Join us for an enlightening session with Pascal Schmitz, Head of Production & Development at AAA Entertainment, as he provides a comprehensive update on the ever-evolving world of film and television distribution in Africa.

1. Navigatingthe
AfricanFilmandTV
Distribution
Landscape
InsightsandStrategiesforSuccess

2. The Studios
Mini Majors
Distributors
Bankable Sales
Agents
Sales Agents
Aggregators
Self Distribution
Output Deal
Major
Producers
Producers/
Production
Companies with
Catalog
Producers/Production
Companies with 1-3
Completed Titles
Producers/Production
Companies with no track record
First time filmmakers
thetraditionalmodel

3. The Studios
Mini Majors
Distributors
Bankable Sales
Agents
Sales Agents
Aggregators
Self Distribution
Output Deal
Major
Producers
Producers/
Production
Companies with
Catalog
Producers/Production
Companies with 1-3
Completed Titles
Producers/Production
Companies with no track record
First time filmmakers
thetraditionalmodel
Streamers

4. distributors
Distribute in a territory or region
Theatrical (Cinema)
DVD or Home Video
VOD – SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, NVOD
TV – Pay TV, Free to Air
Ancillary : Airlines, Ships, Hotels
Pay Minimum Guarantee (MG) or buy out territory
Usually don’t deal with producers directly – deal with sales agents and other
distributors/studios

5. salesagents
Sells to distributors, aggregators, platforms and broadcasters
Don’t pay up front, but act like and estate agent and take a commission on the sales. Also
charge costs of selling the film against sales e.g. market attendance costs
Take film to markets and festivals around the world and sell to buyers at these events
Usually sign exclusive world wide rights for 5-10 years
Repackage films for international markets
Manage festival strategy and PR for festival and market run
Manage legal contracts and accounting reports for sales
Give letters of interest (LOI) to projects

6. bankablesales
agents
▪ Very few selected sales agents can give revenue guarantees and projections that are
“bankable” i.e. banks will fund against
▪ Most of them are specialized on foreign sales i.e. outside US
▪ Most of them are based in the UK in London
▪ These are very hard to get to read a script and needs the right director and other key
HOD involved to consider
▪ 1.FilmNation Entertainment http://www.filmnation.com/
▪ 2.Mr. Smith Entertainment https://mistersmithent.com/
▪ 3.Rocket Sciencehttps://www.rocket-science.net/
▪ 4.Sierra / Affinity http://sierra-affinity.com/
▪ 5.Embankment Films http://www.embankmentfilms.com/
▪ 6. The Exchange https://www.theexchange.ws/
▪ 7. Voltage Pictures http://www.voltagepictures.com/
▪ 8. Bankside Films https://www.bankside-films.com/home/
▪ 9. Protagonist Pictures http://protagonistpictures.com/
▪ 10.Hanway Films https://www.hanwayfilms.com/

7. platforms
TVOD : Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon
SVOD : Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV +, Disney +
AVOD : Hulu, Pluto, Tubi, YouTube
NVOD : Airline, Hotels, Ships
Most big platforms will only buy from distributors or sales agents

8. deliverables!
▪ Movie Deliverables : IMF, ProRes File, DCP, Encodes for iTunes and other TVOD
▪ Textless masters (no burnt in subtitles etc)
▪ Music Cue Sheet and Music License Materials
▪ Subtitles (.stl .srt) and Closed Captioned Files
▪ M&E for Dubs and transcript
▪ E&O Insurance
▪ Artwork
▪ Legals/Contracts : Distribution Agreement(s)! Key crew & cast, script and film
clearance,
▪ chain of title (incl writers agreement), music clearance
▪ – cost3% of budget max approx. R250k

12. STREAMERS
NETFLIX INVESTMENT IN AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
NIGERIA
* includes servicing international Net
fl
ix studio titles like ONE PIECE
*

13. STREAMERS

14. STREAMERS
AFRICAN POPULATION TO STREAMER SUBSCRIBERS EST.
‣ Only 1% of the African
continent Subscribe to
VOD services
‣ This is due to the high cost
of internet data and
number of people with
disposable income and
credit cards
Non-Subcribers
99,00 %
VOD Subscribers
1,00 %

15. STREAMERS
SOUTH AFRICAN POPULATION TO STREAMER SUBSCRIBERS EST.
‣ South Africa has the highest
proportion of population that
subscribe to VOD services on
the continent
‣ This is due to the higher
number of people with
disposable income, access to
uncapped internet and credit
cards
Non-Subcribers
82,00 %
VOD Subscribers
18,00 %

