Fiche Personne
Cinéma/TV

Mfundi Vundla

Producteur/trice, Producteur/trice délégué/e
Afrique du Sud

Français

Mfundi Michael-Scott VUNDLA est producteur sud-africain. Il est le père du réalisateur et scénariste Charlie VUNDLA.

English

Mfundi Michael-Scott VUNDLA is the Chairman/Executive Producer of Morula Pictures, South Africa’s pre-eminent, BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) compliant television production house.

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.

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.
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