Eugene du Plessis

Gene Du Plessis - Born in South Africa in 1985, Eugene (Gene) Du Plessis sailed crossed the South Atlantic Ocean on a catamaran with his family at age eight and spent his youth in the Caribbean Islands and Florida. At age thirteen he successfully created a cartoon strip which was published in the BVI Beacon, a local British Virgin Island's newspaper. In the years following he acted in a variety of theater productions and co-starred in Mama Mia's- a television sitcom pilot- which sparked his interest in film making. Soon afterwards, Gene moved to Australia where, as a teenager, he created short films, documentaries, and animation shorts using whichever cameras he could afford and get his hands on. Having found his calling, he applied to the New York Film Academy, in Los Angeles, California in 2012, where he honed his film making skills and set his sights on directing. Gene co-wrote and directed his first comedy film "Life and Death" in 2013. Following his graduation from the New York Film Academy, Gene has worked on over fifty-two film projects including short films, features, music videos, and television series. Besides film-making Gene is also an avid artist and specializes in Pyrography Art (a technique using hot iron tips to sculpt or draw into wood) which he uses to create animal landscapes. Proceeds of his art sales are donated to the World Wildlife Foundation and The Cheetah Outreach program in South Africa. Gene presently lives in Los Angeles where he works as a freelance film maker, director, and AC; and uses his love for art, visual effects, special effects make-up to enhance his stories and characters. His latest project, the short film thriller Herringbone, puts him back in the Director's chair and is due for release in 2019.