16. STREAMERS
ESTIMATED NETFLIX SUBSCRIBER PERCENTAGE PER KEY TERRITORY
Rest of SSA
7 %
Kenya
2 %
Nigeria
17 %
South Africa
75 %

17. INCENTIVES AND FUNDING
SOUTH AFRICA HAS THE MOST RELIABLE PRODUCTION INCENTIVES AND TREATIES
▸ DTIC rebate - 20%-50% rebate on qualifying South African expenditure (only post available)
▸ KZNFC Rebate - 25% of qualifying expenditure in the region (max. $60k)
▸ Bonding - South Africa has several bonders under written by large insurers
▸ Arri and Panavision - both gear houses are present in Johannesburg and Cape Town
▸ South Africa has studio level A list crews and crew agencies servicing all the major studios in
Hollywood
▸ South Africa has many varied locations that can shoot for all the rest of SSA
▸ South Africa has 10 of
fi
cial co-production treaties including one with Germany

18. PAY TV
POPULATION TO PAY TV SUBSCRIBERS EST.
‣ Only 6% of the African
continent Subscribe to Pay TV
‣ Over 50% of the African
population are 18 and under
‣ This really just relates to the
economy and number of
people with disposable
income
Non-Subscribers
94,0 %
Pay TV Subscribers
6,0 %

19. FREE TO AIR
FREE TO AIR TELEVISION
▸ Very few FTA broadcasters in Africa license
local or independent content (SABC exception)
▸ Most broadcasters in SSA charge for the use of
their slots (AFP) and producers must seek
brands to pay for the slot and the production
▸ There are many pirate channels that broadcast
pirate content or entire channels
▸ There are almost no co-productions between
FTA broadcasters

20. ?
market :
who buys African films?
what films (genres) are in
demand?

21. whobuys
Africanfilms
▪ African buyers i.e. from the continent
▪ Diaspora buyers e.g Africa Channel
▪ African American and “Urban” content buyers e.g.
BET, Aspire, Bounce, Starz
▪ Diversity buyers
▪ World cinema niche buyers e.g. Sundance Channel
▪ Genre buyers for specific genre where African
element is just a flavor e.g. Sci Fi Channel

22. whatFilm
genresarein
demand
▪ Action
▪ Romantic Comedy (Tyler Perry, Wil Parker)
▪ Thriller
▪ Drama (Soapie and Heightened Drama)*
▪ Faith Based and Family
▪ Comedy
* has accumulated demand in past years locally

23. conceptvs
execution
▪ Who’s the team? (IMDB)
▪ What’s the plan?
▪ What has worked before?
▪ How do I know you can do this?
▪ What should I expect?

24. Localimpactisthemostimportanthowever…
badcontentnevertravels
goodcontentoftentravels
greatcontentalwaystravels

25. festivalstrategy
North America
A
• TIFF
• Sundance
B
• Tribeca
• SXSW
• Telluride
• AFI
Europe
A
• Cannes
• Berlin
• Venice
B
• Locarno
• Edenborough
• Rotterdam
Asia
A
• Pusan
B
• Tokyo
• Hong Kong
• Melbourne

26. markets
FILM
▪ Marche du Film – Cannes Film
Festival
▪ European Film Market (EFM) –
Berlinale
▪ American Film Market (AFM) -
IFTA
▪ Hong Kong Film Market (HKFM)
▪ Toronto International Film Festival
- Hybrid
▪ Ventana Sur – Argentina (Spanish
Language)
TELEVISION
▪ Content Americas - Miami
▪ MIPTV (MIPDOC/FORMATS)–
Cannes
▪ Fame Week Africa – Cape Town
▪ MIPCOM (MIPJNR) – Cannes
▪ BANFF (Development) – Canada
▪ TIFFCOM - Japan
▪ MIP Africa, MIP Cancun, MIP
China

27. “Incountrieswhereproducersareincentivisedby
governmenttocreatecontent,producerscreate
contentforthegovernment.Incountrieswhere
producersareincentiveforsuccessinthemarket,
producerscreatecontentforthemarket(audience)”
- Jonathan Wolf, American Film Market

28. https://www.slideshare.net/digitalethiopia
pascal@aaa-entertain.com
@aaaentertain