Creative Statement

I have experience working on stories that are often conflicted, and delicate.

My artistic background is balanced by technical expertise and a passion for the film making process. I hope to articulate each story honestly and rigorously. I always attempt to understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives on an issue, while doing justice to the subject at hand. I am willing to contribute towards developing systems and practices that may streamline the production process, by developing an understanding of the aims and objectives of all those involved, while taking into account issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources.

I endeavor to adopt appropriate styles and techniques for productions suited to the audience and the nature of the information, by working within established campaign profiles or by helping to develop them, with commitment, motivation and flexibility, adapting to work effectively with a variety of situations, individuals or groups, while seeking practical and creative solutions to technical and editorial challenges. I have a comprehensive knowledge of non-linear editing systems and invest in projects with dedication and commitment.

Production

I make sure that I understand the brief properly before I begin and continue to inform myself about the relevant issues regarding the subject at hand as the project progresses. I endeavor to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for productions.

Post Production

Having worked as an editor and director on a wide range of projects, I am confident working on projects aimed at a global market. I enjoy working with a team and I am meticulous but fast. I have a working knowledge of PC and thorough knowledge of Mac Operating systems and a comprehensive technical knowledge of editing systems and equipment.

I have experience in the entire offline and online editing process from logging, digitizing, media management, and editing to basic audio mixing and color correction on Final Cut Pro and Avid systems. I aim to be objective and critical and to be aware of the intended audience, the client's objectives and the brief involved in each project that I work on. I like to get involved with a project at an early stage in order to streamline the final stages of a project, working to budgetary deadlines while adding value to the project.

I have experience in handling multiple layers and compositing and text, a thorough understanding of all the tasks and phases of production, including the research, editing, direction and production of projects both in the studio and in the field, as well as working on foreign language productions.

Distribution

My work has been screened at various international festivals and events including Sundance, Moma - United States, Berlin International Film Festival - Germany , Beeld voor Beeld -The Netherlands, Women's International Film Festival - Korea, Hot Docs - Canada, Encounters & Durban International Film Festival - South Africa, as well as in Turkey, The United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway and Tanzania.

Projects Include: Documentaries, Investigative Journalism, The Arts, Corporates, Reality TV, Magazine Programs, Commercials, Music Videos, Sport & Video News Relays.

Documentary: Nelson Mandela - Peacemaker, Big cats - Secret lives, Grietjie van Garies, Scars - Community Peace Project, The meaning of the Buffalo, Hot science, Tobias' bodies, Game Pass: the hidden landscape, Amagugu, Shouting silent, Very Fast Guys, Very Fast Girls Investigative journalism: Special Assignment – SABC, Fokus met Freek – SABC.

Corporate: World Tade Centre News Excerpts, BMW profile MTN, Vodacom, Johnnic, Gauteng shared services centre, Limpopo legislature, Anglo Gold Annual Report. Magazine programmes: Options – magazine, Jam alley - game show, Hosanna – religious, Craz-e – youth, Lebone - women’s magazine, Skuur - Talk show, Sport: Telly track – Horse Racing, Off the pitch – Soccer Reality TV series: The Summit: boxing - dancing -  fashion - horse racing. Arts: A.R.T -  ‘Memorias Intimas Marcas’ Flux –Sao Paulo bienalle But is it art ? Arts
Public Service Announcements: World aids day, CDC - Aids Campaign Botswana, Love Life – Youth.

Music: Mud Ensemble, Tananaz, various other.

Recent projects include:

United States

2008
Assistant editor / colorist.
Reference: Richard Druttman - Editor.

2007
Editor
World Trade Center News Excerpts - link to site
Selected Video News Excerpts Produced by Mike Marcucci. © 2007, Silverstein Properties.
Reference: Mike Marcucci - Producer. Richard Druttman - Editor. Assistant Editor
Strange Candy Reference: Richard Druttman Editor.

2006
Producer / Director.
Nguni. (Project in development).
De Voortrekkers aka Winning a continent.

South Africa

2005
Editor
Nelson Mandela - Peacemaker
Running time: 52 minutes. English
A documentary on Nelson Mandela’s life as a peacemaker.
Commissioned by: South African Broadcasting Corporation – SABC To be screened posthumously.
Experience: Working with vast archive, largely without a director.

