The IPO represents, protects and promotes the interests of independent South African film, television and digital media producers and, in turn, all who work in and are suppliers to the industry value chain.

IPO Membership 

IPO Fringing Policy

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WHY FRINGING?

To adequately capacitate the organisation our leadership and membership agreed that we should implement a system of fringing, as is commonplace in other territories, to supplement membership fees income.

We need a well-capacitated and properly resourced industry organisation. We need a small but dynamic full-time team, budget for overheads, legal, research, PR/marketing and consultancy services such as may be required, for training and transformation initiatives, memberships of relevant local and international organisations to ensure that we and our members are kept abreast of developments, opportunities and international best practice. We need to professionalise the organisation so that we, and the industry, are taken seriously by government and other key stakeholders, ensuring continuity and institutional memory which has been sorely lacking with an Executive Committee that changes every two years and with no full-time secretariat.

WHAT FRINGING WILL ENABLE

  • Capacitate Terms of Trade negotiations:
    Enable IPO to guide equitable terms of trade negotiations with broadcasters and streaming platforms.
  • Establishment of a Legal Aid Insurance Fund:
    Establishing a fund/ insurance product and legal advisory system that supports members to fight government, broadcasters or streamers where there is
    egregious injustice.
  • Institute programmes and policies for significant industry transformation:
    These endeavours will include: capacitating a unit that will assist companies that are striving to meet transformation or procurement targets through the use
    of Black crew and supplier databases and providing company advice on BEE ownership. It will involve developing more robust policies on transforming the industry by training more Black creatives, monitoring progress to ensure the industry is being transformed, engaging with government on the best tools in this regard, developing databases of verified BEE suppliers and industry professionals (especially females and HODs) and facilitating structured mentorship
    programmes between emerging and established producers. This is critical, not only to ensure equity in our industry and develop sufficient skills at all levels to meet what we believe will be massive increase in production, but also to ensure ongoing and increased government support for our industry going forward.
  • Provide International Marketing and Festival opportunities:
    We will apply for funds from DTIC and others to secure outward bound missions of producers to festivals and markets such as Cannes and TIFF, bringing the local film market to the world, expanding our reach, visibility and viability.
  • Work towards increasing industry development funding:
    This means lobbying for mechanisms to increase development funding for the local industry, which is a long-standing issue holding back the growth of our
    sector.
  • Conduct more impactful policy and legislative work:
    We will significantly increase our impact in the policy and legislative space by
    not just reacting to and engaging with government and stakeholder policies, but
    also by being in a position to research and propose new policies that benefit the
    industry. We will be better able to conduct visible and effective lobbying around
    these policies. This will at times require the services of paid legal, accounting
    and/or economic and best practice experts.
  • Coordinate research that will benefit the industry:
    Such as through employing experienced industry researcher(s) who can identify
    best practice around the world and continually help us to refine our lobbying
    and our training initiatives, and advise on new ways to meet our mandate.
  • Develop an enhanced suite of Industry Resources:
    This will include making available useful documentation for the industry such as
    legal agreement templates and budget templates – as well as access to all of
    the research done by the staff. Ongoing updating of industry database and
    demographic information, success stories etc to inform our business case and
    change perceptions.
  • Unify the industry:
    The IPO is working towards the establishment of The Producers Guild of South
    Africa, modelled on the success of Guilds in the USA, UK and multiple other
    territories. This is a meaningful effort to bring producer bodies together, enabling
    us collectively to have a more powerful representative body to interface with
    government and key stakeholders, maximising our impact, scope and reach.
  • Expand development and training programmes:
    We will expand on implementing a range of mentorship, capacity-building, and
    training initiatives to upskill and pave the way for future aptitude, with a
    particular focus on new entrants to and emerging talent in the industry. We will
    also run masterclasses targeted towards more advanced members. Programmes
    will include seminars and webinars with experts, and training courses in all
    aspects of the filmmaking process from physical production to legal. It will also
    include garnering finance for mentorship programmes with a focus on youth,
    Black and female industry crew and emerging HODs.
  • Institute proper industry growth stimulation measures:
    This involves marketing South Africa as a destination for international service work
    and for co-productions and promoting the local sector through our affiliations
    with international organisations and studios. Ongoing lobbying activities and
    campaigning – this incudes financing marketing campaigns , social media
    campaigns and other expenses that may be required to have face time with
    decision makers.
  • Implement measures to professionalise and standardise the industry:
    We will embark on professional standardisation measures such as the
    development of standardised contracts, best practice policies and other
    documentation and policy work that ensures the protection of all parties working
    across the value chain in the industry. This will include aligning with and
    engaging The Southern African Communications Industries Association (SACIA)
    for the professional registration of industry workers.
  • Ensure support for gender equality and safe sets:
    This will include the establishment of protocols and enforcement mechanisms,
    and greater capacity to work with SWIFT, NFVF and other partners to eliminate
    the scourge of sexual harassment in the industry.
  • Help establish Industry Ombuds:
    Establishing and sourcing funding for this vital service to be offered to all workers
    and employers in the screen sector, to rapidly and effectively resolve disputes
    and address concerns raised by the Department of Employment & Labour.
  • Conduct local marketing and producer community activations
    With the assistance of additional funding which we would like to apply for from
    Provincial film commissions we aim to initiate hosting industry networking events
    like film screenings, seminars and webinars, around the country.
  • Expand global industry connections:
    Securing relationships with and becoming members of relevant international
    organisations such as the International Federation of Film Producers Associations
    (FIAPF) so we can engage, collaborate, learn from and knowledge share and
    leverage these connections and partnerships to the benefit of our local industry.
  • Relevant Marketing and Communications Campaigns
    There is a need for greater visibility on key issues such as the Copyright
    Amendment Bills and B-BBEE scorecard currently in debate and review. These
    campaigns will raise the profile of industry to better lobby government and
    stakeholders and in turn will encourage investment.
  • Appointment of necessary Human Resources:
    The appointment of full and part-time employees to run our Secretariat, the
    fringing process and rollout all the elements of the work intended and listed
    herein. This includes the capacity to hire necessary consultants such as on legal,
    research and lobbying matters, to succeed in fulfilling the intended mandates
    with the assistance of the appropriate experts where needed.

