Cape Town Film Industry Booms, Nearly 4000 Filming Permits Issued in 2022

Photo Credit: Pexels

Looks like Cape Town isn’t only a holidaymaker’s dream, but a filmmaker’s dream too! With so many stunning locations to choose from, it’s no surprise the film industry is doing well.

Cape Town, South Africa (04 July 2023) – It’s official, the 2022/23 financial year is being tallied up and the City of Cape Town’s Film Permit Office (FPO) had a booming year. They showed the highest numbers recorded post the Covid-19 pandemic. Yay for bouncing back, Cape Town Film Industry!

The office issued more than 3,900 permits within the financial year, include projects for feature films, commercials, TV series, stills photography, documentary films, short films, student projects and music videos. Most of the permits were for commercials but 100 large feature film productions and 499 TV series were included in that tally too.

American Monsters, Blood and Water’s Fourth Season, Come Dine with Me Cape Town and Fear Factor India were among some of the local and international productions filmed in Cape Town over the last 12 months.

‘This past season we have seen a number of international feature film and TV series productions heading to our shores as we steadily recover from the impact of the pandemic. The local film industry has also done an incredible job in attracting international brands to film their commercials here in Cape Town. The uptake in filming the past year is made possible by Cape Town’s reputation of a world-class local film industry, by having a competent and efficient Film Office and the fact that we have some of the best locations in the world within a few kilometres of the city centre,’ said Alderman JP Smith, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security.

The film industry has proven itself a catalyst for economic growth, a study commissioned by the City shows that the film industry contributes approximately R5 billion to the local economy annually and has created more than 35 000 jobs.

So next time you spot Cape Town in the background of an advert, series or movie, feel that extra bit of joy in knowing it absolutely did some good for South Africa.