Film fixer — Southern and East Africa One producer, eight countries, every border

Zimbabwe is home, but my work does not stop at the border. I offer full fixer and production services in Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa too, for a shoot in one country or a single production that crosses several.

BaseHarare, Zimbabwe
CountriesEight, Zimbabwe included
Hardest partKit across borders
Lead timeFour weeks or more

At a glance — Southern Africa

The short answer

Every country in the region issues its own filming permission, and each border is a customs event for your equipment. One fixer-producer holding the whole route means one budget, one schedule and one person accountable from the first border to the last.

Zimbabwe: Home base. Filming permits guide
Zambia: Ministry accreditation through a registered local agent. Zambia
Botswana: Filming Approval Panel, a month ahead, plus parks. Botswana
Namibia: Namibia Film Commission, with a local production company. Namibia
Malawi: Media Council accreditation and location permits. Malawi
Mozambique: Paperwork in Portuguese, film and media offices. Mozambique
Tanzania: Tanzania Film Board, then each park separately. Tanzania
South Africa: City film offices and SANParks. South Africa

Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Field figures are indicative and confirmed at recce. Rules and lead times change, and I check them for every production.

Crew loading flight cases onto vehicles outside an airport

On the road

The idea — One thread across borders

Why one fixer for the whole route

Most regional shoots are planned as a string of separate countries, each with its own fixer, its own quote and its own idea of the schedule. The gaps between them are where days disappear: a border that closes at six, a permit that names the wrong dates, a carnet that was never stamped on the way out.

I run the route as one production. The permits are lodged in the right order, the kit list matches at every border, the vehicles and crew hand over where they should, and you have one person to call wherever the unit is that day.

Where a country’s rules require a registered local agent or production company, as Zambia and Namibia do, the application goes through one, and I run the production around it. You deal with me directly, with no agency in between.

Countries — Where I work

Filming across southern and East Africa

Each country has its own permit route, its own seasons and its own reasons to go. These are the pages that set them out.

Zambia

The other bank

Victoria Falls from Livingstone, South Luangwa, the Lower Zambezi and Kafue. Filming in Zambia

Botswana

Delta and desert

The Okavango, Chobe, the Makgadikgadi pans and the Kalahari. Filming in Botswana

Namibia

Dunes and coast

Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast, Etosha and Kolmanskop. Filming in Namibia

Malawi

The lake country

Lake Malawi, Liwonde, Mount Mulanje and the Zomba Plateau. Filming in Malawi

Mozambique

The Indian Ocean

Bazaruto, Ilha de Moçambique, Gorongosa and Maputo. Filming in Mozambique

Tanzania

The great parks

The Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Filming in Tanzania

South Africa

Cape Town to Kruger

Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kruger and the Drakensberg, with the deepest production industry in the region. Filming in South Africa

Borders — Kit and crew

Crossing borders with a camera package

People cross borders easily; equipment does not. Every border is a customs exit from one country and a temporary import into the next, and the list has to match on both sides, serial number for serial number. South Africa works with ATA carnets, and so do its customs-union neighbours Botswana and Namibia. Elsewhere, temporary import is arranged country by country, sometimes with a bond or a deposit, and that takes lead time.

For crew, the KAZA UNIVISA covers Zimbabwe and Zambia for many nationalities, which makes Victoria Falls simple. Other countries need their own visas, and some need work permits even for a short shoot: Namibia, for example, asks for temporary work permits for foreign crew. Send me the passports at brief stage and I will tell you which ones need starting now.

Drones need fresh clearance in every country, from every civil aviation authority, and they are the item most likely to be held at a border. Plan aerials country by country, and see drone filming in Zimbabwe for how the process runs at home.

Routes — Shoots that work

Regional routes worth building a schedule around

Some of the best stories in the region sit within a day of each other across a border. These combinations make sense on the map and on the budget.

Four corners

Victoria Falls, Chobe and Livingstone

Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia meet within a few kilometres of Kazungula. The falls, the Chobe River and the Zambian bank sit within an hour or two of each other.

Zambezi Valley

Mana Pools and the Lower Zambezi

Two parks facing each other across the same river, one in Zimbabwe and one in Zambia.

Desert to sea

Botswana and Namibia

From the Okavango and the Kalahari west to the dunes of Sossusvlei and the Skeleton Coast.

Rift Valley

Malawi and Tanzania

Lake Malawi and its mountains north to the parks and plains of Tanzania.

The corridor

Zimbabwe and Mozambique

The Eastern Highlands down to Beira and the Indian Ocean coast.

The gateway

Johannesburg or Cape Town

Rental houses, long-haul flights and post-production, then north into the rest of the region.

Questions — Asked most often

What producers ask first

Short answers to the questions that arrive in nearly every brief. For anything specific to your production, ask me directly.

Which countries do you work in?

Zimbabwe, where I am based, and Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa, either as single-country shoots or as one production crossing several of them.

Can one fixer handle a multi-country shoot in southern Africa?

Yes. I plan the permits, borders, crew and logistics as one production, and work with registered local agents or companies where a country requires them, such as Zambia and Namibia.

How do you move camera equipment between countries?

Each border is a customs exit and a temporary import. South Africa, Botswana and Namibia work with ATA carnets; elsewhere temporary import is arranged country by country. The equipment list has to match, serial for serial, at every crossing.

How much lead time does a regional shoot need?

Four weeks is a sensible minimum, and longer if the route includes Tanzania, heritage sites, national parks or drones, which all add their own approvals.

Field notes — Plan the route

Pair it with

Distances in Zimbabwe are long, so the locations you put together matter as much as the ones you pick. These sit well alongside this one.

Next — Your project

Send the brief and the dates

Tell me what you want to shoot here and when. You will get a straight answer on the permissions, the timing and the cost before you book anything.

Request a quote Filming permits guide