Jenna Cato Bass

Writer-director-producer Jenna exploded onto the South African film scene with her debut LOVE THE ONE YOU LOVE in 2014 in which she shot, edited, produced, wrote and directed. The film garnered five awards including Best SA Feature and Best Direction at Africa’s premiere film festival in Durban, Best feature Film at Jozi Film Festival, a Young Audience Award at Nantes Three Continents Festival, and Best First Feature Film by a Director at the African Movie Academy Awards, the following year. Body swap comedy HIGH FANTASY came next; entirely shot on an iPhone Jenna workshopped the film with the cast and played with contemporary South African themes of land expropriation, gender and race politics amongst the Born-Free generation. The film played at AFI and Berlin amongst others, where it was nominated for the Audience and Teddy awards respectively. In 2018 Jenna co-wrote RAFIKI – the controversial Kenyan gay love story with director Wanuri Kahiu that was banned on home turf. The film played widely at festivals, won several awards, and was nominated for the Cannes Un Certain Regard and Queer Palm awards at the 2018 festival. Jenna’s third feature, FLATLAND – a contemporary female western set in South Africa’s semi desert Karoo region – opened the 2019 Berlinale Panorama programme. A “picaresque road movie”, it was compared by Variety to the work of Andrea Arnold; with its “free, friction-based energy of the film’s performance style and the ragged lyricism …[and] its happy mixing of gravelly realist texture and romantic metaphor”. A portrait of femininity the film was produced by South African vet and Jenna’s long-time collaborator David Horler and distributed by The Match Factory. Fourth feature GOOD MADAM (MLUNGU WAM) produced by Causeway Films (THE BABADOOK) and distributed by Shudder, the pic premiered in the 2021 TIFF Platform to fabulous reviews. Jenna is developing across film and television with a teen horror comedy with Nim Geva of SA’s Quizzical Pictures.

Represented by David Kayser

Beer Adriaanse

Screenwriter and director Beer Adriaanse has written and directed two television series, EKSTRA MEDIUM and BUURTWAG, and been a head writer on the longest-running Afrikaans comedy series (5 seasons).

His genre work includes a multi-award winning sci-fi short film, SIKLUS, and his first feature film – the horror PARABLE (2020) – was nominated at several international film festivals and won best feature at the New Orleans Horror Film festival. Beer then wrote and directed the feature LAASTES (2021).

Next up, Beer will be directing his original feature film TABLE FOR TWO for Showmax.

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

Fabian Medea

An alum of Wits and AFDA Fabian completed his first feature film script GOODNIGHT IRENE, which won him entry to the SPARK writer’s development program at the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF). In 2011 he was invited to the Script Writer’s Master’s Course at the NFVF, where he first started to develop WILD IS THE WIND which was first released on Netflix 28 October 2022. Before this Fabian worked as a professional script writer in television. As a staff writer, he pitched, developed and wrote hundreds of scripts for telenovelas and hour long drama series for some of the top production companies in Joburg. Shows included: ZONE 14, THE WILD, JACOB’S CROSS, INKABA, ZABALAZA and ISIBAYA for which he received a SAFTA nomination for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Scriptwriting’. Working in TV allowed him to hone his craft and gave him the experience needed to complete WILD IS THE WIND, which reached the top ten in 83 countries within its first week of release. Fabian is actively developing projects across film and television and is drawn to heightened genre.

 

Represented by David Kayser

Sydney Dire

Zimbabwean born screenwriter Sydney Dire began his career as a writer for CHIPAWO, an Arts Education Trust based in Zimbabwe before relocating to South Africa in 2012 where he worked in development for leading production house Quizzical Pictures. Sydney then joined Black Brain Productions as a writer on the hit sitcom SES’TOP’LA (SABC 1) and was a Storyliner on the popular Telenovela ISITHEMBISO for Mzansi Magic/MNET in 2018 proudly part of the team that won the SAFTA for TV writing in 2019. Sydney went on to become Head Writer of ISITHEMBISO for its third Season, and he is currently Head Writer of the new telenovela HOUSE OF ZWIDE which he co-created and which began airing on eTV in 2021. Alongside his head writing duties Sydney penned episodes for two Netflix original series including heist drama JUSTICE SERVED (July 22) with the other due to drop on the streamer later in 2022. He is currently writing on another two Netflix original series. Sydney is at home across both drama and comedy. His one-hour pilot drama THE FOUR QUEENS reached the finals of the Screencraft Pilot competition in 2017, his half hour comedy pilot DESMOND AND THE DEVIL reached both the finals of the 2020 Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards and the 2020 WeScreenplay TV Contest and his hour long political thriller pilot BAD MEDICINE reached the top 10 of  the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Scriptwriting competition hosted by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

 

Represented by David Kayser

Chisanga Kabinga

Chisanga Kabinga is a Zambian born producer-writer-director living in South Africa, who began her television writing career in 2003 working on South Africa’s top performing soap, GENERATIONS and soon branched into writing for other formats, including John Hopkins/USAID funded educational dramas like TSHA TSHA, SOUL CITY, and the ground breaking Peabody Award winning INTERSEXIONS, for which she was also nominated for a South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA). Chisanga has worked on several top grossing South African and Zambian dramas and soaps as storyliner, script editor, script consultant and head writer for shows such as SOUL BUDDYZ, A PLACE CALLED HOME (both of which Chisanga also directed on as well as THE MATING GAME), NJILA, FEVER, MUVHANGO and 2021’s breakout THE ESTATE for Clive Morris Productions and SABC3. Together with Linda Bere Chisanga co-created, co-wrote and co-produced KOWETHU, a 13 part drama series that aired on SABC 1 in 2014 and has recently completed script editing on KINGS OF JOBURG Season 2 for Netflix. Chisanga’s extensive TV development work has taught her the power of television in shifting both perceptions and culture through compelling and entertaining drama. She continues to work as a writer, director and independent producer in Zambia and South Africa and under her company 20 Feet Tall, she has developed two Zambian television series for the Southern African regional channel, Zambezi Magic.

