PANEL DISCUSSION
Creative Industry Panel: Navigating Trends, AI & Early Careers

CHAIR AND PANELISTS

Chair: Deon Opperman

Ulrike Mieke Marais  South African Children’s Book Illustrator & Lecturer

Zandré Coetzer  Director, Producer & Co-owner, Nagvlug Films

Dr Pieter GJ Koornhof  Legal Consultant & Director, IESA

Paul Loots  Product Designer, Late Checkout Agency

EVENT SCHEDULE
11:00 – 11:05  Welcome & Introduction – Opening remarks by the Chair and Introduction of the panellists

11:05 – 11:55  Guided Panel Discussion

1. Future Trends: What trends do you see having a very powerful impact on your industry in the next five years?

2. Graduation Realities: What do you wish newly graduated practitioners entering the industry knew before they entered?

3. AI & Industry Reality: How has AI already changed how work actually gets done in your field, what is still overstated or misunderstood, and where do you see it going?

4. Standing Out: If you were hiring a junior practitioner today, what would make a portfolio or showreel stand out, and what makes you immediately lose interest?

5. Career Trajectories: What does a typical career path look like in your field now, and how different is it from the path you took or expected when you started?
   

11:55 – 12:10  Audience Q&A
Floor opens for questions from the audience to any or all panellists.

12:10 – 12:30  Networking, Tea & Snacks
Informal gathering with light refreshments.
Panellists are available for dedicated 1-on-1 chats with students interested in their specific fields.

Chair: Deon Opperman
Subject Manager: Business Management for Creative Practitioners, Lecturer: Screenwriting (OW)

Deon Opperman is a writer, director, and producer whose career spans over 40 years in the South African entertainment industry. His television productions have received both ATKV Mediaveertjie and SAFTA awards for Best Production and Best Script.

His work as a playwright has twice received the Hertzog Prize for Literature (Drama), the highest Afrikaans literary prize in South Africa, awarded by the South African Academy of Science and Art. He holds a Master of Arts in Film and Television from Northwestern University, Chicago, and a Master of Business Administration from the Wits University School of Business.

Opperman was one of the three founding partners of the film and theatre school, AFDA, and currently occupies the position of Subject Manager: Business Management for Creative Practitioners and Lecturer: Screenwriting at the Open Window Institute.

Ulrike Mieke Marais
South African Children’s Book Illustrator and Lecturer

Ulrike Mieke is a South African Children’s Book Illustrator and lecturer currently based in Brighton, UK. After several years as an in-house designer she turned to children's book illustration and received a Master's in Illustration from Falmouth University. Her work has been longlisted for the Unpublished Picturebook Showcase, selected for the Northern Illustration award and most recently awarded the Plymouth Illustration Award. When she’s not drawing, Mieke lectures at BIMM University in Brighton or is busy planning a community event with the Association of Illustrators as the regional host in Brighton. Ulrike Mieke is represented by Bright Agency.

Zandré Coetzer
Zandré is a South African director, producer and co-owner of Nagvlug Films.

Zandré is a South African director, producer and co-owner of Nagvlug Films. She is drawn to emotionally honest, character-driven stories that blend intimacy with imagination. Her work includes the box office hit My f*k, Marelize!, the family fantasy Silas en die Ysbeer op Tafelberg, and the internationally acclaimed feature HEN. Through her work, she is passionate about telling stories that linger long after the credits roll.

Dr Pieter GJ Koornhof
Legal consultant and director of IESA

Pieter is a legal consultant and director of IESA, the South African trade industry body for video games. Prior to this, he was Chief Operating Officer of 24 Bit Games, a video game development studio specialising in the porting and optimisation of video games. He holds a variety of degrees and professional accreditations in the field of law, economics and education. His doctorate is on the regulatory framework for internet monopolies in competition law. He is an attorney of the High Court of South Africa, having qualified in 2009.

Paul Loots
Product designer at Late Checkout Agency

Paul Loots is a product designer who studied at Open Window and came back a few years later to teach interaction design. He went on to co-run a studio that helped more than 100 South African startups design their products, and now works with global brands at Late Checkout Agency on next-generation AI products and interfaces.