News on the movie Africa is that Brad Pitt is currently negotiating to play Richard Leakey on the movie that is based on Leakey’s efforts to stop ivory poaching in the 1980s. It is scheduled for release next year.
The probability is enticing in that his wife Angelina Jolie is the film director and the two have worked together in the past, notably on the Mr & Mrs Smith and are well acquainted working together.
While it is not clear yet where the movie will be shot, Kenya and South Africa and five other countries are in contention for the hosting of what is likely to be the biggest conservation film ever.
The film offers huge country promotion prospects for the two countries far beyond the box office and certainly South Africans are not taking chances.
In South Africa, Brad Pitt is the cover of that country’s February edition of GQ magazine and seems part of the strategy to exploit the benefits of this awesome project even before it starts.
So far, there has been no indications of Kenya’s game plan but is hoped there will be initiatives to exploit the benefits of the film even if it does not shoot here.
This should be an opportunity to redress past failings in utilising the full benefits of films shot in the country beyond the immediate revenues.
Even at this point, the decision to make the movie has ushered Kenya into the limelight of the potential tourism high yield market but only if it can use the film (wherever it is shot) to attract attention in the international leisure market.
This is based on the view that both Brad Pitt and Jolie are popular in the fashion industry and attract good coverage even on regular basis.
The increased ivory poaching reported over the past year has raised the bar on relevance and is bound to attract big attention from conservationists and in effect raise the potential interest area for the movie.
Indeed both Brad Pitt and Jolie are no strangers to Kenya and spent holiday here after Jolie played leading role on Tomb Raider filmed in Kenya several years ago. It showed a personal interest in the country that presents good opportunity for a lobby.
They reportedly spent a week at the posh Al Fajiri boutique cottages at the coast and their return could be a major factor to Kenya to host two of Hollywood’s leading personalities both onscreen and in the style industry.
Regrettably, Kenya has in the past passed up numerous opportunities to market itself as a country and as a film location, either by sheer ignorance of how the film industry works or by incompetence by the several arms of government involved in the film scene.
The most disappointing was the snub by Brand Kenya of The First Grader even as it won plaudits from the Hollywood elite.
Oscar award-winning actress Lupita Nyongo is an invaluable asset that remains unexploited.
Her crowning moment at the Oscars 2014 ought to have sparked a national celebration with gigantic billboards and celebrations in Kenya but was instead a lukewarm day safe for the media coverage unlike South Africans who spared no effort in celebrating Charlize Theron when she won the Oscar for Monster in 2013.
But we hope lessons have been learnt – just sitting waiting for things to happen will not do.