BE NICE

London - A couple who run a Chinese restaurant in Essex were given the go-ahead by the High Court on Friday to keep the £10-million one of their elderly and long-standing friends left them on her death.

When Golda "Goldie" Bechal died in January 2004 she bequeathed virtually her entire estate, made up of various business and property interests across the south east, to Kim Sing Man and his wife Bee Lian Man.

The only other major beneficiaries under two wills signed in May and August of 1994 were a number of charities, including Jewish causes.

A group of Bechal's nieces and nephews challenged the wills claiming their aunt, who was nearly 89 when she died, was so mentally frail at the time of signing the wills that they were invalid.
But Judge Sir Donald Rattee ruled in London that Bechal knew exactly what she was doing when she made the bequest, and ruled that the Mans of Great Leighs, Chelmsford, Essex, were entitled to keep the money. He held that although Bechal had been suffering from dementia at the time she signed, she had testamentary capacity and was well enough to know and approve the content of the wills.

Rattee said that despite her mental frailty, Bechal had made the will in a way which suggested she had taken into account the competing interests of her family, and was aware of how much money she had.

He said that Bechal, was a "sad and lonely" widow, and regarded Bee Lian Man as the "daughter she would have dearly liked to have had". On a form on which the will was written she described the Mans, who have three children, as her "best friends"."

In my judgment, on the balance of probabilities Mrs Bechal had testamentary capacity when she made the August will as well as the May will," Rattee said.

During the case Kim Sing Man, told the court that Bechal had once described her family to him as a "bunch of hooligans", adding that she believed they were after her money.

Cape residents to get free Internet access

Capetonians who do not own computers or who cannot afford Internet café fees can now access both, free of charge, through the City of Cape Town's expanded Smart Cape Access Project.

A public access point was opened yesterday, Wednesday, 14 November 2007, in the foyer of the 44 Wale Street building. Five computers have been installed which can be used by anyone for up to forty-five minutes per day. The computers can be used to surf the Internet, and every user gets a free e-mail account.

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Capacity Constraints: Traffic Services

Please be advised that as a result of the staging of major events and a host of community events on the weekend of the 1 and 2 December 2007, and the as yet unresolved outcome of industrial action by over 100 traffic officers, the City’s Traffic Services will not be able to provide the necessary traffic officers to manage/support any road closures on these days.

Some of the events occurring include:

27 Nov) - 1 Dec Sat Voice of the Cape Homecoming Festival Epping Market
1 Sat Re - internment of Prestwich Bones CBD
1 Sat Walk for Witness Event Turfhall Stadium
1 Sat Not Even Once Campaign Big Bay Blaauwberg
1 Sat eMzantsi Carnival Kommetjie Rd/ Ou Kaapse Weg, Sun Valley
1 Sat Christmas Navy Band Concert Fish Hoek & Simon’s Town
1 Sat Melkbos Music Festival Melkbosstrand
1 Sat HIV/Aids Awareness Day: Mfuleni Mfuleni Community Park
1 - 2 Sat - Sun Western Province Track Championships Bellville Velodrome
1 - 2 Sat - Sun Faircape Extreme Downhill Durbanville
1 - 2 Sat - Sun Obz Festival Observatory
2 Sun Mayoral Event - Switch on of Festive Lights CBD
2 Sun Santos vs Bloemfontein Celtic Athlone Stadium
2 Sun Concerts - Chris Chameleon & Neo Muyanga Kirstenbosch Gardens
2 Sun SA vs New Zealand - ODI Sahara Park Newlands

Please Note:
• Availability of CBD locations and Traffic and other Enforcement services for filming and other events likely to be severely constrained.
• CBD locations and Traffic and other Enforcement services not available for filming and other events.

For more information please contact the City of Cape Town Film Permit Office.

The all NEW Pick 'n Pay. Fab or Drab? Have your say

At a press conference ongoing at Pick n Pay head office in Cape Town this morning, 12 November 2007, it was announced that the 40-year-old Pick n Pay brand has been revamped.

