‘Now I’ve made it,’ says award-winning filmmaker

Although filmmaker and producer Adam Thal received a nomination for an Academy Award for the short film The Last Ranger, he was more shocked to hear that he had won an Investec Jewish Achiever Award because, as he put it, this felt like he had actually made it. 

“As a filmmaker, I’ve often felt like an outsider, especially as a young Jewish boy who didn’t follow the expected path into accounting, law, or medicine. I’ve had to work harder to prove myself, and growing up Orthodox in South Africa, my community has always meant everything to me. That’s why this recognition feels like the ultimate pat on the back. This is a sign that I’ve truly made it.” 

Thal was born in Harare, and he and his family moved to Johannesburg when he was only six years old. His father had to start over, and throughout his childhood, this inspired Thal to believe that he could do anything he set his mind to. 

“When we moved from Zimbabwe, I saw him literally start from scratch,” he said. “We got to Joburg, he didn’t have a job, he didn’t have anything. And what he did to support us as a family and give us the lifestyle that we were able to have was nothing less than a huge miracle and the result of extreme dedication and passion.” 

Thal’s passion for film began in Grade 6 at Fairways Primary, when a classroom lesson on cameras sparked an instant fascination. At King David Linksfield, he nurtured this passion through Glance, the school’s television department led by Gary Block, where he helped produce fortnightly videos recapping school events for assembly. 

“I wanted to make a career out of making movies and capturing people for a good hour, hour and a half, giving them a little bit of escapism,” he said. “And so, after doing all the stuff at King David or Glance, I wanted to study it and become a filmmaker. 

“But I guess like any young Jewish kid at the time, especially back in 1998, I thought this is just a dream. It’s just a hobby,” he said. 

So, Thal reluctantly went to study electrical engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, which he hated. He lasted only eight or nine months. 

“My parents saw me absolutely hating it, and saw my passion, so they allowed me to take film seriously. And for the rest of that year, I went to work for SuperSport as an assistant and a cameraman at live sporting events.” 

Thal then enrolled in the African Film and Drama Academy (AFDA), one of South Africa’s leading film, television, performance, business innovation, and creative arts schools, where he studied a Bachelor of Arts degree and Honours in Motion Picture Medium, majoring in producing. 

He said, “From year one to year four, I always wanted to produce. I love the art of filmmaking, but I want to be involved in the business side of filmmaking, so I studied producing and editing.” 

In his third year, he and one of his classmates, Ryan Poole, were competing to be the best producer in their class, and were asked to produce a film for a fourth-year student. This endeavour led to Poole and Thal deciding to come together and start a business called Star Productions, which then became The Star Film Company. 

“We didn’t ever want to go and work for someone. We wanted to create our own careers. And there was nothing better than the two strongest producers teaming up to do it together,” he said. “In our fourth year, while we were attending lectures, we were counting cash from the jobs we were doing in between lectures. We were shooting music videos, commercials, corporate videos, whatever we could basically at the time. And that’s what launched our career.” 

Thal always wanted to work on long-form media like film and television, however, he knew that to do that, they needed money, so they started doing commercials. 

“In 2003, when we created the business, long-form filmmaking wasn’t a lucrative side of our industry,” he said. “So we decided that if we’re going to stay in South Africa and grow this business, the lucrative side of filmmaking is TV commercials. So the main reason we went into TV commercials was to become financially successful, but always with the end goal of being long-form filmmakers. One of the biggest hurdles in the filmmaking industry is fundraising.” 

The biggest career challenge Thal experienced was when Poole tragically passed away in 2007 in a car accident. 

“I thought to myself, what do I do? Do I continue the business? Do I close down, or go start something else? That was definitely challenge one, and I decided, obviously, to continue the business and make a name for both of us.” 

One of the highlights of his career was being able to attend the Academy Awards as a nominee for the short film The Last Ranger, which he produced. 

“Sadly, we didn’t win the gold man. But the experience of being at the film industry’s biggest night was literally unbelievable. Los Angeles has always been the capital of filmmaking, in Hollywood. To go to the biggest festival as an entrant not just a spectator, is every filmmaker’s dream. The whole experience was, to be honest, just surreal. You had to pinch yourself.” 

However, even after a high like this, he and his colleagues were asking what the next big project was, something they are always searching for. 

“I’m at the Academy Awards with a short film that’s been nominated. And the first question anyone asks is, ‘What’s your next project?’ It’s like, just give me a chance to celebrate this one, but that’s our industry. It’s always, ‘What’s next?’ So you have the most successful film, you could have the most successful commercial, could be winning awards left, right, and centre, could be making a lot of money. Still, it’s always about what’s next,” he said.