Mike Holding - Director / Cinematographer
The team's task-master and driving energy. Multi-skilled and with a diverse set of talents gathered over many filmmaking disciplines over the years, Mike loves the fact that AfriScreen provides him with opportunity to carry out all the various aspects of filmmaking that he enjoys.
Mike conceptualises, writes, shoots, edits, plans the complex logistics for remote location shoots and track-lays the music mixes for our films.
Born and raised in Kenya, qualified as a zoologist and, now, having spent enough years bouncing across Africa in 4x4’s, Mike pilots his own plane for aerial camerawork and for endless supply runs to crews in remote areas.
A passionate conservationist, Mike dedicates a lot of time when not filming or editing to assisting researchers with aerial surveys. Apart from the above, Mike also makes a mean pot of coffee!
read his more detailed CV ...
Mike conceptualises, writes, shoots, edits, plans the complex logistics for remote location shoots and track-lays the music mixes for our films.
Born and raised in Kenya, qualified as a zoologist and, now, having spent enough years bouncing across Africa in 4x4’s, Mike pilots his own plane for aerial camerawork and for endless supply runs to crews in remote areas.
A passionate conservationist, Mike dedicates a lot of time when not filming or editing to assisting researchers with aerial surveys. Apart from the above, Mike also makes a mean pot of coffee!
read his more detailed CV ...
Tania "TJ" Jenkins - Executive Producer
“The buck stops here” department handling all of AfriScreen's legal and financial affairs.
TJ is a stickler for detail and has been accused of being “obsessively organised” - which she thinks is just fine considering that keeping crews safe, supplied and productive in wild and remote locations is not for the faint-hearted.
TJ drives her team nuts with her communication rules and on location you will always find her armed with sat phones, BGAN’s for email and handheld radios. In town you’ll find her with a battery of mobile phones and radios to keep tabs on crews in the bush and be on hand to instantly solve any production problems thrown at her.
TJ is always available 24/7 and gets involved in every aspect of the productions.
Her favourite challenge is to be told “it’s just not possible” and then making it happen in remote places in unusual and creative ways.
One thing you won’t catch TJ doing is cooking!
read her more detailed CV ...
TJ is a stickler for detail and has been accused of being “obsessively organised” - which she thinks is just fine considering that keeping crews safe, supplied and productive in wild and remote locations is not for the faint-hearted.
TJ drives her team nuts with her communication rules and on location you will always find her armed with sat phones, BGAN’s for email and handheld radios. In town you’ll find her with a battery of mobile phones and radios to keep tabs on crews in the bush and be on hand to instantly solve any production problems thrown at her.
TJ is always available 24/7 and gets involved in every aspect of the productions.
Her favourite challenge is to be told “it’s just not possible” and then making it happen in remote places in unusual and creative ways.
One thing you won’t catch TJ doing is cooking!
read her more detailed CV ...
Caroline El-Marazki - Producer
The lure of the African bush enticed Caroline away from big city life in London and her job as production executive on many big productions for the likes of RDF, most of which have recently been nominated for awards. In July 2009 she moved to Africa – husband, dog and all!
A brave move and a steep learning curve! From managing huge crews to small bush teams. From dealing with London traffic to a town where you have to chase goats away from the ATM machine to access it. But now Caroline is as at home wielding a high-lift jack to change a 4x4 tyre in the bush as she was on the high streets of London.
Caroline is currently producing our “Paseka” film. When not in the office, Caroline is out on location directing contributors and trying to get elephants to understand that we have a schedule and deadlines to meet.
Caroline also focuses on generating new ideas and projects for AfriScreen. She loves to ask a million questions, which is perfect for uncovering stories!
A brave move and a steep learning curve! From managing huge crews to small bush teams. From dealing with London traffic to a town where you have to chase goats away from the ATM machine to access it. But now Caroline is as at home wielding a high-lift jack to change a 4x4 tyre in the bush as she was on the high streets of London.
Caroline is currently producing our “Paseka” film. When not in the office, Caroline is out on location directing contributors and trying to get elephants to understand that we have a schedule and deadlines to meet.
Caroline also focuses on generating new ideas and projects for AfriScreen. She loves to ask a million questions, which is perfect for uncovering stories!
Richard Uren - Cameraman
Rich joined Afriscreen in 2003 as Mike’s camera assistant and apart from a few forays into other adventurous pursuits - such as being dive master in Mozambique and running kayaking trips in Uganda - he has been with the team ever since. His wanderings taught him that his true passion lies in being a wildlife cameraman. We are very proud to say that he has now shot his first film – “Paseka”
Rich is a qualified guide and is trained in first aid. He is a wizard at car mechanics, electrical fixes, camp construction and welding - all invaluable to the team on remote locations.