The well-known logo has been updated using Cachet font, the black has been dropped and the elegant dark blue of ‘Pick ‘and the warmer now cherry red of ‘Pay' also includes colour block frames around the ‘Ps'. The apostrophe before the ‘n' has also been dropped.

But Pick n Pay is emphasising that the new brand strategy is about more than just a new font and new colours. It includes a total brand essence and media revamp, including the brand line: ‘Inspired by you'.

Have your say on BizCommunity here.

Framed Labour Law Posters

1)Summary of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act
2) Summary of the Employment Equity Act
3) Summary of the Occupational Health and Safety Act

Size: A1

Price:
Laminated Poster Only - R229.00incl eachFramed poster - R695.00 incl eachBlock Mounted poster - R495.00 incl each

Contact:
Lazer Art & Frame
+27 11 626 2833

Odette Roper new ACA CEO

The chairman of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) Reinher Behrens yesterday, Monday, 8 October 2007, announced the appointment of Odette Roper as the new CEO of the ACA. Roper takes over from Zandile Nzalo, who resigned last month to further her business interests.

In making the announcement, Behrens said "Roper's previous experience in the communications and marketing industry and international exposure will be of immense benefit to the ACA.”



Read More Here

Minister suspends MAPPP SETA

Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana yesterday, Tuesday, 9 October 2007, announced that he has suspended the board and constitution of the Media, Advertising, Print, Packaging and Publishing SETA (MAPPP SETA) and has appointed an administrator to take over the functions of the training authority.
This action comes after more than a year of claims and counter claims of maladministration and corruption.

The MAPPP SETA was established in terms of the Skills Development Act to promote training and development within its economic sector.

However, the ‘creative' side of the SETA did not function well with the more traditional print and packaging arm. Arrangements inherited from the Industry Training Board that predated the SETA were the subject of dispute between stakeholders.

When former civil servant Melanie Bernard-Fryer was appointed as CEO, she promised to deal with the allegations. However, after speaking out against alleged corruption in the organization, she was the subject of death threats. Private security officers had to be employed to protect her and other senior staff. After returning from a period of sick leave, Bernard-Fryer was dismissed by the board of the SETA.

Read More Here

China pulls 1 466 ads

China has banned "sexually provocative sounds" on television and pulled the plug on a show reconstructing infamous crimes by women ahead of a major Communist Party meeting next month.

A total of 1 466 advertisements worth 2 billion yuan ($246 million) in revenues had been stripped from China's airways since August, SARFT said, citing department statistics.

Read More

Liquid Lime Studios opens its doors...

Liquidlimestudios opens its doors on a new natural daylight studio. It feature a 95 sq/m white space ultimately flexible for film locations shoots, photographic shoots, model testing, castings and all range of photographic needs.

First floor daylight studio. Dimensions: 10.5m x 9m x 3.5m Window diffusers & portable window diffusers Blackout blinds, lighting grids, Polyboards: 1200 x2400 x 50. Make- up table, couch seating for 6, reception area, stocked fridge, coffee corner. Quiet air-conditioning.

For more information contact: +27 21 448 4232 or email here.

Who's writing down the number?

Can we maybe have some guidelines for billboards? Like phone numbers. How often do people write down the numbers they see on billboards?
My guess is not very often, even if that number is easy to remember, like this one for what appears to be a crisis pregnancy center hotline.
We're trying to drive. Ditch the phone numbers. Websites are far easier to remember. And while you’re squeezing your web address on that billboard, I can save you some space: drop the "www."
We all figured out about 10 years ago that if you have .com, .org, .biz or dot anything at the end, that means we can find it online.I'm no art director, but I think I just made this billboard better.

Taken from: Where's my Jetpack?

This is how it should feel

New York shuttle commuters trek through the rainforest to find a beautiful waterfall at the end of their journey. Photo courtesy of Chris Cassidy.


