Meet the team

South African born Francois has made films in five continents. He has produced and directed several major documentary series and...
Read more >

South African born Francois has made films in five continents. He has produced and directed several major documentary series and standalone films that were broadcast on numerous television networks, which include National Geographic Explorer, ZDF in Germany, Discovery and the BBC’s Classic Adventure series. He has produced and/or directed the Aspects of Life series, The Last Edens, the Secrets of Nature series for SABC3 prime time and is currently the host of FOP’s Siyaya franchise, a youth nature show. He also has produced environmental education films for organizations such as WWF, CARE INTERNATIONAL, IUCN, UNDEP, UNDP, SANParks and CapeNature. Francois is also an ecologist and environmental consultant and director of EcoAfrica in South Africa. He has written several books including a best-seller that covers his expeditions down the Amazon River.
Read less <

Martin Torresquintero, originally from Colombia, now resides in the USA. He is adjunct faculty at Southern Connecticut State...
Read more >

Martin Torresquintero, originally from Colombia, now resides in the USA. He is adjunct faculty at Southern Connecticut State University, works as the Outdoor Adventure Coordinator for the City of New Haven in Connecticut, and is the chief guide at MT Mountain Guiding, specializing in expeditions in the Andes. Martin holds a masters degree in Science Education and Environmental Education, and has worked on efforts to help preserve delicate alpine environments in the Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon regions, and the rainforests of northern Madagascar. He is also certified as a Wilderness First Responder, Cave and Rescue Diver and Canoe and Kayak Instructor, specializing in providing outdoor adventures for people with physical challenges. He is a published photographer, and has always been passionate about just about any outdoor adventures, from his earliest adventures climbing in and diving in South America, to his more recent adventures kayaking and biking adventures.
Read less <

Rean has worked in South Africa, the United Kingdom and France as web developer, technical consultant and interactive project...
Read more >

Rean has worked in South Africa, the United Kingdom and France as web developer, technical consultant and interactive project manager. His clients have ranged from local NGOs to multinationals such as IBM and internet bank EGG. He has hands-on experience in the technologies behind website development, desktop application development, CD-rom production and online video delivery. He further has substantial experience at interactive marketing and social media. Rean is passionate about the power of new media to bridge the world information divide and to transform the ways in which we share information. As living proof, he does much of his work from a base on the far southern Cape Peninsula where guinea fowl, baboons and porcupine make up a healthy compliment of his neighbors.
Read less <

Sipho, hailing from Mpumalanga, has successfully worked on over 30 films during his time at FOP. He is in charge of maintaining...
Read more >

Sipho, hailing from Mpumalanga, has successfully worked on over 30 films during his time at FOP. He is in charge of maintaining FOP’s Pretoria Office, including logistics and supplies. He is also FOP’s tried and trusted driver and on field trips Sipho provides logistical support as well as manage finances for the trip.
Read less <

Chaplain is a researcher from Madagascar in the fields of history, culture and environment. He is also the founder President of...
Read more >

Chaplain is a researcher from Madagascar in the fields of history, culture and environment. He is also the founder President of Feon' ny Ala ("Voice of the Forest"), a community-based NGO that aims to boost the intellectual capital of students returning to their rural areas from university so that the knowledge gained can be applied to the development of rural communities. He considers the harmonization of indigenous knowledge with modern approaches as essential to finding lasting solutions in Madagascar. Chaplain is interested in getting the POV from communities into film, both conceptually and through camerawork. He also uses participative videography for environmental education and has done pioneering work in this regard on the Masoala Peninsula in Madagascar.
Read less <

Kyle is a filmmaker with a passion for the outdoors. He has produced, shot and directed a number of documentaries including...
Read more >

