Staff Reporter
Windhoek
Hunan Satellite TV, the second most-watched channel in China recently concluded filming parts of a reality television series in Namibia. China’s most watched television channel is CCTV-1 owned by China Central Television.
The production, which first saw the team visit Namibia during a scouting trip for a few days in December of last year, wrapped filming locally in March.
The locations where the filming took place included the Harnass Wildlife Foundation east of Gobabis and Deadvlei near Solitaire in the south of Namibia. The locations were chosen as part of filming on location around the world, including countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Australia.
According to Guy Nockels, executive producer of Namib Films, throughout the very challenging production, the visiting film crew had a chance to see the stunning scenery, enjoy the amazing hotels and travel on the incredible road network, which makes Namibia a favourite film destination for European television stations and large Hollywood studios.
He added that China was counted as having the most screens in the world in 2016, and at some stage the nation had the third largest film industry by the sheer number of films produced annually.
“With this in mind, Namib Film sees great potential in developing this new partnership with Hunan Satellite Television and believes that once other Chinese filmmakers see what Namibia and local film companies, such as Namib Film and its sister company Magic Touch Films, have to offer, and hears of the professional services offered, there would definitely be more productions moving in,” Nockels said.
Hunan Satellite TV broadcasts to most China, the Far East and is viewable in North America and Europe, contacted Namib Film to facilitate the scout and this year entrusted them with the production that included over 150 celebrities and crew members, with the celebrities accompanied by eight dedicated crew members throughout the project.
Imwe Namibia Holdings was established by international film industry veteran Guy Nockels, founder of Namib Film, the largest and longest-running production company in Namibia and the company that served for the creation of Imwe Namibia Holdings and the development of three partner companies alongside Namib Film.
The four companies now fall under the Imwe Namibia Holdings banner, each offering related, but distinctly different, products, services, markets and opportunities; each has their own way of contributing to the Namibian film industry.
The Imwe Namibia companies are Magic Touch Films, a production company specializing in documentaries and reality-TV projects, Equipment List Rentals, a company that facilitates the rental of filming, camping and event equipment, the travel agency Desert Ace Tours and Charters, along with Namib Film.
– New Era Weekender.