2004

Editor / Post Production: Thomas Barry Editor / Subtitles and Post-production.
Grietjie van Garies
Reference: Producer / Director: Odette Geldenhuys
The mother of all rap may be alive and well in the desolate Namaqualand - Grietjie Adams has blossomed despite the odds. Grietjie is 78 years old. Some say she is the mother of rap. What is a fact is that her songs tell stories from South Africa's history. And she sings an Afrikaans that is poetry. Grietjie Adams was born on a farm in Garies and went to school for only four years. Despite years of being a domestic worker, she never stopped singing. Her life story is inextricably bound with the story of her town, Garies, and all its people. The intimacy and interdependency of small town life during apartheid shaped her as much as did the indigenous culture of her own people. The relative isolation of the region and the town mean that people - despite race or class - have an interconnectedness not found in the cities. The viewers are allowed into a modest but rich world. As her friend Aletta says, "We may be poor, but what we do have are bags and bags of love." And through Grietjie's eyes we can look at ourselves and ask the question, "Did I deserve this all?"

Director / Editor
Big cats, Secret lives: Meet John Varty, a pioneer of conservation and ecotourism on the same game reserve where his family had been hunting predators for almost 100 years.

Producer / Editor
Solitude 
A film in tribute to murdered musician, Gito Baloi, collaboration with Dora Longo Bahia (film) and Ex-cogication’ (sound)

Editor / Post-production.
The Meaning of the Buffalo 
Running time: 52 minutes. Tswana and English – English Subtitles
Commissioned by the SABC in association with the Binger Institute.
Selection for numerous international festivals - including notably 2004 Berlin, Sundance, Beeld voor Beeld (Amsterdam), Hot Docs (Canada), Instanbul environmental film festival, Africa at the Pictures (London), African Effects film festival (New Mexico), Durban film festival, Encounters film festival (Cape Town and Johannesburg), and Museum of Modern art (MoMa, New York). Also screened in festivals in Denmark, Norway, and Zanzibar. 

A wildlife filmmaker is sent on assignment to a remote village in South Africa to make a documentary about the meaning of the buffalo in the village of Legkophung, home to the Balete – the People of the Buffalo. She is told by a wary stranger to visit the local chief for answers, as he is the only one who is allowed to talk about their culture. However, the chief is ill and is not available for some time, so the filmmaker goes to the local shop. Here, she meets Mr Matshediso, the owner, who is willing to talk.
Experience: High shooting ratio in foreign language, deadline moved forward 3 weeks.

Co-director / Editor / Post-production
Scars - Community Peace Project. (NGO)

Offline / Online editor 
Roads to Restitution
Running time: 52 min. Zulu Sotho Afrikaans English –English subtitles
Exploring the experiences of people removed from their ancestral lands when protected areas are established and who, through restitution, once again have access to the resources on their land.
Experience: 3 films in one, many complex issues to be explained simply. High shooting ratio in various languages including Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans. 

2003
Offline / Online editor.
Amagugu A series focusing on communities working with sustainable development World summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg
Running Time: a series of eight 8-minute shorts. 
Amagugu is a series of short inserts looking at successful sustainable development projects in Southern Africa. Under the auspices of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) eight projects were selected to be highlighted in documentary form at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johanessburg, South Africa in 2003. 

“Amagugu” looks at inspirational stories from Southern Africa where communities and individuals use nature to create jobs, improve livelihoods and at the same time protect the natural environment. In Zambia, pristine forests are protected with bees by traditional beekeepers, Malawi’s baobab trees survive the charcoal trade with its fruit being used as a commercial soft drink, an artist in Mozambique makes a difference in saving the forests, traditional knowledge of an indigenous tea from Zimbabwe creates medical benefits for the world, alien plants that clog Cape Town’s rivers are turned into lamp shades and paper. These are a few of the stories that illustrate there is another way that works. The film shows that natural resource dependent entrepreneurs have a role to play in both the local and global big picture in terms of commerce and nature conservation. Countries that are covered in the documentary include Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa

This site is about men and women in communities throughout Southern Africa who through their entrepreneurial spirit have found ways to make the rich natural resources around them work for themselves and their communities. They have found ways to build viable businesses, protect the environment and serve their communities. They are proof that “there’s another way that works”. This is more than just a philosophy or clever marketing. The eight enterprises showcased as Success Stories in this site are examples of small, successful businesses contributing to sustainable development in Southern Africa – they are proof that “sustainable development is alive and well”.

This project sets out to gain support for and raise awareness around the issues that small-scale natural resource-based enterprises such as these face, and to offer long-term support to these enterprises and others like them.

