Contact: Sharon van Wyk
Painted Earth Productions
183 Bartle Avenue
Murrayfield Ext 1
Pretoria 0184
Republic of South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)83 725 9131
Fax: +27 (0)12 803 6221
e-mail: shazvw@xsinet.co.za
It's "footie" year, at last
In case some of you have been frozen in the wastes of Siberia for the last few millennia, it's 2010, and Soccer World Cup year for sunny South Africa. This means that a lot more visitors than usual will be coming to our precious home-land, and we wish them all a big WOZANI! ("Welcome" in the Zulu vernacular).
Hopefully most of our footie-mad visitors will get the chance to go bush and pay homage to some of the last vestiges of wilderness we have left on this precious continent. And with their safaris, we hope they learn the value of conserving and protecting what Africa has left - its amazing fauna and flora, and its unique cultural heritage.
This is where man began. Let's all celebrate it together.
Viva!
Hopefully most of our footie-mad visitors will get the chance to go bush and pay homage to some of the last vestiges of wilderness we have left on this precious continent. And with their safaris, we hope they learn the value of conserving and protecting what Africa has left - its amazing fauna and flora, and its unique cultural heritage.
This is where man began. Let's all celebrate it together.
Viva!
Offline elephants, lots of opinion and a few good friends
WOW! We made it through 2009 - what has to be the toughest year on record for us. The offline edit of our documentary on the Lower Zambezi's elephants is in the can, and we are embarking on the online edit now, thanks to the help of our great friends at Clear Vision and the velvet voice of Chilu Lemba. Next stop, we hope, is television sets across Europe and the far east!
Looking back at 2009, it did have some high points - Wild Talk Africa 2009 in Durban was great, and some of the ideas we discussed with our friends at Animal Planet and the BBC were well received - watch this space, as they say!
Indaba 2009, also in Durbs, was awesome, as usual. The rain and tremendous downpours did little to dampen Sharon's spirits or the vibe of this magnificent gathering of the best Africa has to offer in terms of travel and tourism.
Sharon's reputation for no-nonsence, entertaining writing has grown in leaps and bounds this year, with her becoming famous (or is that infamous) for pithy, no-holds-barred opinion columns on Travelwires (http://www.travelwires.com/) and GoTravel24 (http://www.gotravel24.com/).
We have also hooked up with our good friends Grant and Wendy Waterston at Waterston Entertainment (http://www.waterston.tv/) and hope to be collaborating with them in the near future.
Paul has learned to fly, acing his commercial pilot's exams in the process! He is now doing his instructor's course and in between filming projects will be taking to the skies, teaching others how to soar!
Looking back at 2009, it did have some high points - Wild Talk Africa 2009 in Durban was great, and some of the ideas we discussed with our friends at Animal Planet and the BBC were well received - watch this space, as they say!
Indaba 2009, also in Durbs, was awesome, as usual. The rain and tremendous downpours did little to dampen Sharon's spirits or the vibe of this magnificent gathering of the best Africa has to offer in terms of travel and tourism.
Sharon's reputation for no-nonsence, entertaining writing has grown in leaps and bounds this year, with her becoming famous (or is that infamous) for pithy, no-holds-barred opinion columns on Travelwires (http://www.travelwires.com/) and GoTravel24 (http://www.gotravel24.com/).
We have also hooked up with our good friends Grant and Wendy Waterston at Waterston Entertainment (http://www.waterston.tv/) and hope to be collaborating with them in the near future.
Paul has learned to fly, acing his commercial pilot's exams in the process! He is now doing his instructor's course and in between filming projects will be taking to the skies, teaching others how to soar!
Flying high in 2009
PEP's Paul Henning is taking to the skies soon over the Garden Route town of George and the dry, dusty veld of Oudtshoorn as he completes a lifetime dream of his to learn to fly. First up will be his Public Pilot's Licence, then, all going well, his Commercial Pilot's Licence, followed by some serious flying to get some good hours under his belt. He'll be taking a back seat at PEP this year while he goes for his wings, but just think of the amazing aerial shots we'll be able to go for when he comes back!
