Atomic won awards for its CG work in the music video for Jago.

Atomic runs a pipeline system with animators specializing in various disciplines. Most artists are expected to be proficient in at least two or three disciplines such as modeling, lighting and texturing. “We need to work faster because our budgets are generally smaller,” according to creative director Copely, who describes the company’s creative style as “filmic.”

She notes that South Africa’s “rand” exchange rate is nearly R7 to $1, enabling the vfx house to offer extremely competitive pricing. “However, we do not compete only on price,” he explains.

With India and China emerging as cheap-labor powerhouses, Copely says his native land is similar to Australia or New Zealand in striving to achieve more of a creative and technical edge. “North American companies are only starting to learn about something that the European production industry has known for years,” he observes. “We are English-speaking and very much a first-world industry down here.”

In the U.S. and U.K., effects houses can afford to work exclusively on vfx because of high industry standards and legions of well-educated producers or directors who know what to expect. But most South African companies devote only about 20% of what they do to vfx because 3D and other cutting-edge techniques are still relatively new, notes Jason Tomlins, an animation producer/business development. “At Atomic,” he says, “we’re working to do all our business as vfx — basically modeling ourselves on our overseas counterparts.”

Atomic produced this ad campaign for dried fruit.

Government Inaction
One explanation for South Africa’s slow embrace of vfx is that unlike its Asian neighbors, the country hasn’t benefited from a government-backed global marketing strategy to promote the region as a viable venue. Tomlins considers the dearth of action a setback that has forced companies such as Atomic to educate international clients and prospects when trying to attract business.

Local competitors include the Refinery and Video Lab, two post houses owned by publicly listed companies that have dominated the industry for the past 15 years by purchasing expensive hardware.

Hansen, the company’s managing director/visual effects supervisor, believes these players tend to play it safe with tried-and-tested software brand names and generally resist change. By contrast, he says Atomic prefers to push the creative envelope wherever possible and embraces the precedent-setting spirit of Hollywood that simply doesn’t seem to be part of South Africa’s business climate.

“Internationally,” he points out, “I see us as being part of the global effects market — slightly smaller than ILM, Digital Domain and other mammoth effects houses.”

It may not take long for the rest of the world to realize the potential of sending work to South Africa. “Here’s a country that may be classed as third world, but this really is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to how we do business,” Tomlins observes. The workforce tends to be highly skilled, with locals having lived, worked or studied abroad where they’ve boned up on all the latest creative and technology developments.

“Add this to the fact that we have a completely westernized infrastructure and favorable exchange rate and you can’t go wrong,” he enthuses.

Bruce Shutan, a Los Angeles-based freelance writer, has written for several entertainment publications and Web sites, including Daily Variety, Weekly Variety, emmy, the 55th Annual Emmy Awards program, Below the Line News, Film Score Monthly, DRUM! and OnlineRock.com. Shutan also specializes in writing for the human resources and employee benefits trade press.