Canal+’s acquisition of South Africa’s first streaming site, Showmax, has created a buzz about its content, tech and the future of creative jobs in the local film and TV industry. Showmax boasted groundbreaking productions like Youngins and Devilsdorp, which opened doors to airing works from as far as Kenya (Crime & Justice), and extending its reach with the ever-popular Housewives franchise in Nigeria.
Most recently, its upcoming production The Road Home will chronicle the Paul Simon album Graceland, with Guy Pearce taking on the musician’s role and South Africa’s very own Thabo Rametsi bringing his collaborator, Hugh Masekela, to life. The big cinematic release will be shot in South Africa, following in the footsteps of Glen Powell’s How to Make a Killing.
The movie is also set to star Cynthia Erivo of Wicked fame.
The director of content, general entertainment for English- and Portuguese-speaking Africa at Canal+ Africa, Nomsa Philiso, shared that this will allow them to see South African stories being told at a global scale. This includes a focus on making sure South Africans continue to see themselves represented on TV with authenticity.
Studiocanal CEO and chief content officer of Canal+ Anna Marsh shared that the script, which has been in the works for two years, was especially dear to her. Like many others who knew of the album, Marsh saw it as an opportunity to learn more about the story behind it and the friendship between Simon and Masakela.
“You get to see the power of story within the music, and it really brought people together,” she said. “You also get a strong character in Miriam Makeba. As a woman, I find her incredibly inspiring.”
The studio also tapped Bill Condon as director, who is not unfamiliar with musicals, having worked on the Oscar-winning Dreamgirls and Chicago. Marsh also shared that it was important for them to bring upcoming stories such as The Road Home to cinema release, as their focus is on telling tales that allow audiences to feel their emotional power.
Movie attendance is positive in SA. As of 2025, 9.1-million people still attend screenings at cinemas, with 45% of them being regulars who see movies six times a year. However, telenovelas and soapies, which excel on streaming platforms and free-to-air TV channels, rake in an average of 3-million to 5-million viewers daily, making it the most lucrative creative output. And that’s not just the eyeballs but the teams behind them who can benefit from month-to-month work thanks to the production being filmed throughout the year.
“Telenovelas will always be our mainstay, but we do have to get ourselves to a place where there is high production value and there’s us looking at the global scale. In our stable, reality TV is also punching above its weight, so we are really making sure that we offer our audience a varied taste of what we can do,” said Philiso.
Currently in the second stage of three in their process of migrating content from Showmax to the DStv app as part of the partnership, the My Canal app will eventually become their go-to.
When looking at the future of streaming in the country, Philiso says they will continue to strengthen their presence in the streaming space. Marsh says this will also help continue Multichoice’s mission of boosting local storytelling, which will keep audiences returning and invite more people to tell their stories through them.
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