Velocity Afrika is a dedicated division focused on the producing and directing of commercials within the African continent. This stems from the increasing number of clients in these territories that are demanding productions with an increased level of creativity and a greater surge in local advertising agencies gaining African clients or growing their local offices in those regions.

Experienced Executive Producer and director team Monareng Makwetla and Gift Twala spearhead Velocity Afrika with the support and backing of Barry Munchick, Peter Carr and Nicola Valentine. Mona and Gift have a wealth of international experience and it is their desire to develop relationships and work across the length and breadth of the continent whilst nurturing and developing aspirant directors in the region.

Clients and agencies with operations outside of South Africa can now confidently access the Velocity experience through this exclusive, hands on team. According to Peter Carr, “It’s now time to discover and nurture more talent from the continent, and hopefully see more African countries shooting international award winning work that we’re achieving here in South Africa”

• Mzansi - Magic
• Vicks - Speak up Nigeria
• Metro FM - Beat
• Nike - Always On
• Globacom - Ball
• Johnnie Walker - First Steps
• IEC - Dream Dreams
• Tumi and the Volume (Music Video)

For more information or to request a showreel please contact our executive producers Peter Carr +27 (0)83 377 6566 peter@velocityfilms.com or Nicola Valentine +27 (0)83 400 0404 nicola@velocityfilms.com

Mpho (Gift) Twala

Dedicated filmmaker Mpho “Gift” Twala has thirteen years experience in the industry. Having started his career as a production assistant on a television series in 1997, Gift’s unique penchant for attention to detail, his easy ability to deal with agencies and clients and his experience of the production processes assured a rapid rise through the ranks to his ultimate goal of directing.

With experience that spans the globe, Gift’s range is just as varied and includes all forms of film including commercials for key clients such as Sony Ericsson, Johnnie Walker, Opel, Nokia, Nike and MTN as well as a stint with world renowned director Peter Jackson on the Oscar-nominated feature film “District 9”.

Gift has produced commercials for some of Africa’s leading advertising agencies including Ogilvy, King James and Metropolitan Republic and spent several years in Europe working at Caviar one of Belgium’s top production companies. It is here that Gift learnt the solutions driven skills that he is honing today as a director. His desire to make films that are relevant to Africa and its people formed the basis for his partnership with well-known local producer Monareng Makwetla at the helm of Velocity Afrika.

Monareng Makwetla

With over ten years’ experience in the film and broadcast industry, executive producer Monareng Makwetla has a vast and varied range of expertise. Having begun his career in 1999 as an assistant director on commercials and music videos, he has managed to combine this knowledge with his accumulated experience of production processes to become a producer for a number of top commercial production houses in South Africa.

Career highlights include, amongst others, working on the Academy Award Nominated film “District 9”. Mona’s versatility extends across all forms of film, having worked as an assistant director in the well-known local television drama series Soul City and Gazlam as well as on the feature film “Drum”.

He has also honed his skills in commercials on blue chip brands such as Johnnie Walker, MTN, Sony Erricsson, Johannesburg Tourism Company and has recently extended his abilities to include documentary making. Monareng has gained a wealth of knowledge from having worked abroad in Mali, Morrocco, Cameroon and Uganda over a period of eight years.

Tumelo ‘Mello’ Moropa

With a degree in audio-visual multimedia, and a rounded education in the disciplines of painting, drawing, animation and copywriting, Mello worked as a writer for MTN’s SAFTA nominated football documentary ‘My Beautiful Game’. He then moved on to directing and editing his own episodes.

Mello then began to direct music videos for the likes of British label Hyper-dub artist, LV and for hot South African artists TKZEE and Khuli China. He also delved into longer formats such as a short documentary for Dr Victor and the Rasta Rebels.

Since joining Velocity Afrika, Mello has directed commercials for Royal Exchange (a sponsor of Nigerian Idols) and two spots for MasterCard (for the MAMA awards) where he was also Director of Photography. Mello is a photographer and writer for various youth publications including Vice Magazine and Mahala.co.za. His knowledge of African pop culture informs his work and gives it a youthful edge.