As South African film and television industry players continue to grapple with the fallout from Canal+’s sudden decision to shut down its domestic streaming service Showmax this week, one question seemed to be on everyone’s lips at Johannesburg’s JBX market.
What’s next?
The news wasn’t a complete shock, as I hadn’t been told anything. There has been an ominous feeling since the French media giant completed its $2 billion acquisition of South African pay-TV company MultiChoice last year, but the company has not said its post-merger plans and suspicions were rife that cost-cutting measures were being considered.
Showmax, a loss-making streamer that is a direct competitor to Canal+’s own SVOD service in Africa, was a natural target. Since relaunching the platform with NBCUniversal in 2024, MultiChoice and its Comcast partners have poured a total of $309 million in equity funding into Showmax, primarily to fuel content production.
But ultimately, nothing came of the streamer’s aggressive growth and subscriber acquisition goals. Just two months ago, Canal+ CFO Amandine Ferré claimed that the platform’s losses were “unacceptable” to her company given the streamer’s fate. The writing was on the wall.
The news didn’t go down easily at the JBX market this week, with one producer confessing to being “sickened” by the announcement and another lamenting that the move effectively “decapitated the only African streamer”. The fact that the news broke during the Joburg Film Festival, an event organized by MultiChoice, did little to improve the situation, which felt like a “slap in the face” to African filmmakers, no matter how good it was for shareholders, according to one Johannesburg-based producer.
What’s next for Canal+’s streaming strategy on the continent remains anyone’s guess. However, one industry source summed it up by saying, “Producers are making a fuss.”
After all, the decision comes two years after Prime Video scaled back its ambitions to become the continent’s biggest player, effectively exiting the African market. Netflix says it remains focused on the African continent, and at this week’s glitzy Joburg mixer, Kay-Anne Williams, head of the African scripted streamer, insisted that Netflix is ”here to stay”, but the lack of competition will only weaken African producers.
If the old saying holds true that when the elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers, then the same may be true for content creators in an age of endless mergers, acquisitions, and corporate consolidation.
The atmosphere at this week’s JBX Talk conference was funeral-like. “Streaming was seen as a great democratizer, especially in Africa,” lamented producer Paul Buys. “Losing Amazon was devastating. Losing Showmax was also devastating. There are fewer and fewer local options.” Or, as another South African producer bluntly put it, “Show me a buyer.”
The Netflix original series GO! was produced in South Africa.
Provided by Netflix
If there’s a silver lining to this week’s rainy Johannesburg, it’s that African filmmakers have long prided themselves on being resilient and resourceful. “Every battle is a new battle,” said Neil Brandt, founding partner of Johannesburg-based production company Storyscope. “You have to be agile to survive.”
Several speakers at the JBX Talks conference called on each other to rally around a common cause, citing the Southern African ubuntu philosophy. Losing one of the continent’s leading commissioners would be a bitter pill to swallow, especially in the English-speaking regions, but more partnerships, more cooperation and more efforts were needed to develop cross-border revenue streams in everything from theater to free-to-air broadcasting.
There was also hope that technology might finally be on the continent’s side. Speaking at the JBX Talk conference, Brandt cited the example of Senegalese-born influencer and TikTok superstar Kirby Lame, whose company Step Distinctive was acquired last year for nearly $1 billion. “He is an entrepreneur who understands the new economy and has monetized it in a way that reaches a[worldwide]audience,” the producer said. “This is an inspiration. Homegrown African-born content creators… who have their own stories and think outside the box.”
African creators striking gold with vertical content is perhaps a natural repeat given where technology is heading. Africa, a continent with more than 1 billion mobile phones – which serve as the first and only screen for most consumers – could be the next untapped market for the microdrama industry, which is expected to grow to $26 billion in annual revenue by 2030.
Cape Town-based production company Both Worlds, which this week announced a partnership with US company Freeli Films to co-produce a series of vertical series and films, is confident it will do so with a distribution strategy built around partnerships with major mobile operators across Africa. Thierry Casso, the company’s executive chairman, pointed out that in China, the birthplace of microdrama, the vertical market surpassed theater last year.
“The Chinese wrote the first chapter, so we need to learn their strategy,” Kasuto said. “But we have to put that aside and write it ourselves.”
Elouise Kelly, Viu’s South Africa country manager, noted that Asian streaming giants have already begun dubbing Korean microdramas into indigenous South African languages, such as Zulu, as they look to expand into the African market. “What’s the next iteration?” she said. “We need to think about how to customize it for South Africa and Africa and make it our own, because I think there is an opportunity there.”
Taye Diggs will appear in a micro-drama set in Africa alongside local stars.
Free refilm provided
Blunt called on African filmmakers to take risks and embrace new formats and technologies, saying it would be a “paradigm shift” for Africa to unlock the potential of vertical formats, or to incorporate large-scale AI into production workflows to ultimately level the playing field.
“(Verticals) are a new form of storytelling. If you understand that and embrace it, you’ll find an audience,” he said. “There’s a goldmine out there. People are always looking for stories.”
“There are many places where your storytelling fits,” added Thandeka Zwana, a South African indigenous film distributor. “Adapt. Think differently. Broaden your horizons. Adapt to a changing world. Look at how consumers are changing. Because consumers are not stagnant. You can’t tell the same story in the same way and expect your audience to keep watching.”
The Joburg Film Festival will be held in Johannesburg from 3rd to 8th March.
