Industry Legends

  • Andrew Muller

    Andrew Muller
      If he was not wearing a helmet, Andrew Muller, owner of Custom Gobos would have the wind in his hair delivering gobos on his motorbike and a typical onlooker may think, “Now there’s someone who’s got it made.” With hardly any competition, it would appear that Andrew is in a league ...[Read more...]
  • Brandon Bunyan – Black Coffee

    Brandon Bunyan - Black Coffee
    Brandon John Bunyan is the owner of Black Coffee, a rental company making waves in KwaZulu Natal. Sitting casually in conversation around a table on the patio, consuming mince pies with blobs of cream and cups of coffee, it comes to light that Brandon has an additional passion besides his ...[Read more...]
  • Chatting to dynamic Sue, founder of the Hilton Arts Festival

    Chatting to dynamic Sue, founder of the Hilton Arts Festival
      On a cold, wet and windy night standing in a queue for curry and red wine at midnight at a building called The Old Gaol, the second oldest building in Grahamstown and until vacated in 1975, the oldest functioning prison in South Africa, Sue Clarence and a friend patiently waited. ...[Read more...]
  • Christiaan Ballot – Blond Productions

    Christiaan Ballot - Blond Productions
    There’s no arguing that Christiaan Ballot is too young to be an Industry Legend, but here’s a young man who just proves that a bit of drive and initiative, mixed with an enormous amount of passion, is the combination to success and fulfilment. Living his dream at the age of 28, ...[Read more...]
  • Claire Robins – Events and Installations

    Claire Robins - Events and Installations
    We know Claire Robins as the person behind Events and Installations, a magazine covering the South African entertainment and events industry news. Her life in theatre, however, has been remarkable and you may just look at Claire with different eyes when hearing her story….. if only we could write a ...[Read more...]
  • Costa Champanis – Ultra Sound

    Costa Champanis - Ultra Sound
    Costa Champanis from Ultra Sound was born and bread in Stellenbosch, in the Cape wine-lands. He went to Rhenish Primary School and thereafter moved to Paul Roos Gymnasium. Here he excelled in hockey, cricket, and karate; he achieved regional and provincial distinctions; academically he was an average student, he laughs, ...[Read more...]
  • Dan Riley

    Dan Riley
    Neil Daniel Riley (Dan) comes from an era were one of his first salary cheques, or better put, salary envelopes for the week ending 15 January 1959 was to the value of ?3.56! At the time he was employed by electrical contractors, P.G.M. Magnusson, where he was completing his electrician ...[Read more...]
  • Danie de Jager – Coco the Clown

    Danie de Jager - Coco the Clown
    It has been our intention to include Danie De Jager on Industry Legends for quite some time now. This passionate man had a colourful and vibrant story to tell. We are sorry that it’s at this sad time of saying good-bye that we finally get to share his life story. [Read more...]
  • Debra Batzofin – Richard Loring Enterprises

    Debra Batzofin - Richard Loring Enterprises
    There is a respect within theatre circles for Debra Batzofin, affectionately known as “Miss B”. She may prefer not to be centre stage, but her strong and perfectionist presence ensures that everything on and off stage runs impeccably. The saying “dynamite comes in small packages” couldn’t be more appropriate. Miss ...[Read more...]
  • Denis Hutchinson

    Denis Hutchinson
    Independent, honest, straight down the line and a gentleman through and through are words that describe eminent lighting designer Denis Hutchinson, known as “Hutch” by his friends. He was schooled in South Africa and his interest lay from aeronautic engineering to psychology. “The thing I never thought of was probably the ...[Read more...]
  • Donald Clark – C & S

    Donald Clark - C & S
    When you’re a young twenty-something and a risk is more like an adventure than something to be feared, then anything can happen. And it certainly did for Donald Clark, owner of C & S, who through the years has pioneered through a tough Cape Town industry to come out tops with ...[Read more...]
  • Gavin Olivier

    Gavin Olivier
    Enter Gavin Olivier and you’ll immediately set him apart even if you’ve never met. He’ll be the guy dressed casually yet with flair, and if you are meeting to do an installation over a weekend, you can trust Gavin to bring along the croissants and most certainly hot, strong coffee. ...[Read more...]
  • Gerda Kruger

    Gerda Kruger
    If there is a lighting designer in South Africa, someone who has stood the test of time, someone who has influenced lives and who, still is passionate about lighting design, it would be Gerda Kruger. [Read more...]
  • Inspirational Helen Surgeson and her love for SA theatre

