Morula Pictures is South Africa’s
pre-eminent, BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) compliant
television production house.
The company boasts credits that include: leading primetime drama,
serial drama, feature films and children's television.
Mfundi Vundla, the sole shareholder in Morula Pictures defines the
future of African television and film. A pioneer of his craft, Mfundi
is responsible for the number one television programme on the continent: Generations.
Aired by the nation’s public broadcaster: SABC1,
the series is the longest running African soap opera. As the
number one television program in South Africa, it outperforms
American, Canadian and Australian programs.
Read
More
Morula Pictures is responsible for a wealth of drama programming
in South Africa with over two thousand episodes of Generations having
been broadcast. Backstage was the flagship daily youth drama series
broadcast by the free to air channel: E-tv.
With the immense success of Generations, Mfundi set out
to capture the imagination of the nations youth. Using the platform
of dance and music, Backstage provides a daily dose of fun
and exhilaration.
Mfundi Vundla is executive producer of the feature film: In My
Country. A proudly South African film, it tells a captivating
tale in a delicate and hauntingly beautiful manner. The film showcases
International movie heavy weights: Samuel L Jackson and Juliette
Binoche.
Morula produced Jozi-H, a medical drama
inspired by Johannesburg General Hospital. The drama series created
by Mfundi Vundla is a Canadian-South Africa Co-production.
This edgy pace-setting drama has all the elements that make for exciting
television viewing.
The resident doctors of Jozi-H all have one thing in common:
There is never a dull moment in their lives. With thrilling elements
such as romance, unorthodox medical practices, and the opportunity
to play God, these doctors are bound to keep any viewer captivated.
Jozi-H takes place on a frontier, where modern western
medicine meets traditional African healing; where groundbreaking
HIV/AIDS research leads the way in search of a cure; where
diseases no longer found in the first world remain a deadly
challenge; and the volume of violent crime forces interns
to become world experts on trauma in weeks, rather than years.
Morula Pictures has also ventured into animation, by producing Magic
Cellar, a 3D animation series, a first for South Africa. This
is also a Canadian co-production. The lovable characters of the Magic
Cellar are enchanting! Join them for the most fun filled adventures
as they transport the whole family to a new level of storytelling.
The most intriguing folktales are brought to life by adorable insects
and their friends who make the experience of reading a pleasurable
and fulfilling one. Allow this series to capture your imagination
and re-visit the place where your childhood memories live: Magic
Cellar.
The Magic Cellar has won 29 International Awards
to date, these include 2 awards at the New York Film Festival,
a Cine Golden Eagle, a Platinum Remi at the Worldfest in
Houston and 2 Telly Awards.
As one of South Africa’s
leading independent production companies and a
key player in the South African market, Morula
Pictures strives for excellence through developing
quality television production.
The company aims to foster creative talent, international partnerships,
economic growth and technological advancement. Through these values
Morula intends to make profits and gain assets from producing and
servicing high quality productions.
Mfundi Vundla has a vision and a determination. A vision that South
African television can and must be of African outlook and origin
and a determination to bring this vision to fruition.
Mfundi is the sixth child of a family of 11. He was born on 10 September
1946, in Western Native Township, Johannesburg. Mfundi’s mother
was a nurse and his father a clerk at the Crown Mines Hospital when
they met.
Education was always emphasized in the Vundla household. Mfundi went
to primary school in Jo’burg and up until Standard 8 (Form
III), he attended school in Healdtown, in the Eastern Cape. He matriculated
in Johannesburg at Morris Isaacson High School in Soweto. From there
he went on to Fort Hare University and enrolled for a BA in Politics,
Philosophy and English. In 1968 he was expelled from the university
for underground political activity.
Read
More
Mfundi went into exile in the USA in August 1970. He continued with
his education, remaining an active member of the ANC. In 1972 he
completed a BA in Politics and English at the University of Massachusetts,
then went on to graduate with a Master’s degree in Education
from Boston University.
In 1973 he met Karen, whom he married in 1976. The Vundlas moved
to New York where Mfundi worked both as a fund-raiser for the Funding
Exchange (a foundation supporting local and international grassroots
organisations) and as a playwright, highlighting the social injustices
of apartheid in his work.
In 1986, the Vundlas moved to California where both Mfundi and Karen
worked as television writers for David Milch, creator of NYPD Blue
and writer for Hill Street Blues. Along with other South Africans,
Mfundi helped found the African Arts Fund which raised money to bring
Black, Coloured and Indian South Africans to the United States to
study fine arts. The fund helped educate several well-known South
African artists, photographers, dancers and musicians.
As an active member of the ANC, Mfundi gave speeches in California
to raise awareness about apartheid, fighting for its abolition. After
the dismantling of apartheid, Mfundi came back to settle in South
Africa in 1992. His wife and son joined him in 1993.
In 1993, an opportunity arose to submit a proposal for a soap opera
to the SABC. Mfundi created Generations, which has had an enormous
impact on South Africans, being the first local television show to
focus on the needs, dreams and aspirations of black people. It is
the most popular show on television with the highest ratings across
all channels. Now in its 13th year of screening, its popularity continues
to grow.
In 2000 Mfundi obtained a contract with e-TV for a new youth soap
opera, and so Backstage was born. Mfundi broke new ground with the
show, using it to develop and showcase South African talent. Mfundi
was also the Executive Producer of the movie In
My Country, which
stars Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche.
He’s currently producing a children's animation series,
Magic Cellar, with SABC Education.
Mfundi is in pre-production with Jozi-H, a medical drama, he created.
The series, inspired by Johannesburg General Hospital is a Canadian-South
Africa co-production.
Mfundi
Vundla
ADEELAH CARRIM
Producer/Chief Operations Officer
Adeelah Carrim became South Africa’s first woman to have produced
Africa's first 3D animation series 'Magic
Cellar' which
aims at exploring Africa’s rich cultural heritage using the
vehicle of folklore and folktales.
The children's animation program is the first of it’s kind
on the continent and it speaks to Africa’s multi-cultural and
multi-racial children in a unique language that they understand and
identify with. The series has already won a Platinum Remi Award (Worldfest),
2 Telly Awards, 3 awards at the US Internantional Film Video Festival,
2 Aegis, 2 Aurora, 2 Davey’s, 2 New York Festivals (gold & silver),
Berkeley Video Grand Festival Award, Chicago International Children’s
Film Festival, Chris Award, All Star Endorsement-Kids First.
Read
More
Ms. Carrim was born in South Africa but grew up in Botswana. After
graduating from Maru-a-pula secondry school she attended MARIST COLLEGE,
POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, USA where she graduated with a Bachelor of
Arts degree. In keeping with her academic track record, she attended
the Graduate School of Business Administration at the Prestigious
University of Witswatersrand. She puts her business acumen to good
use when it comes to running the business side of things at Morula
Pictures where she is not only a producer, but also the production
company’s Chief operations Officer.
Her duties include overseeing projects in development and the day
to day management there-of. Ms. Carrim has a hands-on approach to
all the productions under the Morula Pictures banner. She was involved
with the medical drama series JOZI H of which she is also Executive
Producer. This is a Canadian Co-production between Innercity Films
(Canada) and Morula Pictures (SA).
While living in New York City, she also volunteered her professional
services to a PBS program called “Rights and Wrongs” it
dealt with human rights issues all around the world. Her illustrious
career on the South African Media Scene has seen her involved in
Advertising, African Media Development, and now Television Production.
Read
More 
