Keywords: Mauritius Film Company, Media film services, film and studio equipment, cameras, production, set construction, lights, kodak, gear, Cape Town, South Africa
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With branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban; the decision to extend the Media Film Service brand to Mauritius was based on a desire to look "outside of the box" and find new and exciting markets.
So says Richard Sysum, who is running the Mauritius office together with his wife Kate. "In our research we found that there is an existing film and television industry in Mauritius. The island is regularly visited by both Bollywood and South African producers. A lot of good work is being done, but with antiquated equipment or gear which has been freighted in at huge cost. For Phase 1 of our operation we have gone in with a lot of lighting and grips equipment. This includes a new 8 ton 100KVA generator truck with load space. We have 18k and 6k HMIs, accessories, a 7m ride-on-crane and a pretty substantial grips kit.
"The stills industry in Mauritius has great potential. The splendid and untouched locations and good light attract photographers from around the world, however, it is very costly to film in Mauritius because of the lack of film-industry infrastructure. Through our phased entry into this market we will address many of these challenges. |
Sysum was selected to run the Mauritian operation after proving his considerable mettle opening the Durban branch in 2001. This was the first Media Film Service outlet to offer lighting equipment, as well as camera and grips gear. The Durban branch grew from a small, one-man operation to a facility capable of handling international feature films.
"Richard's great success with the Durban set-sup, coupled with his unquestionable integrity, positioned him as the perfect man to head up a new venture overseas, and together with Colin Taylor, our Mauritian partner, we believe that we will add great value to all film productions and to the local film industry's growth," comments Media Film Service CEO Jannie van Wyk.
The Media Film Service office is situated in Port Louis, a location that is central for shoots happening both in the north and south of Mauritius. Sysum makes the point that Mauritius is serviced by regular flights from Europe, Australia and South Africa, which makes it easily accessible to overseas filmmakers. "I believe that with the world class equipment and service which we aim to offer, there will be a growing influx of foreign productions."
Although the facility will only officially be up and running in mid - October, the Sysums have been thoroughly researching the move since May 2008, and quoting since August. The facility's first job is scheduled in October with Cape Town Productions.
Sysum notes that because Mauritius has a fledgling industry, there is a lot of value that we can offer the industry. We intend to run several training courses to ensure world-class skills transfer to the local Mauritians. We will mentor entrepreneurs into seeding film support facilities and we intend to train our local staff overseas, exactly the way we do for all our main branches - all whilst maintaining Media South Africa's unique flavour and flair.
We will bring in specialised gear on demand and as the branch becomes busier, retain it and use these opportunities to grow our inventory and our offering in Mauritius.
Our biggest obstacle has been dealing with the complex and contradictory beaurocratic politics that exist on the island. This has made the start-up and inset very challenging. We realize that our success will come from "walking the talk" and delivering on our promises and through these successes we will have an example and leverage to negotiate with government on different levels to help them see that we can assist to create a vibrant film industry that only adds to and does not take anything from the island except beautiful images. |
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