DESPITE THE ODDS

Louis Neethling (37) doesn't listen to advice, well-meaning or not. His dream was to work in television, but as a young boy he was told by a teacher he wouldn’t be able to work in television. He went on to get a job as a runner at the SABC. Film crews laughed when he said he wanted to produce and direct. Today, Louis, who was born deaf, has proven them all wrong. The son of deaf parents, he was born and grew up in Springs, and is now an award-winning film-maker with his own company, Mutt & Jeff Pictures, in London. He recently finished a short drama for The National Deaf Service in the UK. After working as a runner at the SABC, he became a researcher before he, together with scriptwriter and producer Louise van Niekerk, started Dtv and created a magazine programme on SABC for deaf people. He won a Rotary Scholarship to study at the National Film and Television School in the UK and then returned to South Africa to work in film. The BBC’s See Hear approached him to direct a new deaf drama called Switch and he moved to the UK in 2001. He lives with his wife and two children in Hillingdon.