DA Councillor Marlene Viljoen's imagination ran away with her on Wednesday 4 June as she motivated the support for this industry.
"Imagine Charlize Theron sitting in a local restaurant sipping a glass of wine, or Halle Berry coming out of the sea at Vic Bay, water dripping from her gorgeous body. Imagine seeing Denzel Washington, his ebony muscles rippling under a tight vest, as we see him jogging down Nelson Mandela Boulevard. Although this may all seem like a dream, it is not completely impossible if council approves the item regarding support to the film industry in George."
ANC Councillor Princess Komani, on the other hand, was not interested in Viljoen's flights of fancy and more concerned about the proposed R200 000 to be made available to support the industry. "The film industry has its own money. The community doesn't have money, so the ANC can't support the item."
The DA-led government and the George Independent Ratepayers (GIRF) Councillor Les Hayward voted for council's recommended support, stating that council noted the film workshop report, the conclusion of a two year memorandum of agreement with the Cape Film Commission, including an offer to take up office space from George Municipality for the opening of a film office and funding to the amount of R200 000 from the Local Economic Development Projects vote in the 2014/2015 financial year, to deliver specific support for the film industry in George. This will include training programmes, a film festival and marketing of the area as film destination. Part of the recommendation is that council receives regular feedbacks in order to gauge and monitor the success and progress of the project.
The Cape Film Commission is the representative industry body formed in 2005, with the mandate to promote Cape Town and the Western Cape as an international and local film destination; promote local film and television content as an international export product; develop and capacitate the local industry as a sustainable platform for growth and job creation; and to support all of the above through training, education and enterprise development.
Obviously a movie fan, DA Councillor Marlene Viljoen's imagination ran away with her as she motivated why council should pass the motion to support the expansion of the film industry in George.
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