FRINGING POLICY RATES

Servicing work using Foreign Incentive Rebate
1% of payroll capped at R400 000.00 or 0.3% of the total budget per production.

Local productions (features and broadcast)
0.3% of total budget capped at R100 000.00 per production per year.

Co-productions
Either 1% of payroll capped at R400 000.00 or 0.3% of the production budget
capped at R100 000.00 per production.

100% Commissioned productions
A flat fee, per production, per year based on a total production budget amount
that fits into the following bands:

  • R0 – R5 million      = R15 000.00
  • R5 – R10 million    = R30 000.00
  • R10 – R15 million  = R40 000.00
  • R15 million +          = R50 000.00

FRINGING PROCESS & MANAGEMENT MECHANISMS

  • Fringing will only apply to IPO member companies.
  • While fringing will appear as a line item in budgets, it will not add to production budgets but will be paid directly from the producer’s fee.
  • The IPO will establish a database of companies going into production, including demographic information to assist our engagements with and lobbying of
    government.
  • Producers asked to give the IPO advance notice of productions they will be undertaking, indicating either payroll or production budget option. This will enable a calendar of upcoming productions to be drawn up and forward projections and relevant planning to be made accordingly.
  • Producer/production information will remain strictly confidential, and the IPO Secretariat and Finance Administrator will sign NDAs/Confidentiality Agreements with each of the relevant companies providing information.
  • The only information required from each company is the budget total (for those paying a percentage of budget) or the payroll total (for those paying as a
    percentage of payroll).
  • The IPO Secretariat will make regular contact with production companies to agree financial arrangements and monitor progress.
  • Payments are to be made by the first day of principal photography of each production set to fringe.
  • For international work and co-productions, payments may be made directly by the payroll company to the IPO.
  • For the 1% of payroll option, payments may be made to the IPO via their payroll services company (paid weekly).
  • For 0.3% of production budget option, Producers are to advise the IPO in advance the name and contact details of their Production Accountant and method of payment by start of pre-prod.
  • Payments will be made into a ring-fenced account, managed by the IPO’s finance administrator and relevant Exco office bearers.
  • Only the IPO Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Company Secretary and Secretariat will have access to any information you provide.
  • Sanctions for non-compliance may be considered by Exco.
  • Quarterly reports will be presented to the IPO’s Exco, and audited financial statements will be presented at the IPO AGM each year.
  • A review will be undertaken in March 2024 to determine if, with more work underway, any adjustments to the percentages or methodology should be
    made.

