BlackMilk Productions started innocently enough in 2008 with a photo shoot that occurred, of all places, in Ronnie Belcher’s attic. Thomas Dorman and Ronnie discovered immediately that they shared a mutual love for art and movies, and enjoyed working together on the photo shoot so much they started talking about making a short film. KiTTY KiLL was the first fruits of their labours, shot on handy c
am at two locations using only the props that they had at hand, which included an antique gas mask and a yellowtail fish. This award-winning short film that features intricate animated illustrations was to open doors for the team, and attracted much favourable attention from other industry professionals who could see that something special was happening. After their first short horror film, Emma-O, was well received at the SA HorrorFest, the vivacious Este Kira jumped on board, bringing with her a keen eye for detail for set dressing as well as production design, and there was no turning back. The group soon produced the then ambitious 23 Rue d’Amour, shot in black and white and offering viewers a surrealist journey exploring signature BlackMilk themes of interpersonal relationships and love. By the time the BlackMilk crew started tackling Regression (winner of the 2010 SA HorrorFest short film component and several Auteur awards), Leon Visser had joined the team, bringing with him considerable cinematographic and technical skills, which have added significant value to BlackMilk’s offerings.
