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Sharlto Copley
  • Biography

Sharlto Copley

Sharlto Copley began directing and acting in his own short films at the age of 12 and later studied Speech and Drama through Trinity Cllege in London. He co-founded his first company at the age of 19 and since then has been responsible for co-founding and managing several successful companies, including Channel 69 Studios, Atomic Visual Effects, Slaves Talent Management, and Inspired Minority Pictures. Channel 69 became one of the founding companies of etv, South Africa's first private terrestrial broadcast network.

There, at age 24, Copley became the youngest executive in the history of South African television to own and control a daily five-hour block of programming. Since leaving etv, Copley has produced and directed numerous commercials, music videos, and short films.

In addition, he continues to oversee the visual effects work produced by Atomic. His work has won him numerous awards and recognition in South Africa, including the Avanti Awards, The Stone Awards, and the Loeries.

His short film 2001: A Space Oddity, co-produced and directed with Simon Hansen, is South Africa's most popular short of all time – it reached over 18 million people on the Internet and continues to be broadcast on a range of platforms.

Copley went on to co-write, produce, direct and edit his first feature film Spoon together with Simon Hansen. Spoon is a supernatural thriller that is presently in post-production and will be distributed by Distant Horizon. Copley won a UK Film Council script writing competition for Judgment Day another film co-developed with Hansen.

In 2005, Copley produced the short film Alive in Jo'Burg for his longtime friend, director Neill Blomkamp. Copley also played a small cameo in the film.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2009.

Sharlto Copley Facts

OccupationActor

Selected Filmography

Not available.