DFMI Business Lab Podcast

About DFMI Business Lab Podcast

The DFMI Business Lab Podcast, brought to you by the Durban FilmMart Institute and presented in partnership with DW Akademie, supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Developments. The DFMI Business Lab podcast draws inspiration from the 18 week online DFMI Business Lab programme which focuses on the business elements of filmmaking which is not a widely available area of study. Visit our website: https://durbanfilmmart.co.za/ Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

Publisher

Durban FilmMart Institute

Category

tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Oct 2025

Latest episode

11 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

10 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Dec 2025

   Marketing & Distribution part 2

   Episode 9 wraps up the series with more regarding Marekting and Distribution In this episode French-Burkinabè film distributor, festival programmer and critic Claire Diao is interviewed by DFMI Alumni, filmmaker and festival programmer, Muhummad Taymour (Egypt). Expert:French-Burkinabè Claire Diao founded the short film program Quartiers Lointains in 2013, co-founded the Pan-African film critic magazine AWOTELE in 2015, and has been the CEO of the Pan-African distribution company Sudu Connexion since 2016. Claire Diao is a programmer at large at the Lincoln Center (USA) and selects for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short film Festival (France). Host: Muhummad Tyamour, Egyptian film producer, director, and video artist born in 1985.From 2018 to 2020, Taymour worked as a producer with “Fig Leaf”, a production company based in Alexandria. In 2020, he produced the short film, “I am afraid to forget your face/ ستاشر “which won the prestigious Palme d’Or award in Festival De Cannes – Short Film Competition. This Palme d’Or award marks the first Palme d'Or award for an Egyptian film in the festival’s history. In August of 2021, Taymour founded the ‘Egyptian Film Producers Club’ (EFPC), which aimed to gather all the aspiring film producers and create a space for them to share their experiences through the club's activities. The club has also created educational programs for upcoming generations of film producers in Egypt. In 2022, he founded ‘CHAOS FILMS, an Egyptian production company based in Egypt with a focus on producing high-quality films, specifically short films. The company is currently producing it’s 4rth short film.” Beside teaching Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

2. 

   11 Dec 2025

   Marketing & Distribution part 1

   Episode 8 speaks to Marketing and Distribution In this episode French-Burkinabè film distributor, festival programmer and critic Claire Diao is interviewed by DFMI Alumni, filmmaker and festival programmer, Muhummad Taymour (Egypt). Expert:French-Burkinabè Claire Diao founded the short film program Quartiers Lointains in 2013, co-founded the Pan-African film critic magazine AWOTELE in 2015, and has been the CEO of the Pan-African distribution company Sudu Connexion since 2016. Claire Diao is a programmer at large at the Lincoln Center (USA) and selects for the Clermont-Ferrand International Short film Festival (France). Host: Muhummad Tyamour, Egyptian film producer, director, and video artist born in 1985.From 2018 to 2020, Taymour worked as a producer with “Fig Leaf”, a production company based in Alexandria. In 2020, he produced the short film, “I am afraid to forget your face/ ستاشر “which won the prestigious Palme d’Or award in Festival De Cannes – Short Film Competition. This Palme d’Or award marks the first Palme d'Or award for an Egyptian film in the festival’s history. In August of 2021, Taymour founded the ‘Egyptian Film Producers Club’ (EFPC), which aimed to gather all the aspiring film producers and create a space for them to share their experiences through the club's activities. The club has also created educational programs for upcoming generations of film producers in Egypt. In 2022, he founded ‘CHAOS FILMS, an Egyptian production company based in Egypt with a focus on producing high-quality films, specifically short films. The company is currently producing it’s 4rth short film.” Beside teaching Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

3. 

