Council members are appointed to serve a single term at a time, but may be successively appointed for an unlimited number of terms, except for the Chairperson who may not serve more than three years in succession.
Mandated representatives of member affiliates of SASFED may be changed at any time at the prerogative of the affiliated member and so actual council members may change at any time during the year.
The Council elect from among their number at least the following office- bearers on an annual basis at the AGM:
1. Co-Chairperson,
2. Treasurer,
3. Communications Officer.
The Chairperson, either Co-Chairperson or Vice Chairperson and Treasurer, who shall not be connected in relation to each other, will accept the fiduciary responsibility for the organisation.
At the previous SASFED AGM of 6 November 2018, the following were decided upon:
Pat van Heerden – Co-Chairperson
Pat van Heerden is a broadcast content specialist and channel strategist. She presently commissions content and oversees the content budget for 780 hours of fresh content a year. In the past she has held the following positions: Head of Entertainment SABC, Commissioning Editor Factual Programming SABC1, Head of Editorial AL Jazeera South2North. She has worked in the television industry making: French and local cooking shows, documentaries, reality show formats and has recently co-produced a fiction film about Bram Fischer. She has taught: The Horror Genre, African History, Documentary film and a Masters Course in History and Film. She holds a MPhil and MA from NYU
Dr Lwazi Manzi - Co-Chairperson (Term ended July 2019 as she was called to work with the Minister of Health)
Lwazi has enjoyed a relatively prolific career in her short six years of existence in the film industry. As with many filmmakers she ‘found’ herself in the industry by default and executive produced “Of Good Report”- a multi award winning cult classic. She now joins Spier Films as director with Mike Auret, after a successful joint venture for 5 years. Her passion for the proliferaton and sustainability of the South African Film Industry led her to conceptualise and execute CineCulture- a multi format experiential platform that tackles the gaps in value chain, which hinder film industry growth. She was also a founding board member of SWIFT- a women in film advocacy entity, which has exponentially gained presence. Lwazi’s leadership and passion for the industry culminated in being awarded a Special Discretionary Simon Sabela Award (2017) by MEC Sihle Zikalala for outstanding contribution to the film industry, particularly in KwaZulu Natal.
Theoline Maphutha - Vice Chairperson
Theoline Maphutha is the Chairperson of the Writers’ Guild of South Africa. This is her second term after helming the organisation in 2015/2016.
Her passion for professional and industry development led to the creation of The Solo Intellect, a company that aims to develop the next generation of South African filmmakers.
Theoline holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute Conservatory.
Since founding Underdog Productions in 1993, Marc Schwinges founded global consulting firm Transmedia Africa and several other production entities. From June 2019, in addition to running his own companies, Marc has been appointed COO and producer for South Africa’s only international sales agent, AAA Entertainment, as well as the linked South African division of LA Based factual powerhouse, Hoplite Entertainment.
Marc is treasurer of the South African Screen Federation; Honorary Member and founding board member of the SA Documentary Filmmakers Association; and was a previous Chairperson of the Independent Producers Organisation. He also represents the sector on the Digital Content Advisory Group of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and is on the board of SOS – The Support Public Broadcasting Coalition.
He has produced a substantial volume of internationally acclaimed work in various forms of factual television from series to one-offs and transmedia as well as documentary and fiction feature film work. He has recently completed a formal co-production with The Netherlands.
Thea Aboud started her career in industrial engineering with Iscor, and moved to local, provincial and national government. She branched out into accounting, procurement and human resources and, after 17 years, decided to work for herself. She started Shacabanga Consulting, working as a strategist and capacity-building advisor and, in co-operation with New Horizons, facilitated Business Implementation Plans for local, provincial and national government, non-profit organisations and the private sector in South Africa and other African countries.
In a complete turn-around, Thea then ran a successful take-away / bakery / general dealer in the Eastern Cape, before she returned to Johannesburg in 2010 to set up the Writers' Guild of South Africa, which she still runs as Executive Officer in conjunction with the WGSA Council. Among her other clients are the Documentary Filmmakers' Association, the South African Screen Federation, Sisters Working in Film and Television, the Southern African Freelancers Association and the South African Science Journalists' Association.
Thea's strengths lie in organisational capacity building, system analysis, financial management, strategic planning and project management, and she has a sound knowledge of the Public Finance Management Act. As a writer, she has screen credits on a children's programme and has also been a ballet, ballroom and Latin American dancer and trainer.
These people then make up the fiduciary part of the Council for the 2018 /19 year.
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