Author: Andrew Germishuys

Founder of SAMDB, Andrew has worked full time in the film industry since the early 2000's. He has trained as an actor, completing his LAMDA Gold Medal, and attending many courses in Cape Town acting studios, with masterclasses with some of the international industries top directors, producers and filmmakers.

Working as an actor and armourer in the film and television industry have given Andrew a great balance of skills across the board when it comes to the entertainment industry.

Catch him on Twitter: twitter.com/andrewgerm_za
And IMDb: www.imdb.com/name/nm5390453/

Categories
Festival online

The 2020 Edition of Comic Con Africa is Cancelled – But the Con MUST Go On

Following the recent announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the indefinite ban on large gatherings is still prohibited, the 2020 edition of Comic Con Africa will not happen.

As people, we have heavy hearts – but as organisers, we know that this is the only responsible way to ensure the safety of Comic Con fans, exhibitors, suppliers, and staff.

“During a pandemic which is expected to peak in September, we simply cannot go ahead with hosting the many tens of thousands of fans who attend Comic Con Africa annually” said Carol Weaving, Managing Director of organisers Reed Exhibitions Africa. “Despite months of planning, diligent consideration of the state of the pandemic dictates that cancelling the 2020 edition of Comic Con Africa is the only way forward”.

However, this doesn’t mean that fans of Comic Con Africa will not be able to meet up and immerse themselves in all things pop culture. Comic Con Africa’s passionate organising team are going virtual. This means that Comic Con Africa will be bringing fans and communities an abundance of online content to enjoy, connect with, learn from, share, and be entertained by. Keep an eye on our social media channels as we are already sharing engaging and unique content created for each community and fandom.

But there’s something else even more exciting.

On the originally planned dates of 24 – 27 September 2020 the Con MUST Go ON…line! Comic Con Africa aims to break the internet, bringing a virtual Con to fans in their own homes. Comic Con will be sharing a wealth of exclusive interactive content over the weekend including many of fans’ favourite elements of a real-life Con.

Live chats, Q&As, panel discussions, and the opportunity to virtually meet celebs, fan meet ups, live draws, talks, gaming tournaments and streams, artist panels, Q&As, special exclusive exhibitor deals and more. Everything the Con would usually offer will still take place in exciting and unexpected ways.

“We work hard all year to bring our fans the best in pop culture entertainment and content. By taking the Con Online we know that we will never be able to offer quite the same experience as connecting and engaging at the actual show, but we also don’t want to stop bringing our fans the fun and entertainment in 2020. COVID-19 won’t stop the dedicated fandoms and communities that Comic Con Africa engages with, so by offering an Online Con experience we can still not only keep our communities together, but connect more fans and grow to ensure that our 2021 show is the biggest yet!” said Carla Massmann, the Portfolio Director for Comic Con.

Comic Con Online will be new, it will be exciting, it will be innovative, and it will still be the ultimate pop culture (virtual) festival in Africa.

For anyone who has already bought tickets for Comic Con Africa 2020, we have prepared a plan to roll over the existing tickets to 2021 with a price freeze, or to refund any ticket holders who request it. All ticket holders will receive a direct communication from our ticketing partner Howler over the next few days outlining how that will happen. As of this announcement, 2020 ticket sales have closed.

Comic Con Africa will see you again in 2021. Our virtual offering has no borders and will expose pop culture to an even wider audience. Communities and fandoms will grow and fans will meet each other across the country and into Africa – which means that next year’s Comic Con Africa will be bigger than ever before.

The team cannot wait to bring fans the best in film, series, Cosplay, gaming, role play and tabletop gaming, books, artists and creatives. Ready your internet connection, book out 24 – 27 September 2020 in your diaries, and come get your Con Online with us.

We look forward to seeing you in 2021 when we return with our partners, KFC, Telkom, VS Gaming, and Luno to bring you a bigger and better experience than ever before!

#ComicConAfrica

Categories
Festival

African Women In The Time Of Covid-19: A Short Film Competition

The Ladima Foundation, in partnership with the DW Akademie, is excited to announce a short-film competition aimed at African women during the world-altering Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdown.

