Witsies in Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD. That neverland of possibility, that beacon of dreams with its name in giant letters on the hills and bronzed stars on its boulevard. In our imagination it’s a glittering dreamscape where once upon a time you could be spotted by a studio and transformed by fame.

Today, Hollywood is the setting for a multibillion-dollar global entertainment industry. The Big Five studios with their origins in Hollywood – Walt Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, Columbia and Paramount – produce content all over the world. Los Angeles is all about the entertainment business and it’s where many creative Witsies have gravitated.

HEATHER DUGMORE SPEAKS TO FOUR WITSIES – AN ACTOR, SCREENWRITER, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER – WHO ARE MAKING THEIR MARK IN HOLLYWOOD

David Jammy

BA 1989, LLB 1996 - PRODUCER

“LA is an extraordinary place and there is no doubt it is the epicentre of the entertainment industry, so whether you are in studio films or music performance or Netflix, Apple and any of these new platforms, it all gets run out of this one huge city.”

Janine Eser

BA (DA) 1992 ‒ ACTOR, SCREENWRITER & PRODUCER

It’s impossible to lure Janine Eser from her home office in West LA right now as she’s busy completing the Hollywood screenplay adaptation of Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime, starring Oscar winner LupitaNyong’o. The director is former Capetonian Liesl Tommy, also director of the Aretha Franklin movie Respect with Jennifer Hudson in the title role.

Atandwa Kani

BA (DA) 2009 ‒ ACTOR

His American accent isn’t about being phony, it’s about his Hollywood ambitions, which he is pursuing from his base in New York, together with his South African actress wife Fikile Mthwalo.

Donovan Marsh

BA (DA) 1992 ‒ DIRECTOR

South African director Donovan Marsh’s Hollywood submarine thriller Hunter Killer was screened locally and internationally in 2018, starring Gerard Butler and Oscar winner Gary Oldman.