Nelspruit - Mpumalanga's Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation is to train 40 people in television script writing and film production this year.

Half of the group will be trained in television script writing and the other in film production in order to develop the local film industry, said departmental spokesperson Sammy Mpatlanyane on Thursday.

“The department has allocated resources for the Mpumalanga Film Development Office to promote the development of the film industry to grow the local film economy,” he explained.

The development of the local industry has been hampered by a lack of resources and personnel in the province's Film Development Office, said Mpatlanyane.

He said the process of identifying people for training in script writing and film production had already begun.

Adverts have been put out for interested people to submit examples of their work.

He said the department wanted to see local productions produced by local people being screened on national TV.

“We are also positioning ourselves for an upcoming TV station in the province,” he said.
He said a regional TV station was expected to be launched by 2010.

Meanwhile, Mpumalanga's first commercial free-to-air channel, Mpumalanga Broadcasting Television (MBTV), was officially launched last week.

Once it is on air, the date for which has not been set yet, local viewers will be able to access it through their DSTV satellite decoder.

Viewers will be able to get non-subscription decoders that are available in appliance stores.

He added that the department would strengthen its relationship with the South African Script Writers Association (SASWA) and the national broadcaster SABC. – BuaNews