The competition is open to African women content creators and filmmakers of any age or experience level, currently living in Africa. The competition aims to encourage women to share their stories as we create a living document of a time and place – of the specific circumstances that women in Africa currently find themselves, under various degrees of lock-down, through the limitations on movement, opportunity, and often, basic freedoms.

The impact of Covid-19 across the globe, and especially in Africa, is felt more by the vulnerable in society. In many African countries women’s opportunities and access to opportunities are limited, and the economic and social impact of Covid-19 is, in many cases, impacting women harder and in different ways than their male counterparts. There are issues affecting woman such as domestic violence, altered access to opportunities, increased burden of care, and many others.

This film competition invites women to share these experiences – be they challenging, positive or simply questioning. The stories should be honest, personal, and specifically related to the current COVID-19 situation. Entries across genres are welcome, from animation and fiction, to documentary or interview style – just as long as the content is 2 minutes or shorter.

Entry is FREE and women will need to register on the Ladima Foundation’s newly revamped A-List in order to enter: https://ladima.africa/film-competition/

To coincide with the competition launch, the Ladima Foundation has upgraded the A-List from a simple searchable database to an interactive platform for sharing job, funding, and training opportunities, and for connecting and networking.

When it was launched in late 2018, the A-List quickly garnered members and support – with an initial uptake of over 500 women. The list currently has close to 1,000 members from over 30 countries, and with the new upgrades and features is sure to attract many more women.

Vetted companies and organisations can still search the platform to find women in key sectors and companies, whilst women who are members can find and connect with each other and share and apply for opportunities.

Registration on the A-List is free to any woman living and working in Africa within the many skills areas of the film, TV and content sectors.  The list, already a valuable tool for networking and sourcing skills from across Africa, is now poised to become a truly interactive community with further upgrades planned for the near future.

Ten winning films will be selected by a jury and then streamed on the Ladima website along with other partner websites.   Each winning filmmaker will also receive 500 EURO as well as access to a year’s worth of educational and inspirational webinars on the USA’s Women Make Movies platform, https://www.wmm.com/,valued at approximately $500.

Selection & Judging Criteria:

Any woman currently living in Africa may enter. In order to enter you must register on the A-List:

Competition opens at 9am Monday, June 1st 2020 and entries must be received by midnight GMT + 2 on Sunday June 21st 2020.

Full terms and conditions are on the Ladima website.

The films must be under 2 minutes and must focus on the following themes through an inspirational, educational, personal, or  leadership lens :

  • Women with special needs / Coping with special needs during the Lockdown / Caring for Persons with special needs during a global pandemic
  • Impact on family / domestic life
  • Economic / impact on work life
  • Domestic violence / abuse in the time of Covid-19
  • Hope in the time of Covid-19
  • Are women paying a higher price?
  • How does the crisis highlight and affect the role of women?
  • The crisis as a kick to rethink the social order
  • Solidarity and empowerment among women in times of Covid -19

The films will be judged on the following criteria:

  • THEME Connection and relevance to the themes above
  • STORY Concept

Story has a clear message and a unique storyline 

Originality of story and / or approach

Rich and vibrant storytelling that engages, amuses or provokes the viewer

  • QUALITY OF PRODUCTION
    Best use of technology
    Technical aspects such as lighting, sound etc.
  • CREATIVITY
    Original and captivating
    Imaginative writing and directing
    Presents the theme in an interesting way 
  • EMOTIONAL IMPACT/AUDIENCE APPEAL
    Visually appealing and entertaining
    Affects the audience through eliciting an emotional response
    Creates a lasting impression
  • STRUCTURE
    Images / elements  are arranged logically in a way that fits the purpose of the film  
About the Ladima Foundation

The Ladima Foundation is a Pan-African non-profit organisation founded with the aim of contributing to correcting the major imbalances within the film, TV and content industries.

The Ladima Foundation supports and recognises African women in Film, TV and Content.  Through training and networking programmes, we uplift, connect and include.  Ladima operates in the spirit of positivity, excellence and integrity.

Through a number of initiatives, The Ladima Foundation supports, trains, and mentors women in a variety of roles within the film, TV, and content spaces.