   8 Dec 2025

   Legal Framework - IP and Entertainment Law part 2

   Episode 7 continues with part 2 of introduction to IP and Entertainement Law In this episode South African entertainment lawyer and activist, Unathi Malunga will be interviewed by DFMI Alumni and filmmaker, Hallie Haller (South Africa). Expert: Unathi Malunga, a Fulbright scholar with an LLM from UCLA, Unathi’s work has been in the creative industries (she has worked as an Entertainment Lawyer then Creative Industries Consultant) and has spanned across a variety of platforms and territories leading to a full understanding of various media platforms and their most effective uses. Having moved from Deneys Reitz (now Norton Rose Fulbright) unlike many Entertainment Lawyers her work has not only covered the whole gambit of the creative and content industries: film, television broadcasting, music, visual arts, publishing (including web), theatre, dance, live events, sport etc. but has further incorporated many diverse aspects such as education, sponsorship and funding, rights strategies, trade exchanges, licensing programmes, product placement, drafting, negotiation and project management. She has, moreover, been involved in running Legacy Programmes – structured training and learning project-specific programmes for the disadvantaged Host: Hallie Haller Hallie Haller is a South African creative who cares about media, the future and you. Currently based in Johannesburg, Hallie is interested in cultural production that creates opportunity, fosters community and examines how we may live more meaningful lives. She has written a multitude of unpublished pieces, received hundreds of rejection letters, invested unwisely in passion projects and risked it all on hope - more than once. For love and money, she is a writer, director and creative strategist. Hallie is proudly a Brown Girls Doc Mafia member, a ForCreativeGirls mentor, a One World Media documentary fellow and an ambassador for GirlsInFilm's South African chapter. “Politics exists in the wake of culture. If you want to change the world, you’ve gotta change the culture.” - Franklin Leonard, The Blacklist. Representing: Rudeboy Collective. Girls in Film. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

4. 

   1 Dec 2025

   Legal Framework - IP and Entertainment Law part 1

   Episode 6 sees the start of a 2 part introduction to IP and Entertainement Law. In this episode South African entertainment lawyer and activist, Unathi Malunga will be interviewed byDFMI Alumni and filmmaker, Hallie Haller (South Africa). Expert: Creative industries. Building power, policy, equity and protection for Africa’s Creative and Cultural Industries With over two decades of executive and sector-wide experience, Unathi works at the intersection of entertainment law, policy advocacy, cultural diplomacy, and creative economy development. I bring deep experience in shaping policy, managing content and rights, and building platforms that empower underrepresented voices in the creative and cultural sector. As both a lawyer and a content strategist, Unathi supports creators, cultural institutions, broadcasters, and governments in structuring content deals, navigating IP law, and building sustainable platforms — with a strong focus on equity, clarity, and empowerment. Uanthi don’t just operate in legal spaces —She has led, contributed to and have been actively involved in industry-wide lobbying and advocacy efforts, policy reform consultations, and creative economy initiatives focused on access, equity, and social transformation, ensuring that legislation, funding models, and market frameworks reflect the lived realities of South African creatives. Unathi is also a strategist and educator — designing learning programmes, legal literacy platforms, and development initiatives that place culture at the centre of transformation. Her goal is the same: She uses law as a tool — to ensure creators are protected, heard, and empowered to thrive — not just for protection, but for inclusion and growth. My focus remains the same: to elevate Africa’s creative economy. Protecting culture. Empowering creators. Shaping industries. Host: Hallie Haller Hallie Haller is a South African creative who cares about media, the future and you. Currently based in Johannesburg, Hallie is interested in cultural production that creates opportunity, fosters community and examines how we may live more meaningful lives. She has written a multitude of unpublished pieces, received hundreds of rejection letters, invested unwisely in passion projects and risked it all on hope - more than once. For love and money, she is a writer, director and creative strategist. Hallie is proudly a Brown Girls Doc Mafia member, a ForCreativeGirls mentor, a One World Media documentary fellow and an ambassador for GirlsInFilm's South African chapter. “Politics exists in the wake of culture. If you want to change the world, you’ve gotta change the culture.” - Franklin Leonard, The Blacklist. Representing: Rudeboy Collective. Girls in Film. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

5. 

   24 Nov 2025

   Business mangement part 2 (BMC)

