Young South African Filmmaker Heading to Hollywood

There’s a new South African heading to Hollywood. Twenty six year old Allan Shelley from Cape Town is set to travel to Los Angeles to direct Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey in his short film titled Spirit of a Denture. Shelley beat out more that 700 film makers from all over the world (and 250 from South Africa) in the Jameson First Shot competition.

Shelley commented, “I am feeling very nervous about directing Kevin. I will just see how it goes, but I am well prepared.” Shelley said he hopes the experience will help him become a better filmmaker and teach him much about the industry in Hollywood.

Spacey released a statement saying he was looking forward to the experience. “I want to give talented people out there a shot at reaching their goals for the first time. I’ve done incredibly well and it’s because the material I found early in my career was from first-time writers, first-time directors, first-time playwrights. “.

Shelley completed his film studies degree at City Varsity in 2008 and has also been teaching at the college. He said he would like to follow in the footsteps of Oscar winning South African director Gavin Hood. The films will premiere in June in Joburg, New York and Moscow for public voting to choose the overall winner. Spacey expected to attend all three premieres.