Setting Up Shoots in Sub-Saharan Africa

Overview

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest growing production regions in the world, and international demand keeps climbing across sport, natural history, culture and branded content. From Nairobi to Lagos, Cape Town to Dakar, the region now offers experienced local crews, established rental infrastructure and fixers with international experience, alongside genuinely exclusive locations and highly competitive production costs compared with Western Europe or North America.

This free 1hr session will give you a practical, on the ground overview of how to set up a shoot across Sub-Saharan Africa and how to avoid the common pitfalls that catch out productions who try to navigate the region without local support. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the session.

Who is this for

This session is suitable for anyone working in production or editorial roles, working in any genre such as documentary, reality TV, natural history, HETV, film, sports, music, art, news, factual entertainment, children's TV, live events, corporate and commercial and more. Or those working on the shoots such as HODs, art dept, hair and make-up, costume, locations, camera dept, sound dept, grips and lighting teams.

What it covers

Allocating the right fixer for your country and project
Permits and paperwork
Drone regulations
Visas and work permits
Carnet and equipment importation
Filming in remote and extreme locations
Cultural sensitivities on the ground
Country spotlights: Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal and Tanzania
Real case studies from productions across the region

Although we will be taking questions on the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, we will be focusing the session on these featured countries:

Kenya
Nigeria
South Africa
Senegal
Tanzania

Trainers

Mercy Murugi (Producer)

Since the mid-2000s, Mercy Murugi has built an extensive career in film and television production in Kenya and across the region, working her way from production assistant and location manager up to production manager and producer. She has worked on projects for National Geographic, Discovery Channel and the BBC, including Nat Geo Wild and WildEarth's SafariLive, producing and directing live game drives from the Maasai Mara. She co-founded Hot Sun Films and the Kibera Film School and produced the award winning feature Togetherness Supreme. Mercy now leads Storytailors' Sub-Saharan Africa fixer network as the Africa Based International Producer, managing productions across more than 30 countries from Senegal to Tanzania.

Storytailors provide local production services through their trusted network of media professionals, including producers and camera crews. Their services cover a wide range of content creation, from scripted to unscripted, across various genres such as news, corporate content and branded documentaries.

They often organise shoots based on client requirements, handling everything from permits to assembling the crew and equipment. In some cases, they also take on a more active creative role, depending on the project's needs. Their reach extends to over 180 countries, and they are continually expanding their list of territories. If you need assistance in a specific location, please let them know, and they'll gladly investigate. If they don't cover a particular area or if it's deemed too unstable, they can still offer recommendations through their regional contacts.

Find out more about Storytailors here: https://storytailors.tv/

Cost

Free

Duration

1hr

Location

Online (via Zoom)

Next Webinar

9th September 2026 – 1pm – 2pm

Can’t make it? Sign up anyway! We’ll send a recording of the session to everyone who registers.

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