   Episode 5 continues the coversation regarding Business Management by discussing the Business Model Canvas tool. In this episode South African Producer and Academic Tina-Louise Smith will be interviewed by DFMI Alumni and filmmaker, Moreetsi Gabang (Botswana). Expert: Tina-Louise Smith was instrumental in bringing the Business Model Canvas to South African and African film industry professionals after she experienced the power of the canvas at a four-hour HotDocs workshop in 2012. With the support of South African industry bodies and funders, with the Canadian Film Centre Media Lab and her co-director, Orla Garriques of OG & Co. Media, Tina-Louise helped to launch the first Business Model Canvas workshops at the 2015 Durban FilmMart. Tina-Louise Smith has her Master’s in Film and Television Studies and is currently researching towards her PhD in Television Studies at UCT’s Centre for Film and Media Studies. Her research explores how effectively the formulae of television crime dramas from the global north are adapted and negotiated into South African crime shows for viewers of local streaming television. Host: Moreetsi Gabang is a screenwriter and director from Botswana. He is an alumnus of Talents Durban (2017), Berlinale Talents (2018), the DFMI Business Lab 2021-22, and AuthenticA Series Lab (2023-2024). His feature film, THUPO (Initiation), currently in development, won the ScreenCraft Film Fund 2023 Award and was selected for the DFMI Jumpstart 2023 programme in partnership with DW Akademie, Produire Au Sud, and Institute Français. Moreetsi graduated valedictorian from AFDA Johannesburg, and completed his MA (First Class) after receiving the Vice-Chancellor Postgraduate International Scholarship to study at UAL: London College of Communication. His short film Motswakwa (Foreigner) was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2019 Africa Movie Academy Awards, while Zombie Date Night in Tlokweng won the inaugural NEFTi Africa Competition 2024 Best Film and Audience Choice Awards. He is an alumnus of the Botswana Wildlife Film School, as well as a two-time recipient of the Bessie Head Literature Awards and Shore Script 2024 Script Development Fund recipient. Moreetsi worked as an assistant writer on the international series Liar: Africa, with his most recent short film Baratani (The Hill of Lovers) winning the NEFTi All Stars 2024 Competition Best Film and Audience Choice Awards. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

6. 

   17 Nov 2025

   Business mangement part 1

   Episode 4 shifts focus to Business Mangagement In this episode multi-hyphenated Kenyan filmmaker and business consultant Njoki Muhoho, from Zebra Productions will be interviewed by DFMI Alumni and filmmaker, Moreetsi Gabang (Botswana). Expert: Njoki is a multitalented creative interested in people and their stories and is a published author, columnist and poet. She has a strong passion for telling African stories with authenticity for local and international audiences which has resulted in her being a five times award winning film producer and screen writer. She is also a former Board Director of the Kenya Film Commission and has served as Juror for many local and international film awards including The International Emmys for 3-years, (2016 - 2018) as well as Chief Judge and Juror for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) for 4- years (2013-2015). Njoki is also the inaugural Academy Director for the Multichoice Talent Factory East Africa with a hub in Nairobi. The Multichoice Talent Factory (MTF) is a film school initiative that trains the next generation of emerging film and TV creatives' technical skills in cinematography, audio, directing and story writing to improve the quality and quantity of African film/tv content. This initiative is also a ground breaking collaboration between MTF and New York Film Academy. Host: Moreetsi Gabang is a screenwriter and director from Botswana. He is an alumnus of Talents Durban (2017), Berlinale Talents (2018), the DFMI Business Lab 2021-22, and AuthenticA Series Lab (2023-2024). His feature film, THUPO (Initiation), currently in development, won the ScreenCraft Film Fund 2023 Award and was selected for the DFMI Jumpstart 2023 programme in partnership with DW Akademie, Produire Au Sud, and Institute Français. Moreetsi graduated valedictorian from AFDA Johannesburg, and completed his MA (First Class) after receiving the Vice-Chancellor Postgraduate International Scholarship to study at UAL: London College of Communication. His short film Motswakwa (Foreigner) was nominated for Best Short Film at the 2019 Africa Movie Academy Awards, while Zombie Date Night in Tlokweng won the inaugural NEFTi Africa Competition 2024 Best Film and Audience Choice Awards. He is an alumnus of the Botswana Wildlife Film School, as well as a two-time recipient of the Bessie Head Literature Awards and Shore Script 2024 Script Development Fund recipient. Moreetsi worked as an assistant writer on the international series Liar: Africa, with his most recent short film Baratani (The Hill of Lovers) winning the NEFTi All Stars 2024 Competition Best Film and Audience Choice Awards. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

7. 

