- Thabang Moleya has been in the film industry for 24 years.
- He established and co-owns Seriti Films alongside four other business partners.
- Their latest project is the crime drama series Code 13 on Mzansi Magic.
Get to know super film director Thabang Moleya.
Running the game for 24 years, Thabang has come to direct some of the best South African TV productions such as The Lab, Jozi-H and Emmy Awards nominee Sokhulu and Partners. Now Thabang takes on Mzansi Magic's latest crime drama series Code 13 starring the likes of Lunathi Mamphofu and Zolisa Xaluva.
In Thabang’s 24 years of directing, he spent some time working under other production companies and in 2017 he decided to establish his own production company, Seriti Films. Partnering with four other individuals, the company has become one of South Africa’s prominent production houses with successful local telenovelas.
“Seven years ago we had a vision and our vision was that we wanted to make groundbreaking television work. We also wanted to make some very impactful and memorable TV commercials and most importantly we wanted to make local work that had international appeal or that had the standard of international execution,” Thabang says as he explains the vision behind Seriti Films.
He adds that Seriti Films is also a great platform for young and upcoming professionals who would like to work in the film industry, whether in front of the camera or behind the scenes. “We're really about bringing new talents onto the screen and unearthing you know, opening up the industry and giving opportunities to people who didn't have opportunities before,” he says.
All in all, Thabang describes his journey as one to have been very fruitful and has required “hard work but mostly sacrifices and discipline as well.”
As in every other career, everyone encounters challenges and Thabang says his family and the people in his circle keep him motivated in such times. Thabang is also a firm believer in God and he believes that his faith has kept him grounded throughout every obstacle.
“In everything that I've been able to accomplish and I believe that even with my story, every single trial I have faced has become a testimony. Every single challenge that I have faced has become a miracle,” Thabang says.
Apart from overcoming challenges, Thabang has reached many milestones in his career and he says creating his first movie, Happiness is a Four Letter Word, and receiving an Emmy Awards nomination are the two accomplishments that have stood out for him so far.
As Thabang enters into his 40s he says he has more to achieve and it feels like his prime has only begun.
“I feel like my forties is going to be a time where I'm going to make my best work. I have a few projects that are quite exciting that are coming this year. As you know, Code 13 is one of them,” Thabang mentions with excitement as he explained how Code 13 is one of the projects that will convey his experience in the film industry.
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“It's also a cop procedural and as we've seen in other cop procedurals like Law and Order or CSI or The Wire, cop procedurals are shows that can have season after season. Because of that, we also felt that this was something fresh and this is something that is different that we can offer the South African audience,” he states.
The show has begun airing and Thabang says it has received great reception so far despite the Sunday evening timeslot being a competitive time.
For those who have not tuned into the drama series yet, Thabang says it unveils a police hunt for a group of criminals who escaped police vicinities in the first episode and in the rest of the episodes a different criminal will be captured.
As Zolisa and Lunathi take on the lead roles of being hardcore detectives they will be nailing down each criminal and the series will unveil a unique element of South African crime drama series.
