Citygate Films

Lessons Learned Filming in Africa: Production

In Travel Notes    2 comments

Oct 27

Shooting in four nations over three weeks means a few things are top priority for a producer: cash and equipment safety. For a director, it all comes down to keeping the talent healthy and energized and protecting that very valuable hard drive with all your work on it. When you wear both hats, as I did this in September 2009 while shooting A NOTE OF HOPE, it means I always had one large roller bag with me that carried the laptop, one set of hard drives, all the ridiculously large piles of cash, and various meds, sunscreens, and hand wipes. We guarded that bag like it contained the atomic bomb codes.

As with the previous post about pre-production, I want to share some of the lessons I learned from this trip with other filmmakers. Share the wealth, spare the difficulties. I hope these points are useful for you. If so, leave a comment!

CASH FLOW: Depending on where you are filming, Africa is largely a cash-based economy. You can leave those traveler’s checks at home. In my opinion, they are more trouble to use than they are worth. But ATM cards are extremely useful. Notice I said cards–plural. It is essential to travel with multiple debit cards (and credit cards, if you have them) because the networks there can be rather finicky. On some days, one card would get through on the VISA network and on other days, in the same place, it wouldn’t work. I was always glad to have a back-up card. Which meant that I spread my production cash among several accounts before I left. It’s a hassle to reconcile once you get home, for sure, but when you are on the move it’s great to know that you won’t be held back because the one card you possess is having troubles. Notice, too, that I said VISA. It’s rare that anything else is accepted, at least in the countries we traveled in (Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia, Ghana).

If you are traveling in Uganda, especially in rural areas like we were, you are going to have to travel with all cash. When you depart the U.S., bring $100 bills in good shape (no tears or scribbling) printed after 2003. You get a better exchange rate with higher denominations and you don’t face rejected bills at the exchange bureau if they are in good shape. I brought several thousand dollars in U.S. cash and slept with one eye open on the plane over. But that was the easy part, because that amount of U.S. cash can easily be worn in a money belt. Once I exchanged it for Ugandan shillings in Kampala, I had two large mountains of cash — more than 12 million Ugandan shillings. While it’s fun to be a millionaire in at least one currency, it is a hassle to manage that wad of money.

By the time we departed Uganda and arrived in Zambia, I was out of cash and needed to start the ATM roulette. At the ATMs in the capital, Lusaka, and the town where we were shooting, Ndola, the daily limits were 2 million kwacha on average. That didn’t go far, so I was having to hit the ATM machines on a daily basis, sometimes more than once. One time, the ATM machine was out of cash, so I came up empty. After awhile, I had all the nearby ATM machines mapped in my head and could tell you when they switched over to the next banking day so I could hit them up again. Fun stuff. This routine continued in Ethiopia and Ghana, as well.

Which brings me to another good tip: Did you know you have a daily cash limit on your debit cards? I found that out trying to purchase expensive film gear before we left. Silly me–it’s my money. I thought I could spend it whenever I wanted. But many banks put daily cash limits on your debit cards for your protection, so you won’t be wiped out. (At least that’s what my bank told me, though I’ve also been told that if it is a VISA-branded debit card, my account has some of the same protections as a VISA credit card. Maybe it’s really for the bank’s protection, then, if my account is not entirely at risk.) Anyway, if you are going to be traveling and spending lots of money (and who isn’t on a film shoot?), then make sure to call your bank before you leave and get your daily limit lifted to something that will represent your estimated per-day cash flow.

FILMING REQUIREMENTS: In various nations, you will encounter regulations about filming. Some of these items are available online for you to discover before you leave. Some you will find out about on the ground. For that reason, always travel with plenty of business cards, official stationery with your production company logo, and extra passport photos of your crew. At some point, you may need to fill out more paperwork on the ground and these items (plus cash) are invariably required. I knew about Ghana’s press card requirements, so I had on hand the passport photos they required of me and my crew. In return, I received a Ghana press card, which is not only a great souvenir, it also was extremely helpful when I was trying to film in places of cultural significance and facing requests for additional paperwork and permissions.

I also knew in advance about Ethiopia’s requirements regarding professional film equipment. I learned about those while shooting there in 2008. In short, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Information requires that you apply for permission to shoot in their country, something will also result in a fee based on the cost of your production while in-country (around $100 in my two experiences). Given how many filmmakers have come in to shoot their poverty and possibly profit from it, I don’t blame them for wanting a cut. The kicker is that unless you have someone in country ahead of time who can accurately represent your company, your project, and your equipment, you will have to do this upon arrival. Which means the nice people at the airport exit will hold your cameras until you return with that form. (It’s just the cameras they require, not anything else.) Don’t sweat that issue — the gear has always been returned in good shape to us. It is what it is. But DO count on losing an entire day to this bureaucratic process.

I also want to share one VERY important tip for anyone planning on filming in Ethiopia: The Ministry of Information doesn’t exist anymore. I was told it was “cancelled” last year. But you wouldn’t know this from the information presently listed on the Embassy of Ethiopia’s website. This site and the staff at the Addis Ababa airport still reference the Ministry of Information. Since I knew about this requirement, I called, faxed, and emailed this ministry for several weeks before our arrival. No response. I only found out about the new government entity after riding around in the city (note: no street addresses in Addis) until my driver made enough inquiries to find out what happened to the Ministry of Information. So, for your future reference, the department you must deal with is the Government Communications Affairs Office. Their email address is loveethiopia2000@yahoo.com. For real. But still you will need to submit all the information that the Ministry of Information required, so please do visit the Ethiopian Embassy’s website for those details.

