Scriptwriter Services

Here is how this works in practice. We connect shoots with scriptwriters who develop first screenplays, adapt source material and polish existing drafts across features, series, documentaries and branded content. Our network is centred on Cape Town and Johannesburg, where a deep, skilled writing community works for global commissioners, local TV networks and the country's busy advertising sector. The writers we supply bring strong craft across genre and format. Many also bring real local knowledge of South African settings, communities and idioms.

Here is the short of it. We match each writer to your genre, tone and stage of development, whether you need a concept built from scratch, a co-writer for a co-production or a script editor for an existing draft. Because English is the working language of the South African industry, writers work with directly with overseas producers and story teams, and the favourable South African rand exchange rate keeps development costs well below European or North American norms. Our scriptwriters work to global formatting and delivery standards. They handle the cultural specificity of South African material with care and accuracy.

Here is the breakdown. South Africa gives scriptwriters a deep and serious well of material. The country is the Rainbow Nation, with twelve official languages including Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English, and writers can render its communities authentically rather than through stereotype. Its history is dramatic and central to national identity: the apartheid era, the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, and the 1994 transition to democracy continue to shape the stories the country tells.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. South African screenwriting has global recognition, with Gavin Hood's 'Tsotsi' winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006 and Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' earning a Best Picture nomination, both rooted in specifically South African settings. The National Film and Video Foundation supports script and project development. A long-set up industry continually feeds new writing talent into the sector. With the convenient UTC+2 time zone for European collaborators, South African writers are easy to reach partners for worldwide co-developed projects.