Roberta Durrant is a creative producer and the show runner of television and film. She has created and worked as director/producer/show runner on several long running, award winning drama series and sitcoms for South African broadcasters:
Ring of Lies, Home Affairs, Montana, Izingane Zobaba, Sokhulu and Partners, Shreds and Dreams, Saints and Sinners, Z’bondiwe, Isikizi, Forced Love, and sitcoms: Sgudi Snaysi, Going Up, About Us, Madam & Eve, SOS, Fishy Feshuns, Going Up Again, Mazinyo dot Q, and Stokvel, Disney Cookabout, Sara se Geheim Season, Arendsvlei and Projek Dina.

Her televison drama series have received international recognition including:
Finalist Drama International Emmy (Sokhulu and Partners– 2009)
Semi-finalist Drama International Emmy Awards (Home Affairs– 2006)
Finalist Banff Canada (Home Affairs- 2007)
Rose d’Or Switzerland (Home Affairs- 2007)
Finalist Drama International Emmy Awards (Home Affairs– 2007)
Second Prize Best Sitcom Golden Rose Awards Switzerland (Madam & Eve– 2002)
Runner-up Sitcom in International Emmy Awards New York (Stokvel – 2004)
Her filmography includes:
Felix (Won 17 International Awards inclusding TIFF Kids Festival Young People’s Jury Award for Best Feature Film in 2014; Audience Choice Award at Durban International Film Festival in South Africa, in 2013; Lucas award for Best Film at the Lucas International Children’s Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany;
Inside Out (successfully distributed by Ster Kinekor and Icon Entertainment);
Skilpoppe (Mnet Movie of the Month)
Ingoma (Won 6 SAFTAs 2016 for best Made for TV Film)
Krotoa (distributed by Ster Kinekor and Shoreline Entertainment) Winner of 9 international awards including Best Film at the Harlem International Film Festival and The Montreal International Black Film festival.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree in motion picture from AFDA, he interned for two years whilst in film school on top SABC dramas like HOME AFFAIRS.

After his graduation he started working as a Junior Producer in the advertising industry. He has to date production managed and coordinated 29 commercials, line produced the music duo Cassettes documentary, produced 6 music videos for Terraplane, as well as for international artists Like Faze, Dare and Buffalo Soulja from Nigeria, produced a 2 hour multi camera promotional DVD at the Standard bank arena for Masters of Rhythm, produced the second season of the reality magazine show Mikasi Sukasi which was on air on SABC 1 in 2015/16. He’s a technical director for reality shows such as Big Brother Africa/Nigeria and Mzansi, he was the production manager on Ring of Lies season 1 and 2 and is currently producing Disney Cookabout, an international co production between Disney UK and Penguin Films. He also sits on the evaluation panel for the KwaZulu Natal film commission.

Sheena-Lee Hendricks is a producer at Paw Paw Films. She has worked as production accountant for Penguin and Paw Paw Films and has recently moved into the role of producer. Sheena has worked as the production accountant on several productions since her commencement date of 2015 at Penguin and Paw Paw Films for the various broadcasters. The productions worked on are as follows: Forced Love II, Z’Bondiwe I (2015) II (2016) & III (2017), Saints & Sinners II (2015) & III (2016), Ring of Lies I (2016) & II (2017), Vinkel & Koljander (2016), Disney Cookabout I (2016) & II (2017), Krotoa (2016), One Day with Bryan Miles (2016) , Sara se Geheim I (2016) & II (2017), Isikizi I (2016) & II (2017), Ambitions (2018), Ingoma the series (2018), Arendsvlei  (currently running) Sheena is currently co-producing Sara se Geheim Season 3 with Roberta Durrant.

The previous 4 years working at Penguin and Paw Paw has placed Sheena in a beneficial role in the industry as she could learn and be mentored by Roberta Durrant and find her way into Producing. She now oversees and gets involved in all funding applications for all new projects, budgets, cost reports and pitching concepts to broadcasters.

Andréa Frankson – Titus graduated with a BDram degree from the University of Stellenbosch; majoring in directing. The years following her graduation in 2011 were spent honing her craft on stage in productions such as Blood Brother the musical, for which she was nominated for a Fleur du Cap theatre award and Naledi theatre award, District Six Kanala and Siener in die Suburbs. Her passion for production was fueled when working on a kid’s magazine show for the SABC, here she worked as an anchor presenter for the show and was given the opportunity to work as a production assistant and later junior director on the second and third season of the popular kids show. In 2017 she worked as an assistant to one of the directors on a 13-part youth drama for kykNET and kie (Danz!).