 

Represented by David Kayser

Christina Carty

Alum of The Oxford School of Drama Christina began her career in front of the camera, landing roles including the lead in BELONGING TO LAURA (TV3), Virginia Woolf in DOWNTOWN ABBEY (ITV) and Woolf again in the feature LONDON UNPLUGGED (2018). Christina pivoted to writing and began on the playwriting course at the National Theatre where she wrote musical SKYDIVING (R&D Shoreditch Townhall) and THE INTERN (workshopped Southbank Centre). She co-wrote TV piece FILTHY (A Funny Women screenwriting finalist) which was optioned by DLT Entertainment and MILLY & CLAIRE, optioned by What Larks. She is currently writing coming of age comedy-drama AG BRISEADH TRIG (BREAKING THROUGH) for Blinder Films and Irish broadcaster TG4 whilst developing VERNONSan ensemble family comedy for stage. Christina is currently doing an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel University where she is writing her debut novel. Christina has had poetry published by Dreich Magazine, Black Flowers, and commissioned by London Irish Centre. She is based in London.

 

Represented by David Kayser 

Brett Michael Innes

Brett Michael Innes is an alum of the Oscar-winning South African film school AFDA, on a scholarship from the National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF). His debut as writer/director/producer SINK premiered In Competition at the Atlanta Film Festival in 2016 and has been heralded by local critics as a ‘breakout film that sets a new standard for South African cinema’. This saw him win the SAFTA for Best Film and Best Screenplay as well as Best Edit with co-editor Nicolas Costaras. His second feature, an adaptation of the iconic novel, FIELA SE KIND, premiered In Competition at Tallinn Black Nights and was awarded the SAFTA for Best Film and Best Screenplay in 2020. It has also been nominated for Best Film in an African Language at the 2020 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). FIVE TIGER, a short that he produced and edited, was official selection at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival while his third feature, the mockumentary comedy DARYN’S GYM, was selected for IFFR 2022. He is currently in development on several original film and television projects and financing a handful of features THE DAM, PONTE, and BLUE DRESS. Brett has just wrapped his first television project CATCH ME A KILLER – an 8 part series for producer Simon Kowalski and Night Train Media/M-Net.

 

Represented by David Kayser

Mary Waireri

Mary is a Nairobi-born, London-bred screenwriter and filmmaker. After a career in advertising in London, she began experimenting with short film and turned her hand to screenwriting, completing the Screenwriting certificate at the UK’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) where she wrote her first feature script EXILES – winner of the FilmarketHub2020 Screenwriting competition and shortlisted for the 2020 BBC Scriptworks & Thousand Films Screenwriting competition. EXILES is now being developed with Mo Abudu’s Ebony Life and Sony under their Alo writing banner. Mary is also developing a London-based sci-fi thriller concept exploring the racialisation of artificial intelligence with Statement Films and Topic and was selected to participate in the Realness institute and Netflix Africa’s inaugural Episodic Lab, developing a Swahili folk horror concept. She recently worked on treatment commissions for StudioCanal UK bringing to life secret untold histories and extraordinary true stories. As a lover of thriller, horror, and sci-fi, Mary’s writing explores the many dimensions of the African Diaspora and Diaspora identities through a socially aware genre lens.

 

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie and David Kayser

Kudi Maradzika

Kudi is a television producer with eleven years of local, regional and international experience producing long-form scripted and non-scripted formats as well as short form content. She is a multi-SAFTA, Promax, African Film Academy Award, Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice and Loerie-winning executive producer. Notable productions include ISONO(260 x 24), BLACK TAX S1 and S2 (13 x 24), COMEDY ROAST OF AKA, of Somizi, and SAFTA nominated SAVANNA VIRTUAL COMEDY BAR 2.0. Kudi is also a screenwriter with two feature scripts shortlisted for the 2018 & 2022 Sundance Feature Film Writer’s Lab, a winner of the 2021 Realness Institute Netflix Episodic Lab and recently selected by the Durban FilmMart Institute 2023 Programme for her feature film, NJUZU. A SAFTA-Award-winning director Kudi’s repertoire includes producing and directing reality and factual formats such as AFRICA’S BIGGEST BRAGS and TLC’s NEXT GREAT PRESENTER SEARCH. A screenwriter with a penchant for comedy-drama, notable productions include SQWIZAS and MY PERFECT FAMILY. Kudi’s comedy drama selected for the Realness Institute Netflix lab is currently in development with co-head writer Daniel Zimbler and Sydney Dire also writing.

 

Represented by David Kayser 

Vanessa Kanu

Vanessa is an accomplished screenwriter based in Lagos with several credits to her name. She is currently writer on Netflix’s MAMA K’S TEAM 4 – the children’s animated series is the first African show of its kind for the streamer.

Nessa most recently wrote on ANGRY BIRDS: SUMMER MADNESS before which she wrote a string of psychological thriller features for Nigerian release. When not focussed on her screenwriting Nessa also ghost writes self-help and spirituality books. She is equally at home writing children’s animation and horror and comedy; she loves the dark and the irreverent.

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie