REISIGERS

NOW AVAILABLE on your favourite podcast platformS

 

For the last three years, I’ve been working on a passion project, writing a screenplay for a feature-length film - Reisigers.

Written in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, Reisigers is a coming-of-age drama written in the spirit of films from the late 80s like Stand By Me and The Breakfast Club that takes a dialectical approach to explore the transition from one stage of life to another, particular as youth.

In the case of Reisigers, the screenplay deals with the idea of loss - loss of identity, relationships, dreams - and what it takes to discover it all, all over again. A process that is painful yet full of beauty.

 
 

Reisigers will officially be produced as South Africa’s first full-feature podcast film. A movie experience for your ears. The full production with talented cast, original score, and beautiful sound design, is done and will launch 14 April 2024 on all your favourite podcast platforms.

 

Follow our journey on your favourite socials

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SYNOPSIS

Four best friends, Jouba, Slabs, Mario & Monty, celebrate their last day of school ever following the train tracks to their favourite stargazing spot, to draw their own constellations. Some years later, estranged from each other, they reconnect on a road trip back to their hometown and on the way come to terms with their past, present and future-selfs as young men.

OPSOMMING

Vier beste vriende, Jouba, Slabs, Mario & Monty, spandeer hul laaste dag van skool ooit op pad na hul ‘Sterreplek’ om hul eie konstellasies te trek. Drie jaar later, en nou vervreemd van mekaar, neem hul ‘n reis terug na hul tuisdorp en kom tot aangesig met hul vrese en drome as jong mans.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

My napkin plan

My goal is to produce and release Reisigers as a full-length feature film. Not. An. Easy. Task. Especially as an industry ‘outsider’ with zero track record as Producer. :)

But I am an entrepreneur, with a particular set of skills, a network, some money, a product (the screenplay) that I am hellzz proud of and passionate to sell.

So, I wrote down a ‘napkin plan’:

STEP 1 [DONE]

  • Share the screenplay far and wide. Radical transparency. If the story resonates, it will attract the right people.

STEP 2 [DONE]

  • Produce it as a podcast feature first. A contemporary radio drama, a movie experience for your ears. It shows proof of work. Is unique. Something I can produce independently (with the right talent onboard). And - most importantly - it will help make the story come alive! Listen Here.

Step 3 [in development]

  • Produce the actual film. A different beast altogether. Can’t do it alone, will need money and a production house but I will already have a team in place, proof of work, and a community that is excited to see the film.

BONUS

  • SA has many talented writers but the barriers to producing a screenplay are significant.

  • Yet we have a rich legacy of storytelling and radio dramas in this country, while the field of sound design and creative fictional podcast is bursting with new opportunities for stories to come alive.

  • If Reisigers can inspire and contribute even a little bit to unlocking a new era in storytelling innovation among local writers and creatives, that would be an unplanned but welcome surprise to my passion project.