our people
Founder: Cheryl Uys-Allie
Cheryl is a producer, director, writer, and media executive with experience across Africa and the Middle East. She has worked with leading international broadcasters, creating compelling factual content.
She holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town and has held Content Executive roles at MultiChoice and Netflix.
At MultiChoice, she launched PayTV channels across Africa and the MultiChoice Talent Factory, establishing film academies in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia that have trained more than 480 emerging filmmakers since 2018. She later joined Netflix’s Grow Creative team, leading talent development initiatives across the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa.
Today, Cheryl continues to support the growth of African and Arab filmmakers, connecting talent with opportunities and supporting the development of impactful stories for global audiences.
Documentaries produced incl. Focus on Africa, a 26 part series, Africa: Search for Common Ground, a 13 part series on conflict resolution (USAID) and NOVA Africa, a 26 part series for Cinevideo, Brazil. She was based in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon (2001 – 2005) where she covered political, economic and social developments across the region producing two long format documentaries, Islam: The War Within (52') for TeleProductions Intl (TPI – Washington DC, USA), Maid in Lebanon (24') for the ILO, A Window Into Islam, for the Bin Baz Foundation in Saudi Arabia, as well as shorter inserts for BBC's Arab Africa’s Next Generation of Filmmakers
We have a unique network of talented young filmmakers across Sub-Saharan Africa, with creative teams in Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola.
Working across English, French, Portuguese, and Swahili-speaking markets, we connect brands, broadcasters, studios, and producers with authentic local talent and stories.
Our Talent
Our filmmakers are graduates of the MultiChoice Talent Factory Film Academies in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia—Africa’s leading training programme for emerging film professionals.
They are storytellers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, composers, and actors, bringing together world-class creative skills with deep local insight.
Whether creating original African stories or localising global content for African audiences, our network delivers authentic, culturally relevant productions with pan-African reach.World Direct and three parts of the 26 part series Passionate Lives for TPI (Washington DC).
Her writing includes editing a 400-page book on the Arab response to Sept 11 entitled: 9/11 The Arab Perspective (Bin Baz Foundation, Saudi Arabia), a chapter on Media Moghul, Koos Bekker, in South Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs and various feature articles for Aishti and Executive magazines, newspapers incl. Argus Africa News, Mail & Guardian and City Press as well as corporate reports.
Other notable documentary work includes:
- Drug Mules: A Brazil prison story – a 20-min documentary on South African women in Prisons in Brazil (for drug trafficking) which won 1st runner up at the Webber Wentzel 2011 Legal Journalist Awards, as well as a SAFTA nomination in 2012.
- Abalone poaching and Chinese Triads and Chinese investment in Angola – both for Al Jazeera (AJE).
- Polio epidemic in Chad – last 1% (UNICEF).
- Suburbs under Siege, an investigative report following attacks by the so called "Rolex" gang in Johannesburg, for Carte Blanche (MNET).
- PEPFAR 12-part series on HIV Aids in South Africa – documenting 10 years of PEPFAR investment in HIV Aids prevention and management programmes. In collaboration with Herstorian Productions for USAI
our africa network
Africa’s Next Generation of Filmmakers
We have a unique network of talented young filmmakers across Sub-Saharan Africa, with creative teams in Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola.
Working across English, French, Portuguese, and Swahili-speaking markets, we connect brands, broadcasters, studios, and producers with authentic local talent and stories.
Our Talent
Our filmmakers are graduates of the MultiChoice Talent Factory Film Academies in Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia—Africa’s leading training programme for emerging film professionals.They are storytellers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, composers, and actors, bringing together world-class creative skills with deep local insight.
Whether creating original African stories or localising global content for African audiences, our network delivers authentic, culturally relevant productions with pan-African reach.