This is another complete unknown.  There was an estimate in the Cultural Industries Growth Strategy report in 1997, that the film and video industry may be populated by 20,000 people.  This was grossly over-exaggerated.

The staff of the broadcasters only touches 4,000.  The independent producers that are active have a staff of possibly 220.  The freelancers are capable of handling about twenty local television productions and ten feature films at any one time.  The most this can amount to is 1,500.

Add on all the writers and those who only work half a year and we are up to 6,000.  Add the out of work people who claim to be part of the industry, and the total workforce cannot exceed 6,500.

That does not mean to say that professional mailing lists don’t have more subscribers that that.  Show business always has a vast population “camp followers” who are not economically active.

With such a low figure of 6,500, it is amazing that a simple task of enumerating and tacking all these people WAS NEVER done  by CREATE SA or NFVF.

It has now been undertaken by the HSRC.