Melusi Tshabalala, Executive Creative Director at VML
I am Melusi Tshabalala, a male person, born in the late 70s in a little-known township, called Soweto. I’ve lived the bulk of my life in the formerly world-class city of Jozi, and attended school here, including at The AAA School of Advertising. At AAA, I studied copywriting, which led to my first job as a trainee copywriter at Sonnenburg Murphy Leo Burnett (SMLB). This was in 1998. Why are you acting shocked? I already told you I was born in the late 70s.

Since first walking through those SMLB doors, as a young man with an afro, I have since lost most of my hair but gained many awesome things and built a career I am proud of. That career has involved the years at SMLB (went from trainee to Creative Group Head), a stint running an entertainment company, a few years at Y&R (left as CD), co-founding a few agencies (they are no more), a short stint at Black River as ECD, a few years as ECD & Partner at OFYT, freelancing, serving on the Loerie Awards Executive Committee, serving on the Creative Circle Executive Committee, judging awards, winning awards, mentoring, publishing popular books (I have another one coming out this year or early next year), and making a bunch of awesome friends. I am currently one of the ECDs at VML; a position I took up in March 2025.

Of course, there have been ups and downs, and there will be many more, which is why life is such an exciting ride. We’ll get into whatever detail you are interested in if we ever meet in person, which I look forward to.

Karien Cherry, Director at Giant Films
Ranked as the Number 1 director in the African & Middle Eastern region – awarded by the 2020 Loeries – Karien’s work has seen both viral fame and international recognition. Her career kicked off with a Cannes YDA shortlist and her award winning work has since won Gold at Ciclope and been shortlisted for “Advertising Excellence” at the AICP awards – the only non US campaign to receive this honour. In 2021 she became the first female to direct for Heineken.

This year, Karien served on the D&AD Direction Jury for the second consecutive year and continues to be one of South Africa’s most prolific directors. Her work spans both international and local brands including Heineken, KFC, Google, New Balance, and Chicken Licken. She is sought after by creatives for her effortless collaboration, her knack for comedy and performance, and her keen sensibility to adapt the tone of her work to serve the script. Karien is represented by Outsider in the UK and Giant Films in South Africa.