The vibrant pulse of South Africa’s film and television industry, typically a source of immense pride and burgeoning opportunity, has been met with a jarring halt. The recent, abrupt decision by French media giant Canal+ to shutter Showmax, the continent’s only homegrown streaming service, has sent shockwaves through the creative community. At the JBX market in Johannesburg, an event usually buzzing with future-forward discussions and deal-making, a singular, anxious question echoed among attendees: “What next?” This sudden pivot by a major player has left a tangible void, forcing an introspection into the very foundations of African storytelling and its global reach.
The closure, while delivered with a degree of corporate swiftness, was not entirely unforeseen. A quiet sense of apprehension had permeated the industry since Canal+ finalized its colossal $2 billion takeover of South African pay-TV behemoth MultiChoice last year. Whispers of imminent cost-cutting measures and strategic restructuring had circulated, intensified by the new parent company’s reticence regarding its post-merger plans. Showmax, despite its cultural significance and ambitious growth trajectory, appeared to be an obvious target in the crosshairs of financial rationalization. As a loss-making streamer that directly competed with Canal+’s own established SVOD service in Africa, its fate seemed sealed by the cold logic of corporate consolidation.
Indeed, Showmax had been a significant investment. Relaunched in 2024 through a strategic partnership involving NBCUniversal, MultiChoice, and its Comcast partner, the platform had seen a combined equity injection of $309 million. This substantial capital was primarily earmarked to fuel content creation, aiming to establish Showmax as a dominant force in the African streaming landscape. The vision was clear: to cultivate a rich ecosystem of local productions, providing a platform for authentic African voices and narratives to thrive. However, despite aggressive growth strategies and ambitious subscriber uptake targets, the platform struggled to achieve the profitability thresholds demanded by its new ownership. The writing was, perhaps, on the wall for some time, culminating in a stark declaration just two months prior from Canal+ CFO Amandine Ferré, who publicly deemed the streamer’s persistent losses “unacceptable” to the company as it deliberated Showmax’s ultimate fate. The strategic rationale, from a shareholder’s perspective, might have been clear, but its repercussions for the creative community were profound.
The news landed with the impact of a physical blow at the JBX market. One producer, visibly distraught, confessed to feeling “ill” upon hearing the announcement, while another lamented that the move had effectively “decapitated the only African streamer.” The timing, adding insult to injury, could not have been worse. The announcement coincided with the Joburg Film Festival, a prestigious event ironically sponsored by MultiChoice itself. This convergence of corporate strategy and cultural celebration amplified the sense of betrayal, with one Johannesburg-based producer articulating the widely held sentiment that the decision, whatever its financial upside for shareholders, felt like “a slap in the face” to African filmmakers who had poured their hearts and resources into the platform. The raw emotion was palpable, underscoring the deep personal and professional investment many had in Showmax’s success. The collective anxiety was perhaps best encapsulated by an industry source who bluntly stated, “Producers are freaking the f*** out.”
The future of Canal+’s streaming strategy on the continent remains shrouded in uncertainty, leaving many to speculate about the landscape of opportunity for local content. This latest development follows a worrying trend for African creatives. Just two years prior, Prime Video significantly scaled back its ambitions to become a major player in the African market, effectively withdrawing its substantial investment and presence. While Netflix has publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the continent – with Kaye-Ann Williams, the streamer’s head of African scripted content, declaring at a glitzy Joburg mixer that Netflix is “here to stay” – the diminishing competition undeniably weakens the bargaining power of African producers. The adage, “when the elephants tussle, it’s the grass that suffers,” resonates deeply here, illustrating how the machinations of global media conglomerates, with their endless mergers, acquisitions, and corporate consolidations, directly impact the livelihoods and creative output of local content creators.
The mood at the JBX Talks conference was undeniably funereal, a stark contrast to the usual optimism that accompanies discussions about Africa’s burgeoning creative industries. Producer Paul Buys articulated a widely shared disillusionment: “Streaming was seen as the great democratizer – especially in Africa.” He lamented, “Losing Amazon was devastating. Losing Showmax was devastating. We have less and less options locally.” This sentiment encapsulates the broken promise of streaming, which was once heralded as the gateway for diverse African stories to reach global audiences and for local talent to flourish. Another South African producer, echoing the desperate search for platforms and funding, put it even more succinctly: “Show me the buyers.” The question wasn’t just rhetorical; it was a plea for viable avenues to bring their stories to life and to market.
Popular on Variety
Yet, amidst the gloom and the existential questions, a glimmer of the famed African resilience shone through the rainy Johannesburg skies. African filmmakers have long prided themselves on their ability to innovate, adapt, and create against formidable odds. “Every fight is a new fight,” asserted Neil Brandt, a founding partner of the Johannesburg-based production outfit Storyscope, embodying this spirit. “To survive, you’ve got to be nimble.” This philosophy of agility and unwavering determination becomes paramount in an environment where traditional avenues are shrinking. The crisis, while profound, has also sparked a renewed call for unity and collective action.
