Kenya missing great opportunities in film

Youth attend the screening of Black Panther at IMAX 20th Century, Nairobi, on March 1, 2018. PHOTO | THOMAS RAJULA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Kenya Film Commission is currently working on an incentive to benefit both our local and international filmmakers.
  • Film should now become one of the government’s four economic pillars as, by its nature, film is mostly digital.

As a country, we are missing opportunities when it comes to film and TV (generically called film). This can be where creativity and commerce meet.

While not a “brick and mortar” sector, film can provide between five and 10 per cent to the gross domestic product (Nigeria has hit four per cent).

It provides employment (one million Nigerians) and is a tourism driver, trumping advertisements on CNN and trade shows.

The film Frozen, for example, increased tourism to Norway by 40 per cent, Skyfall 40 per cent to Dubai and 200 per cent to Sydney due to Mission Impossible.

Aside from award ceremonies, film liaison services and marketing Kenya filming destinations overseas, the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) routinely helps in productions. One example is the internationally acclaimed Sense 8.

WATU WOTE
The KFC helped in obtaining the assistance of police to provide security, traffic control, firearms permits, drone permits from the Office of the President, waivers on permits from Nairobi County and two days’ use of the Globe Roundabout and Uhuru Park for filming.

The result: 6,000 local extras were employed, Sh500 million came into the economy and Nairobi was showcased globally as a filming destination.

With the Oscar-nominated Watu Wote, KFC helped the team obtain their various permits.

Incidentally, we were invited to the Oscars but chose not to waste taxpayers’ money in attending. We instead paid for one of the Kenyan crews to attend.

TAX INCENTIVES
But why are big feature films being made in South Africa?

Kenya has the topography (beach, desert, rainforest, savannah, mountains and cities), cultural groups, weather, equatorial filming light, depth of crew, work ethic and of course innovations like M-Pesa — try paying 6,000 extras by cash! But what are we missing?

The biggest factor is tax incentives. Hundreds of countries offer a film tax incentive (a tax rebate, credit or a cash contribution to filmmakers).

South Africa offers a 35 per cent tax rebate. The KFC is currently working on an incentive to benefit both our local and international filmmakers.

Black Panther, for instance, spent nearly $200 million (Sh20 billion) on production.

FUNDING
Imagine if just a fraction of that was spent in Kenya. Remember, too, that most of our top filmmakers cut their teeth in big international productions.

Hopefully, with the support of the National Treasury and the Kenya Revenue Authority, a film incentive package should be in place by the end of the year.

However, until we receive adequate funding, as the sole government agency mandated to both build up our film industry and to promote filming in Kenya internationally, the country will only ever play a cameo role on the world stage, while our sibling, South Africa, takes the glory — and more importantly the money and jobs.

In terms of investment, the global figure is a multiplier of 1:4. For every $1 (Sh100) a government spends on film, it gets a return of $4 (Sh400).

REVENUE
The British Film Commission gets an annual grant of $42 million and generates annual revenues of $190 billion.

South Africa’s equivalent body receives $10 million, generating revenues of $326 million.

The KFC, for many years, had a zero development budget and our overall budget currently hovers around $1.2 million (Sh120 million).

Sadly, as a country we spend far more money regulating the industry than promoting it.

The problem is further compounded by an unashamed land grab on KFC’s mandate by the Kenya Film Classification Board, whose name and mandate under CAP 222 clearly state that its role is purely licensing and classification. Period.

Nowhere globally does the regulator also deal with promoting the industry.

GROWTH

It is time for this conflict of interest, attempted duplication of mandate, diminishing of the Kenyan creative space and abuse of taxpayers’ money to cease.

As we endeavour to create the right enabling environment for the film industry, KFC recognises the frustrations with the new prohibitive licence fees for drones, the disparity in county licensing fees, the lack of a film fund, advertisements being filmed in India for the Kenyan market, the need for co-production agreements and the unnecessary red tape encountered, to mention but a few of the areas which we are currently addressing with other government agencies.

Film should now become one of the government’s four economic pillars as, by its nature, film is mostly digital.

Film is a manufacturing, export business — there are 200 million regional Kiswahili speakers looking for Kenya to provide content and every international feature film made in Kenya becomes an export. The opportunity for Kenya is immense.

The writer is the Chairman, Kenya Film Commission