Through partnerships and collaborations in various countries, as well as through Pan-African networks and interventions, the Ladima Foundation is committed to developing training, networking, and related opportunities for women professionals who demonstrate their seriousness and commitment to their craft. www.ladima.africa

About DW Akademie

DW Akademie is Deutsche Welle’s center for international media development. As a strategic partner of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), DW Akademie carries out media development projects that strengthen the human right to freedom of opinion and promote free access to information. DW Akademie also works on projects funded by the German Foreign Office and the European Union – in approximately 50 developing and emerging countries. 

Categories
online

Frightfan.TV Highlights June 2020

The Dawn

Director(s): Brandon Slagle
Cast: Devanny Pinn, Stacey Dash, Ryan Kiser
Release Date: 2 June 2020

The sole survivor of a murderous rampage by her veteran father, Rose is sent to live in a secluded covent in the North Eastern United States. In a series of shocking confessions, Rose reveals she’s being plagued by demonic voices imploring her to ‘kill’. With each passing day her visions gain strength and soon they threaten to shake the Church to its very foundations.

Patients of a Saint (aka Inmate Zero)

Director(s): Russell Owen
Cast: Jess Chanliau, Philip McGinley, Christopher Dunne, Jessie Williams
Release Date: 2 June 2020

When medical trials are pushed to their limits, the most extreme tests end up on St. Leonards Island in the north Atlantic – a re-purposed prison for some of the world’s most violent criminals. But when one experiment goes wrong, the entire island becomes a terrifying, disease riddled maze for desperate survivors.

The Ascent

Director(s): Tom Paton
Cast: Rachel Warren, Simon Meacock, Bentley Kalu, Samantha Schnitzler
Release Date: 5 June 2020

Blending sci-fi, action and horror, complete with bone-crunching fight sequences, time travel and existential dread, The Ascent follows a black ops team who find themselves trapped in a terrifying never-ending stairwell. Forced to climb or die, the group soon come face to face with their past sins in a desperate fight for survival.

Nails

Director(s): Dennis Bartok
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Steve Wall
Release Date: 9 June 2020

Recovering after a terrible accident, Dana is exposed to a dark and malevolent spirit within her hospital room, a terrifying presence called Nails who is intent on her destruction. Paralysed and imprisoned in her own body, Dana must find a way to convince her family that Nails is real before he succeeds in destroying her and everyone who stands in his way.

The Harvesting

Director(s): Ivan Kraljevic
Cast: Elena Caruso, Chris Conner
Release Date: 9 June 2020

To escape their marital problems, a young family travels from the city to spend the summer in Amish Country where a malevolent presence grips them. They soon discover that they were brought there for a reason and they must break free before the demonic hold consumes them.

Viral

Director(s): Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Cast: Sofia Black-D’Elia, Analeigh Tipton, Travis Tope
Release Date: 12 June 2020

Emma and her sister Stacey are normal teenagers in a small town, when a mysterious infection begins to spread. With the town quarantined, and their parents stuck on the other side of the barrier, the girls have a blast eating junk food and sneaking out to go to parties. But when the disease starts to infect people they know, the girls, together with their neighbor Evan (Emma’s secret crush), barricade themselves into their home. But it may already be too late, as the infection is already in their midst, and Emma will be faced with a choice: protect her sister or survive the virus.

We Are Still Here

Director(s): Ted Geoghegan
Cast: Andrew Sensenig, Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden
Release Date: 12 June 2020

A couple find themselves haunted after they move to a rural town that harbors a horrifying secret.

Shark Night

Director(s): David R. Ellis
Cast: Chris Carmack, Dustin Milligan, Sara Paxton
Release Date: 16 June 2020

A weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana Gulf turns into a nightmare for seven vacationers as they are subjected to shark attacks.

Lord of Tears

Director(s): Lawrie Brewster
Cast: David Schofield, Alexandra Hulme, Euan Douglas
Release Date: 16 June 2020

When a school teacher is plagued by recurring nightmares of a mysterious entity, he travels to his childhood home because suspects a link to a dark incident in his past.

Maggie

Director(s): Henry Hobson
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson
Release Date: 19 June 2020

After a couple of weeks seeking out his teenage daughter Maggie, Wade finds her in the quarantine wing of a hospital. Maggie has been infected by a lethal outbreak that transforms the victim into a zombie. Wade’s friend Dr. Vern Kaplan releases Maggie to spend her last days with Wade and her family. Her stepmother Caroline asks Wade to take their little kids to her sister’s house to keep them safe. While Maggie is slowly transformed, Wade stays with her protecting Maggie. But Dr. Vern warns him that the moment that he will have to take an ultimate decision is closer.

The Windmill Massacre

Director(s): Nick Jongerius
Cast: Patrick Baladi, Ben Batt, Charlotte Beaumont
Release Date: 19 June 2020

Jennifer is an Australian girl on the run from her past who washes up in Amsterdam. In an attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities, she joins a coach of tourists on a tour of Holland’s world famous windmills. When the bus breaks down, she is forced to seek shelter in a disused shed bedside a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshipping miller once ground the bones of locals. As members of the group start to disappear, Jennifer learns that they all have something in common – a shared secret that marks them all for doom.

The Voices

Director(s): Wesley Alley, Bradley Fowler
Cast: Amanda Markowitz, Victoria Matlock, Lin Shaye
Release Date: 23 June 2020

Angry and upset after a sudden breakup with her fiancé, Grace Crawford seeks sanctuary at the remote home of her estranged older sister, Catherine.

Hoping to rekindle their once-strong relationship and find solace for her problems, Grace is disturbed to realise that her sister has been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia for the past seven years, much like their late mother, who tragically took her own life.

Whilst coming to terms with this realisation, Grace uncovers a horrifying family secret; one that has her struggling to maintain her sanity and will require drastic measures to save her family from further harm.

Categories
online

Brace Yourself For A Horrific Winter

This June brings Zombies, Werewolves, abandoned windmills and massacre survivors to TVOD

Zombies in quarantine hospitals, abandoned windmills filled with scary secrets and survivors of murderous rampages are all headed your way this June, as the films coming up on Frightfan.tv promise to keep you on the edge of your seat. With more terror than ever before on Africa’s first curated transactional video on demand service dedicated to horror, thriller, sci-fi and everything in-between, Winter is the perfect time to settle in for your dose of fear on demand.

The horror Maggie, starting Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson premieres on 19 June. After a couple of weeks seeking out his teenage daughter Maggie, Wade finds her in the quarantine wing of a hospital. Maggie has been infected by a lethal outbreak that transforms the victim into a zombie. Wade’s friend Dr. Vern Kaplan releases Maggie to spend her last days with Wade and her family. Her stepmother Caroline asks Wade to take their little kids to her sister’s house to keep them safe. While Maggie is slowly transformed, Wade stays with her protecting Maggie. But Dr. Vern warns him that the moment that he will have to make a difficult decision is getting closer…

Devanny Pinn, Stacey Dash and Ryan Kiser feature in The Dawn, which premieres on 2 June. The sole survivor of a murderous rampage by her veteran father, Rose is sent to live in a secluded convent in the North Eastern United States. In a series of shocking confessions, Rose reveals she’s being plagued by demonic voices imploring her to ‘kill’. With each passing day her visions gain strength and soon they threaten to shake the Church to its very foundations.

No Winter horror season is complete without a good werewolf film. In Howl, from 5 June, when passengers on a train are attacked by an inexplicable creature, they must band together in order to survive until morning. Will they make it?

In The Windmill Massacre, starring Patrick Baladi, Ben Batt and Charlotte Beaumont, Jennifer is an Australian girl on the run from her past who washes up in Amsterdam. In an attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities, she joins a group of tourists on a tour of Holland’s famous windmills. When the bus breaks down, she is forced to take shelter in an empty shed bedside a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshipping miller once ground the bones of locals. As members of the group mysteriously start to disappear, Jennifer learns that they all have something in common – a shared secret that marks them all for doom. Find out what happens to them from 19 June 2020.

