About Storyscope.
Storyscope seeks to unlock the freshest energy of creative Africa to develop original ideas for the local and global content markets. Comfortable working across content genres, cultures, and time zones, Storyscope is drawn to narratives exploring personal and political revolutions.
Our award winning team has unlocked a wealth of proven experience across the media value chain in both the fiction and non-fiction spaces. We are highly motivated to unleash the potential of emerging and established African storytellers, and nurture a creative space where the most compelling ideas are given every opportunity to thrive.
Between Storyscope’s founding partners – Neil Brandt, Laura Colucci and Thandi Davids – we have developed, produced, commissioned and distributed hundreds of hours of fiction and non-fiction content on broadcast, theatrical and SVOD platforms. Including ARTE, Netflix, Al Jazeera, VPRO, MTV, Sundance Channel, BBC, PBS, ZDF, NHK, CGTN, FX, National Geographic Channel and Fox Channels.
Feature documentaries are at the core of our DNA, and Storyscope’s most recent, a Canadian/South African co-production, Influence directed by Richard Poplak and Diana Neille, is a global-trotting political thriller in a time where democracy is up for sale. The film competed in official competition at Sundance 2020 and is currently on the global festival circuit, winning best South African Documentary at Durban International Film Festival 2020 and going on to screen at over 50 festivals worldwide. The film is currently screening on Arte (France), CBC (Canada), eTV (South Africa) and iTunes (US).
Storyscope's five-part Netflix docu-series SENZO: Murder of a Soccer Star, about the murder of South African Soccer Legend Senzo Meyiwa, won the 2023 Saftas for best documentary series. Directed by Sara Blecer, the series premiered on Netflix in April 2022.
Further recent non-fiction films include The March of the White Elephants (2017), Whispering Truth to Power (2018), Ga Da Lomba (2019), An Islanders Lens (2020), I’Mary (2021) and The Ghosts of Gadaffi (2021). Whispering Truth to Power won the Special Jury Prize at Hot Docs.
Storyscope is pleased to have produced a series of films for BBC World, “HER STORY”, filmed across Southern Africa and the US, profiling extraordinary woman from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, including the youngest female MP in Africa, and a global motor-cross champion!
The series is a forerunner to our Women in Doc series, developing 9 feature documentaries as a recipient of the NFVF Slate Funding Programme and is supported by the SABC, putting female authors in front and behind the camera every step of the creative journey, covering stories from internet hacking to fertility rituals.
Storyscope is currently in production on Halo Daze, a psychological thriller directed by Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, diving deep into the fault-lines where class, race and power intersect. A SA/German co-production financed by Mnet, DTI, NFVF, BerlinMediumBoard and US based private equity Studio SKG Global, the film is a classic example of what can happen when powerful story intersects with global finance. The film is due for release in early 2022.
Our Team.
Neil Brandt
Multiple award winning EP with 20 years' experience as a creative producer and entrepreneur in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Neil currently sits on the board of the Durban Film Mart Institute.
Broadcast Professional who ran commissioning and TV channels at Fox International and National Geographic Africa Channels and is an award winning marketer. Thandi currently sits on the board of the Independent Producers Organisation.
Media Lawyer, Intellectual Property Specialist, financing and packaging expert with experience in international media and global rights management across the value chain.
