Namibia the big loser in new war epic

NO local companies will be involved in the latest Hollywood production in Namibia – an HBO television miniseries on the war in Iraq.

Parts of the series, named ‘Generation Kill’, will be filmed at the coast in the coming months. Although the lack of local involvement may be a problem for the development of the film industry in Namibia, it is not because foreign companies are choosing to “rip Namibia off”, but rather because of Namibia’s lack of experience, skill and regulation within this highly competitive industry, according to Chairman of the Namibian Film Commission, Cecil Moller.”There is a lot of legislation that is not in place, and it is true that we are being exploited in Namibia,” he told The Namibian on Friday.Namibia, being a new player in the filming industry, still has much to learn, and until the lessons are learned, the country will be exploited, and the local industry will enjoy minimal advantage.”To the international companies, Namibia is still a very ‘green’ country and the people who have decades of experience could come into Namibia and do many things that we only catch up on later and feel as unfair,” Moller said.Productions like ‘Generation Kill’ for instance, could mean a lot to the tourism industry, but when it comes to the film industry, there is not much to hope for.Moller estimates that Namibia’s film industry is losing out on more than 50 per cent of what it could have earned during such productions.”A lot of the money that is supposed to stay in Namibia goes out and one of the biggest reasons is that there are no Namibian companies involved,” he said.But he pointed out that there were also local parties who exploited the existing loopholes to their own benefit.Another limiting factor is the lack of facilitating services for foreign film crews.Namibia has only one such service, the production company Namib Films, which will not be involved with the ‘Generation Kill’ production.”Many tourist companies are also offering facilitation services, hence taking bread and butter out of the local film industry’s mouth and cutting corners, bringing people in on visitors’ visas to make a quick shoot,” Moller said.”These are issues that we have to look into; issues that others are capitalising on.”As long as there is this lawlessness, for lack of a better word, in this industry, Namibia will be exploited,” he said.”They get the ideas to cut corners here and they get aided by locals who know the shortcomings.”So regulating the industry is still a very big challenge for us, and it has much to do with experience and skill in dealing with it and being able to identify the areas which will be beneficial to us in the end,” he concluded.According to information on the Internet, ‘Generation Kill’ is a seven-hour miniseries about US Marines in the early stages of the Iraq war.It is based on the book with the same name by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright, who also wrote the screenplay.The series will be filmed in Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa over a period of six months.Although the lack of local involvement may be a problem for the development of the film industry in Namibia, it is not because foreign companies are choosing to “rip Namibia off”, but rather because of Namibia’s lack of experience, skill and regulation within this highly competitive industry, according to Chairman of the Namibian Film Commission, Cecil Moller.”There is a lot of legislation that is not in place, and it is true that we are being exploited in Namibia,” he told The Namibian on Friday.Namibia, being a new player in the filming industry, still has much to learn, and until the lessons are learned, the country will be exploited, and the local industry will enjoy minimal advantage.”To the international companies, Namibia is still a very ‘green’ country and the people who have decades of experience could come into Namibia and do many things that we only catch up on later and feel as unfair,” Moller said.Productions like ‘Generation Kill’ for instance, could mean a lot to the tourism industry, but when it comes to the film industry, there is not much to hope for.Moller estimates that Namibia’s film industry is losing out on more than 50 per cent of what it could have earned during such productions.”A lot of the money that is supposed to stay in Namibia goes out and one of the biggest reasons is that there are no Namibian companies involved,” he said.But he pointed out that there were also local parties who exploited the existing loopholes to their own benefit.Another limiting factor is the lack of facilitating services for foreign film crews.Namibia has only one such service, the production company Namib Films, which will not be involved with the ‘Generation Kill’ production.”Many tourist companies are also offering facilitation services, hence taking bread and butter out of the local film industry’s mouth and cutting corners, bringing people in on visitors’ visas to make a quick shoot,” Moller said.”These are issues that we have to look into; issues that others are capitalising on.”As long as there is this lawlessness, for lack of a better word, in this industry, Namibia will be exploited,” he said.”They get the ideas to cut corners here and they get aided by locals who know the shortcomings.”So regulating the industry is still a very big challenge for us, and it has much to do with experience and skill in dealing with it and being able to identify the areas which will be beneficial to us in the end,” he concluded.According to information on the Internet, ‘Generation Kill’ is a seven-hour miniseries about US Marines in the early stages of the Iraq war.It is based on the book with the same name by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright, who also wrote the screenplay.The series will be filmed in Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa over a period of six months.