Our Team

Meet the Team

Sandra is a seasoned professional in media and broadcasting, currently serving as Programme Manager at Realness Institute. Holding a Bachelor of Social Science degree (Media and Public Policy), she started her career in broadcasting at the free-to-air television station e.tv, where she worked as a Programme Scheduler. She steadily progressed to the role of Content Planner, which enabled her to focus on channel strategy, particularly for children’s and general entertainment programming. She then moved on to the premium broadcaster MultiChoice, where she worked as a Scheduling Specialist with a special focus on movie channels. There, she was also part of the team that helped launch the Pan-African pop-up channel CineMagic. 

Thaddeus Gouws holds a qualification in Public Relations. He worked as an Executive Assistant and Office Administrator at DnJ Construction. Alongside his administrative roles, he explored his passion for writing, storytelling, and content creation, working as a Social Media Content Curator & Creator. He further honed his writing skills as a valued member of the content writing team for In-Kind SA, a NPO. His versatility earned him a role at the Realness Institute, where he advanced from Executive Assistant to Program Coordinator and Social Media Manager. He is a rising author currently working on his book, 'How Do Rainbows Heal?'.

Sheila Feruzi Kassim is the Operations Lead at Realness Institute and a filmmaker dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices in cinema. She co-founded Vuma Projects, a platform championing Afro-Norwegian and POC storytelling through art, and literature. A former Junior Producer at Mer Film, she contributed to The War Sailor (Norway’s 2022 Oscar entry, later a Netflix series) and Touda. A Bergen’s Top 30 Under 30 honoree and Creative Producer Indaba alumna, she is committed to developing bold, globally resonant narratives.

In her 20-year strong creative journey, Mmabatho has worked as a producer, broadcaster (SABC, Kwese TV, TopTV), development executive as well as a script consultant. Roles that have harnessed her love for story and helping writers find their voice as storytellers. Her catalogue of work, as a script consultant, ranges from novel adaptations to politically potent films brought to life through titles such Kalushi: The Solomon Mahlangu Story and the sequel to Happiness is a Four Letter Word – Happiness Ever After. Mmabatho’s creative flair has also been injected outside South Africa as a consultant on the award-winning Lesotho based film This is not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection (Venice Biennale College Cinema 2019, Visionary Award winner Sundance 2019)

In 2017 Mmabatho was invited to co-mentor in Realness Screenwriters Residency. Beyond Realness; she has mentored on the Canal+  Poland Series Lab (2021), The Philippines (Full Circle Lab 2019 and 2020), Maisha Producers Lab (Uganda 2019), Jumpstart PRODUIRE AU SUD (South Africa 2019 and 2020), For Film’s Sake- Attagirl Lab (Australia 2020), The Pro Series Lab (Kenya 2020), BoostNL (Netherlands Film Festival/IFFR 2020), Dramatic Producer’s Lab (Ethiopia 2019). In addition to being a mentor, she has had the honour of being invited to participate in The Torino Script Lab (2018), EAVE (European Audio Visual Entrepreneurs 2020) and The Rotterdam Producer’s Lab (2020).

Mehret Mandefro is an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, and entrepreneur dedicated to using storytelling for social change. She co-founded Truth Aid in the U.S. and later established A51 Pictures in Ethiopia and the Realness Institute in South Africa. Her credits include Difret (Netflix), Little White Lie (PBS), Sweetness in the Belly (Amazon), How It Feels to Be Free (American Masters), and Cost of Inheritance (PBS). A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the American Television Academy, her films and television shows have set ratings records and been successfully released in theaters around the world. She was most recently the Executive Producer of Ethiopia’s largest general entertainment channel Kana Television. Her track record scaling businesses from launch has made her a global leader in the screen sector and secured her a spot on Variety’s 2021 list of most impactful women in global entertainment. She lives and works in Ethiopia and the United States and is a champion of the creative arts as a path to developing a more just society. She is a sought after speaker on this topic and recently gave a TED talk on the job-creating, democracy saving power of the creative industries in Africa. To learn more about Mehret visit: www.drmehret.com

Since her beginning in advertising and then film production, Diana Elbaum has produced a vast number of films. Most of them were showcased and awarded in major festivals. Her films cover a large sample of genres and come from all horizons and cultures. She is known for her amazing skill for working with renown talents.

Diana is deeply committed to developing the film industry and has spent time tutoring at the EAVE and EP2C since 2007. In 2009, she received the European Film Academy Award for best producer. In 2020, Diana began group leading the Creative Producer Indaba and ATTAGIRL programs. She is one of the leading EU audiovisual experts.

From 2017 to 2019, Diana created and ran le Boost Camp, the first French-speaking workshop for women directors. Diana set up her first company, Entre Chien et Loup, in 1989. In 2017, Diana Elbaum opened her new company, Beluga Tree, in association with Caviar.

She has produced over 100 features, documentaries and TV series with talents such as Chantal Akerman, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Paul Verhoeven, Lisa Azuelos, Raoul Peck, Nabil Ben Yadir, Ari Folman, Yuval Adler, Eran Kolirin and Isold Uggadottir, Julie Bertucelli, and many more. She is currently producing Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir, The Congress), Leora Kamenetzky (Fauda, False Flag), Solange Cicurel (Faut pas lui Dire, Adorables), Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Black, Bad Boys For Life), Agnieszka Holland and upcoming directors Arno Salters, Michèle Jacobs and Kamal Lazraq.

Selina Ukwuoma is a freelance script consultant who began her career at literary agency Curtis Brown working on theatre, film and television projects including 2008 BAFTA winner BOY A.

She has since gone on to advise on award-winning indies such as 2014 Teddy winner THE WAY HE LOOKS and last year’s Goyas triumph SUMMER 1993. As well as consulting for production companies and designing and running development initiatives such as Realness Screenwriters’ Residency and the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Foundation, Selina teaches screenwriting at the UK’s National Film and Television School and regularly mentors and leads workshops at film festivals, including Berlinale Talents Script Station, TIFF Writers’ Studio, Talents Sarajevo Pack&Pitch, and CTIFMF ADAPT. Prior to her career in the film industry, Selina travelled, taught English, and completed degrees in screenwriting, professional writing, and social anthropology.

She has various interests but is always keen to learn something new.

Thandeka joined the film Industry in 2004, working in production at the digital film pioneer production company DV8 Films on films such as Max and Mona, The Flyer and Bunny Chow. After leaving DV8 Films to freelance, she worked as a Line Producer for a number of local film and television projects. After completing the SEDIBA course in script editing, she was approached by the National Film and Video Foundation in 2011, to be part of a team responsible for developing and promoting South African films, both locally and internationally. In this time, Thandeka was fortunate to represent the South African film industry at prestigious platforms such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival and the Independent Filmmaker Project (No Borders) on multiple occasions allowing her the privilege of getting great insight into the global film industry and more importantly how to navigate it as an African film industry partner. Since leaving the NFVF, she has worked in film completion bonding with Film Finances Incorporated, and in 2018, she joined Indigenous Film Distribution as Development and Production Executive to complete her journey through the film value chain.