Cape Town - New Media investments and events contributed R5 billion to the City of Cape Town’s economy in 2022, creating more than 35 000 jobs across various sectors.
The City’s Events and Film management official Leonora de Souza-Zilwa made the statement at the first instalment of the Loeries Creative Awards.
In her speech, De Souza-Zilwa thanked the organisers of the not-for-profit company for choosing Cape Town as a host and partner for the 45th edition of the Loeries Creative Week for the third consecutive year.
The Loeries are the only accolade across Africa and the Middle Eastern diaspora that inform the global WARC Creative 100, a showcase for the best creative work in the world.
Its week-long festival was made up of awards evenings, master classes, seminars, workshops and networking dinners.
Safety and Security Mayco Member JP Smith expanded on De Souza-Zilwa’s comments, saying through the Film Cape Town initiative, the City had been working to promote Cape Town as a premier film destination with good infrastructure, unique film locations and a diverse talent pool.
Smith said part of the initiative included allocating funding and support to film festivals, game development conferences and creative industry platforms that contribute to this goal.
“The City of Cape Town, through its Events Department, makes the conscious decision to events hosted in Cape Town annually because they generate billions (of rand) in economic activity, create employment opportunities for residents and foster an environment for social cohesion,” Smith said.
The Western Cape government and Wesgro were among the brands recognised by the Loeries, bringing home both Silver and Bronze Loerie awards.
Other South African brands to get recognition at the Loeries were Volkswagen South Africa and Ogilvy South Africa for The Blind Spot for Ambient Media, and the Riky Rick Foundation and TBWA Hunt Lascaris for Stronger for Use of AI.
According to the Loeries organisers, over 2 100 entrants submitted nominations this year, with 18% of the entries coming from outside South Africa.
“Overall, 619 brands were represented by 219 agencies from 18 countries across Africa and the Middle East. The awards were judged by over 170 judges and regional industry leaders.
“A total of 231 Loeries were awarded across 17 professional categories, including eight Grand Prix, 27 Golds, 48 Silvers, 94 Bronzes, 18 Craft Golds and 36 Craft Certificates,” a spokesperson for the Loeries said.
Loeries CEO Preetesh Sewraj said while it had been a long process of judging, he was excited for the winners.
He said: “It makes a difference to the creative teams who have consistently put in work.
“This goes a long way in pushing creative excellence.
“Now we can start the process of celebrating some of the best work across Africa and the Middle East.”