BACKGROUND TO FRINGING

  • The proposal to implement fringing has been in discussion since 2016.
  • The IPO’s AGM with members in October 2020 took the resolution to adopt fringing to improve finances.
  • This resolution was approved by the Executive Committee in March 2021.
  • A further presentation was made to and ratified by members at an IPO webinar held in April 2021.
  • Fringing rates were adjusted, and a final presentation made to members at the 2022 AGM, which was held in February 2023.
  • The elected 2023/2024 Executive Committee resolved to implement the resolution in April 2023.
  • In June 2023 all current Exco members committed to their companies adopting fringing going forward.
  • From June 2023 we began approaching IPO member companies to join us in adopting fringing.

THE IPO’S FUNDING & FINANCIAL STATUS

We currently rely on membership fees as income and occasionally have access to grant funding, through running special projects/ programmes. The current model does not allow for growth in the ways we need to expand our organisation’s work going forward to meaningfully contribute to the industry’s development.

We simply do not have funds to sustain the continuous complexity of work the organisation is required to do and should be doing to respond to government, elevate industry profile locally or internationally, implement development and transformation programmes and provide support and services we would like to offer members. The organisation is at a financial crossroads and has identified that the time is now to implement our fringing policy.

THE IPO’S IMPACT

The organisation is succeeding in leading dialogues that guarantee that producers, particularly producers from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, triumph in  becoming accomplished film and television business owners. The organisation continues to map the way forward on issues regarding policy, strategy, and transformation. This work comprises interaction with multiple agencies from government departments to the DTIC, national film commissions to national broadcasters. It involves IPO representation held on numerous stakeholder bodies comprising the likes of the DTIC, NFVF, and SOS Coalition. The challenges around the DTIC Rebate Incentive Scheme for example has affected the entire value chain of the sector, from broadcasters and international studios, to producers, freelancers, and suppliers. We are deeply involved with with legislative, policy and regulatory changes and proposed amendments which profoundly affect the viability of the sector which includes developing compelling submissions to government and its agencies, contributing to frameworks and legislation that affects our sector. Critical amongst these are the Copyright & Performers’ Protection Amendment Bills and the new draft of the country’s BEE Scorecard.

Previous policy work includes working on the Film & Publications Amendment Act, the Audiovisual & Interactive Media White Paper, the SABC Amendment Act, the proposed ending of the Section 12 O of the Income Tax Act (the Film Tax Incentive), ICASA regulations including local content amendments, NFVF Co-Production Treaties with Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya and India, the POPIA Act, and many more. These policy changes have required that the industry make well-researched, comprehensive, and compelling submissions and representations in order to safeguard and secure as conducive an operating environment for the industry as possible.

In addition to our policy work we fundraise for and run training and mentorship programmes, with the likes of the 2023 Get On Set Mentorship Programme for Emerging Producers being a flagship success story that proves our capability to have real-world impact on the ground.

The work of our six subcommittees, chaired by Exco members and capacitated by further IPO volunteer members, ensures interaction with key stakeholders, and investment in the industry by working across the following spaces:

DTIC, NEF & IDC
NFVF, DSAC & Film Commissions
Broadcast & Department of Communications & Digital Technologies
Transformation, Capacity Building & Diversity
Membership, International Relations & Fundraising
IPO Communications

FRINGING HONOUR ROLL:

A special and warm thank you to all companies that have supported the IPO through fringing as of 2024:

  1. RousHouse Productions
  2. KAE RED Productions (PTY) LTD
  3. Moonlighting Productions (PTY) LTD
  4. Mannequin Films
  5. Spier Films
  6. Free Woman Films

For further information on fringing please feel free to request our pitch deck presentation and detailed document of Frequently Asked Questions.

Please request these by emailing: ad***********@ip*.za.">ad***********@ip*.za.