Additional films coming to Frightfan. Tv this June include Patients of a Saint (aka Inmate Zero) which sees a medical trial go horribly wrong on a repurposed prison island full of disease-riddled survivors, from 2 June 2020. Blending sci-fi, action and horror, complete with bone-crunching fight sequences, time travel and existential dread, The Ascent, which premieres 5 June, follows a black ops team who find themselves trapped in a terrifying never-ending stairwell. In Nails, which premieres 9 June, Dana who is recovering after a terrible accident is exposed to a dark and malevolent spirit in her hospital room that seems intent on her destruction. Emma and her sister Stacey are normal teenagers in a small town, when a mysterious infection begins to spread, in Viral, which premiers 12 June.

The fear does not end there. Other horrific titles including The Harvesting, We are still here, Shark Night, Lord of Tears and The Voices are lined up to ensure you don’t sleep a wink. What’s more is that with full moon taking place next week, all films on Frightfan.tv can be rented for only R 6,66 each from Friday 6 June at 19:00 till Friday 12 June at 19:00. Films are available to watch for 48 hours from the time of purchase. Fans are encouraged to follow Frightfan.tv on social media for regular updates, teasers and the occasional spoiler.

Categories
Hardware / Software

Peak Performance: Quadro Experience Streamlines Productivity For Professionals

New application helps users get the most of their Quadro GPU with 4K screen capture, video sharing, access to new driver releases, and more.

Experience matters. And with NVIDIA Quadro Experience — a new application for Quadro GPUs — professionals across industries can boost their creativity and increase their productivity like never before.

Quadro Experience, available now, helps professionals simplify time-consuming tasks, streamline workflows and ensure your favorite applications always have the latest updates.

Content Share From Anywhere

NVIDIA Quadro Experience makes sharing content easier by providing screen capture and desktop recording in 4K, so teams can easily upload content and even broadcast their work directly from their desktop or laptop.

Users can quickly access the screenshot and desktop video recording features from within any application or workflow, and conveniently retrieve assets from a user-defined repository.

The Instant Replay feature automatically records up to the last 20 minutes of desktop activity, so professionals can capture spontaneous moments or rewind to review previous activities.

Compatibility with the NVIDIA SHIELD device makes live streaming directly from a desktop to multiple viewers simple. Leverage your existing SHIELD device for an easy sharing experience for presentations, trainings and meetings.

Get Updates on the Latest Drivers

Regularly get increased performance, improved driver stability and new features for your system with Quadro Experience. The application automatically notifies users on new driver releases, so they can implement the latest capabilities as soon as they’re available.

Driver highlights are delivered directly to Quadro Experience whenever new drivers are available to help users determine whether they’re ready to make an immediate update.

With simple one-click downloads and installations directly from Quadro Experience, it’s easier to ensure that your Quadro driver is updated and optimized, as well as certified by all your favorite applications.

Work by Day, Game by Night

With Quadro Experience, it doesn’t have to be all work and no play. Users can switch their Quadro GPU to Game Mode to unleash optimal gaming performance.

The application delivers features similarly offered through GeForce Experience, such as Ansel, Freestyle and Highlights. Users can take advantage of Optimal Playable Settings — which are in-game settings that aim to enhance image quality and framerates — and stream gameplay to NVIDIA SHIELD devices.

Designers Switch Tracks Fast with Quadro Experience

Image courtesy of Alstom.

NVIDIA Quadro Experience is already helping companies enhance their collaborative efforts. One of the beta users of the application is Alstom, builder of the TGV, the fastest train in the world.

Project review and customization are important parts of Alstom’s workflows — they often use Autodesk VRED for design review and rendering and Dassault Systèmes CATIA for technical review. With Quadro RTX GPUs and Quadro Experience application, Alstom was able to accelerate its design workflow and use GPU power for its graphic needs.

“Sharing professional graphics created with Quadro GPUs requires video capture capabilities that maintain pristine visual fidelity,” said Fabien Normand, virtual reality expert at Alstom. “NVIDIA Quadro Experience makes it simple to accurately capture professional graphics applications, allowing us to continually improve our customers’ VR experiences as well as our internal design workflows.”

Professional workflows are becoming more interactive and collaborative. With Quadro Experience, engineers, designers, artists, architects and other professionals can optimize the power of their Quadro GPUs.