More than one speaker at the JBX Talks conference invoked the profound Southern African philosophy of ubuntu – “I am because we are” – as a rallying cry, urging the industry to unite behind a common cause. While the loss of one of the continent’s key commissioners, particularly in English-speaking territories, is undoubtedly a bitter pill to swallow, there were fervent calls for increased partnerships, deeper collaborations, and concerted efforts to unlock cross-border revenue streams. This includes exploring diverse distribution models, from traditional theatrical releases to free-to-air broadcasting, and creatively leveraging the continent’s vast and diverse markets.
There is also burgeoning hope that technology, often a double-edged sword, might finally begin to truly favor the continent’s creators. Speaking at the JBX Talks conference, Neil Brandt pointed to the remarkable example of Senegalese-born influencer and TikTok superstar Khaby Lame, whose company, Step Distinctive, was acquired last year for nearly $1 billion. “He’s an entrepreneur who understood the new economy and monetized it in a way that reaches a [global] audience,” Brandt observed. He highlighted Lame as an “inspiration. An African-born, homegrown content creator… owning the narrative and thinking out of the box.” This success story serves as a powerful testament to the potential of digital-first content and entrepreneurial vision emanating from Africa.
The concept that an African creator could strike gold with vertical content is not merely coincidental; it’s a natural evolution aligned with technological trends and demographic realities. Africa, a continent boasting over a billion mobile phones – which for the vast majority of consumers serve as their primary, and often only, screen – is uniquely positioned to become the next untapped market for a burgeoning microdrama industry. This nascent sector, characterized by short-form, mobile-optimized narrative content, is projected to swell to an astounding $26 billion in annual revenue by 2030. This represents a monumental shift from traditional long-form content, aligning perfectly with consumption habits in a mobile-first society.
Courtesy of Netflix
Cape Town-based production company Both Worlds is already placing significant bets on this future. This week, they announced a landmark partnership with U.S. outfit Freeli Films to co-produce a slate of vertical series and movies, designed specifically for mobile consumption. Their innovative distribution strategy is built around forging alliances with major mobile operators across the continent, directly tapping into the ubiquitous mobile infrastructure. Thierry Cassuto, the executive chairman of Both Worlds, highlighted the immense potential by noting that in China, the birthplace of microdramas, the vertical market astonishingly outearned theatrical revenues last year. “The Chinese wrote the first chapter, so we need to learn that playbook,” Cassuto acknowledged, “But we need to set it aside and write our own.” This statement encapsulates the entrepreneurial spirit: learn from global successes, but adapt and localize for unique African contexts.
Further demonstrating this forward-thinking approach, Elouise Kelly, country manager in South Africa for Viu, the Asian streaming giant, revealed that her company has already begun dubbing popular Korean microdramas into Indigenous South African languages like Zulu, as part of its strategic expansion into the African market. “What is the next iteration?” she posed, emphasizing the critical need for cultural adaptation. “We need to see how to personalize it for South Africa and Africa and make it our own. Because I think that’s where the opportunity lies.” This dual strategy of adapting successful global formats while simultaneously cultivating homegrown narratives is seen as key to unlocking the continent’s digital content potential.
Courtesy of Freeli Films
For Africa to fully harness the potential of vertical formats and strategically integrate AI at scale into its production workflows would represent nothing short of a “paradigm shift,” according to Neil Brandt. He passionately urged his fellow African filmmakers to shed old conventions, embrace calculated risks, and wholeheartedly adopt new formats and cutting-edge technologies. “Vertical is a new form of storytelling. If you understand it and embrace it, you can find an audience,” he affirmed, his voice resonating with conviction. “There’s a gold mine out there. People always want stories.” This sentiment underscores the enduring human need for narratives and the vast, untapped market for unique African tales.
Thandeka Zwana, representing South Africa’s Indigenous Film Distribution, echoed this call for adaptability and innovation. “There’s a lot of places where your storytelling can fit,” she advised, encouraging creatives to “Adapt. Think different. Widen your horizons. Adapt to a changing world. See how consumers are changing. Because they are not stagnant. You cannot tell the same story in the same way and expect the audience to keep watching.” Her words serve as a powerful reminder that in a rapidly evolving global media landscape, stagnation is the ultimate threat. The closure of Showmax, while a painful setback, has become a catalyst for the African film and TV industry to reimagine its future, embracing new technologies, fostering deeper collaborations, and ultimately, continuing to tell its vital stories to the world.
The Joburg Film Festival, which runs from March 3 to 8, continues to serve as a crucial platform for these discussions and the showcasing of African cinematic excellence, even as the industry navigates this challenging yet transformative period.