2002
Online Editor / Subtitles
Shouting Silent
Running time: 52 minutes. Zulu and English – English Subtitles
Producer: Xoliswa Sithole
Director: Renee Rosen

A personal film focussing on women and children with HIV AIDS in South Africa.
Xoliswa Sithole explores the painful legacy of HIV/AIDS, which claimed the life of her mother in 1996 and is leaving an entire generation of South African women orphaned and struggling to raise themselves and their siblings on their own. Sithole lyrically interweaves their unsettling stories with highly stylized imagery to help convey her own painful memories and document the grim statistics of HIV infection in Africa. These testimonials powerfully demonstrate how entire generations of young people are growing up without their parents and chronicles the devastating impact the AIDS pandemic is having on orphaned children in South Africa.

Online Editor / Grading 
Very Fast Girls / Very Fast Guys
Running time: 52 min each film. English Subtitles
Set in the townships of Johannesburg, South Africa, this two-part film focuses on the lives and aspirations of young male car-jackers and the women in their lives.

Offline / Online Editor / Graphics 
Game Pass: the Unseen landscape
Commissioned by: Ezemvelo Kwa-Zulu Natal Wildlife, in conjunction with The University of the Witwatersrand Rock Art Society.
Running time: 18min. Zulu and English - English subtitles
This film screens in a site-specific venue, below a sacred Bushmen painting site, the film screens as a permanent feature showcasing the history and eradication of Bushmen in the Drakensburg Area and contextualizes the significance of the site. "Game Pass" reveals the mystery of the oldest art form known to mankind. It is a journey to the Drakensberg Mountains, where the Bushmen once lived. With the Bushmen now gone from the area, all that remains is their rock art and their stories as told by Zulu communities of the Drakensberg. 
For many years Bushman art was gravely misunderstood, until the shelter at Game Pass hinted at a far greater significance. More than beautiful paintings finely executed on canvasses of stone, this is religious art, a priceless archive of a deeply spiritual people.

Online Editor / Graphics 
Tobias' bodies - SABC
6 x 52min series by world-renowned archaeologist Professor  Phillip Tobias about the evolution of humans.

Where do we come from ? Tobias's Bodies takes a fresh and insightful look at what it means to be human in the 21st century, given what we know about our distant past. Each episode poses a question— concerning, for example the brain's evolution, how what we eat defines us, why men are violent and how language gives us our humanity— and uses palaeontology, archaeology, primatology, genetics and anatomy to answer it.  Professor Tobias is a leading figure all over the world in the field of human evolution and origins, and he interviews some of the greatest thinkers about humankind and its origin, including Jane Goodall, Richard Dawkins, and Michael Crawford. 
Experience: Unreliable edl’s from the offline phase meant that numerous archive shots had to be painstakingly eyematched. Including numerous composites and chroma keys integrated with customized titles. 
Graphics 
Hot science - National Geographic 13 parts, 12 mins each

Education

1992-1995
National Diploma in Fine Art, with distinction.
Technikon Natal (now Durban Institute of Technology), Durban, South Africa.
Undergraduate study: Department of Fine Art, Technikon Natal, Durban, South Africa.

1990-1991
Undergraduate study: Department of Fine Art, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Group Representative: Fine Art University of Pretoria

Professional experience
1994
National Diploma, Technikon Natal, Durban, South Africa
1995
AVID courses in Non-linear video editing/ advanced non-linear video editing, Computer graphics / integrating 3rd party video graphics.

Employment
1998-2006
Freelance: editing / directing / production / graphics.
1996-1998
Red Pepper pictures, Johannesburg, South Africa
Facilitated training / setting up / housekeeping on three non-linear edit suites while editing and packaging various weekly broadcasts.
1995-1996
Pro’jec’tix visual management, Johannesburg, South Africa.
In house corporate broadcasting editing and packaging weekly 48min broadcasts & international video news relays (VNRs).

Selected Awards and Distinctions

2005
Grietjie van Garies
Selection for the Berlin film festival of the documentary. ‘Grietjie van Garies’ also received an ATKV award for the best Afrikaans documentary, and an Erepenning award from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
ATKV Award for Best Afrikaans Documentary 2004, The South African Academy for Science and Art Honourary Award
2004
The meaning of the Buffalo
Selection for numerous international festivals - including notably the Berlin, Sundance, Hot Docs (Canada) and Encounters film festivals, and screenings at the Museum of Modern art (MoMa) in New York - of the documentary
2002
The award of best documentary at the Washington independent Film Festival for the documentary ‘Shouting Silent’.
1999
Silver Avanti award for the Johnnic logo reveal
1998
The Nelson Mandela Presidential Award for Best Arts Program for ‘But Is It Art?’
The South African Music Association’s (SAMA) award for best music video for the band Tananaz.