With 2024 ending and welcoming in the new year, let’s take a look back at all that was achieved in the last year.
2024 was an interesting yet slow year. I am sure many of you reading this might feel the same. Interesting because of some new developments & film opportunities that came my way, yet slow due to how the industry as a whole seemed to have pumped the brakes on commercial and film work. Confusing, I know.
So, whilst I saw some of my newest car commercial work being displayed throughout South Africa on billboards, YouTube ads and National TV during the first two months of the year, I also saw a massive empty spell through the middle of the year.
I am not complaining… I am happy to have these quiet moments. This is where I am able to step back and recharge. Learn new skills. Start new challenges for myself. Which is precisely what I did for the second half of 2024. I’ll be sharing more on what I have been up to soon, but for now lets have a look back on 2024 with regards to film work and my other passion, racing.
In the later half of 2023 I was asked to pitch for the new Lexus RX450h+ campaign. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity. I was up against some of the biggest Commercial houses in the country. I can’t say I was nervous going in to this pitch, but I have also been blessed with an incredibly ability to withstand pressure. Maybe I am just naive. Ignorance is bliss as they say.
Shooting commenced on November 18-19th of 2023 and post production went on into the Christmas break, with us getting final approval and delivery of the ad in January of 2024.
As mentioned above, the campaign took flight over the first couple of months of 2024 and it was great to see the amazing hard work that my talented team and I were able to do for Lexus and M&C Saatchi Abel.
Midway through 2024 saw myself getting another opportunity to work with the ever talented Cara Frew. A mega talent in her own right, not just as an actress but a singer and producer of music. Cara and I had been talking for some time about working together on a project, be it a short, proof of concept or a music video for her music. I had pitched her an idea I had that I wanted to shoot for my BMW Motorsports Documentary that I have been producing on the sideline for the past two years. But due to scheduling clashes between the BMW race series and Cara herself being overseas finishing her studies and promoting her acting career, we couldn’t find a time that worked for us.
That all changed when Cara reached out asking if I would be interested in a short project she and her acting coach Aleks Popovic had been working on. Based on a story by Cara, the two of them had written this touching piece and I was thrilled to be asked to be involved. Cara and Aleks did a lot of the hard work long before I even came onboard, so I must tip my hat and say that I cannot take credit for full direction on this project. Cara and Aleks needed a trained eye who could help captivate the soul of the story in a cinematic way whilst ensuring they did not stray too far from the path they had set before them. Normally as a director I come onboard a project with my own vision and then work closely with my actors/actresses to get that vision and voice on screen, but I must say this was an interesting experience for me, as I took a step back and let Cara and Aleks work their vision for this incredible story. I really learnt a lot through the experience, thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative teamwork with Cara and Aleks and whilst the concept is somewhat experimental, it still has a strong heartfelt message about dealing with loss.
It was nice to be back on a narrative film set for a change, after all these years of Car commercials and CGI work, it felt good to be telling human stories again. So, to Cara, thank you for that.
With 2024 closing up shop and 2025 now here, I’d like to reflect back on all the great moments I experienced on track with the BMW car club and the M Performance race series held here in Johannesburg South Africa. It was a great year of racing and I was fortunate enough to make some new friends along the way.
Towards the end of the year I decided I needed to take some time for myself to reevaluate what I want to do as a storyteller and filmmaker. Do I make another film? And if so, do I self finance again with a business partner or go solo? Or do I look for finance? But who would finance a film with me? Local broadcaster or distributor? Unfortunately, all the local broadcasters in South Africa are looking for local content… meaning local stories about local people in South Africa… which if you know my work and the type of films I make, kind of don’t fall into that category. =/
I’ve got a few ideas of what I want to make next. In fact I have a lot of ideas on what to make next, and the list keeps growing… This year will mark ten years since I shot my last feature film, Last Broken Darkness. Granted we finished the film only in late 2016… but 2015 is when we were on set and shot the film. 10 years since I have been in the directors chair onset of a feature. That is a scary thought. Between 2010 and 2015 I had directed 4 feature films. Since 2015… That number is 0. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
So… I got to work on my PC using my trusty 3d software running Corona Render. (That its actual name, crazy I know) and I popped out a few test renders using some 3d models I was able get from CIG’s star citizen website. Nothing detailed or usable, just proof of concept.
So.. after playing around with the above shots I got to do some thinking and more testing and more reading and eventually decided it was time I levelled up my skillset. So I bought a years subscription to Otoy’s incredible render engine, Octane, and have set down (bumbling rather) a new exhilarating path of filmmaking.
You see, I have this book that I have written. Its adapted from a screenplay that I wrote during my time in Los Angeles when I was signed to my agent and doing general meetings in town.
Let’s just say, the budget to make this into a full length live action feature film would be massive. And with the way Hollywood looks to be heading lately, there is precisely zero chance a studio is going to take a chance on a new unknown director with a couple small indie features on his belt, no matter who my agent is. But surely if you got signed by one of the top management firms, you must be doing something right? And yes, I was lucky enough to be noticed, but lets not fool ourselves. Managers and agents hot pocket talent so fast in that town. Hollywood is so full of talent, its bursting at the seems, yet everywhere you look there creatives still waiting around for their big chance. There are a thousand guys and gals that are as good or better than me that are not getting their fair chance in Tinsel town. It’s just the way it is out there and it is getting worse… Anyway, I don’t want to get into a whole negative rant about LA and Hollywood, that is not what this is about. This is about new opportunities and a new path for 2025.
So… I have the script. I have the book. I have an immense knowledge of visual effects, directing, cinematography, editing and sound design. I have all the tools required. So… why not make a CGI animated film?
A WHAT???
You read that right…
Sometimes you need to be naive and stubborn enough to look past the obstacles ahead, and rather look down at your feet and tackle one step at a time.
So.. here is to 2025…