See more of the Westin campaign here

The 12 Kinds of Ads

There Are 12 Kinds of Ads in the World

In 1978, Donald Gunn was a creative director for the advertising agency Leo Burnett. Though his position implied expertise, Gunn felt he was often just throwing darts—relying on inspiration and luck (instead of proven formulas) to make great ads. So, he decided to inject some analytical rigor into the process: He took a yearlong sabbatical, studied the best TV ads he could find, and looked for elemental patterns.

After much research, Gunn determined that nearly all good ads fall into one of 12 categories—or "master formats," in his words. At last year's Clio Awards, I saw Gunn give a lecture about these formats (using ads mostly from the '70s and '80s as examples), and I was fascinated by his theory. I soon found myself categorizing every ad I saw on TV. It was a revelation: The curtain had been pulled back on all those sly sales tactics at the heart of persuasive advertising.
This slide show presents some recent ads exemplifying each of 12 basic categories. With a little practice, you, too, will be ticking off the master formats during commercial breaks.



See the slideshow here

Environmental Production Suggestions: In Production

Most of the waste generated by the entertainment industry comes from set construction and demolition. While there have been amazing gains in minimizing waste from sets, it's still the area with the greatest opportunity for improvement.

It's also the area that is most regulated from an environmental standpoint, so it's not just a matter of "doing good." It's a good idea to contact the city’s Department of the Environment, just to make sure everything you're doing complies with various environmental laws. Every step of the way, there are things you can do to be earth-friendly.

Planet-friendly Set Construction Most of the waste generated by the entertainment industry comes from set construction and demolition. Learn planet-friendly set construction.

Proper Props

A good propmaster or set dresser makes a location look real – or unreal, if that's what it calls for. A really good one wastes nothing, and has a chance to make a statement for the environment almost every day. Learn how to be a really good propmaster or set dresser!

Wood
Avoid using tropical hardwoods that are harvested from rainforests. A number of affordable alternatives are available

Metal
Use steel scaffolding instead of building wood scaffolding. Steel scaffolding is flexible, easily stored and reused, and is becoming quite popular.

Paint
Try and source paints that have been reformulated to eliminate the compounds that evaporate and contribute to smog. Use non-water-based paint for applications where no alternative has been found should be minimized. Spray painting is subject to a lot of regulation for health and environmental reasons, so be sure you know what you're doing.
If you have paint left over, DON'T throw it in the trash. It's considered hazardous waste, and has to be handled separately. The best thing to do is to donate it.
SAASP can organise for leftover paint to be used for graffiti removal in the areas where you shoot.

A list of schools and nonprofit groups also looking for paint is also available.

Climbing the walls
Today, you can find wallboard made with recycled materials.

Donate
You’ve paid for your set materials, why not take the responsibility to donate them when you strike. SAASP is working with communities to distribute left over wood. Even the damaged stuff can be ground and shredded for pet bedding. Please continue reading for more information.

Make it known……!!!!!!
Show everyday environmental choices – whether in homes, offices or stores, show recycling containers. If you're dressing a kid's room, put a poster for an environmental group on the wall. When the family's fixing a meal or sitting down to eat, show organic food containers. If a character is coming home from the market, have the groceries in cloth bags. If folks at the office are drinking coffee, make sure it's in reusable mugs.

Taken from: The SAASP Guide to the Stills Industry

LOCATIONS MEETINGS

Meeting between Constantia Hills Residents Association and and the CTFPO, CFC, CPA, SAASP, Private Locations managers

Meeting between Constantia Property Owners Association and the CTFPO, CFC, CPA, SAASP, Private Locations managers
Apologies; IPO

Both meetings covered similar topics and issues will be summarised here:

CONCERNS RAISED

Discussion included in italic below

Zoning / Repeated use of certain properties

Neighbours are concerned that some homeowners use their properties as businesses (ie a film studio) rather than residential, and therefore re-zoning is suggested. Nevertheless, this is a perception rather than reality; the house receiving the most complaints was host to four tv commercials in 18 months. (A neighbour runs an exercise class from home three days a week, every week of the year – who causes the greater impact) Whilst it’s important for Producers to be aware of impacts caused by OTHER / previous users of a particular property, relevant issues include neighbour’s jealousy.

