''Hei my bra, in the South African criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the state attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.''
South Africa is getting its very own Law & Order drama series, a spin-off from the original American Law & Order, entitled Law & Order: Cape Town which will be filmed in Cape Town and generate about R3 million per episode for the local economy.
Similar to the Russian version, the French version Paris Enquêtes Criminelles and the British spin-off, Law & Order: UK, the South African version will be shot on location in Cape Town from May next year with a South African cast. The first season of Law & Order: Cape Town will have 12 hour long episodes.
The Cape Film Commission (CFC) has announced that Africa HD's James Makawa and Kenny Christmas are putting together the major series after Africa HD has secured the format rights for a South African version.
Most of the crew for Law & Order: Cape Town will be local South Africans with the local production company DO Productions that will be involved. ''Africa HD has secured the format rights to a South African franchise of Law & Order,'' CFC commissioner Denis Lillie says, saying that the drama will be entirely Cape Town based and that the CFC promises to give them ''hands-on assistance with securing locations, permits and any other aspects to do with filming that they require.''
Capetonians can expect road closures from May 2012 since the show will feature numerous street scenes from South Africa's Mother City but the CFC says ''road closures and minor inconveniences associated with the shoot will be offset multiple times by the gains that the region will incur'' and that Law & Order: Cape Town presents ''a rare opportunity to showcase the city to watchers around the world''.
''This is a major coup for our region which will create jobs for the local film industry,'' says Alan Winde, the Western Cape minister of economic development and tourism.
Africa HD is also planning a new global satellite TV channel which will be dedicated to African content in high definition (HD).
