Kearan Pennells

Co-owner at Tribal Media House

Johannesburg, South Africa

About me

At age 10, Kearan created a fake raffle, selling tickets for R5 during the March school holidays. He made over an R1000.00 in those two weeks. This was the beginning of his career in storytelling.

After completing his studies in Directing at AFDA Johannesburg, Kearan worked his way up from an unpaid internship to Production Managing Comedy Central's Live At Parkers & Associate Producing on the Short Film Security (2013) - Mark Middlewick.

In Late 2013 Kearan joined Tribal Media House. With his extensive network in Comedy, Goliath & Goliath entrusted him with the filming of their debut TV special Aweh Mzansi (2014). He would go on to Direct & Produce several comedy awards shows: The Savanna Comics' Choice Awards & Savanna Newcomer Showcase from 2015-2018 as well as the Johannesburg International Comedy Festival in 2016.

The biggest highlight of his career thus far, is Executive Producing his highly decorated short film The Hangman (2016) Zwelethu Radebe.

Kearan has forged a narrative for Tribal Media House, cultivating the tools that have led to opportunities to grow the business.

Kearan aims to solidify Tribal Media House as the preferred alternative voice for brands & broadcasters to tell their story in a manner that helps inspire the change in the behaviour of people, our people - progressively.

Skills

Languages

English - Pro
Afrikaans - Pro
Zulu - Basic

Talent you might be interested in

Richard Kirshenbaum

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Communication Sans Frontières

Joe Sciarrotta

USA CCO

Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago

Mark Lund

President McCann Worldgroup UK and Europe

McCann Worldgroup UK

Positions

Exec-Producer/Chief Right-Hand at Tribal Media House

75 3rd avenue, Melville, johannesburg

South Africa

November 2013 - 2021 (7 years 2 months)

Description

We are a tribe of storytellers that have come together as an alternative force in the content production space with a passion for digital/online narrative content. We are filmmakers by heart! Remember this!

In the business of storytelling however, we love to create stories for our clients with the insight that it must shape a person’s mind in a way that inspires a change in their behaviour - progressively.

Roles:

New Business/Sales/Marketing
Producing
Directing
Creative Research
Writing
Train & Development of New Talent

Associate Producer

Mannequin Pictures

South Africa

April 2011 - August 2013 (2 years 4 months)

Description

Working he's way up the film and video production pipeline from being a production assistant in 2011 s to an associate producer 2013. Kearan's first 3 years out of varsity at Mannequin Pictures set the foundations in place for him to venture into joining Tribal Media House as a Co-Owner in 2013.

Roles:

Production Manager: Comedy Central Presents Live at Parkers Season 1,2,3
He also conceptualised, shot and editing the Title Sequence.

Associate Producer: on "Security" Short Film by Mark Middlewick

Production Coordinating: From pre-production, client services, assembling and managing crews to produce content for corporate clients.

Education

BA Undergrad - Majoring in Directing & Screen Writing

AFDA

January 2008 - January 2011 (3 years)

Storytelling is at the center of it all. It's the one thing that will never change in this evolving world. Being able to imagine something in your mind, write it down, film it and see it released on a cinema screen was always the ultimate end goal for Kearan growing up. There's a Godliness to it that he was always in awe off. He studied Directing and Screen Writing at AFDA but was always heavily involved in every single discipline. A mentor his (Ernest Nkosi) told him that to be a great director you should have a know-how on how every department works. Not only will this make you better, but no one will be able to tell you otherwise.