Infidel (Behind The Scenes) from Imagenheart on Vimeo.
I have been directing stories since I was a child. Even my Xhosa oral we had to do for class I would do using our home camera. We even did Hamlet in Xhosa. Professionally I have been directing for the last 11 years. Highlights- there are so many. I have been fortunate to work with various acclaimed celebrities from Desmond Tutu, Brian Turner (BBC chef), The Hairy Bikers (BBC chefs), to great South African actors like Richard van der Westhuizen, Albert Maritz, Lida Botha, Andre Rossouw and various others. It was also a great honor to receive 4 awards at the Monaco International festival with our upcoming film Anderkant die stilte. I recall speaking to Babitha, a well known presenter on BBC news, and responding to how she really enjoyed the story. It is moments like these I treasure and carry close to my heart. I am currently in development of a documentary “A little bean”, which was born out of mutual interest between the Africa Fresh Coffee brand and my deep passion for telling stories of hope in Africa. My second feature film Lenteblom, which deals with the Virgin cure related to aids, have been release successfully to over 10 000 farms across South Africa. “ As a story writer/ brand specialist I hold a hope for our continent to reassess the way we see ourselves, to present a new fresh creative story. We’ve been sidelined, belittled and misunderstood, but our time has come. It is time we share the stories of significance, of Africa’s potential and its people but in a completely new way.
They have been the backbone to everything I do and for every success I have, I know in my heart they have been there for me. Katelyn and Vera has also been a great inspiration to my stories I write and I have found myself more and more drawn to epic stories such as Pirates of the Carribean and Lone Ranger- that is completely family friendly, but so memorable.
It is the struggle between following the route everyone else does and sitting in a day to day office job, with a clear job description, clear salary- a life between the black and white… or following the risk and excitement of truly being a creative entrepreneur. I must admit I think too many people jump into this field blindly. To be a true artist you must also be a great businessman. There is no use in creating great paintings, but it does not appeal to an audience, or you simply can’t market it. What I do to break free… is daily (whenever I am not on shoots) keep to my schedule. I let my creativity roam free in those times and stick to having to do my errands within the time I put out- then I get to go body board in the ocean in pringle bay, go do agility training with my german shepherd called Malyshka and really spend quality time with the people closest to my heart- my family. I will not trade one day of what I have now for any other job as what I do gives me so much and gives me the opportunity to give even more to others. Whether it is helping a family on the coffee lands to get real fair trade solutions or giving a musician a visual spectacular showcase of his song, I can truly say it feels like I breathe creativity and can only thank my creator, God for that.
We are also busy working on an high adventure action film based on a true life story- The film is called Ndota.
Secondly learn the business of art. Get yourself trained- from watching Ted videos online, reading articles, speaking to marketing experts, listening to clients- or enroll in a course. There is too many wannabe’s around that falls in the grey lines of average. Being an artist you need to amaze people. That is why it is the creative industry. This year at Imagenheart we have set out to take every project on with this in mind- creative bravery. No matter what the budget- from doing a PSA for a non commercial company, to working on big budget commercials or features- there is no limit to creativity and we aim to take audiences on a journey to a new world of visual wonder. |
DESMOND DENTONPassionate creative, award winning director and writer. Telling stories with creative bravery that move, inspire and amaze. Archives
October 2018
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