South Africa is a favourite place for international filmmakers to visit, thanks to the diversity of locations we have to offer and the minimal legislative hoops to jump through – even parts of big budget Hollywood blockbusters, like Avengers 2, are sometimes shot in SA.

But it appears that a new visa law may hamper the efficiency of filming in SA, as a new law requires actors, filmmakers and foreign crew to submit visa applications in their home countries before coming to SA.

“The travel and work schedules of many A-list actors – and skilled experts in other fields – are such that they cannot return to their home countries to submit applications, as this would create additional cost and inconvenience and severely hamper projects, investment and job creation required by the country.” – Leon Isaacson, the managing director of Global Migration SA.

This was the case with US drama series Homeland (pictured above), which is due to start filming in Cape Town next month, but had to reschedule production, at a massive cost, due to the sudden visa changes.

This has raised some serious concern around the future investment in South Africa, as foreign companies considering to do location shoots and film movies, TV series and commercials in SA is profitable for the local industry.

The law was also set to have been passed without any consultation from the South Africa’s TV and film industry.

[source: Channel24]