Emma Kaye – Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Before setting out to giving sustainable business direction to an African brand in new media for the mobile screen, Emma Kaye did much the same for African animation and entertainment. In animation, her credentials as co-founder of Triggerfish Animation (one of the top animation companies producing award winning Sesame Street globally) and AnimationSA.org (the voice of the animation industry), and as founder of the animation festival for Sithengi (Africa’s largest film market), stand out.
In the last few years, Kaye’s experience has catapulted her into the field of new media and mobile; first as CEO of Breakdesign, and then as founder of Gate7 New Media, a mobile media, entertainment and content company. Breakdesign, became one of the top seven Flash Lite developers globally for Nokia and Adobe under Emma’s direction and through Gate7 she co-founded Mobfest – Africa’s first user generated mobile content platform. (The first channel, Novel Idea, was a text based mobile entertainment channel featuring serialized fiction – a first in Africa.)
Kaye continues to be active in mobile entertainment consulting and social development. Widely recognized as a thought-leading industry catalyst in animation and mobility, she is often invited to attend global initiatives forging her leadership role in this dynamic environment. Her recent election onto the board of the prestigious Mobile Entertainment Forum (http://www.m-e-f.org/ ) as the first person in Africa to be nominated, is recognition for her thought leadership in the area as well as allowing her unprecedented access to strategic information and research across the entire range of global mobile entertainment activities.
Kaye has been elected as one of the top 50 women globally in the world of mobile entertainment for two years running and more recently, she has been selected by the Mail & Guardian as one of South Africa’s top businesswomen in 2010.
Says Kaye: “Mobility has huge socio-economic, educational, commercial, societal and individual significance. Emerging economies have been hugely resourceful in using mobility in socio-economically important ways, to empower micro enterprises. By embracing mobility as a content delivery platform, emerging countries or continents can leapfrog developed economies, establishing a unique societal brand in a vibrant new industry”.
Wayne Powell – Chief of Operations
Wayne is an Operations Manager with extensive experience managing and motivating teams through significant growth and change in a professional and collaborative manner.
He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and spent seven years working in London at the investment banking giants Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. In 1999, he returned to South Africa and co-founded Global Vision, a software services and products company. Wayne was responsible for a variety of multifunctional roles within the finance, operations and technology realm. The company implemented a number of very successful and high profile software projects and developed numerous products across a range of business sectors.
Wayne is responsible for the finance and operation functions within Bozza.
Refer to his Linkedin profile for more info.
Robin Hunt – Chief Technical Officer
Robin’s been involved in IT since the eighties and has seen computers evolve from filling a room to fitting a pocket. In the process he has worked at a number of well-known local and international companies as well as a couple of startups, studied a BSc and MBA and generally tried to have fun. He headed up development at 3B – the first company to build a 3D web browser as well as MXit and has worked with a bunch of startups around the world and a couple of corporates in-between.
Robin brings a wealth of experience in both developing and creating products on mobile platforms.
Nicole Klassen – Head of Content
Nicole Klassen is passionate about Africa, people and enabling creative economies.
She started working in the film service sector in Cape Town in 2000 and quickly made a name for herself in local production circles producing several successful photographic campaigns and advertising commercials.
In 2009 she was appointed as the Manager for Marketing & Operations at the Cape Film Commission. She successfully implemented and managed several initiatives including the Imbongi Awards, which showcase the very best talent and facilities in Cape Town.
It was however through the projects at the Runway (enterprise development incubator) where she felt most comfortable and her vision for a sustainable local content industry started to formalize.
Nicole serves on the board of Animation South Africa and played a significant role in the establishment of the 1st Animation academy on the Cape Flats.
When it comes to the business of being creative there are three things that drive Nicole: local content, youth and micro-enterprise development. It is these drivers that led her to Emma Kaye and Bozza where she has found a niche, marrying creativity with technology to produce extraordinary results.
Follow her on twitter @klassennicole
Lance Petersen – Content Co-ordinator
Whilst studying Journalism at City Varsity, Lance was offered an internship at a local production company where his love for film making began.
Still fresh out of varsity he decided to make the big move to Johannesburg where he worked on various shows such as Idols (6), Survivor Maldives, All Access, Shoreline and the Metro FM awards. Lance was the youngest person to be employed on such major productions, which is only one of his many achievements.
Lance is an old school lover and enjoys all aspects of life especially his city, Cape Town. One of his many passions besides TV is radio broadcasting where he is a presenter for an online radio station.
Lance prefers the roads less travelled and determines his own destiny day by day.
Follow him on twitter @LanceAPetersen.
Catherine Lückhoff – Head of Brand Strategy
Having recently sold her shares in one of South Africa’s leading integrated communications agencies, Catherine was recruited by Bozza to head up the strategy and marketing for the Pan-African roll-out.
Catherine’s innate love for online and mobile and her constant search to perfect the new has led to her being included in the Mail & Guardian’s prestigious “200 Young South Africans” publication in 2010, and to being featured in the Topco Top Women in Business and Government 2010 edition. She was also recently interviewed for the first Old Mutual Do Great Things Start-Up Guide in her capacity as founding member of MANGO-OMC.
Follow her on Twitter @Cluckhoff.
Nanziwe Mzuzu – Campaign Builder
Born and bred, toasted and buttered in a historical community called Gugulethu in Cape Town, Nanziwe lives by words. Through her writing, Nanziwe mirrors her society and uses this as a tool for empowerment and her own liberation. She started writing at a tender age and manages to shape her future through interacting and exposing herself to things that help define the world she envisions. As a visionary, writing is a wing from which most of her creative abilities manifest. She has a background in working at a theatre institution and most of her television work has aired on a national broadcaster. To date, she has published three childrens’ books with Cambridge University Press. Nanziwe is the Campaign Builder at Bozza.
Follow her on Twitter @NanziweMzuzu.
Alan Munro – Head of Design
Since completing his architectural studies, Alan made the transition into digital animation, training as a 3D animator, before moving into 2D animation and design.
His previous experience in the mobile industry includes a period at iTouch Labs, Cape Town, producing animated graphic content for mobile customers, as well as the graphic design of various web-based interfaces for iTouch clients.
He also did further work with Scan Mobile in the UK, producing content for their clients, which included MTV Europe and MTV Asia.
In 2008 Alan designed and produced an interactive CD ROM for SSN, a climate change NGO, funded by the Dutch government, for distribution amongst their global partners.
In 2009 he was awarded a three-week artist in residence grant as an animator in New York, through the Ampersand Foundation, to further his animation career.
Alan is currently responsible for the visual identity and interface design of the Bozza app.
Thembisa Mpefu – Office Manager
Thembisa, who hails from Khayelitsha in Cape Town, holds the Bozza office together. She graces us with her affectionate smile, whilst effortlessly maintaining order, structure and sanity within the workplace. Officially she is the office admin clerk but she does so much more. Thembisa believes that God gave her his blessing by granting her the opportunity to work and grow at Bozza. She is learning and expanding at a rapid rate and looks forward to what the future holds.
