Protected: Eyeforce gains edge in sports productions, signs 4 new directors
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SHE DID THAT is a female filmmakers showcase that shines a spotlight on the women in the South African production industry. Although we will only be featuring women and non-binary people, the goal is that it will encourage the inclusion of more underrepresented filmmakers across all production work created by South Africans. This month features Chloe Coetsee from Darling Films, Jabu Nadia Newman from Romance Films and Renee van Reenen from Platypus.
The Creative Circle Best of 2022 is about celebrating all the finest South African Creativity from 2022. Here you can find all the awarded work and the talent responsible for creating the work...so you know who to call for your next project 🔥
Justine Calverley’s spot for Toyota and FCB Joburg is a big-scale cinematic car ad that seamlessly blends visually stunning locations with VFX. The adventurous spot landed Justine 3rd position in AdForum’s Top 5 Best Directors Worldwide for March and we can see why. We spoke to the First Pencil filmmaker about her approach to the work.
The latest work from Director Thina Zibi is a hilarious, relatable and distinctly South African ad with some serious Italian flair. With the backing of Triple Story Content and creative from The Odd Number, ‘Always Eatalian’ for Fatti’s and Moni’s is why we love South African advertising. The commercial not only delights with moments that stay with you long after you’ve watched them, but it solidifies Thina’s space in the industry as an exceptionally talented performance director. Bravo!
We asked the Head of Online and Motion Design at Ludus Post Productions, Donovan Smith, some questions about the inner-workings of the post process and what are some of the best practices for achieving top craft in post.
IDIDTHAT is obsessed with Darling Films director Zee Ntuli. He's a filmmaker and a writer. Working in commercials and long-form, Zee always brings his passion for storytelling and style to his work. In 2021 he was ranked 1st for Direction in South Africa by the IDIDTHAT Craft Awards, so naturally, he was the perfect candidate to kick off IDIDTHAT's new OBSESSED Series. Poetry, artificial intelligence, aeroplane seats and the commercial he wishes he directed, this is what Zee Ntuli is obsessed with.
Director Malehlohonolo Ntsooa, better known around Spitfire as Hloni, has very quickly, with the power production support of Spitfire and Executive Producer Liesl Lategan, built an impressive showreel featuring sports, food, music, comedy, finance and visual effects-heavy spots. We found out how this young determined talent rose up in the ranks of a top production company.
Massïf Films’ Gordon Lindsay has a reel that screams BIG BUDGETS, and although he has worked on many high-end jobs locally and around the world for the likes of Guinness and Tinder, the truth is a lot of the work was made on a shoestring. It’s not the budgets that have contributed to Gordon’s impressive reel, it’s his ability to craft visually exciting work.
Gorgeous Bushman aka Bathandwa Ngwendu spent the past year enrolled in The Storyteller Foundation’s programme. As the first recipient of the Foundation, he’s gained invaluable directing experience working closely under the mentorship of Lourens van Rensburg at 7Films. He has now officially joined the 7Films roster, open for briefs with the full production support of the established team. We get into how he was selected and his move into full-time commercial directing.
The Refinery, South Africa’s award winning post house, is under new ownership. Previously owned by eMedia Holdings, The Refinery in Cape Town and The First Order in Joburg now fall under The First Order Group, a proud Level 2 BBBEE Contributor for Post Production Services. We caught up with the teams from both offices about the new cross-country alliance.
The 2022 Loeries Official Rankings were released last week and although we don't think awards and accolades mean everything (they're pretty cool though), they definitely get our attention when they reflect the high level of work being created by some of the talented women and non-binary people in our industry right now. Below we have showcased five of the top-ranked film directors in the country according to the Loeries. Congratulations and here's to seeing a lot more representation in 2023 💪🏾
It’s been almost a year since Bongani Morgan joined the team at Made Films and he’s hit the ground running. While collecting awards for his documentary Map1mp1 and TV show, The Braai Show with Cassper Nyovest, Bongani spent most of 2022 travelling across the country directing for the likes of Vodacom and Red Bull and months directing his new series for Showmax, shot across the entire KZN region. Now finally back home in Joburg, and available for commercial briefs again with the powerhouse backing of his production team at Made, it was time for a catch-up.
Dare Content is a production studio working directly with agencies to produce film, stills and animation. Launched in 2020 by Creative Producer Chris Coetsee, Dare already has the proven success to back their transparent budget approach to production. With no in-house roster of talent, Chris curates a team that he believes is best suited to each brief and at the heart of his company is what Chris calls ‘radical transparency.’
South African director, YouTuber and Founder of the creative production company JOE, Dan Mace, has joined forces with billionaire YouTuber, Mr Beast aka Jimmy Donaldson. According to Forbes, Donaldson is the world’s most followed person on YouTube. Dan has been appointed as the Chief Creative Officer of the Beast Philanthropy Channel on YouTube, tasked with carrying out the creative direction of the channel’s future content.
Pressure Cooker has seen massive growth over the past few years, not just in the high quality of work they are producing but also the sheer amount of in-house talent. The latest addition to the team is entrepreneur, businessman, and former creative, Brian Little. Brian will be joining the leadership team, taking on the role of General Manager. A General Manager at a post-production house? We also had questions!
Executive Producer and Founder of Osu Creative Productions, Simoné Bobo, has made her directing debut. ‘Play with Power’ is a short film created in support of the female Springbok rugby team. The film has been awarded the BEST Audio Visual Content Short Film at this year’s Hollard Sports Industry Awards (that’s like the Loeries for the sports world ya’ll). Not many people get to launch their directing careers with awarded work, but this is Simoné Bobo, and honestly, we would expect nothing less.
Let’s face it, team Spitfire has never quite fit into the traditional production company box. Over the past 10 years they have always approached work with the same attitude of ‘Where there’s a screen, there’s an opportunity’. But hey, a production company that has an in-house Head of Content is a production company that just thinks differently.
Director Meghan Daniels from Butterfly Films has delivered a visually stylised and striking spot for Count Pushkin. Working with their cast, athlete Chelsea-Sloan Samuels and Model and Dancer Sonwabile Mhlonyane, Meghan brought a playful and bold purple-fuelled world to life that we would happily get lost in.
This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by the very top of our Xmas wishlist; Grant Sithole, Chief Product Officer of Publicis Groupe Africa and Nicole Ackermann, Director at Romance. This was a particularly tough month to judge with a lot of stand-out work, but rising to the top is Paul Ward from Giant Films and Tristan Holmes from The Star Film Company.