Film studio opens locally

THE South of Johannesburg became home to a one-of-a-kind film studio in the city on Friday, May 6, during the media launch of Studio Joburg at the Johannesburg Expo Centre.

The event was attended by various guests and the who’s who of film, television and investment as the visions and missions of the studio were not only communicated, but were also showcased and illustrated by film and photography. This project seeks not only to attract international film productions but to also host top movie stars with top-notch hotels that will be built as part of this development initiative, projected to create employment and skills opportunities for the young and local, without leaning on government for funding.

Any person who attended the expo needed no further confirmation to see that these studio and all the development that will come, together, would cost a lot of money to complete. But this did not seem to bother Eddie Mbalo, the expert who said the film industry was lucrative and generated lots of money and will only continue to grow. Eddie is a film and television production expert with three decades of experience in the film industry and will help make this facility a world-class film studio as he will be joining Craig Newman, Johannesburg Expo Centre CEO.

Currently there are two halls ready to be used for filming and more halls are in the process of being converted. None of the development will cancel the regular and popular exhibitions such as the Rand Show. The studio will be developed to give people the experience of how it is like to live in places such as Paris, New York City, London and many more, while enabling global film productions to film international scenes while in South Africa.