To South Africa where the local film industry continues to make inroads in seeking to establish itself as the premier film production DESTINATION on the continent. Cape Town attracts the bulk of international filmmakers and producers, due to its high-tech film studios, local production talent and abundance of locations, which can DOUBLE for just about any backdrop abroad. Now the sector has LAUNCHED a new INITIATIVE aimed at synergising efforts to draw in even more film work. CGTN's Travers Andrews has this report.

Location, location, location, that's usually one of the key words when choosing a destination to shoot a film and Cape Town certainly has it all.

The Mother City's broad array of mountains, seas and vineyards are backdrops that continue to bring filmmakers to these shores, to create anything from big budget action films to animation features.

Now in an effort to tap into new and growing opportunities in the sector, local stakeholders have created First Thursday's, a monthly event aimed to promote networking, learning and bolster partnerships for film industry professionals.

MONIKA RORVIK HEAD, FILM & MEDIA PROMOTION, WESGRO "We have 38 exhibitors, a number of top movie stars are here, studio owners, we have special effects teams, we have professional associations and what we showing is that we work together and we pull in the same direction."

South African animation has been one of the industry best performers that have created international award winning features from the likes of Cape Town based Triggerfish Animation.

Many big budget action blockbusters have also been filmed here and has shown to be a major endorsement of local skills and talent.

MONIKA RORVIK HEAD, FILM & MEDIA PROMOTION, WESGRO "People did shoot scenes for Black Panther in this country and on the continent and we seeing a lot more of that because people want authenticity of film and animation especially true African stories,Triggerfish is doing Seal Team and they have done a number of feature films with African stories and we're looking at people shooting here again driving authentic African stories."

Job creation is an important part of Cape Town's Film sector which has made First Thursday's as an important opportunity for municipal and government officials to engage directly with the industry of key issues.

DONALD GRANT MINISTER OF TRANSPORT & PUBLIC WORKS "It's about R1.92 billion that is forecast out of the economic cake in the Western Cape and obviously the job creation is critical in that process and we have about 5,000 different sites which are used in and around the city and the province. And we want to see this sector of the industry grow from strength to strength in the future."

For now local filmmakers see the success of Black Panther as just the beginning of the emergence of far more diverse African stories being told by Africa talent.

TRAVERS ANDREWS CAPE TOWN "Apart from the diversity in locations, many of the blockbusters that were film in the Western Cape, have gone on to rake in major success at the box-office, which has also proven quite beneficial to the local sector, in their attempts to draw in international filmmakers, Travers Andrews, CGTN, Cape Town."