L to R: AK and his daughter Fae at home in their cinema room, AK and his son Vincent.

AK was raised on a farm by his grandparents, who ignited his love of film. “We would go to the drive-inn almost every night of the week, either Fourways, Veldskoen or Five Star, once in a while Top Star. If it wasn’t drive in it was 16mm films at home. Always with a short like Time Tunnel, Star Trek or The Mod Squad to name a few. The problem is they never filtered what they showed me. They loved scary films, I watched The Exorcist when I was 10, which of course made me terrified of the dark. Something I’d have to embrace as a teenager when horror became more fun, with movies like The Thing and American Werewolf.”

AK’s journey into filmmaking saw him study stills photography and film before becoming a runner at MNet. He then was a video editor for 4 years before the move to directing. He worked in various local shops like Velocity and Gatehouse before going independent and directing in over 32 countries, adapting to different sets and conditions. Meeting Liesl (Spitfire’s Executive Producer and Co-Founder) in 2012, he found not just a partner but a grounding influence. “Before meeting Liesl, I was always out of the country, never catching my breath. Liesl brought me down to earth and made me her business partner. We are so proud of the Spitfire community we have built together. Not many people get to experience this sort of change in life, I was very lucky to find her.”

And then came the biggest change – AK became a parent. “Fatherhood taught me how to see the world through the eyes of a parent, which was transformative. It made me more empathetic. I actually surprised myself when I took to being a dedicated, organised dad quite swiftly. My childhood was a bit more rocky. I was dropped off at my Grandparents at around 2 years of age and never left, which was sad but lucky at the same time. They were very loving but basically let me run riot on that farm, with little guidance. But as I said, they gave me Movies! Parenthood definitely changed the way I perceived the world, fundamentally. It altered the way I interpreted stories. Specifically, it gave me a deeper understanding of the importance of character development, plot structure, and the troublesome art of storytelling.”

AK on set for INVESTEC

Then came the pandemic. “These were the most bizarre years, a depressing sort of cold silence and uncertainty. But also an opportunity for reflection and discovery. We found new ways to adapt. To harness everything we could from a given project. At a point we almost lost Liesl and everything came to a halt. But then she pulled through. Covid and parenthood taught us valuable lessons in survival. How to be frugal was one of them. So I found ways to make impossible jobs possible. I began filming more of my own work, which helped me work faster, cheaper and gave me what I wanted.”

On set, AK and fake Faf and AK and real Siya Kolisi

Here are a few of our favourite spots from AK’s impressive reel.

Sasria ‘Consumer Education’

Investec ‘Pororoca’

Cadbury ‘Paper Planes’

Liqui Fruit ‘Real Looks Good On You’

About what advice he’ll give his kids on filmmaking (Vincent is already showing an interest) AK says, “Come onto set with us as often as you can. When you get older we’ll guide you carefully into the landscape of independent filming”. He will one day tell his son the same things he tells some of the new interns at Spitfire, “Don’t make the same mistakes I have made. Never expect some angel producer to come along and give you a handout, figure out how to do it on your own. Shoot it on your phone if you have to and get your friends to be your crew. You’re going to have to work very hard and remember these words ‘Your focus determines your reality’! Never stop asking for our advice. And read these books:

AK hopes to also pass on the magic of the filmmaking process to his children, from the initial sparks of inspiration, through the chaos and excitement of production, to the euphoric final moments of creating something extraordinary. “Your film is written three times,” he says, “Once on paper, once on set, and once again in the edit suite.”

And finally, just before we end the call and ask him if he has any last thoughts, in true AK style he says, “A Buddhist monk goes up to a New York Hot Dog vendor and says… Make me one with everything.”

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