LOCAL PRODUCTION SUPPORT: Speaking of Ethiopia, on our trip there last year we discovered that within 200 yards of our shoot location was a great production company, Zeleman Productions. We didn’t need to schlep all the grip gear and lights after all! Recalling that information, I contacted them this year for support shooting a live, packed out New Year’s Eve concert. (Yes, Ethiopia’s New Year falls at a different time because they are on a different calendar.) I highly recommend working with them if you are doing any filming in Addis Ababa. Nathaneal Tsegaye was the production manager. Contact information is (tel) +251 116 632 800/01/02/03/04, (fax) +251 116 626 238, (email) zeleman.production@gmail.com, (website) www.zelemanproduction.com. They provided the lights and grip gear we needed, plus a gaffer to help with the set-up.

ELECTRICITY: It’s always fun to figure out how to power gear in developing nations. One great resource I discovered before we left was East-West International. They have nearly everything you need–transformers, multisystem electronics, surge protectors, 220 volt appliances, and more. I also recommend buying a voltage stabilizer to keep your lights from flickering in places where the electricity is not very stable. Also, be prepared for little access to electricity even indoors. The more batteries you have, the better off you will be. Finally, when we were in Addis, we discovered that the city is on a power-rationing system where certain sectors only have power every other day. On the off-days, people use generators to power basic systems. But there’s not enough juice to power the elevators with a generator, so keep that in mind when you house your crew and gear. Though lower floors in the African hotels we stayed in (which were mid-range places) were subject to roaches and other vermin, they had easy access for heavy equipment. In those cases, you have to decide whether bugs or strained backs are more of a nuisance.

TRANSPORTATION: With 13 people and more bags than seem humanly necessary, we needed large vehicles for our ground transportation. I can recommend Rainbow Travel in Addis Ababa (email rainbowsh@ethionet.et; www.rainbowtravelplc.com); Budget Safari in Uganda (email info@budgetsafari.biz; www.budgetsafari.biz) and Helgard Travel & Tours in Ghana (email: httcr@yahoo.com; www.helgard-travel.com). Each company provided a large bus and an English-speaking driver for a reasonable daily or weekly rate. (We had a private vehicle in Zambia so I don’t have anything to recommend there.)

HEALTH: About six weeks prior to our departure, I had everyone visit their local travel health departments or Passport Health to get the vaccinations and prescriptions they needed for this trip. (I should have noted that in the pre-production article!) While traveling, however, the single most important item you will need is a HUGE batch of sanitizing hand wipes. Soap and water are a scarce item in many areas and having hand wipes will prevent many illnesses from taking root. Africans are wonderfully hospitable people and everyone in the vicinity will welcome you with at least a handshake, if not more. (Americans could definitely learn the art of making someone feel welcome from the people we visited!) Having hand sanitizer easily accessible will allow you to be both hospitable in return and wise about common communicable diseases. (The challenge is to do this discreetly!) Also, I am also a big promoter of vitamin supplementation. In malaria areas, you will need to take Malarone (better than Lariam, in my opinion and experience), which can give some people oral canker sores. Lysterine and high doses of vitamin B can help prevent or minimize those sores. But a basic multivitamin with lots of vitamin B will help make up for the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables when traveling. (As many in my group learned, eat the fresh fruit at breakfast and experience diarrhea by lunch. Some restaurants and hotels did wash their fruit in bottled or purified water, so that wasn’t true everywhere. But it’s best to err on the side of caution.)

COMMUNICATION: Even in hotels that advertise Internet access, getting online is typically sketchy. Most of the time in our experience, the service was down. But about halfway through the trip, I discovered the joys of Zain cards. I had planned ahead of time to bring my unlocked iPhone and buy SIM cards to use locally to make calls. That system worked great–even calls back to the U.S. were inexpensive. But then I saw that if I bought a Zain SIM card, I also had wireless internet access. I only used this in Ghana, but it worked like a charm in some of the remote areas we were in. I definitely recommend going with local SIM cards because they are usually pay-as-you-go and can easily be topped off again. Africans use their mobile phones far more than email, so it’s really the best way to contact someone.

By now, you may have noticed the emphasis on the producer/production manager duties. It’s my experience that if these duties go smoothly, then everyone can concentrate on the craft of filmmaking. On most days of filming, I created a call sheet and shot list for the team–something that in documentary filmmaking is always revised as the day unfolds. I found that having a thumb drive to transfer documents to the various business centers I used for printing (whether in the hotel or elsewhere) was invaluable. Otherwise, my best decisions as a director were made well before the shoot in the casting of the film and the hiring of the crew. In both cases for A NOTE OF HOPE, I was extremely fortunate to have the people with me that I did. I hope you will hear from some of the them in future Citygate blog posts.

(Photo: British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines were our travel sponsors for this shoot. Here bassist Gerald Veasley and vocalist Rosella Washington are shown on the tarmac after landing in Lusaka, Zambia.)