Kyle is a filmmaker with a passion for the outdoors. He has produced, shot and directed a number of documentaries including Changing Lands, a documentary on farm evictions in the Eastern Cape, and Maranon Dreams, a story of a first descent of the Rio Maranon in Peru. He has been a cameraman on various expeditions including a Coelacanth Research Expedition in East Africa (2003), The South African Maranon Expedition (2004), four Antarctic expeditions (2005) as well as a trip with FOP to Zanzibar in search of the lost city of Quanbalu (2005). Since then he has filmed FOP films in many African countries. His aims are to take his filmmaking in a direction that will promote awareness about sustainable livelihoods as well as issues around climate change and biodiversity loss. Whenever he is not out shooting he enjoys rock climbing around South Africa and also produced the climbing documentary High Society.
Read less <

Jan Post received his masters degree in biology from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. For his thesis he spent one and a...
Read more >

Jan Post received his masters degree in biology from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. For his thesis he spent one and a half year in the Caribbean studying the effects of spear fishing and aquarium fish collecting on the reefs and laid the ground work for the establishment of the Bonaire Marine Park. He started his professional career as assistant manager of a wildlife reintroduction program in Israel. He then worked for 10 years as an ecologist for a large Dutch overseas consulting firm after which he was invited to join the World Bank where he worked as a senior ecologist. An avid diver and under water filmmaker and photographer since 1965, Jan has dived and filmed all over the world working free lancing for a German picture agency and various magazines. He has had a long association with FOP including filming in the Western Indian Ocean.
Read less <

South African born Peet is an underwater and macro camera operator. He has filmed extensively in several oceans, rivers and...
Read more >

South African born Peet is an underwater and macro camera operator. He has filmed extensively in several oceans, rivers and ground caves. Peet is a NAUI dive instructor as well as a scientific dive instructor. He was the park manager for the Knysna National Lake Area in South Africa. Peet is an expert in wreck diving along the coast of Africa and he has been deeply involved in environmental education and natural resource management for many years.
Read less <

Charles Maxwell was born in the United Kingdom but has been living in Cape Town most of his life as a South African citizen....
Read more >

Charles Maxwell was born in the United Kingdom but has been living in Cape Town most of his life as a South African citizen. Charles has been diving for 35 years and, as a result, has an excellent knowledge of the South African marine environment as well as contacts in marine scientific and documentary circles. Charles became a filmmaker in 1987 when he lead a team of divers to explore and survey Dragons Breath cave, the largest underground lake in the world, situated in the north of Namibia. Besides running an extensive video library, specialising in (but not confined to) shark and marine mammal footage, Charles is a professional underwater cinematographer who has worked with many major TV producers worldwide, including the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Charles was a 2002 Primetime Emmy Award winner for his filming of the Natal Sardine Run for The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, produced by the BBC.
Read less <

Roger is based in the Okavango Delta where he has been running his own safari company - Roger Dugmore Safaris. He is an...
Read more >

Roger is based in the Okavango Delta where he has been running his own safari company - Roger Dugmore Safaris. He is an adventurer that plans and implements exclusive expeditions to some of the world’s most special places. He is a strong believer in the power of unique experiences and stunning images to open the minds of people to new ways of looking at society and our natural world. He has been involved with some of the continent’s most enriching heritage areas, such as remote parts of Zanzibar, Madagascar, mainland Tanzania and Malawi, where he and his colleagues had an unforgettable encounter with The Mountain Where People Disappear. Privileged to live and work in some of Africa’s most spectacular and interesting places, he does what he can to educate the next generation on the concept of a sustainable future.
Read less <

Melissa Boonzaaier is a marine ecologist with passion for communicating science to a wide audience. She has an MSc in Zoology...
Read more >

Melissa Boonzaaier is a marine ecologist with passion for communicating science to a wide audience. She has an MSc in Zoology from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, and her research focussed on loggerhead sea turtles in KwaZulu-Natal. In 2011, she won the National Young Science Communicator Competition (YSCC) organised by the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA) on an article she wrote entitled “Sea Turtles of South Africa” that was later produced as a radio drama. Since then, through various guest speaking and radio presenting opportunities, she has honed her skills, while pursuing her PhD in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology. Melissa believes that communicating science to the public, particularly the youth, will promote nature conservation, healthy natural environments and the advancement of science for the current and next generations. Currently, Melissa co-produces and assists with projects for Francois Odendaal Productions, including documentaries and environmental education videos.
Read less <

