NYFA Alumni Network: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you're from, and what brought you to New York Film Academy?
Lethabo: I am from a beautiful country called South Africa. I came out to LA to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Filmmaking with the support of the Multichoice Group and M-Net, which are the two biggest Production and Broadcasting companies in South Africa.
My time at NYFA has been incredible. I got to collaborate with talented students from across the globe during my studies and learned a lot about the foundation of filmmaking. During my three years of studying at NYFA, I identified where my passion lay and it was Directing and Writing, although I have always been working as a Producer, even in South Africa. I ended up enjoying creating stories and telling them the way I wanted to tell them to the world.
During my final year, we were tasked with a thesis project for our final project, and thankfully with the support of the Multichoice Group in South Africa, I was able to Write, Produce and Direct an award-winning thesis film called "Sebari Milach"- which means Break the Blade in Amharic.
NYFA Alumni Network: What projects have you worked on since graduating? Have you won any awards or been showcased in any festivals or competitions?
Lethabo: "Sebari Milage" had the privilege of premiering at the Sony and Oprah Winfrey-sponsored Micheaux Film Festival in LA last year. I won the Best Women’s Rights Film Award at the Chicago International Social Change Fest and won the silver award at the Loeries Awards in South Africa. I was invited to be interviewed by Morning Live Talk Show and YouFM Radio show which are the two biggest morning news shows in South Africa to talk about the film and its controversial topic addressing FGM. Recently, I was interviewed on another big news platform in South Africa called News24 to also talk about the Award-Winning film.
After graduating, I was lucky enough to land myself an assistant job for a famous influencer who goes by the name of King Vader. I learned a lot about the influencer industry and also got to work on set with him and his team.
I also worked a producing and coordinating job for a PSA commercial executive produced by Paul Boyington who is widely known for his work on Nightmare on Elm Street, The Steve Harvey Show, Bullet Proof, etc. Mr. Boyington was able to also mentor me and introduced me to his film connect group like Don Starnes who has done Cinematography on The Mummy, Good Morning America, Fuller House, and 13 Reasons Why. I also got the privilege of working with Gwendolyn who was the Amazon lady on the incredible movie of Wonder Woman 1984.
Another fun project was when I got the privilege of hosting a filmmaker's pannel at the Social Change Film Festival last year November 2023. I got to interview filmmakers about their films that were screened at the film festival. As an Alumni from this festival, I was very honored with this opportunity.
Additionally, I was luckily scouted by a casting director who works for Jubile Productions and was asked to join their famous YouTube show Middle Ground which has over 8.91 Million subscribers. I was cast in an episode called Africans VS African Americans and it was such a popular episode with over 3.4 Million Views on Youtube. This show gave me the best exposure socially and I also got to work with incredible people.
NYFA Alumni Network: What did you learn at NYFA that you applied directly to "Sebari Milach" and other projects?
Lethabo: One thing I take away from my studies at NYFA is having the ability to collaborate with different people and create new connections through networking at different functions that are specific to filmmaking.
NYFA Alumni Network: What are you currently working on, and how did you get involved in the project?
Lethabo: I have several projects in line that I cannot mention some of the projects I am working on. However, one of the projects is produced in South Africa and will be a TV show. This is the first time I am merging into TV, so I am super excited to see what that looks like. I will be producing this project with my production company and I am excited to share the premiere date with you once it is ready to be aired on TV.
NYFA Alumni Network: Is there anything you'd like to add/promote?
Lethabo: I started a Podcast this year called "That African Podcast" and I have successfully finished the first season, which is available on Spotify and will be accessible on Youtube and TikTok too. You can access the Spotify version by clicking on the photo below:
NYFA Alumni Network congratulates Lethabo on all her success!
Watch Lethabo's interview on the Morning Live Talk Show:
Watch the Jubile Episode with Lethabo:
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