What an Indaba!
The Painted Earth crew were delighted once again to attend the annual tourism expo - Indaba - held each year in Durban. And what an Indaba it was - 2008 was the biggest and best yet, with wall to wall meetings, executive breakfasts, networking events and, well, quite a few parties!
We depend heavily on our contacts in the travel and tourism industry so Indaba gives us a chance to meet with everyone who is anyone and socialise with them while setting up our all-important year ahead.
This year was no exception, with our favourite "mad" friend Mark Tennant helping to fly the PEP flag, and Paul and Sharon meeting with a number of steadfast supporters such as the Zambian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, dear friends like Peter Borchert, Sarah Borchert and Shelly Prince from top conservation/eco tourism publication Africa Geographic; Dr Lewis Saiwana, head of the Zambian Wildlife Authority and Solistor Cheelo of the Zambian Tourism Board. We also got together with Chris and Juwayhir Liebenberg of the Lower Zambezi's Chongwe River Camp (www.chongwe.com) and Bruce Whitfield and Kaitlin Victor from Hippo Lodge in Zambia's awesome Kafue National Park (which Sharon is writing about in an upcoming issue of Africa Geographic).
We also made some good new friends including Steve Smith of Nanzhila Plains Camp, also in the Kafue, and renowned palaeo-anthropologist Professor Lee Burger.
Big thanks go to South African Tourism (http://www.southafrica.net/) for what is undoubtedly the best tourism expo in the world.
We depend heavily on our contacts in the travel and tourism industry so Indaba gives us a chance to meet with everyone who is anyone and socialise with them while setting up our all-important year ahead.
This year was no exception, with our favourite "mad" friend Mark Tennant helping to fly the PEP flag, and Paul and Sharon meeting with a number of steadfast supporters such as the Zambian Ministry of Environment and Tourism, dear friends like Peter Borchert, Sarah Borchert and Shelly Prince from top conservation/eco tourism publication Africa Geographic; Dr Lewis Saiwana, head of the Zambian Wildlife Authority and Solistor Cheelo of the Zambian Tourism Board. We also got together with Chris and Juwayhir Liebenberg of the Lower Zambezi's Chongwe River Camp (www.chongwe.com) and Bruce Whitfield and Kaitlin Victor from Hippo Lodge in Zambia's awesome Kafue National Park (which Sharon is writing about in an upcoming issue of Africa Geographic).
We also made some good new friends including Steve Smith of Nanzhila Plains Camp, also in the Kafue, and renowned palaeo-anthropologist Professor Lee Burger.
Big thanks go to South African Tourism (http://www.southafrica.net/) for what is undoubtedly the best tourism expo in the world.
Location, location, location!
Paul on standby, deep in the Zambian bush...
Shooting the breeze, Chongwe-style
Painted Earth Productions has finished up its documentary shoot in Zambia's Lower Zambezi valley, save all but a few finishing touches. We were based, once again, at Chongwe River Camp and Conservation Lower Zambezi and got some marvelous footage of elephant breeding herds in action. Now it's down to the task of post-production and the final edit, plus some well-chosen musical notes and words to match... Next stop (fingers crossed!) - the small screens of a waiting world!
Although nearing completion on the documentary, our work in Zambia is far from done... We are delighted to be working in conjunction with the Zambian Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Natural Resources and the Zambian Tourism Board helping to promote this marvelously wild African nation. We hope to soon be taking groups of journalists on exciting fact-finding explorations of Zambia's magnificent wild places, from Livingstone, the Lower Zambezi and Kafue National Parks to the South Luangwa, Kasanka and Shiwa N'gandu. We will be filming as we go! We'll update you as the year progresses!
