Deon Maas

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Deon Maas
Born
Deon Maas

Durban, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Occupation(s)Director, Writer, Journalist, Media personality
Years active1980–present
Notable workPunk in Africa

Deon Maas, is a South African filmmaker, writer and journalist.[1][2] He is best known for directing the critics acclaimed documentaries such as Punk in Africa, Jam Sandwich and Dis Rugby!.[3]

Personal life[edit]

Maas was born and grew up in Durban, South Africa.[4] He is currently resides in Berlin with his wife.[2]

Career[edit]

He started his career in marketing at First National Bank. After a short stint at the bank, he became a journalist for many newspapers such as: "You / Huisgenoot", "Rooi Rose", "Personality" and "Scope". Meanwhile, he became the editor of "Youth" magazine. In early 1980s, he developed an interest on music, paricularly discovered his talent on hip hop in 1985.[2] After that, Maas started to work for record companies. Then in 1990, he discovered a special brand of hip hop originating from the Cape Flats. In the meantime, he worked for Tusk Music as Music Manager from 1992 and 1998. After quit from that, he joined with "Gallo Music" in 1998 as Marketing and later General Manager until 2003. As a journalist, he continued to work as a presenter of the talk show "Saturday Night" telecast on kykNET.[4][5]

In 2006, he worked as a judge on "Afrikaanse Idols" season 1 along with Taliep Petersen, Mynie Grové and Sean Else. As an author, he wrote the bestselling book Witboy in Africa.[6] In 2008, he wrote the television serial Dis Rugby! and documentary Durban Poison, both received popularity. After the success, he directed the serial Jam Sandwich and reality show with the same name. Apart from that, Maas was the former head of Gallo Records.[7]

He also the produced a reality show ‘Gulder Ultimate Search’ in Nigeria, along with Jam Sandwich and Fortuinsoekers. He was fired after a viral boycott campaign when he wrote about Satanism: “a religion that has the right to be practiced” in his first column in "Rapport".[8] After that, he also worked as the creative director for the South African Music Awards, and then as the marketing manager for Marvel Comics.[2] Then in 1997, he involved to launch the album "The Motherload Compilation". In 2011, Maas launched a nationwide contest called "Hip Hop Kop" where large number of Afrikaans rappers compete for a R100,000 recording contract with Ghetto Ruff records.[4]

In 2012, he co-directed the documentary musical film Punk in Africa with Keith Jones. The film received mixed reviews from critics and screened at many film festivals such as International Film Festival Rotterdam.[9][10][11][12] He is also the founder of documentary film company "Meerkat Media" in August 2014. In 2017, Maas moved to the textile industry along with the fashion line "First World".[4]

Filmography[edit]

Year Film Role Genre Ref.
2008 Dis Rugby! Writer TV series
2008 Durban Poison Writer Documentary
2008 Jam Sandwich Director, Executive producer TV series
2010 Gulder Ultimate Search Writer TV series
2012 Punk in Africa Director, writer Documentary
2013 Die Ballade van Robbie de Wee DJ Witboy Film
2016 Jam Sandwich Producer TV series

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Witboy in Berlin: Adventures in the First World". Goodreads. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Ebrahim, Shaazia (3 April 2019). "Deon Maas Reflects On Berlin, Identity And Belonging". The Daily Vox. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Films from Africa: Personen-Details". www.filme-aus-afrika.de. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Deon Maas". Idols SA 2021 | Season 17. 27 March 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Deon Maas : CreativeMornings/JHB". CreativeMornings. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Deon Maas - IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. ^ s.r.o, Appio Digital. "Deon Maas : DOKweb". dokweb.net. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Blou Hond' kry toe vir Deon Maas sleg beet". news24. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Punk in Africa". Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Punk in Africa: IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Punk in Africa". The Mail & Guardian. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Filme aus Afrika: Film-Details". www.filme-aus-afrika.de. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Deon_Maas&oldid=1199502549"