To cut the red tape and improve the turnaround time in approving filming location applications, all municipalities in the Garden Route should go digital.
This, Garden Route Film Commission chair Patrick Walton said would result in towns in the region tapping into the R3bn Cape Town film industry, as production companies would not be frustrated to a point of giving up during the application process.
When applying to film in the Garden Route, filmmakers have to manually fill in nine documents, which Walton proposed should be changed to digital format.
This came up at the Garden Route district municipality IDP, budget and performance management system representative forum in George on Thursday.
Walton said he was hoping for a buy-in from other municipalities for the new system.
Mosselbaai and the Garden Route municipality are already funding the commission.
Walton said: “We started working with municipalities because we identified that a lot of municipalities had been bundling film and events and we tried to separate the two because this has been inhibiting the permits and processing.”
The online system, which should be up and running in three weeks, will regulate filming, especially in environmentally sensitive areas, among other things.
The policy also compels filmmakers to use a minimum of 15% of their crew from the area in which they are shooting.
Walton said the policy was a culmination of best practices from the Cape Town and Durban film office, Johannesburg municipal policy and internal filming policies.
“The idea is not to force municipalities but our view is that if we produce this document, it’s going to create an opportunity to look at their own policies and compare to see if they are covered in terms of public indemnity, which is a huge factor ...
“If something happens on your streets, roads, public spaces and you don’t have a policy in place and there hasn’t been a correct indemnity in place, you could be liable.
“Presently, in the Garden Route, there is an episode of Fear Factor SA shooting, Temptation Island is shooting, and Bachelor SA has just been shot.
“I know that many municipalities are completely unaware that this filming is taking place,” Walton said, blaming the “tedious permit system” and the lack of a policy in place.
He said there were more than 290 shooting locations in the Garden Route.
Meanwhile, Garden Route district municipality planning and economic development services executive manager Lusanda Menze encouraged other municipalities to use Walton’s services.
Menze said the commission’s work would be discussed at the municipal managers forum and the district co-ordinating forum soon.
“It [going digital] will boost our tourism and also will sell our region to other areas,” he said.
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