Cape Town is a globally renowned film production hub and draws international attention for our diverse landscapes and very skilled crews. The city has hosted major Hollywood productions, from Mad Max: Fury Road to Tomb Raider, alongside numerous commercials and series — with a reputation that offers cost-effective yet high-quality production services, making our country a go-to destination for filmmakers worldwide. 

This is set to be enhanced tenfold, as the The City of Cape Town have announced the approval of a lease agreement for a property in Paardevlei, Somerset West, paving the way for the construction of a R900 million film set. Cape Point Film Studios (CPFS) will lead the development, transforming existing buildings into a state-of-the-art film studio meeting international standards; think, a Hollywood-level film studio that unleashes even further possibilities for South Africa’s film industry. Cape Point Film Studios is itself  “the first world-class, custom-built film studio complex in Africa, and has been rated as the best film studio complex of its kind, in the developing world by international production executives,”  so them leading the charge is a huge milestone for the development of our creative economy, with some of the plans for Paardevlei including a specialised sea and underwater sound stage production precinct.

Photographed by Cottonbro, via Pexels

CPFS director Henry F Herring disclosed in a statement that, “we thank the City of Cape Town for taking this journey with us because, as practitioners in the film industry, we know first-hand how fast the content and film-making industry is developing. The need for more strategic interventions, such as world-class sound stages to service this growth, not only helps filmmakers tell their stories, but also contributes substantially to the sustainable expansion of the film sector with its 1:4 multiplier effect to its value chain, all the while creating more jobs.”

South Africa’s creative economy has been a significant contributor to our overall GDP for many years, despite the overall lack of state incentivisation or support. This development is a clear step in the right direction, as a recognition of the globally-respected industry that those in South African film have developed over the last few decades. We can’t wait to see the ways this development assists in growing our local film scene, too — we’re very ready for some South African made blockbusters.

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