Most of South Africa first heard the name Ryan Peimer when he won a SAMA
award for the Parlotones’ music video, “It’s Magic’. A director and producer with a
broad array of production experience, Peimer’s real passion is narrative
filmmaking, which he is now putting into practice on a number of developing
television projects and a feature film.
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE A CAREER IN FILMMAKING AND HOW HAVE
YOU GONE ABOUT LEARNING YOUR CRAFT?
Since the age of 12, I started making home movies across the genre spectrum
from action, to drama to horror. While all the other children were out playing
soccer, I was behind the camera euphorically fulfilled. Shooting and making little
movies gave me a sense of creative expression and gratification that no activity
could compete with. It was my favourite extramural, my hobby and soon to be
my life-long passion.
As I progressed through my school career, I grabbed every opportunity to be on
high-end film sets. After producers started seeing my innate excitement for the
process of filmmaking, I was offered small jobs on the sets in different
departments which started giving me an overall understanding of how
everything works and how it all “magically’ comes together. I spent tens of hours
chatting to different directors on all the sets, quietly soaking in everything I
could about the craft.
When I got to my matric year, while all my peers were deciding between
perusing marketing, law and accounting after school, there was no doubt in my
mind that it was my inherent life’s purpose to follow my dream of becoming a
director. After taking the road less travelled, studying directing, screenwriting
and editing for three years, my natural talent was transformed into a well-
nurtured, viable craft.
AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR IS THE SAMA-
WINNING MUSIC VIDEO YOU DIRECTED FOR THE PARLOTONES. HOW WAS THE
CONCEPT FOR THE VIDEO GENERATED? FROM A TECHNICAL POINT OF VIEW,
HOW DID YOU TACKLE THE EXECUTION OF IT, PARTICULARLY THE ANIMATION
WORK? DO YOU HAVE A BACKGROUND IN ANIMATION?
Ironically, I have no animation background, which is what made this project a
daring challenge, and daring challenges excite me! We were approached with a
general concept and outline for the video by M-Net and I then fleshed it out,
converted it into a script format and then devised a plan to bring the concept to
life effectively.
The idea behind the video was to create a magical environment around The
Parlotones while origami creatures come to life and interact with the band. The
video builds to its peak when a magical invisible force creates a powerful
whirlwind as all the origami creatures and petals come together and the entire
world disintegrates, leaving the band wondering whether this was all real or in
their imagination.
Considering I had never worked with 3D animation before this project, it was a
huge learning curve for me to understand the technical intricacies and production
requirements that come with such challenging animation work, not just as a
director but as a producer as well. I was under intense time pressure to shoot
everything in one day, considering the complexity and timing of all the shots.
Directing The Parlotones to react to objects that aren’t actually there was a
challenge in itself. However, every shot was very carefully storyboarded to
accommodate the creatures. I also had to draft a timing script that would cue
The Parlotones to react to certain objects within their environment at specific
points in the song, using lyrics as their cue. We also created certain eye lines so
that they would know where to look and I had a microphone headset so I also
communicated with them during the shoot to cue their eye lines.
WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU BUSY WITH NOW?
We are currently in development for a high-energy comedic reality show with a
well-acclaimed celebrity, a live talk show, two seasons of a crime drama TV
series and my first action drama feature film. In addition to the above-the-line
projects on the go, we continue to service our below-the-line clients with
corporate videos, live multi-camera productions, events, launches etc.
YOUR FIRST FEATURE FILM, HOS, IS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT. HOW
LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING ON IT AND WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN TO
THE TRAILER AND PILOT THAT WAS RECENTLY PRODUCED IN YOUR BID FOR
FUNDING?
HOS is a unique culturally relevant action drama that encapsulates the
complicated humanity and contentious relationships that lurk within the depiction
of criminal minds in South Africa. Without revealing too much about the story, the
film follows our humble protagonist Lerumo, who is urged into criminal action in
an attempt to provide for his girlfriend and his unborn baby.
We have been working on this masterpiece for about five years to date and we
were lucky enough to secure a private investor to fund our 24-minute pilot,
which has made astonishing, lasting impressions on top industry producers.
Every industry professional who lays eyes on the pilot or trailer seems to have
one of two things to say: “This feels like an international film’ or “This absolutely
has to be made into a movie – I’ve never seen anything like this in South
Africa!’
We’ve been extremely focused on mapping out the story to date and while we
have been pursuing conventional avenues for funding, we have not yet received
viable offers to kick-start production. I am all about production value – to the
script, to the look, to the style, to performance, to the cut, to the score. Being a
director who takes immense pride in my craft, I would rather be patient for the
right budget and direct an incredible film, than settle for what I can get and
make just another South African film.
Having said that, we have tons of private investors and executive producers
lined up for this year and I have absolutely no doubt that this film will take off in
2014. It’s time to raise the bar! The trailer can be found on YouTube under “HOS
Trailer.’
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR COMPANY? WHERE
TO FROM HERE?
Our company’s objective is to originate and execute new, exciting and innovative
productions that are currently absent for South African audiences. Flash Forward
consists of a young, passionate team highly knowledgeable and competent in
the field of filmmaking. We have a strong, grounded understanding of story as a
vehicle for entertainment and we have clearly pinpointed the gap in the market
for new, fresh and exhilarating stories that will keep viewers glued to their
seats.
Furthermore, while story is our forte, our company caters for every area of the
motion picture medium, from corporate videos, events, launches and multi-cam
productions to commercials, music videos, reality shows, documentaries and
high-end animation.
My goal is for Flash Forward to evolve and develop into the central hub for high-
end film and television production in South Africa; a company that follows
through on its promises and constantly impresses clients, broadcasters and the
South African public by exceeding expectations with every new exciting project
we undertake. We strive to maintain our high standard of storytelling and
cinematic execution while building solid ethical relationships with our clients and
contractors and in doing so, we aim to uphold our consistent reputation.
Contact: +27 83 976 5088
Email: ryan@flash-forward.co.za
Website: www.flash-forward.co.za
