Many governments have tried to stimulate economic growth via policy in the creative industries.
South Africa is no different but additionally has an overarching aim of achieving social and labour
market ‘transformation’ to move away from the legacy of the apartheid era. The effectiveness of
incentives provided to the film and television sector in South Africa are considered in terms of their
stated objectives of job creation, skills and knowledge transfer and the attraction of foreign direct
investment. Informed by empirical analysis of incentive scheme data and supplemented by elite
interviews with key informants, some specific policy revisions are proposed.