Michael S. Murphey is a Cape Town-based American feature-film and television producer with over 35 years of experience. His credits include District 9, Dredd 3D, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddie’s Revenge, From Dust Till Dawn II & III, and the TV series SAF3.  The hugely successful District 9 was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar at the 2010 Academy Awards; Dredd was the first 3D feature film shot in Africa and the very first film shot at the Cape Town Film Studios.

 

Michael first came to South Africa in 1994, where over the next decade he produced several films including projects with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

 

In 2004 Michael returned to South Africa and for two years served as the representative of the completion bond company, Film Finances, on numerous large-budget feature films shot in Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Now a permanent resident of South Africa, Michael is the owner of Kalahari Pictures, a Cape Town-based film company that has serviced and co-produced a number of film and TV projects in South Africa.  Formed in 2002, Kalahari Pictures has grown it into one of Africa’s leading production companies, with a track record that includes global blockbusters, Oscar nominees, and Emmy winners.  Michael is a founding director of the non-profit organizations, The Young Filmmakers Programme, which works to support and promote South Africa's next generation of storytellers and filmmakers, as wells as DOCi Emerging Filmmakers Programme, which runs an Introduction to Documentary Filmmaking course in conjunction with the US Consulate and its American Corner. He is also a founder and board member of the Documentary Institute of South Africa.