As long as he’s out in the bush, has a camera near to hand, endless amounts of chilli sauce and doesn’t have to do paperwork, Rich is a happy camper.
Rich’s favourite saying is “I’m on it” and luckily for the team in field, he always is!
Rich is a qualified guide and is trained in first aid. He is a wizard at car mechanics, electrical fixes, camp construction and welding - all invaluable to the team on remote locations.
As long as he’s out in the bush, has a camera near to hand, endless amounts of chilli sauce and doesn’t have to do paperwork, Rich is a happy camper.
Rich’s favourite saying is “I’m on it” and luckily for the team in field, he always is!
Julian Braatvedt - Camera & Editing Assistant
Our enthusiastic and energetic Kiwi import. Quick off the mark, intelligent and always ready to “jump to”, Julian started out with us as a camera assistant but he seems to be wheedling his way into other departments showing great talent in the edit room.
He’s taken a long trail to reach us. After completing his Bachelor of Communication Studies in Auckland, he managed to get himself a stint of work experience with Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield at Disneynature. While badgering us to take him on board he filled his time by training as a game ranger in South Africa. Being ever charming and persistent we decided to give him a trial run and we’re all very glad we did!
Julian can be relied upon for just about everything - including off the wall comments in odd situations - and his quirky sense of humour is often welcome when the team's sprits are flagging.
There’s only one downside to Julian – he’s doubled the catering budget because it takes a lot of food to fuel that machine!
He’s taken a long trail to reach us. After completing his Bachelor of Communication Studies in Auckland, he managed to get himself a stint of work experience with Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield at Disneynature. While badgering us to take him on board he filled his time by training as a game ranger in South Africa. Being ever charming and persistent we decided to give him a trial run and we’re all very glad we did!
Julian can be relied upon for just about everything - including off the wall comments in odd situations - and his quirky sense of humour is often welcome when the team's sprits are flagging.
There’s only one downside to Julian – he’s doubled the catering budget because it takes a lot of food to fuel that machine!
Joel Mawire - Camp Manager
Gentle natured, soft-spoken and incredibly patient, Joel has been an anchor member of the team for a decade. As camp manager, Joel takes care of compiling all of our camping equipment, unit gear and food for filming trips. During his time with us, Joel has driven endless miles across Botswana, Namibia and Zambia ensuring we have what we need.
It’s thanks to his planning and packing that we arrive on location to find tents, warm bedrolls to sleep in, food to eat and a fully functional camp from which to operate. Joel is a wizard at producing meals in the middle of nowhere. He even bakes scrumptious fresh bread every day on an open fire – we’ve never worked out how he judges the temperature simply by using spades-fulls of coals.
He also spends time with the camera crew helping erect the camera crane, lug gear and spot animals.
It’s thanks to his planning and packing that we arrive on location to find tents, warm bedrolls to sleep in, food to eat and a fully functional camp from which to operate. Joel is a wizard at producing meals in the middle of nowhere. He even bakes scrumptious fresh bread every day on an open fire – we’ve never worked out how he judges the temperature simply by using spades-fulls of coals.
He also spends time with the camera crew helping erect the camera crane, lug gear and spot animals.
Patrick Simon - Trainee Camera Assistant
Patrick joined the team as a camp assistant several years ago and has spent many hours in the bush taking care of our camps.
We first noticed Patrick’s artistic skills when he started producing all manner of artwork in camp when he had a spare 5 minutes.
His passion to learn new skills and enquiring nature led him to the ever-busy camera department where the crew, never slow to spot a good thing, seconded him.
Apart from being able to lug and lift and extraordinary amount of gear, Patrick's deep-rooted intuition and bush skills are a huge asset to the shooting crew.
His ability to spot animals from a million miles away is awesome.
Somewhat reserved but with boundless energy, you will always find Patrick moving at double speed and the most you’ll catch of him is a flash of his dazzling smile.
We first noticed Patrick’s artistic skills when he started producing all manner of artwork in camp when he had a spare 5 minutes.
His passion to learn new skills and enquiring nature led him to the ever-busy camera department where the crew, never slow to spot a good thing, seconded him.
Apart from being able to lug and lift and extraordinary amount of gear, Patrick's deep-rooted intuition and bush skills are a huge asset to the shooting crew.
His ability to spot animals from a million miles away is awesome.
Somewhat reserved but with boundless energy, you will always find Patrick moving at double speed and the most you’ll catch of him is a flash of his dazzling smile.
