Zunaid Mansoor is a proud alumnus of UKZN, with both an LLB and Social Sciences degree cum laude. He was the Amy Biehl awardee and top Fulbright Scholar to the USA after sharing his vision of the revolution of digital storytelling and Africa’s role therein, with a panel of USE and South African government officials. He earned his MFA from multiple Oscar-winning film school, Chapman University, and worked on The Bold and The Beautiful. He has mentored 8 500 students/mentees as a consultant/script editor with the NFVF, KZNFC and formerly, as National Head of Screenwriting at AFDA Joburg. His students were nominated three times for the Student Oscar and have won gold twice. They have been nominated five times for the SAFTAs and won thrice. Six of his students were selected for the Berlinale Talents in Durban and for the MultiChoice Talent Factory. Several of his students have films and series on Netflix, Showmax, SABC, DSTV and KykNet. They are also senior commissioning editors for Africa’s major broadcasters. He sits on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences committee for South Africa, selecting the feature film/documentary for Oscar nomination. He is a judge for the SAFTA’s, the Simon Sabela’s and the Writers Guild of South Africa Muse. An award-winning academic and public speaker, he has been a guest speaker at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, the University of Southern California, and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
