This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards brought together two powerhouse judges: Neema Nouse, Integrated Creative Director at The Odd Number, and Dani Hynes, Director and Founder of Love Films. And they both agreed – Best of Craft this month goes to Karien Cherry from Giant Films.
Former Pulse Films director Alex Motlhabane returns to South Africa after a successful UK career working with brands like Pepsi and Amazon, and directing music videos for slowthai and A$AP Rocky. He now brings his expertise to Robot Films.
Ayanda Duma represents a group of rising young directors in our industry who have their fingers on the pulse of culture, and creativity and come with an inclusive mindset and strong point of view. From challenging societal stigmas to creating authentic representations on screen, Ayanda is not afraid to make her mark in Adland and with the smart production chops of Robot, you know you’ve got the whole package.
June’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by two creative powerhouses armed with their impeccable artistic palates; Camilla Clerke, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy South Africa & Thina Zibi, Independent Director. Thank you for lending us your fiery brilliance. Congratulations to Slim from Darling Films for being awarded Best in Craft by both judges - BOOM.
Director Lamar Bonhomme seeks to capture the essence of the world in its rawest and most unfiltered form. Armed with a lens that embraces the beauty of imperfection, Lamar is joining the powerhouse roster at Robot. With Robot’s established production support, Lamar is eager to continue reflecting the richness of our world with a cinematic timelessness that avoids unnecessary gimmicks, something that is evident in his latest campaign for SA Tourism.
Ayanda Duma’s pursuit of challenging the status quo coupled with her passion for exploring South African culture, black identity, queer culture and femme culture is what drives her as a director. She proudly stands by her values especially when it comes to breaking down stigmas and stereotypes, she is also an absolute damn joy, warm, generous with her time and her razor-sharp wit. Even when navigating sensitive subject matter, Ayanda always remains at the core of her craft, as exemplified by her latest project - ‘Sex and Pleasure’ for Showmax.
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.
This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by the superbly talented all-seeing all-knowing oracles that are Jacquie Mullany, Creative Director at HelloFCB+ and Grant De Sousa, Director at They. Congratulations to Slim from Darling Films for his skillfully crafty work on Chicken Licken *clapping wildly.
Being an advocate for mindfulness certainly comes in handy for Robot’s Paul Ramaema, especially considering how busy he’s been. Since joining the production company two years ago Paul has consistently been creating commercial work for top brands and agencies. We caught up with the new dad and self-proclaimed selfie king about how he’s found his rhythm as a filmmaker while still maintaining a balance.
Cape Town and Johannesburg-based production company, Robot, has announced that Ayanda Tshabalala will be joining the Jozi team to facilitate the growing demand for commercial work. Ayanda will be bringing her years of industry experience, across various fields in advertising and production, by stepping in as Executive Producer.
Robot’s Zandi Tisani is a director with a finger on the pulse of pop culture, a background (and awards) in scriptwriting and a heart set on crafting considered narrative films with impactful visuals. About to serve as a jury member on the board for the Creative Circle for her second term in a row, we wanted to find out exactly what Zandi had to say, catch up on her latest work and honestly, just hang around her because we’re obsessed.
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 Ayanda Duma from Robot, Justine Calverley from First Pencil, and Nicole Maria Ackermann from Romance Films.
This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by two of our industry’s absolute finest; Chief Creative Officer of Grey Africa, Fran Luckin and Director at Darling Films, Jeana Theron. Congratulations to Marc Algranti for nabbing Best in Craft for Original Music and Matthys Boshoff for Directing.
This month’s IDIDTHAT.co Craft Awards were judged by the myths, the legends, the icons themselves; Sibusiso Sitole, CCO and Co-Founder of The Odd Number and Lourens van Rensburg, Director at 7Films. Congrats to Christian van der Walt, Novak Miler, Ben van der Walt and Stanley Segal from Sinister Studios and Fausto Becatti from Bioscope Films for being awarded Best in Craft for January.
Robot’s Paul Ramaema brings his energetic youthful aesthetic mixed with his mindful self-awareness for the launch of the locally built Toyota Hybrid. A car that finds the perfect balance between being environmentally conscious and at the forefront of technology needed the perfect hybrid director 😉
In less than a year the team at Robot have made some pretty major moves, to say the least. Taking the leap from being a service-only company, Robot now also includes a full roster of directing talent. Having established themselves as a production company with an impressive offering in the local market, what’s the secret weapon behind Robot’s rapid rise to success? Meet Callan Paul, with her fitting new title of Managing Director.
Ayanda Duma is an energetic audacious filmmaker with a bold comedic approach to character-driven storytelling. Unapologetically disruptive, hyper-intelligent and hilarious. When not behind the camera Ayanda also produces beats and bars under her rap alias, YANDU and finds the word ‘appropriate’ offensive. Hold onto your pearls folks.
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 Director Zandi Tisani from Robot, Director duo Mel & Lusanda from they and Editor Amelia Cohen from Priest.
As Gregg Bailey approaches a decade of directing, he has announced that he will be joining the growing roster of talent at Robot. Well established as a performance director and considered storyteller, we know Gregg’s strength lies in crafting heartfelt intimate moments. In fact, you’ll most likely find that when it comes to an onscreen moment that needs space and time to breath, he’ll nail it.
You might know him as the guy who shoots those unconventionally cool music videos or sexy sneaker spots, but with the announcement that Adriaan Louw has joined Robot, we caught up with a filmmaker evolving into a storyteller passionate about bringing his emotive documentary filmmaking mind and visual aesthetic to narrative-driven work.