Although nearing completion on the documentary, our work in Zambia is far from done... We are delighted to be working in conjunction with the Zambian Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Natural Resources and the Zambian Tourism Board helping to promote this marvelously wild African nation. We hope to soon be taking groups of journalists on exciting fact-finding explorations of Zambia's magnificent wild places, from Livingstone, the Lower Zambezi and Kafue National Parks to the South Luangwa, Kasanka and Shiwa N'gandu. We will be filming as we go! We'll update you as the year progresses!
Going slightly MAD!
PEP's Sharon van Wyk and "Mad" Mark Tennant scouting for locations in Limpopo
The Painted Earth office has been blessed with a truly inspirational guest of late - Mark Tennant of Animal Planet's "Mad Mike and Mark" series. Mark has enlisted the help of PEP's Sharon van Wyk to write treatments and scripts for MM&M Series III and has been working with her on some exciting new ideas. Mark joined the PEP team on its annual jaunt to Durban for Indaba - the world's third largest tourism expo - held each year at the ICC. "Indaba is where we get all of our projects lined up for the year," says Sharon. "It's four days of truly fantastic networking and shopping for film location, travel feature and documentary ideas and, of course, some amazing parties!" Mark was introduced to some great possible locations and came away from Indaba buzzing with excitement: "It's been a great couple of days and we have made some nice new connections, and caught up with a lot of old ones too," says Mark. Watch this space!
Filming from a pontoon boat on the Zambezi, November 2006
Lights... Camera... Action!
Painted Earth Productions recently filmed in Zambia's Lower Zambezi valley, staying at Chongwe River Camp on the banks of the Zambezi. Footage is soon to be aired in a short pilot for a documentary on the valley and the conservation work going on there, using the magnificent African elephant as the focal point. The pitch for this documentary received acclaim from a panel of esteemed international broadcasters at Wild Talk Africa 2006 - a gathering of the glitterati of wildlife film-making held at Durban's ICC. We have some interest in this project from National Geographic and local broadcasters.
Most of the footage we shot was of local elephant populations in and around the river. We also captured some fantastic footage in Muguramena - a village community in the Lower Zambezi game management area where human-wildlife conflict between man and elephant is rife. Watch out for us at this year's Wild Talk Africa - being held at Durban's ICC from August 27th to 30th.
Most of the footage we shot was of local elephant populations in and around the river. We also captured some fantastic footage in Muguramena - a village community in the Lower Zambezi game management area where human-wildlife conflict between man and elephant is rife. Watch out for us at this year's Wild Talk Africa - being held at Durban's ICC from August 27th to 30th.
The Lower Zambezi valley - a place of elephants...
On the go in Africa
Painted Earth Productions' director/cameraman Paul Henning is currently involved in the filming of the SABC Africa series "AFRICA WITHIN". This hectic shoot is taking him to various far-flung corners of the continent such as Ethiopia and Tanzania, where he is gathering footage on cultural events, travel and art for the series. He was also lucky enough to film a family of endangered mountain gorillas on a recent location shoot in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
Zambia - the real deal
Thanks to its work on the Lower Zambezi documentary project over the last couple of years, Painted Earth Productions has established a reputation in Zambia. PEP's Sharon van Wyk is currently working on a proposal to publish an in-depth "field guide" type guide book on Zambia as well as a coffee table book on the Lower Zambezi Valley, with partner Paul Henning doing the honours on the photography front. The books will see PEP move into the print media arena - one which Sharon is only too familiar with, thanks to more than 25 years as a top-class journalist in both the UK and South Africa. Besides her writing skills, she has considerable experience in magazine and newspaper production - something which is making PEP a "one-stop" media project shop.
The REAL secret
Magnificent and magical - the baobab
The tree is the answer to our planet's future. It is sacred, mystical and magnificent. It's roots represent the aspirations of the human race, of all life on earth, to go on - to live. In its trunk those aspirations converge to become one goal, one common aim - the salvation of our planet. And its branches are what happens when we achieve our goal - life diverging, spreading, growing towards enlightenment. Without the tree our planet is doomed to become a barren, lifeless desert. Yes, the tree is the REAL secret. One which we will soon be sharing with the world... Watch closely...
