Just over a week ago, the African Producers Accelerator (APA) was launched by Steven Markovitz‘s Big World Cinema, in partnership with the Bertha Foundation.
Now the South African producer, in an exclusive with Film Efiko, has said the initiative has a singular goal, irrespective of genre. “The focus is on building sustainable companies [whether] they are producing fiction or non-fiction,” he said.
To achieve its aim, the accelerator is targeted at mid-career African film and television producers. The first cohort, as announced in an official statement includes Funmbi Ogunbanwo (Nigeria), Neo Baloyi (South Africa), Jorge Cohen (Angola), Josh Olaoluwa (Nigeria), Annemarie Du Plessis (South Africa), and producer-director Zoe Ramushu (Zimbabwe/South Africa).
Speaking about how the selection was made, Markovitz said the APA reached out to participants from other well-regarded initiatives. “We put out a closed call to alumni of programmes of Realness, Great Lakes Producers Lab and DFM and some from our networks,” he said.
In the previously released statement, Markovitz had said members of the cohort will benefit from each other as well as from Big World Cinema’s experience. “Having produced in more than 30 countries on the continent with local partners, we see many common challenges with very few routes to overcome them…
“While we will provide support services to the producers, importantly the programme will also create the environment where we will all share our secrets with each other, realise our own power as independent producers other and explore ways to collaborate and support well beyond the three months.”
Fellow Big World Cinema producer, Tasmin Ranger, added that the maiden edition of the programme “reflects a commitment to long-term, producer-centred development that complements existing industry programmes by offering personalised and sustained support”.
Asked about details of future editions, Markovitz told Film Efiko that the “Bertha Foundation has committed to supporting the next addition. We hope to bring on board new partners in the future.”
