leon Schuster.

There’s also been an appetite for shorter inserts on South Africa’s culture and history. As DO’s Marlow de Mardt says, “The timing of the World Cup is opportune for the imminent release of the feature Themba and we’re hopeful that our co-production Zebras will also benefit from the worldwide interest in stories linking South Africa with soccer.”

Similarly, there’s been a rush of soccer-related commercials, like McKenzie Rudolphe’s Orange and VISA commercials, Conduit’s adidas spots, Gatehouse’ Pepsi ads, AFS’ ESPN shoots, and Greg Gray’s Guinness Scout ad.

“December and January were busier than usual because of FIFA sponsors wishing to use the newly completed stadia in their 2010 campaigns,” says The Gauteng Film Commission’s Jacques Stoltz.

However, access to the stadiums has not been without issues. As AFS’ Brin Kushner says, “We had a confirmed shoot, where we were told it’s ‘business as usual’ and wouldn’t be a problem to shoot at Cape Town Stadium before 16 May 2010, but we have just been denied access to shoot an AL Jazeera Channel World Cup promo in the stadium mid-April, just as my clients were about to get on a plane.”

Jacques adds that one indirect benefit is South Africa’s massive investment in 2010-related infrastructure, which has added a number of world-class locations to the country’s locations portfolio, from new airport terminals and rail stations to stadia and hotels.

The World Cup has also sped up digital migration, improved the tourism infrastructure and increased broadband rollout.

Ultimately, the biggest benefit will come from an increased awareness of South Africa. As Phillip says, “Although we as South Africans presume a large part of the world’s population know who we are and what we do, not many do.  I hosted the CEO of a major content provider from the States who expressed amazement at the number of high rise buildings with modern architectural forms.  He said he was completely unaware of the levels of sophistication and efficiency in our country.  Being exposed through 2010 will only serve to inform people better and make the country more accessible. “

2006 was the first World Cup to be broadcast entirely in high definition, but 2010 will be remembered for enabling viewers to watch all the games on their mobile phones, as well for being broadcast in stereoscopic 3D, although it seems unlikely that either of these will be available to South Africans.
Kevin Kriedemann