WHAT WE DO:
This crucial subcommittee works to fulfil the mandate of the IPO as an organisation dedicated to meaningful transformation within the film, television and digital media production industries. We work to build capacity and promote diversity through viable and practical initiatives, fostering relationships with partner bodies and raising funds to implement training programmes that add value to the sector where it is most needed.
Film and Television is one of the few sectors in the economy that has been flagged by the South African government as having the potential to create employment and transform lives. The sector also has a two times multiplier for the nations GDP and is an economic pillar that can bring Foreign Direct Investment into the country.
As the Transformation, Capacity Building & Diversity SubComm we are excited to bring about concrete change to the lucrative Film & Television value chain and help build Producers and crew to ensure that our sector evolves to fairly represent our beautiful nation.
OUR GOALS FOR 2023/ 2024:
SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERSHIP:
Chair: Wandile Molebatsi

Wandile Molebatsi is a Producer and a founder at Coal Stove Pictures. Coal Stove was started in 2007 and has worked extensively in both the independent and commissioned space content creation space. Wandile has a deep love for African narratives that celebrate the continent and its people. Coal Stove is anchored by the motto of Global African Excellence. After completing his Finance for Non-Financial Managers course at GIBS Wandile was once again reminded of the crucial need for real transformation in the supply chain of the Film & TV sector.
Coal Stove is currently completing their Three Feature Film slate with the NFVF and has secured funding for their first film that will go into production in the third quarter of 2023. In raising funding for the large scale films and telenovelas Wandile has seen first hand the importance of engaging with Financial Institutions. As a producer he has engaged with banks, funders and government funding agencies and from these robust processes great insights have been developed in terms of how access capital can be transformed.
As Chair of the Transformation, Capacity Building and Diversity Subcommittee, Wandile looks forward to engaging with all IPO members and various stakeholders at the provincial and national levels to bring about real and long term viable wealth creation through the creative economy and to ensure that the practical changes in equity and economic activity do reach indeed reach those that have been previously marginalised.
Deputy Chair: Lauren Clifford-Holmes

Lauren began her career as a video and photojournalist in 2008, establishing multimedia news departments for News24 and the Mail & Guardian. She spent a decade breaking new ground in online mixed media content production, before going on to freelance for advocacy organisations and NGOs, such as Human Rights Watch, a sector she has been deeply committed to since her student days as photographer, campaign manager and fundraiser.
Seeking a significant platform for worthy stories, capacitated to achieve greater creative visions and reach broader audiences, she found her home in documentary filmmaking in 2015. She has since worked on award-winning independent and commissioned documentary features, docuseries and shorts with various production houses, and as an independent producer, establishing her company in 2020, LCH MEDIA.
Her roles have spanned the filmmaking value chain, including; development and content producer, head of production, series producer, line producer and post producer. Clients have ranged from local government to international NGOs, major broadcasters such as CGTN and streaming giants like Netflix.
She is actively committed to developing South African documentary film production and local producers, volunteering for several years with the Documentary Filmmakers Association (DFA) as co-facilitator of the docLOVE screening programme, and as a docSHARE mentor to young filmmakers. Her journalism and advocacy routes remain a solid foundation to her ethos as a filmmaker, motivating her to prioritise message-driven content that creates debate, challenges norms and breaks new ground. Her ambition is to deliver productions of an exceptional standard that captures and inspires global audiences, while ensuring new ideas and voices are realised from within a robust and relevant local film industry.