Videovision Entertainment has produced more than 100 feature films over the past 25 years in South Africa, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Hong Kong, with an aggregate value of production costs in excess of R1 billion.
Among the company's productions are some of the most profound films to have been produced in South Africa, including A Place Of Weeping, Cry, The Beloved Country and Sarafina! The company also produced Yesterday, the first South African film to receive an Academy Award Nomination.
The company holds the coveted film rights to Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. The film is currently in pre-production and is budgeted at R261 million.
Videovision Entertainment's association with South Africa's Number One Box office star, Leon Schuster, has seen the production of three of the Top Four All Time box office hits in South Africa - the hit comedies Mr Bones 2 which has earned R35 million, Mr Bones which grossed R33 million at the boxoffice and Mama Jack which grossed R28 million.
Released in 2008 in South Africa was More Than Just A Game, the moving docu-drama feature which tells the inspiring story of organised soccer among prisoners on Robben Island (the maximum security prison where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were incarcerated by the apartheid regime in South Africa). Recent releases include the comedy Jozi, which is directed by Craig Freimond and features some of South Africa's leading young talents and the stand up movie, Outrageous! which sees South Africa's top stand up comics come together in a no-holds barred, adults only stand up comedy experience.
Shot in the United States are American East with Tony Shalhoub (Monk) and the re-make of Japanese horror maestro Hideo Nakata's Don't Look Up, directed by award winning Hong Kong filmmaker, Fruit Chan (Dumplings, Three Extremes).
Upcoming in 2010 are the documentary feature My Hunter's Heart which explores the world's oldest culture and how it is now at the brink of extinction and The First Grader which is set in a remote Kenyan mountain-top town and tells the remarkable and uplifting story of a proud old Mau Mau veteran who is determined to seize his last opportunity to learn to read and joins a class of six year olds.
Videovision Entertainment acquired the South African rights to and also successfully produced the international hit gameshow, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? for three seasons. It also produced a weekly drama series, The Res for the SABC and has produced numerous documentaries, among which are: Nkosi - The Voice Of Africa's AIDS Orphans, A Hero For All (a tribute to Nelson Mandela as he stepped down as President), Countdown to Freedom (documenting the 10 days preceding the first democratic elections in South Africa 1994) and Prisoners of Hope (documents the reunion of 1250 former political prisoners, led by President Mandela, on Robben Island). Produced as a 90th Birthday tribute to Nelson Mandela, was Viva Madiba: A Hero For All Seasons. The company scored a major coup with the timely production of Obama: People's President, a documentary feature that explores the unique and innovative US presidential campaign mounted by Barack Obama.
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OUTRAGEOUS Fans of stand-up comedy will be treated to a rare comedy experience in Outrageous where John Vlismas presents the stand-up movie of the year with Barry Hilton, Mark Banks, Loyiso Gola, Joey Rasdien, Riaad Moosa and Krijay Govender joining forces to deliver the heaviest comedy line-ups ever. Outrageous sees Vlismas and his friends featured together for the first time in a comedy stand-up film where no punches are pulled as they shower blows on sacred cows from every angle. |
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JOZI Currently in post-production is the comedy Jozi, which is directed by Craig Freimond (Gums 'n Noses) and stars Carl Beukes, Lionel Newton, Lindiwe Matshikiza and Nick Borraine. |
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MR BONES 2 The year is 1879 and the African kingdom of Kuvukiland is threatened by Redcoat soldiers, who are killing off the Kuvuki tribe's sacred springbok and taking over the land. During the wedding ritual of Hekule (the future king of Kuvukiland) and his queen, Hekule is given a gemstone by the dying Kunji Balanadin, one of the Redcoats' cooks. The stone is cursed and causes Hekule to become possessed by the spirit of this mischievous Indian cook. It is up Mr. Bones, to get rid of this cursed stone to cure his king by returning the gem to its home in an Indian village. |
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MORE THAN JUST A GAME Released in April 2008, More Than Just A Game is the inspirational story of five former Robben Island prisoners: Mark Shinners, Anthony Suze, Lizo Sitoto, Sedick Isaacs and Marcus Solomon. More Than Just A Game tells the story of how political activists sent to Robben Island in the 1960s rise above their incarceration by creating a football league, the Makana Football Association, and find an outlet for their passion and commitment to discipline through football. |
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MAMA JACK Following Mr Bones, South Africa's most successful film ever, comes Mama Jack, the story of Jack Theron, an ordinary person, working on a film set, however, his movie director boss hates his guts. In a bid to get rid of Jack, the director spikes his drink at a glamorous function, and before long Jack has unwittingly offended all the attending dignitaries, ruined the function and got himself on the wrong side of the law. Now, on the run and desperate, Jack turns to his friend, Shorty, a make-up artist for help, and emerges disguised as a black woman, Mama Jack. Mama Jack soon finds "herself" employed by the producer's fiancée and begins to fall in love with her. A series of deceptions and misunderstandings pile up and comic mayhem results. The film was a runaway success in South Africa, grossing R28 million at the South African boxoffice. |