Location scouts receive awards

EIGHT young filmmakers received certificates from the eThekwini Municipality Deputy Mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala for their participation in the inaugural Durban Film Office SCOUT programme.

The filmmakers who participated in the Durban Film Office’s (DFO) location scouting and management programme, which forms part of the DFO’s skills development initiative to support and grow the City’s film economy, were Acquilla Malinga, Lindo Ndlovu, Siphamandla Ngcobo, Sindi Mngadi, Thabisile Sincadu, Msizi Mlaba, Linda Mashishi and Nick Gumede.

“The programme aims to increase the number of location scouts in Durban by providing support dedicated to local development and by doing so, effect transformation in location management in the Durban industry. As we work towards developing Durban as a film city, with a lively and robust industry that can contribute to the growth of the economy, it is vital that we continue to upskill and train young people who can provide the requisite skills needed to support this sector,” said Shabalala.

“Location scouting and management plays an important role in the film and commercial production value chain. One of the most critical members of a modern day film-making crew, is the location scout. This is an individual who goes out in the field and looks for places and locations that best resemble or suit the aesthetic needs of the scriptwriters, producers and directors,” said Toni Monty, Head of the DFO.

Filmmaker Siphamandla Ngcobo said: “The SCOUT training changed the way I view locations and exposed me to the details of things like architecture, parks and roads. It has equipped me with skills I need to extract locations from a script and how to reference the picture for a film director.”

“I found the programme very insightful in terms of the importance of scouting in the context of film-making and pre-production,” said Msizi Mlaba while Sindisiwe Mngadi from Musgrave, who is a founder of Loper Media, said that she found it fascinating to see Durban from a location scouting point of view.

Some of the trainees, like Thabisile Sincadu, have already begun working as location scouts. “The experience has been very good, I learned a lot in a short period of time and it has brought many opportunities for me as a result. I have been called for six location jobs since doing the training,” she said.

SCOUT is an intensive programme that has been developed by the Durban Film Office to provide and professionally develop local location scouts and expose young and previously disadvantaged filmmakers to the business of location scouting, with the aim that they will eventually move into full location management and production services