Botswana’s government is working to create the country’s first-ever film commission and film fund, and it is also building out film studio capacity to rapidly expand the Southern African country’s film and TV output capability.
BMA understands that the government is working with American entertainer Steve Harvey and his Steve Harvey Global Company and Duncan Irvine, the founder and CEO of Forge Ignite Media & Entertainment, a film and TV consultancy. Irvine is the director of the Botswana Ignite project.
Botswana Ignite aims to rapidly expand the country’s TV and film sector, make it commercially viable, create local content, and aggressively attract international production work.
The project has also set up a TV academy for Botswana in the capital of Gaborone, which just started offering courses in scripted and unscripted content. It also has a specialist wildlife film school in Kasane that specialises in natural history film production.
“Botswana has diamonds, but we want to expand our creative industry. Steve Harvey visited and decided to help us with our vision,” Goitsemang Morekisi, secretary for the Ministry of State president, said at MIP Africa 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa.
“In 10 years, Botswana will become one of the top film industries on the African continent,” Harvey said.
“Nigeria and South Africa have a headstart by leaps and bounds in capability – make no mistake about it. They have a real film and TV industry, everything is here, they have real production companies and infrastructure – everything is here.”
Duncan Irvine said Botswana Ignite is also helping the Botswana government to set up a governmental film rebate scheme that will be structured “to accelerate and fuel the country’s film economy and for people to create production companies because local production companies in Botswana will be the engine building the next generation”.
He says, “Botswana has a very small but very passionate film and TV industry, but it’s been quite inwardly focused”.
“It’s been Botswana Television (Btv), YTV, and that’s where producers have been selling their shows to, and to South Africa in particular, and some have left Botswana to go and work overseas. Part of the excitement is that we’re trying to attract many of those experienced people back.”
Steve Harvey said, “This programme we’re doing here in Botswana—my goal is to take it to other countries around Africa—so that you can eventually go anywhere in Africa and be a cameraman, can go anywhere and be a set designer, you can go anywhere and do lighting.”
A Botswana adaptation of the Family Feud competition show, Family Feud Botswana, starts recording on 12 September.
