Bay film project set to take off
MAKING inroads on the international stage, Port Elizabeth filmmaker Pholile Maneli has travelled as far as Hollywood to find funding for a project, and the results look positive.
After an intensive two weeks of meetings and interviews with potential investors, Maneli, 30, has managed to secure a venue to screen her film once it has been produced.
She is in the final stages of her screenplay, which focuses on contemporary issues like drug abuse, racism and human trafficking.
She will also launch a crowd-funding initiative today.
“The nice thing about [Los Angeles] is everyone is hustling, so they respect someone who’s willing to put themselves out there and knock on doors,” Maneli said.
She and her husband, Nkosinathi, 37, left for the US two weeks ago to call in several cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, while also visiting potential investors in Texas and New York.
While in Los Angeles, Maneli had a humbling experience when an Uber driver told her that she was not the first person he had driven with dreams of making it big in the city.
“Our Uber driver blatantly pointed out that I must be the hundredth “director” he had met who came to [Los Angeles] for a big break.
“Every other passenger wants to be Spielberg,” she said.
The story is set in Port Elizabeth, and Maneli hopes to find cast and crew from the Bay to take part in the film.
“It is important that we put local talent in the spotlight, that we expose the raw talent that we have in the Bay and give [people] a chance to shine,” she said.
“[We are] still pursuing the local guys to put their investment into this [Eastern Cape] original as it would say a lot if internationals can support us, but [South Africans] refuse,” she said.
She said she would also be pursuing a crowd-funding campaign, which will be available on the website Indiegogo for 40 days from today.