Cape Town film industry grows with fifth studio

Cape Town Film Studios, the toast of the developing film world, is about to open its fifth and best studio and is poised to host more big-budget movies featuring Hollywood stars.

From Charlize Theron to Stephen Fry, big names have flocked to the studios alongside the N2 in Faure for big-budget shoots.

The first custom-built film studio in Africa will add a fifth sound stage to its arsenal on January 25, with the first production set to begin shooting on February 1.

CEO Nico Dekker said even without the new studio, the Cape Town facility had been highly regarded.

“We’ve had visitors from Sony, Universal, Disney and Paramount and they said they’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.

The studios launched amid the global financial crisis in 2008.

“People couldn’t believe this was possible in Africa,” said Dekker.

“Now we’re all concerned about the rand plummeting. Imports are more expensive, but on pure affordability it makes us more attractive to overseas investors.

“Perception of our country has been changed to creative, innovative and getting things done fast.”

Showing off the new studio, Dekker moved the 20-ton soundproof door that can divide it in half. The panelled divider takes 10 minutes to move.

The design for the main entrance to studio five is a South African innovation, with Dekker instrumental in the design and concept of all the studios.

The door features sensors for safety and a mechanism to lock the 2.5-ton door in place and slide it back up with the use of a single motor, shielding the filming space from the wind. It also features silent air-conditioning.

“You can shoot while the aircon is running. That’s a challenge in a big studio like this. Normally you can’t do that.”

In five years, 40000 people have been employed by productions hosted by the studios, and the demand keeps growing.

Dekker said he had had to turn away 35 productions because they could not keep up with the number of requests.

“If I had my way, I’d build 18 more studios, and they would have all been filled,” he said.