SA loses out on Hollywood blockbuster

Actress Kristen Stewart departs after the show of fashion designer Zuhair Murad's Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2013-2014 collection presented Thursday, July 4, 2013 in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Actress Kristen Stewart departs after the show of fashion designer Zuhair Murad's Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2013-2014 collection presented Thursday, July 4, 2013 in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Published Dec 30, 2014

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Natasha Prince

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RED TAPE and “systemic delays” have scuppered the making of a multimillion-rand Hollywood movie in Cape Town which had major Tinseltown backers.

News reports at the weekend blamed the Department of Arts and Culture for the plug being pulled on a movie featuring Kristen Stewart, called The Big Shoe, that was set to be filmed in the city.

The Big Shoe was to be filmed in October and released next year.

Stewart, best known for playing Bella Swan in the popular The Twilight Saga, was cast to play a foot model and prostitute who inspires a shoe designer.

There was much hype about the film being shot locally and its director Steven Shainberg had visited the city to cast local talent and scout locations.

But a reported “altercation” regarding the funding of the film between film makers and the government halted the project.

Responding to the reports in weekend newspapers, a department spokesman said yesterday they were not aware of any “altercation” between film makers and the department over funding except for “systemic delays”.

Meanwhile, the project’s local co-producer, Anton Ernst, has blasted the government, saying internal politics had played a role, and the situation was embarrassing.

He said major investors, such as the likes of Andrew Lazar, an American film producer from the Creative Artists Agency, a talent agency who’s worked with the likes of Clint Eastwood, Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis and others, had been working hand-in-hand with the department.

Lazar was the producer for The Big Shoe.

Having entered into a partnership with the department, former arts and culture minister Paul Mashatile set up the SA Film Fund and money had been pre-approved to finance The Big Shoe and an action movie set in the city called Momentum.

Two months after the fund was set up, Mashatile was replaced by former minister of police Nathi Mthethwa.

Ernst said that, in the past, with Mashatile’s office, there was a “clear chain of command”, but since the change of office it was difficult to obtain answers from the department.

“It’s quite embarrassing, we got foreign investors to make movies in South Africa and we’ve let them all down.

“It’s sad because we did so well on the first movie.”

Momentum, starring Hollywood heavyweight Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, James Purefoy, and local actors Colin Moss, Hlomla Dandala and Greg Kriek, is set to be released next year.

Ernst said Momentum, a fast-paced action film, had met the vision of the SA Film Fund to create employment with 3 500 jobs, and embraced transformation – they had trainees on set in disciplines including make-up, rigging,cinematography and screenwriting, and was sustainable.

“What’s important to note is that the first movie was successful in what we wanted to achieve and now the department is, for whatever political reason, not wanting to play ball.”

Department spokesman Sandile Memela said the Film Fund project was a “complex matter as it involves multiple stakeholders”.

According to Memela the department had committed funding via the National Film and Video Foundation.

“But we have become entangled in processes that we are trying to resolve in consultation with the National Treasury,” he said.

Memela said they were concerned about developments and “whatever adverse impact they may have on film”, adding the department remained committed to using film for partnership, economic transformation and job creation.

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