    Inspirational Helen Surgeson and her love for SA theatre
    One tends to get a warm, fuzzy feeling when meeting up with Helen Surgeson. It’s a rare quality because even if you do not know her that well, it’s like having a sister in the industry, one whom you respect. Helen has worked on spectacular musicals, successfully tried her hand ...[Read more...]
  • James Harden – Bandit Lites

    James Harden - Bandit Lites
    James Harden left sunny South Africa in 2001 and is the General Manager at Bandit Lights, London branch. We asked him a few questions and enjoyed reading his feedback. Q: Full Name(s): A:        James Philip Harden Q: What do your friends call you? A:        James, Jimmy, Jimbob Q: In high school, ...[Read more...]
  • John Harrison, Movievision and Southern Lighting

    John Harrison, Movievision and Southern Lighting
    John Harrison, (together with his partner in Southern Lighting, Robin Wilter) who has worked on most anti apartheid films created in and out of South Africa, thought it somewhat unusual when technicians arrived at his office in Auckland Park to repair the telex machine, particularly as the telex machine was ...[Read more...]
  • Kevin Glover, Sound Stylists

    Kevin Glover, Sound Stylists
    When Kevin Glover decided to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), it was in a way to appease his parents. He also was battling to find something that encompassed electronics and music, two of his passions. Both parties knew this. Since school days, he was involved in audio, ...[Read more...]
  • Kevin Maybury

    Kevin Maybury
    09 March 1929 – 11 June 2013 Thank you to Claire Robins who sent us this biography, written and published by the Events & Installations magazine in Vol. 18 2004 c.) An Eventful Life Born in Sydney Australia on March 25th 1929, Kevin was attracted to the world of theatre at a ...[Read more...]
  • Kurt du Preez

    Kurt du Preez
    Since this write-up appeared a few years ago, Kurt du Preez has established Pan Tilt. His details are below. “This is life,” says Kurt du Preez. “You have plans and then off you are sent to the army, chucked on a train to Grahamstown, and once there, you start running ...[Read more...]
  • Michael Broderick

    Michael Broderick
    “To find the enigma of Michael Broderick, you have to peel away layers. Each time you meet him, you chip away until you find the real person. He is gentle, warm and thoughtful. He is very philosophical. He is a cook though a nutcase! You look at him and want ...[Read more...]
  • Mick Landi – Shattered Glass

    Mick Landi - Shattered Glass
    With an apron tied around his waist and cooking up delicious memories in typical Italian fashion, Michele Landi celebrates occasions, even if that means every day life, as the chief chef at his home. You may think of him as the Italian Jamie Oliver, but then again, when seeing him race ...[Read more...]
  • Mike Jones, MJ Event Gear

    Mike Jones, MJ Event Gear
    With R20 in his Perm bank account, two bags of clothes and his friend, Elkie van Zyl – a former colleague at the South African Police Force – Mike Jones left Natal’s South Coast in the pursuit of greener pastures in Johannesburg. Arriving in an aged Datsun bakkie, Elkie’s windsurfer ...[Read more...]
  • Nic Michaletos

    Nic Michaletos
    How much water has gone under the bridge in the South African theatre industry. Back in the day, you could start off as an usher and climb the ladder to become one of the country’s top lighting designer… one only has to think of legendry Mannie Manim who started his ...[Read more...]
  • Ofer Lapid

    Ofer Lapid
    Sitting opposite Ofer Lapid at one his favourite restaurants in Johannesburg, The Schwarma Company in Norwood, it is easy to tell how his zealous spirit has led Gearhouse South Africa to be recognized as a world-wide phenomenon. Gearhouse South Africa walked away with the Favourite International Production Company of the ...[Read more...]
  • Stan Knight

    Stan Knight
    Stan Knight Living in the “city bowl”, Cape Town, and attending  St George’s Grammar School at the bottom of the avenue, Stanley Malcolm Knight says growing up couldn’t have been nicer. Not being the greatest athlete, he made up for it by being an absolute book worm. “There wasn’t a movie that ...[Read more...]
  • The story behind Remember

    The story behind Remember
      Zimbabwean born Remember Chaitezvi has a dream to build an online educational platform for up-and-coming audio engineers, especially those living in remote countries within Africa who don’t have access to training facilities. He defeated all odds to become a prominent and vibrant audio engineer on the African continent and is ...[Read more...]
  • Tony Reade – founder of Rigging SA

    Tony Reade - founder of Rigging SA
    Tony Reade, the founder of Rigging SA, has enjoyed a colourful career, enriched by working with influential and hardworking people. Rigging SA is well known for supplying reliable riggers and quality film rigging equipment but it’s super special to look back to where it all started. You’ll certainly recognize some ...[Read more...]