South Africa’s young producer steals Hollywood spotlight with Oscar-considered Short Film
The 96th Academy Awards may have come and gone. However, young local film producer Santi Naidoo is still basking in the after-glow with her Oscar-considered short film, Jerome, lighting up the Hollywood cinema circuit!
Cape Town-raised Naidoo (25), who has been based in Los Angeles for the past two and half years, is a recent graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory producing program.
She currently works in development and production at Submarine Entertainment.
Naidoo holds a triple major Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cape Town and graduated cum laude with a postgraduate degree in Film and Television Studies. Her AFI Thesis film, Mis-Alignment, is currently doing the festival circuit, along with her short, Jerome – which was recently up for consideration for the 96th Academy Awards. Several of her films have been featured in festivals worldwide, including the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (USA) and Fixion Fest (Chile).
As a rising star with several years of experience in film, commercial, and stage production, Naidoo is passionate about creating spaces for underrepresented and marginalized filmmakers in the industry:
“Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of being able to work with filmmakers and creatives from around the world. Being able to collaborate with people from different walks of life and vastly different cultures highlights, how much we can learn from other people and how different perspectives enrich the work that we do. What I find beautiful about this is when you’re able to connect the right people and watch them make magic together. It’s been a real joy to be able to do that but to specifically do so in a manner that connects underrepresented creatives with like-minded people who can help take them further in their journey. “
To any of South Africa’s aspirant film-makers looking to follow in her footsteps, Naidoo has these heart-warming words of encouragement to share:
“Make things and find your people! Whilst you can’t expect the short film you shoot on your phone to be picked up by Showmax and turned into a show or every collaboration to be easy, you must bear in mind that the fear of being bad at something often stops you from even trying in the first place. Get together with friends or fellow creatives, don’t take yourself too seriously, and just make stuff. Eventually, you might make something half-decent and find a team of filmmakers that you don’t want to murder after years of working on a project together. “