Local production house shoots Microsoft film

Microsoft recently commissioned a film by Platypus Productions - about the impact of technology on Africa - which was used by CEO Bill Gates as the introduction to his recent Global Leaders Forum with former US president Bill Clinton in Cape Town.

Stanley Edwards, film director and partner at Platypus Productions, says "The key message was that education was a weapon against poverty and Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would commit resources to Africa to support technology-based education. Our film illustrated the potential impact."

Besides the pressure of producing a video to be used by Bill Gates, making the film came with its own set of challenges: how to find African families in Soweto and Namibia who would be prepared to take part in the "slice of life" project having their daily life filmed who were, at the same time, not technologically savvy nor yet seduced by the PC.

"It is an amazing thing to know that a film made by our team has been seen by world leaders at the summit and by 16 000 Microsoft employees in the US. In a small way we can take credit for the impact the film has on the lives of countless people," says Edwards.