Johan Neethling

Johan grew up in South Africa, and immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1995, with the rest of his family. His father a dentist and his mother an art broker, Johan had a balanced up bringing in relation to art and finance. From a young age, he and his brother and sister were encouraged to develop their artistic skills. From a very young age, their parents would tell them the beginning of stories and they would then finish the story. It wasn't until much later that Johan realised that he loves telling stories, although initially he was a songwriter/producer; he quickly discovered the freedom and opportunity of expression offered through the medium of film and video. Johan found the move from music and sound into film natural and interesting due to the interlinked nature of the two art forms. Johan spend years learning about the different ways of story telling through the combinations of visuals and aural aspects, honing his visual story telling through directing his own short stories. Whilst at university, Johan studied business management and went on to complete the ACA training with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, one of the world's biggest financial services firms. Johan was accepted as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales after passing their challenging business qualifications exams. This placed him ideally in stepping into the role of producer on the film, managing the whole process of setting up the project, right through to post-production, with an entrepreneurial flare and spirit that caught the media attention for being unrelentingly positive in the face of the worst recession to hit the UK since the early 20th century.