Samantha Nell

SAMANTHA NELL

Writer and Director Samantha Nell’s debut feature as a director, the edgy romcom DO YOUR WORST, premiered in the top ten on Netflix in 2023. She is currently developing her second feature MILES FROM NOWHERE. Samantha has an MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of Arts Asia in Singapore and has participated at several development labs including the Realness Screenwriter’s Residency, La Fabrique du Cinema du Monde, TIFF Talent Lab and Locarno Filmmaker’s Academy.

Samantha participated in the Cannes South Africa Film Factory in collaboration with Michael Wahrmann from Brazil and their short film THE BEAST premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for a Brazilian Academy Award. Her most recent short film LOVE MOTEL, shot on location in South Korea, premiered at Durban International Film Festival in 2017.

Nell has produced short films on four continents and in 2012 her short film STIFF was selected for the Focus Features’ Africa First Program. It premiered at the 2014 Palm Springs International Shortsfest and won Best Short Film at the Africa International Film Festival in Nigeria.

A writer and director for hire, Samantha is developing many original projects across TV and film.

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

Mathapelo Mofokeng

Mathapelo Mofokeng is a screenwriter and author from Johannesburg, South Africa. She has written for audio drama, television, and short films on a range of themes. Her films have screened at Underwire, London Shorts, BFI Soul Connect, Aesthetica, Heart of Gold and Manchester Film Festival, among others. Her writing has appeared in Gagosian Quarterly, Adda, Popshot Quarterly, and has been anthologised in the Catapult Best Short Stories Anthology, and The Future of Media.

She is a recipient of the PEN America Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize, and fellowships from MacDowell, Miles Morland, Camargo, and Chevening and is a graduate of the Goldsmiths MA Scriptwriting programme.

Mathapelo is currently adapting her prize-winning short THE STRONG-STRONG WINDS (PEN/Dau Prize 2021) with animators Lisa LaBracio and Anna Samo creators of THE OPPOSITES GAME.

 

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie

Lebogang Mogashoa

Lebo is a Johannesburg-based screenwriter and writer-performer. Lebo’s original drama for Quizzical Pictures and Netflix SAVAGE BEAUTY bowed on the service in May 2022 and immediately soared to the top ten in multiple territories where it remained for weeks. He spent three years as a story-liner and scriptwriter on the Emmy-nominated telenovela THE RIVER — winner of a record 11 awards, including best writing, at the 2019 South African Film and Television Awards. At the same awards ceremony, Lebo was also nominated in the best writing category for his head-writing debut on season 1 of the primetime drama THE HERD — the second most-watched show in its time slot on DSTV’s Mzansi Magic. Lebo has also served as a scriptwriter on three successful seasons of the daily drama THE QUEEN; season 1 of THE THRONE and the DSTV hit drama THE REPUBLIC. Lebo’s work as a writer-performer including his monthly shows (since 2015) at Joburg’s POPArt Theatre and his critically acclaimed solo shows exploring the young African queer identity performed at the National Arts Festival — helped earn him a spot on the Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans in 2017. Lebo studied film and media at the University of Cape Town, has performed in London at THE MOTH and is currently lead writer, executive producer and creator of the second series of his Netflix original.

Represented by David Kayser

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

Mpho Osei-Tutu

In a career spanning 20+ years, Mpho has worked as an actor and a writer with an array of
celebrated people including Disney’s RISE director, Akin Omotoso and Fox’s 9-1-1 director,
Jann Turner.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Dramatic Art from Wits University in Johannesburg, South
Africa where he majored in Writing, Television and Performance; and works across a variety
of genres with credits in comedy and drama series, films, sketch TV, late-night talk shows,
award ceremonies and theatre shows.

Mpho has been on the SAFTA winning writing teams for RHYTHM CITY (Best Soap 2009),
CHECK COAST (Best TV Comedy 2015), THULANI NO THULI (Best TV Comedy 2018) and
was on the writing team for the 2010 International Emmy Nominated Best TV
Movie/Miniseries HOPEVILLE. His foray into show running two seasons of the TV Comedy
KOTA LIFE CRISIS garnered 1 SAFTA win and 12 SAFTA nominations. He co-wrote the
short JOBURG which won at UCLA Director’s Spotlight in 2007 and gained
Official Selection at Sundance (2010), Seattle International (2008), Durban International
(2008), Brooklyn International (2008), Los Angeles (2007), Telluride (2007), Starz Denver
(2007) and Santa Fe (2007).

He is presently working on a number of pilots and is a writer on ETV’s THE BLACK DOOR.

Represented by David Kayser

Ari Kruger

Ari Kruger is the co-creator and director of the hugely popular web-series SUZELLE DIY which has garnered over 22 million views on YouTube and been broadcast nationally on Comedy Central. He is also the co-creator and director of the sensational mockumentary series TALI’S WEDDING DIARY, which was awarded five South African Film & Television Awards, including Best Director for a Comedy Series. Both productions epitomise his impeccable comic timing and talent for creating memorable characters. Ari has attracted notable attention with his short films, having been a finalist at the world’s largest short film festival Tropfest in 2011, in competition with the likes of filmmakers like Joel Edgerton. His films have screened in festivals across the globe with two of his short films having been selected as Vimeo Staff Picks. His latest short film WAITING FOR GOLDMAN is currently racking up awards on the festival circuit, winning Best Dark Comedy at IndieX Film Festival and Independent Short Awards in Los Angeles. Ari won best director for TALI’S BABY DIARY (the sequel to BABY DIARY) which also won Best Comedy series at the 2022 SAFTAS. The third installment of the hit series TALI’S JOBURG DIARY dropped on Showmax earlier this year and has been received with critical acclaim. Ari and his wife Julia Anastasopoulos are the co-owners of Sketchbook Studios, a production company in Cape Town where they produce original content, television series, features and commercials.

Represented by David Kayser

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

Neiloe Whitehead

Neiloe Whitehead cut her teeth in the production and development department of the National Film and Video Foundation.  Spearheading the documentary program at the foundation as a manager Neiloe’s duties included overseeing TV formats, and development and production content for both fiction and non-fiction. Neiloe has also worked with various funds, film festivals, television broadcasters both locally and internationally, was part of the Eurodoc International program in 2011 and was development exec at Fireworx Media and recently completed the 2022 Realness/Netflix lab for development execs. Neiloe has written on SIGNAL HIGH, SPLINTERED PIECES and three seasons of uBETTINA WETHU, the South African changed format of UGLY BETTY. She has several original TV and feature film projects at various stages of development and is co-owner of Black Seed Film Hub, a black female led production company.

 

Represented by Aoife Lennon-Ritchie and 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. 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