Hours of Activity

Filming permits are normally issued for hours between 6am and 10pm. Departures from this should be discussed with the CTFPO; the office is keen to ensure that no permit application is rejected without consideration.

Noisy set up of catering before the given time

An issue for larger shoots; catering companies set up first and loudest. Be aware of this. The CTFPO will engage with the Catering Companies’ association. Short periods of notificationIf your shoot will cause an impact on the community, please try and notify the neighbours timeously.

Number of Vehicles on set / Parking issues

Parking is always problematic. If possible, try to keep your teams to a small number of vehicles – park in designated zones, or pref. on the property where you are filming.

Impact on Greenbelt

This is perhaps the greatest concern to residents – ECOs and Film Unit Liaison officers may be required for working on the greenbelt. Again, be careful how you park your cars.

Helicopters

The permit issuing office for helicopters is in Pretoria and therefore cannot know the impact of a shoot on the community. Please liaise with CTFPO should this be a requirement.

Benefit to Community

As so often, affected communities want to see direct financial benefits to allay the impact of filming. However, the City does not allow for ring-fencing of any income, and is clear that all permit fees will continue to be disbursed via the general “pot”. You are strongly advised to avoid providing any cash to any community / residents group, since it sets a difficult precedent for the industry and contributes to the rising price of filming on location.

ACTIONS

The CTFPO is undertaking a Site visit with both residents associations in July/August, so that the permit officers are better briefed on the impacts of shooting in Constantia.

THE CTFPO will engage with Catering Companies via their association.

The CFC will also address communications to affected communities, and stress the overall benefits of filming to the city.

Environmental Production Suggestions: The Green Production Office

Many of the decisions made in the production office affect the way the entire production impacts the environment. Learn how to set up a production office that impacts on sustainable development, without having any noticeable impact on the production itself.

Whether you're on a stills shoot, awareness of issues of sustainable development begins with the very set up of the production office.

In setting up a production office, you can choose to do less of the bad things and more of the good things, without having any noticeable impact on the production itself.

The following are a few easy steps you can take to protect the planet:

Don’t forget; make an effort to buy locally produced goods and products wherever possible – money that stays within the community is good for the community, good for the Stills Production industry. It also contributes to your BEE scorecard……

Callsheets & Printed Materials

Use both sides of the paper. Doing double-sided copies is easy, and you cut in half the amount of paper you use.

Don't use bright-coloured paper on script revisions – it has to be bleached and is harder to recycle

Always recycle old paperwork. Make sure everyone who gets copies has easy access to a paper recycling container.

Office Products

Buy paper with recycled content – the higher the better.

Given a choice with any office product, look for the one with recycled content, or that is recyclable. For example, if you need padded envelopes, get those with fibre padding instead of plastic bubble padding.

Recycle used toner cartridges. Most office supply stores provide postage-paid envelopes to mail used printer and copier cartridges to recycling facilities.

Be sure to provide recycling containers in highly visible locations.

Communicate with cast and crew electronically if possible, instead of sending paper memos.

When you wrap production, donate leftover office supplies to a non-profit group or school. Don't throw anything away – somebody else can use it.

Janitorial Paper and Cleaning Products

Buy paper towels, napkins and toilet paper with recycled content. Today, the quality is comparable to virgin materials. Natural colour is better than bleached.

Avoid cleaning products with toxic chemicals. Nontoxic products are widely available.

Packaging

When you're ordering supplies, ask the vendor if they can deliver in reusable containers, such as plastic crates.

If you're ordering breakable stuff, ask for (almost) any packing material other than styrofoam peanuts – you can get biodegradable peanuts, paper, or even those new air-filled plastic pillows.

Promotional Marketing Items

If you're looking for promo items, try a vendor that specializes in environmental items. SAASP has extensive contacts within the local community. You can get shorts made out of recycled soda bottles, cups made with recycled currency, and even toothbrushes made with recycled plastic that you mail back when they get old (to be recycled again)!

Cannes campaign highlights Location Gauteng

A campaign by the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC) and the Commercial Producers Association (CPA), to market the capacity of the Gauteng film industry at this year's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, was intended to put Location Gauteng firmly on the international advertising industry's map.

Show reels, labelled Best of Gauteng, South Africa, and showcasing the cream of commercials produced in the province recently as well as prime Gauteng locations, were distributed with copies of the 2006 Loerie Awards Annual books to the hotel rooms of a targeted group of top creatives attending the premier annual gathering of the world's advertising, creative, direct marketing, interactive, film, radio, media and marketing communities.

The reels were compiled from submissions by CPA members to represent the best work they have produced in Gauteng recently.

“There certainly was a strong South African, and particularly Gauteng, voice at this year's event”, said GFC marketing manager, Puisano Phatoli.

Added impact

According to Phatoli, the exceptionally successful performance of the Gauteng advertising industry – which scooped a record number of accolades including a Grand Prix and several Golden Lions – gave the marketing campaign enormous added impact.

“It was truly a case of ‘walking, as well as talking' the talk,” she said.

In addition to the individualised hotel drops, the GFC also distributed the reels at various industry functions and parties during the week.

“With up to 9000 industry stakeholder from 75 countries meeting here to share and explore fresh concepts and new ideas, we had the perfect platform to capitalise on the adventurous nature of the creative spirits of the ad industry. Our aim was to demonstrate the extent to which Location Gauteng is still one of the advertising world's relatively under-discovered destinations – a destination that combines the excitement of a new African frontier with all the technical savvy, sophistication and infrastructure of Europe or America. This was underscored magnificently by the many success achieved by Gauteng-based entrants this year.”

The direct marketing strategy was supported with a print advertising campaign in publications that were distributed during the event, including Cannes Lions Daily, Screen Africa and The Callsheet.

Keith Bernstein to shoot on No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

Leading unit-stills photographer Keith Bernstein has been hired for an 8 weeks shoot on No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. Anthony Minghella will direct the film based on the best-selling book by Alexander McCall Smith.

Shooting on No.1 Ladies Detective Agency begins in Botswana in July - and the producers have hired Cape Town based unit stills photographer Keith Bernstein to shoot all the stills for the 8 weeks shoot. Keith has previously shot unit stills all over the world, and worked with Robin Williams in Hawaii, Bob Hoskins in Nepal and the late Christopher reeve in California.

For No.1 Ladies, Cape Town model makers Rivets&Rockets have built a custom-made sound proof camera blimp, enabling high-end digital stills cameras to be used safely on set.

KOO donation can

A simple sticker transforming the appearance of a can of tinned fruit effectively and creatively raised awareness for KOO's commitment to ‘Unite Against Hunger', a charity that helps feed those in need.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE SAASP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

NOTICE TO ALL SAASP MEMBERS

It is time again for you to make your nominations for Executive Committee members of the South African Association of Stills Producers, for the period July 2007 to 30th June 2008.

The Board’s responsibility is to govern the affairs of the Association. Please remember, as you make these nominations that you wish your representatives to have the following representative profile:

Be able to understand the functions of SAASPUnderstand fully and subscribe to the principles and values of Ubuntu, Creativity, Honesty, Integrity as well as the objectives of SAASP

Be able to learn about the legislation affecting Employment Equity, Skills Development, Black Economic Empowerment and other initiatives, as well as, translate it into workable policy and practices for the Association’s members

Be able to take and carry out the mandate of the SAASP membership

Be committed to stay the period of the full one-year term of office or until the next AGM whichever is the longestBe available to invest time into SAASP activities during and after working hours

Be capable of communicating with you and regularly giving you feedback Both the nominee and the person making the nomination must be paid up members of SAASP.

Please ensure that the member you nominate is available and agrees to standing for election.
Nomination forms (with CV’s attached) are to be faxed to 086 659 5366 emailed to info@saasp.co.za by no later than 29th July 2007.

Skoda Fabia - Full of lovely stuff

To demonstrate the super-awesomosity of its Fabia, Skoda lets users watch them build one. Out of cake ingredients.

We've never felt more inclined to run a hand across the hood of a vehicle and hope against hope that the finish will come off. Plus, there's something so psychologically soothing about Poppins.

NOTICE OF 15th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the South African Association of Stills Producers will take place on Wednesday, 4th July 2007 at the Victoria Junction Hotel from 15h00.

The issues and resolutions set out in the agenda will be considered, and if deemed fit, passed with or without modification. The required notice period of 21 clear days of the meeting, as required in terms Corporate Governance principles has been duly observed, as this notice has been posted by SAASP on the 31st May 2007.

In particular, this session will allow Members of SAASP to vote for a new Executive Committee.

If you are able to attend, please RSVP to Wendy-Leigh Boise info@saasp.co.za or telephonically 021 465 8263.
Should you be unable to attend the AGM, please use the SAASP Proxy form available on the SAASP website to nominate your proxy at least 48 hours before the meeting, to make your vote count.

Superior Image Quality with Capture One

THE RAW TRUTH
If you are not already shooting RAW most of the time, then you may want to consider it.

Here are some of the benefits you will get from shooting RAW instead of JPEG:

RAW – the digital film ‘negative’ RAW is often referred to as the digital equivalent to a film negative. The RAW format is the best image quality that a camera is capable of producing, because RAW files contain all the image data retrieved from the camera's sensor.

Another similarity to film negative is the fact that you can create an endless variety of output files from the original RAW file without affecting the original image data.

PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE

RAW software is constantly being improved with enhanced image processing algorithms. This means that you can process old RAW files in new software versions and get a better result e.g. two years after the original image was shot.

More about RAW

Phase One Hire Cape Town

TIPS ON BREAKING INTO THE STILLS INDUSTRY

RESEARCH IT

There are several industry publications that cover the film industry on a monthly basis. A number are also e-based newsletters.

MEET PEOPLE

Try to meet people already working in the industry to find out more about the job. How to do that? Well, there are a number of initiatives which can help you become an industry insider.

JOIN A CREW AGENCY
STUDY IT
ADVERTISE
NETWORK

Read More

GETTING INTO SOUTH AFRICA’S STILLS PRODUCTION INDUSTRY

HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?

Well, first things first; the Stills Production Sector is not about “a job.” The Stills Industry is about a commitment. It is unpredictable part-time schedules, exceptionally long hours, uncertain wage packets, city-wide work bases, and high international standards; if you’re simply looking for “a job – any job”, this industry is NOT for you.

The skills and experience required for each job in the industry obviously differs. However the aptitudes required remain the same – whether you are a crew member or a supplier. Here are some of the personal attributes you are going to need if you want to be a success.

Film Permit Office: Low Season Office Hours

The City of Cape Town would like to bring to your attention, that as per 2006 – during the 3 month low film season June – August 2007, the Film Permit Office will not be open on a Saturday morning. In addition, during the week our office will close at 17h00.
On the 1 September 2007, the Office will revert to high season hours and you will be advised during August.

Please be reassured that during this time the CTFPO staff will be in their offices to assist you during the following times over the low season:

Office hours from 1 June – 31 August 2007:

Cape Town: 08:00 - 17:00 Mon - Friday
Bellville: 08:00 - 16:30 Mon - Friday
Bulkwater: 08:00 - 16:30 Mon - Friday

For more info, please contact the CTFPO on Tel: 483 9060 / email film.permit@capetown.gov.za

The rise and rise of packaging

Long gone are the days when packaging was a mere protector of a product. Today, with fierce market competition and shelf life at a premium, it has taken on a key marketing role, providing more than just functional benefits and information...

Creative outdoor advertising

Batman: The Dark Knight's viral promo

Buzz in the blogosphere is that Warner Bros has really hit the ball out of the viral park (sounds gross doesn't it?) with their online promotion for the new Batman: The Dark Knight movie.

Get the update...

It's a...

It's a back. It's a knee. It's a head. It's a butt. It's a distended stomach. It's a gigantic breasts. It's a...wait...should we have to work that hard to figure out what a visual is in an ad?