Thereafter she spent just under 2 years at a popular local soapie (Suidooster) working in production as a coordinator and scheduler. She has participated in 2 Silwerskermfees competitions and was part of the team that won best short film at the 2017 Silwerskermfees for the 24 minute short; Soldaat. In 2019 her journey at Penguin films began and since her introduction to the company she has been presented with numerous opportunities to grow creatively and especially within the field of production. She has recently line produced her first Penguin films production, a 13-part drama for kykNET, which is due to air next year. She is a budding creative producer who has the privilege of being mentored by Roberta Durrant and is keen to contribute to the future successes of Penguin films in her capacity as producer and shareholder.

By virtue of being a filmmaker in South Africa one has to be versatile. And that’s what Mandilakhe strives to be. Although his passions lie within the directing department, he’s a budding creative producer having been involved in the creation of shows like Isikizi S1 for Mzansi Magic and Ring of Lies S1 for the same channel. He is a shareholder and co – owner of Penguin Film’s sister company, Paw Paw Films (Pty. Ltd) He’s a two time SAFTA nominee for being part of the directing teams on Saints and Sinners S1 (2013) and Ring of Lies S2 (2019) being the most recent. His directing CV includes, Traffic S1&2 (2013/2014), Saints and Sinners S1&3 (2013/2016), Forced Love S2 (2015), Z’bondiwe S1&2 (2015/2016), Isikizi S1&2 (2016/2017), Ring of Lies S2 (2017/2018), Ingoma the series S1 (2018), and most recently the very successful Afrikaans telenovela Arendsvlei (2018/2019).

Julia began her career as an actress, completing a course at The Tisch School of Arts, before formally entering the entertainment industry as a development executive at FremantleMedia (London). She was transferred to LA and then to NYC where she joined RadicalMedia and lead development for 3 years. Some of the properties Julia pushed through development to production were the Netflix series, “Abstract,” YouTube’s THNKR channel, and American Express’ music platform and experience, “UNstaged.”

In 2018, Julia went independent and wrote and directed her debut short, “Far From The Castle.” She is currently editing her second short, has a series in development inspired by “Far From The Castle,” and is writing and set to direct her first feature based on the true story and book by Jean Marx-Engelbrecht, “Huberta: The Untold Story.”

Julia is stirred by psychological, offbeat narratives that are brought to life through unusual micro-universes and lyrical imagery. There’s a mischievous undercurrent in her work, alluding to the complex nature of the human condition. Julia’s worlds run parallel to our own, often opening a window into the darker sides of our nature. Her audiences may be lulled in, but it’s not long before their abruptly catapulted out, oftentimes through harsh lessons learned.

Julia has an MBA from the University of Oxford (Dean’s List), a Masters in Global Governance (Cum Laude), a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics, and a diploma in Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy. Julia is an advisor to The Wellbeing Project, an NGO focused on the development of inner prosperity.

Julia Jansch Website

Uwe studied at the Fachschule für Film & Fernsehtechnik in West Berlin 1968-70. He joined ZDF German Television permanently, where he worked from 1970 to 1981.

After emigrating to South Africa 1980 he worked at the SABC as a cinematographer. He was a founder member of Penguin Films in 1982 and worked as their resident Director of Photography. Uwe has filmed many of Penguin Films’ award winning documentaries most notably the award winning profile documentaries on Sheila Cussons, Paul du Toit, Pierneef, Richard van der Ross, A Sahib in South Africa ( SABC and the BBC). More recently a documentary film on Krotoa and the Bulhoek Massacre. He has also filmed on many of Penguin Films’ award winning drama series most notably Khululeka the voter education comedy series which was on air over for over a decade.

Theltom is a scriptwriter and storyliner. He started working at Media 24’s Kuier magazine as a short story writer in 2011. During his 5 years at Media 24 he published 29 short stories. He joined his first production company in 2015 and started writing episodes for a popular Afrikaans soapie. In late 2015 he helped develop a soapie for KykNet and early 2017 joined Penguin Films.
Theltom is currently the head writer for Arendsvlei.

Tarryn is the PR and Publicity Manager at Penguin Films. She started working at Media24’s Huisgenoot magazine as the digital content manager in 2017. She then joined Etv’s Open News channel as a digital journalist in 2018, where she helped launch the news channel and produced stories for its social news segment. She is currently working on the Afrikaans telenovela Arendsvlei, Projek Dina, Sara se Geheim, Tussen Ons and Klop! Tarryn has a BA in Social Anthropology and Sociology from Stellenbosch University, as well as a BA Honours in Journalism.