A host of big-budget studio productions, including Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible 7” and Viola Davis’ historical epic “The Woman King,” has given a boost to South Africa’s locations industry, with Netflix’s live-action series “One Piece” — based on the iconic Japanese manga — boasting the country’s biggest production budget to date.But while both foreign and domestic production are booming, industry sources say more work needs to be done to rebuild confidence in the country’s beleaguered cash rebate program, as well as ramp up ongoing efforts to boost Black participation in the white-dominated sector.After several years in which producers were hamstrung by protracted payout delays, along with guideline changes that sources say frequently caught the industry flat-footed, money is flowing again to South Africa’s cash rebate program, which offers foreign productions up to 25 back on qualifying local expenditures.Nevertheless, “there’s no doubt that damage has been done,
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