Eight young filmmakers recently received certificates by the
eThekwini Municipality Deputy Mayor Cllr Nomvuzo Shabalala for their participation
in the inaugural Durban Film Office SCOUT programme.
The five female and three male filmmakers who participated
in the Durban Film Office’s (DFO) location scouting and management programme
which forms part of the DFO’s skills development initiative to support and grow
the City’s film economy, were Acquilla Malinga, Lindo Ndlovu, Siphamandla
Ngcobo, Sindi Mngadi, Thabisile Sincadu, Msizi Mlaba and Nick Gumede.
“The programme aims to increase the number of locations
scouts in Durban by providing support dedicated to local development and by
doing so, effect transformation in location management in the Durban industry,”
says Cllr Shabalala. “As we work towards developing Durban as a film city, with
a lively and robust industry that can contribute to the growth of the economy,
it is vital that we continue to upskill and train young people who can provide
the requisite skills needed to support this sector."
Toni Monty, Head of the DFO, adds: “Location scouting and
management plays an important role in the film and commercial production value
chain. One of the most critical members of a modern day film-making crew, is
the location scout. This is an individual who goes out in the field and looks
for places and locations that best resemble or suit the aesthetic needs of the
scriptwriters, producers and directors. Location scouts are vital in the
pre-production stages of a film, as they are responsible for acquiring the
right kind of information about the sites and locations that are necessary to
shoot a film or television commercial, and therefore also play a key role in
attracting productions to a region.”
SCOUT is an intensive programme that has been developed by
the Durban Film Office to provide and professionally develop local location
scouts and expose young and previously disadvantaged filmmakers to the business
of location scouting. The aim is that they will eventually move into full
location management and production services.
The programme provided an opportunity for these young people
to be trained by experienced professional Locations Manager, Neville Botha from
Unit Co-Op. The trainees were selected after a public call-out workshop was
held at the Botanic Gardens and were enrolled in a one-week theory class and two
weeks of practical classes. The training comprised practical and theoretic
classes on location management, as well as formal and accredited NOSA training
in Basic Fire Awareness, Introduction to Occupational Safety and Health, and
Safety, Health and Environment Representative Training.
Siphamandla Ngcobo (27) from Ntuzuma said, “The SCOUT
training changed the way I view locations and exposed me to the details of
things like architecture, parks and roads. It has equipped me with skills I
need to extract locations from a script and how to reference the picture for a
film director.”
Msizi Mlaba (22), an AFDA student from Avoca Hills said: “I
found the programme very insightful in terms of the importance of scouting in
the context of film-making and pre-production”. Sindisiwe Mngadi (25), from
Musgrave, who is a founder of Loper Media, said that she found it fascinating
to see Durban from a location scouting point of view.
Some of the trainees have already begun working as location
scouts including Thabisile Sincadu who says, “The experience has been very
good, I learned a lot in a short period of time and it has brought many
opportunities for me as a result. I have been called for six location jobs since
doing the training.”
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