SKYRINK STUDIOS – THE ICE HAS MELTED
It’s a NEW DAWN and there’s a feeling of hope and excitement. Carlton SkyRink comes ALIVE once again but this time without the ice, the ice has melted.
Johannesburg – eGoli (place of gold) as black miners called it. A rich town with rich history host Carlton Centre, South Africa’s tallest building – popularly known as the “Top of Africa”.
The Carlton Hotel was a popular 5 star hotel among the rich and famous, hosting many legendary guests over the years including the late award-winning R&B singer Whitney Houston, Hilary Clinton – the former US Secretary of the State amongst others.
Over the years this rich town filled with soulful memories has fallen prey to “Urban decay”. Johannesburg a once glamorous city became known as an abandonedneglected place filled with criminals, resulting in most business hubs relocating away from the place of gold. This resulted in the Carlton Hotel shutting its doors in 1998 after nearly 25 years of operation.
Some say that the Carlton Sky Rink has become the creepiest place since the lights have been switched off and the ICE MELTED but If you’re old enough you’ll cherish its memories. Growing up we were excited, mesmerized by the city lights, rushing traffic and everyone dressed in their best “Jewish”. The Carlton Center Sky Rink was the place to be as we skated the night away listening to the music in the background. Back in the days Carlton Center Precinct was a symbol of status where the elite wined and dined, it was a place that was associated with wealth and still can be…
The Carlton building is currently owned by TRANSNET after they purchased it in 1999. Carlton Centre remains Transnet’s head office.
THE CARLTON CENTRE IS STILL A TOURIST ATTRACTION, WHICH PRIDES ITSELF WITH THE SOULFUL HISTORY AND AMAZING ROOF-TOP VIEWS.
On the rooftop of Carlton Centre 50TH Floor, Johannesburg’s skyline is stretched out in front of you in every direction, where you can use the telescope to zoom into Johannesburg’s famous developments such as the Nelson Mandela Bridge which links Newtown to Braamfontein, Sandton City & The Constitution Hill.
IT’S A NEW DAWN AND THERE’S A FEELING OF HOPE AND EXCITEMENT. CARLTON SKY RINK COMES ALIVE ONCE AGAIN BUT THIS TIME WITHOUT THE ICE, THE ICE HAS MELTED.
The Sky Rink TV & Film Studio is born from a mothballed, the forgotten entertainment of Johannesburg will be ready for operation in November 2016.The entire center is undergoing revitalization and refurbishment so as to once again ignite the engagement of people and entertainment.
Sky Rink Studios Pty Ltd is a brainchild of two 100% black owned companies Diallo Works and BBDM BROS. Both companies have a history of producing TV, Sitcoms and documentaries. The idea of the Sky Rink Studios emerged out of a shortage of Studio space in Johannesburg. The entrepreneurs who own Sky Rink Studios saw an opportunity to build the first black-owned film studios, on this scale, in South Africa. They also opted for a facility that would be equipped to world-class standards with ultra high-speed data transfer capabilities, exclusive LED lighting and 2500 square meters of fully acoustically treated studios.
Sky Rink Studios are mainly designs for production of dramas, sitcom, Telenovelas, News, Sports and Advertising Ads production. There will be 6 Studios (ranging from 240 to 550m2): Studio 5 & 6 with acoustic stack door divider when opened becomes more than 1000 square meters.
– Control rooms & sound rooms for each studio
– LED lighting
– 10 post production suites with varies capabilities
– HD facilities & 3 Cameras per studi
– Broadcasting capabilities with Internet facilities
– 2400m2 space for fully equipped production offices to be allocated to different production houses
– Make up rooms & artist waiting rooms private and communal
– 300 dedicated parking bays.
One Africa Connect Mobile App: IPTV platform to go live in two months that has the following capabilities:
– The technology is known as the MEME (Micro-Enterprise Media Engine) platform
– The MEME platform is an appropriate technology for high AND low infrastructure regions (emerging economies) to broadcast live television streams over the mobile Internet with improved perceived picture quality than is currently possible with existing solutions and at significantly lower cost.
– The fundamental technology innovations are to deliver an unbroken (no re-buffering) video stream to both urban AND rural regions to every corner of the globe instantaneously
– The entire media pipeline from content generation through to distribution and mobile viewership is deemed a disruptive process to break the limitations of the current South African private monopolies’ hold on this sector.
With this new dawn embarking Sky Rink Studios will play a role in job creation within the economy and the rejuvenation of the City by creating 150 permanent jobs, 450 part-time jobs (these to double and be permanent when all studios are occupied in 48 weeks.
Sky Rink Studios will also focus on skills development, through NPO, which forms part of the CSI called story factory. The vision is to:
– Create a film city (utilisation of dilapidated buildings around Carlton Precinct).
– Increase TV/FILM production capacity within the province & the City
– Good motivation for re-opening of Carlton Hotel to increase conference facilities and accommodation
– Increase reach through Pan African & the Globe mobile IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)
Sky Rink Studios are partners with TRANSNET, Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), NEF, The City of Johannesburg along with government institutions like the Department of Trade & Industry, Gauteng Growth Development Agency (MEC of Economic Development), National Film Foundation & Gauteng Film Foundation.
The team behind Sky Rink Studios is Frank Mohapi (Executive Chairman: Stakeholder; PR and Communications experience):
Marvin Mathibe (TV & Radio content development & production experience) &
Miles Britton-Masekela (IT and Business Management Experience)
THE ICE HAS MELTED AND THE EVOLUTION OF CREATIVITY HAS BEGUN.