Toni is an online/offline senior video editor with 18 years of experience in the new media industry. He lived in Amsterdam for 23...
Read more >

Toni is an online/offline senior video editor with 18 years of experience in the new media industry. He lived in Amsterdam for 23 years where he studied and worked with many creative professionals in a variety of fields. He has been involved in projects with high-end corporate brands and human rights organizations such as War Child NL. With a deep passion and understanding of music, Toni has filmed and edited at many international music events throughout Europe and has collaborated with many musicians such as Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, Pelican, Daniel Johnston, Rodriguez, etc. He was also the owner and curator for over 10 years of the independent film, art and music collective, Small Cities, in Amsterdam.
Read less <

Lerato Bokako is an experienced writer and production coordinator. Her co-ordinating experience includes having worked as an...
Read more >

Lerato Bokako is an experienced writer and production coordinator. Her co-ordinating experience includes having worked as an Outreach coordinator for the New York African Diaspora International Film Festival as well as a Production Co-ordinator for the Youth Show “Hectic Nine-9”. Her writing experience includes writing Live TV scripts, short film scripts, writing for print media and for web. Having a film background with a BA Motion Picture degree from AFDA, she is very passionate about TV and filmmaking. At Francois Odendaal Productions Lerato works as the company’s Production Manager where she coordinates the various groups – office staff and production crew members – to produce exceptional content for FOP Films.
Read less <

Whilst studying Journalism and Digital Media at City Varsity, Lance was offered to do his internship at a local Cape Town...
Read more >

Whilst studying Journalism and Digital Media at City Varsity, Lance was offered to do his internship at a local Cape Town production company where his love for film making began. Still fresh out of Varsity he decided to make the big move to Johannesburg when he worked on various shows such as Idols (6), Survivor Maldives, Metro FM awards, Mtv MAMA’s, BET Experience and the Loeries to mention a few. Few years later at the age of 22 Lance was named the youngest National TV Producer in South Africa which saw his TV career catapult to working on some of the worlds most watched entertainment shows. Lance takes care of the innovative and digital aspect of FOP while also seeking new business for the company. When Lance is not working he enjoys taking the road less traveled…
Read less <

Ms Virginia Bokaba is a Professional Accountant (SA). She qualified in 2015 after completing her South African Institute of...
Read more >

Ms Virginia Bokaba is a Professional Accountant (SA). She qualified in 2015 after completing her South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) 3 years training contract with SizweNtsalubaGobodo Inc., an auditing and accounting firm. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Johannesburg and also obtained her NQF level 5 qualification in Economic and Financial Sciences. She has 5 years’ experience in the finance, accounting and tax fields, ranging from full accounting function for different entities to compiling Annual Financial Statements as per GAAP and IFRS requirements as well as submitting statutory returns to relevant third parties. Virginia is the Financial Manager for the EcoAfrica Group of Companies. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing all areas of finance and administration including: payroll, accounts payable and receivables, job costing, cash management, general ledger, banking and reconciliations. In addition, she provide strategic analysis for management to determine project and company profitability and also enjoys things like problem solving, providing timely and relevant analyses, forecasting, budgeting and working as a team to grow the company.
Read less <

Grown up among stacks of National Geographic magazines, passionate about nature, documentaries and travel, Irene has been...
Read more >

Grown up among stacks of National Geographic magazines, passionate about nature, documentaries and travel, Irene has been involved as a co-producer with François Odendaal Productions for some time. With a background in Cultural Anthropology, Geography, Spanish, Economics and fundraising, she has many years of experience in foundation and philanthropic work. Whenever she has the time, she joins the film team, clicking away the production shots.
Read less <