   10 Nov 2025

   Fund raising

   Episode 3 explores the do's and don'ts of Film Funding and where to find it. In this episode, South Africa, producer and executive director at A.M. Afrika Consultants and AmaFrika Films,Toni Monty will be interviewed by producer and DFMI Alumni, Khosie Dali (South Africa). Expert: A.M. Afrika Film Consultants provides strategic advisory and executive producer services to fiction or documentary films and television series at all stages. This includes working with creatives to create market-ready packages and helping producers sell their projects in development internationally. Toni Monty has led a notable career working in the development sphere of the film and television industry for over 25 years. She has led the creation of several successful sector strategies and industry programmes aimed at developing African filmmakers. Before her current role at A.M Afrika, Toni Monty worked as the Operations Head of the Durban Film Office, South Africa, the film industry development arm of the City of Durban for 17 years, as well as 11 years as the head of the annual Durban FilmMart, an International Film and Television co-production market aimed at raising the profile of African Cinema, during which time she established a unique perspective of developing content for the global marketplace, as well as creating a solid network of international funders, co-producers, financiers and industry professionals. She has worked with over 200 African projects in development, many of which have gone on to achieve international acclaim. Ms Monty is currently serving as Chairperson on the board of directors for the Encounters Film Festival. In addition, Ms Monty has served 3 years as a director on the board of the KwaZulu Natal Film Commission and four years as an ex-officio member on the board of the KwaZulu Natal Music Cluster, KUMISA. A law graduate with special focus in the field of intellectual property law, Ms Monty has completed her post graduate studies in Public Administration and her Master of Law in Intellectual Property Law. Host: Khosie Dali is an award-winning South African film producer and founder of Miss K Productions. Her debut feature Sons of the Sea won Best South African Film at DIFF. A Film Independent Fellow and alumna of EAVE, Rotterdam, and Realness, she’s developing Street Surfer and leads Qhakaza Workshop for emerging producers. Her second feature, The Heart Is A Muscle has been submitted as South Africa's official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

8. 

   3 Nov 2025

   Financial management

   Episode 2 focuses on the importance of Financial Management for a sustainable business. In this episode, South African Financial consultant and author of Money Wit: Becoming Financially Savvy, Nola Rae will be interviewed by producer and DFMI Alumni, Khosie Dali (South Africa). Expert: Experienced Business Owner with a demonstrated history of working in the business consulting and professional training & coaching industry. Skilled in Management, Writing, Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Training. Strong entrepreneurship professional with a Business Accountant (SA) and Registered Independent Reviewer focused in Accounting and Finance from South African Institute of Business Accountants. Host: Khosie Dali is an award-winning South African film producer and founder of Miss K Productions. Her debut feature Sons of the Sea won Best South African Film at DIFF. A Film Independent Fellow and alumna of EAVE, Rotterdam, and Realness, she’s developing Street Surfer and leads Qhakaza Workshop for emerging producers. Her second feature, The Heart Is A Muscle has been submitted as South Africa's official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards.Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com (http://durbanfilmmart.com/) Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com (mailto:info@durbanfilmmart.com)

9. 

   27 Oct 2025

   Coproduction

   Discussing the importance of Equitable Coproduction. In this session, Ethiopian-Canadian producer, Tamara Dawit will be interviewed by producer and DFMI Alumni, Khosie Dali (South Africa) for the first episode of a 9-part podcast series talking about the business about the business of film. Expert: Tamara Mariam Dawit is an Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker and policy advisor in the creative sector. Her most recent film is the award-winning documentary Finding Sally which premiered in 2020 at Hot Docs. She is currently producing and co-producing a slate of feature documentaries and dramatic films. Tamara works as a consultant in the screen sector on strategies to address access, export, stability and sector development in both Africa and in North America for equity-seeking communities. In Canada, she is a founding board member of the Racial Equity Media Collective and in Africa of Ethiopia Creates and the East Africa Screen Collective. Tamara was a resident in Docs in Progress, the Logan Non-Fiction Residency and is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, Durban Talents, Doha Producers Lab, Rotterdam Lab, Apost, and EAVE. In 2021 she was named a TIFF/Netflix producing fellow. Host: Khosie Dali is an award-winning South African film producer and founder of Miss K Productions. Her debut feature Sons of the Sea won Best South African Film at DIFF. A Film Independent Fellow and alumna of EAVE, Rotterdam, and Realness, she’s developing Street Surfer and leads Qhakaza Workshop for emerging producers. Her second feature, The Heart Is A Muscle has been submitted as South Africa's official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards. Visit our website: durbanfilmmart.com Email us: info@durbanfilmmart.com

10. 

    21 Oct 2025

    DFMI Business Lab Podcast Trailer

    The DFMI Business Lab podcast draws inspiration from the 18 week online programme which  focuses on the business elements of filmmaking aimed at equipping film producers with the skills to grow their careers.

Contact DFMI Business Lab Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.