Creative + Technology studio Preymaker has announced the opening of a new studio in Cape Town, SA. They are actively recruiting artists and applicants to their scholarship program.
L to R: Malte Bögl, Jabulani Simelane, Byron Tofas, Wynand de Wet, Julie Brown, Nathan Anderson, Nicholas Young, Keenan Olivari. (Photo credit – Will Punt/Peartree Photography)
Creative + Technology studio Preymaker, founded in New York in 2020, has announced the opening of a new studio in Cape Town, SA.
Leading the day-to-day business at the new outpost are Julie Brown, serving as Head of Operations, and Byron Tofas, Creative Lead. Julie has recently held leadership positions at Engage Video Group as the Head of Production and Delivery, while also playing a key role in the strategic leadership of the business through a five year growth phase. At Ogilvy & Mather SA, she oversaw and led delivery for some of the agency's biggest client portfolios.
Byron was previously Visual Effects Supervisor at BlackGinger, overseeing teams on commercials, series and feature films. His credits include Hollywood blockbusters such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, along with 2023 VFX Craft Gold Loerie commercial winner Big John's Black Panther parody Ya' hunga forever.
South Africa's Creative Community
Using the studio's custom cloud-based platform, built with AWS, Preymaker has accessed artists across SA whose contributions spanned design, animation, look dev, lighting FX and compositing, for Goodby Silverstein's Xfinity The Aviators from director Kathryn Bigelow and cinematographer Greig Fraser, and BBDO NY's Bacardi A Do What Moves You Film ft. Camila Cabello. The SA team was also instrumental on the original short film BLUE, created entirely in the cloud using Unreal Engine's real-time software.
"South Africa has a rich creative community," said Angus Kneale, Preymaker Chief Creative. "The society has high appreciation for the arts – from music to design, and photography to animation and film-making in general. This melting pot of cultures and talent creates an exciting place to attract and invest in creative people. In the global advertising world, some of the world's finest creatives got their start in South Africa. There is something there that creates these exceptional people. We started Preymaker Cape Town to tap into and to find, develop and nurture them.
"I attended college in South Africa and had a very exciting early career working on some of the best work in the country. In order to further my career I made the difficult decision to leave a country that I loved in order to grow and work on international projects. South Africa needs people to contribute to making the country a better place for future generations. Preymaker believes that South Africa’s creative future is bright. This is why we are investing in our South African team, developing talent and providing scholarships."
Attracting New Talent
Byron Tofas said, "We're building a team of multi-talented, dynamic artists and producers who are enjoying our studio space in Cape Town. We have a great vibe with inspirational art on every corner, a concierge service and private meeting rooms. Our maker-mentorship program opens the opportunity for South African artists to collaborate on high-end projects with some of the best talent in New York, both remotely and in-person, and a top-tier work experience utilizing all the latest tools in creative technology."
Julie Brown, added, "We're looking to attract the best talent in the country, people who can bring not only world class VFX skills to the team but a desire to share their skills and learn from the vast talent pool already at Preymaker. Our cloud-based workflow means our team can move freely between home and office with quick access to ongoing projects along with the ability to work across multiple locations globally.
“Smooth, simplified communication, channels and tools are critical to our success. Constantly optimizing and improving these is a core focus of mine and the entire Operations team at Preymaker."
As an invitation to aspiring talent, the new Cape Town office makes a 3-year scholarship available for a talented SA student aspiring to pursue a career in Animation and VFX in collaboration with The Animation School. The scholarship seeks a young individual with a strong aptitude for animation and VFX, and is an opportunity for those who may lack the means for university education. preymaker.com
