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Team

Wesley Volschenk

Post Producer

After helping Justin get the first seasons of Cooked onto the BBC, Wes reckons he has become part of the furniture at Cooked In Africa. With a solid background in the film industry, they don’t keep him around just for his good looks and boyish charm. From his side, he stays because he digs the freedom Cooked has with its stories and content, and because he loves working with the team that has become his friends and family – although he swears he will always adore his wife and kids. Despite Justin having nicknamed Wes “Skunky” – which kinda stuck after a grueling six week road trip – he is the rock in the Cooked family and feels quite comfortable working in an environment named after his state of mind.
Sunel Haasbroek

Director of Photography

Going on the road as Justin’s right-hand woman has its own challenges and rewards and the line between work and pleasure soon becomes blurred. Sunel is passionate about travel and loves crossing borders, immersing herself in different cultures and exploring new landscapes. Best of all? She gets to document it along the way! Some of her favourite moments on the job include her encounter with the wild horse in Klein Aus (Namibia) and the day the crew went to the Isle of Pigs in Mozambique. Sunel has an innate fear of large bodies of water (river rafting on the Zambesi – no thanks) but when at home has a torrid love affair with pets Snoekie, Kahlo, Charlie, Dexter and Jakkals. Her rule-breakers are long toe nails and when someone’s toes hang over the edge of their sandals. That’s pretty universal though.
Calvin Hayward

Producer

When he was offered this job, Calvin realised, with a heavy dose of nervous anticipation, that he had been summoned on a wild and inspirational roller coaster journey. Cooked In Africa Films has swiftly become his second home and the crazy crew his second family. Although with three kids back at the pozzie you would think he had enough children of his own to look after. But despite the long hours, time away from home, nicknames (thanks Justin) and the pressure of delivering exceptional content on time and under budget he is very conscious of the privilege that he has been given. Rumours that he was really hired because he loves fishing are not true.
Raylene Stevens

Production support / mom

The unpredictable organised creative chaos is why Raylene loves her job. That might sound like a whole bunch of contradictory words to the untrained ear but it makes perfect sense in the Cooked context. There is also the added entertainment of the licorice all-sort loving crew (uncle and uncled and dad and the children…you know who you are). Having an office that is not an office at all but the great outdoors, sunrises, sunsets, roadside accommodation and long road trips with very bad singing partners – what more could one ask for? No wonder Ray hates traffic, shopping malls and suffers from a bit of trolley rage. In her spare time she collects empty wine bottles, runs DVD marathons under the duvet with her daughter and cats on rainy weekends.
Jenny Brown

Commercial Producer

Being able to co-create projects with young, talented people who are awake, conscious, aware and who want to make a difference to the planet is what gets Jenny out of bed and into work every day. She says it would be good to be able to view a fully extensive website of all Cooked memories because she's not been able to participate in them all. Jenny loves animals, angels, extra terrestrials and other visiting human hybrids and she is very into metaphysics and crystals.
Marlese Lenhoff

Post Co-ordinator

Marlese always thought she was creative…and then she met this bubbling, creative, cooked-up storm that blew her away. How things come together in the post production department continues to amaze her away on a daily basis. “Whenever I get a glimpse of production in action I realise that being a small part of it all is what I’m here for, and more valuable than being an executive housewife with art as a hobby.”
Mishal Fortune

Post Production Assistant

Another newcomer to the Cooked family, Mishal says he has been welcomed with open arms and that’s why he loves working here. “It’s not just a company that makes awesome shows, it’s a family environment. Everyone has their part to play and I’m happy that I’m included.” Mishal is still building Cooked memories but in his spare time he likes to be as creative as possible, painting and making beautiful music.
Corne Van Rooyen

Director

Corne says being a director at Cooked entitles...running after the cinematographer with a tripod, kicking clouds of dust in front of the lens to create a more epic feel, sneaking (illegally) into amazing locations and ultimately working with a highly talented and experienced crew. He loves being part of Cooked in Africa because it gives him the opportunity to explore and promote a vibrant country like South Africa with its unending stories and diverse people.
What he likes about Justin is that Justin sees massive potential in the smallest things. He lives his life according to the words of Lou Reed: "One chord is fine. Two chords is pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.”
Terry Westby-Nunn

Director / Editor

Terry likes walking up mountains, free-range eggs, getting warm and staying warm. Pet-peeve: Hypocrisy: “I know you love animals, but that piece of meat that you’re eating actually did come from (surprise, surprise) an animal that more than likely died a horrible, scary death… And if you can’t kill it yourself, you shouldn’t eat it.” Terry says she loves working with Cooked because, “there’s a real opportunity to empower people to make transformative changes in their lives.” In her spare time Terry gets scratched and bitten by Charity, her boyfriend’s unstable cat.
Jenine Lindeque

Colourist

Jei loves to colour – the kind that involves balancing light and making footage look beautiful and does a darn fine job of it too. Naturally, she is the brightest crayon in this particular box. When she’s not colouring, Jei works in social media, which means she gets paid to do all the things most people do to escape work and then get into trouble for doing it – Facebooking, Youtubing and Tweeting. “It’s the best job in the world!” says Jei, who will do almost anything for a Vida E cappuccino, but prefers hard cash and/or sushi.
Louis Hiemstra

Stills Photographer

Looking at the world through a viewfinder has been an incredibly rewarding experience from day one, says Louis. Not only is he inspired by the talent and commitment of his colleagues, he’s been having an obscene amount of fun since joining the team a few months ago - flying helicopters, playing with banded mongooses (mongeese?), sitting in an open Land Rover surrounded by a pride of lions…it’s hard to pick a favourite, but one of the most memorable certainly has been taking the plunge into the “Big Blue” on a recent tuna fishing trip - jumping into the 1200m deep ocean, beyond the continental shelf off Cape Point. “It felt like an episode straight out of National Geographic!” says Louis. That’s good, because his Cooked work can be seen on National Geographic.
Megan Bryan

Production Assistant

Justin says he always ends up with the lost sheep that find their home at Cooked, and it becomes a home and second family to most of these strays. Some have been there since the beginning (like Wes), others are relative newcomers, like Megan. “Even though it’s early days I consider myself extremely lucky to be part of such an innovative and charismatic group of people,” she says. “I am still, in a sense, the newbie in the office but the more I get to know Cooked and the people here the more excited I get to be involved.” Best then, that the rest of the gang don’t annoy her by slurping their tea or chewing loudly. Rather take her to watch a gorgeous sunset. Yes, she knows it’s corny but she doesn’t care.