Chris Roland

In 1992 Chris Roland sold everything he owned, slipped on a comfortable pair of shoes, and backpacked around the world, leaving behind his native Los Angeles. Three years and forty countries later, his trek took him to Cape Town where he now makes his home. Chris' career spans thirty-five years in the entertainment industry as a Producer, Director, Writer, Actor, Distributor, and Disc Jockey. Chris has been involved in over eighty productions, including "VHI in Maui" for MTV Networks, the TV sitcom, Help Wanted, which he produced and directed for The Family Channel, and Sportstyles, in association with Fries Entertainment. In 1997, he wrote, directed and produced the virtual reality ride film, Cape Extreme, and produced and directed the Sid Shanti music video for Phantasm Records. In that same year, he co-founded "The Imaginarium" and "South African Film Finance Corporation" with his partner, Izidore Codron. Under this new banner, Chris produced the National Geographic World War I docudrama, Jungle Navy (2001), for Cinenova Productions, and five episodes of science fiction series Lexx (1996) for the Sci-Fi Channel and Salter Street (1999), shot in Namibia, and the TV movie Rent A Baby (2000) for Pro Sieben/Filmpool, the highest rated movie since 1995. In 2002, he produced the feature films The Bone Snatcher (2003), with First Look Media (the first SA/UK/Can tripartite co-production), and Stander (2003), the largest film in South African history at that time with Seven Arts and Grosvenor Park. Chris followed these with the feature film 3 Needles (2005) under the helm of award-winning director Thom Fitzgerald, and the 22 episode TV-series, Charlie Jade (2005), a Canadian/South African co-production between The Imaginarium and Cinegroupe, in association with Chum City, and in 2004 Chris co-exec produced the critically acclaimed Hotel Rwanda in association with A. Kitman Ho, starring Don Cheadle and directed by Terry George, which went on to be nominated for Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe. in 2005 Chris co-produced the Regis Wargnier directed film Man to Man starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas. In 2006 The Imaginarium and South African Film Finance Corporation disbanded amicably, and Chris launched ZenHQ Films. Under his new banner, Chris produced the feature film 1968 Tunnel Rats, and wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning reality TV series Our House in 2007/8, and wrote and produced the award-winning film Darfur (Attack on Darfur) in 2009. In 2012 Chris wrote, produced, and directed the reality series Clifton Shores (The Shores), and in 2013 and 2014 produced the films The Forgotten Kingdom, which won best film at 15+ international film festivals, Bordering on Bad Behavior, which he also music supervised creating the soundtrack with composer Simon Malherbe, and Die Windpomp (The Windmill), which swept the South African Silver Screen Awards, including best film, and won film festivals in Europe and the US. In 2014 Chris formed My Movies, a sales and distribution company initially started to distribute ZenHQ Films content and later began acquiring third-party content for distribution in Africa, which it continues to do. After a hiatus in Bali in 2016/17, Chris released his first book in 2018, It's Not Personal - Letting Go and Gaining an Island, available exclusively on Amazon. In 2020 Chris released the Netflix original film Santana, which he wrote, produced, and directed. The film reached the number one spot in 34 countries over six straight days. He regularly consults to the global entertainment industry. During the Covid lock down, Chris scripted nine screenplays and two series, and became a sound journey facilitator after completing courses in 2021 at the Sound Healing Academy. Chris has been first assistant director on five films, most recently in 2018 on How I Got There, shot in Kuwait, and Twisted Blues, shot in Dubai, both in temperatures reaching into the mid 40's centigrade! Chris has produced dozens of commercials and actuality programs including such icons as Ford, Pepsi, Asics, B.F. Goodrich, Gammon, Met Life, and Awareness Network, which he also wrote and directed. Chris has been proactive in training aspiring previously disadvantaged filmmakers and, in 2002, created the Spirit Film Scholarship Fund in association with the National Film and Video Foundation, and awarded three-year film school scholarships to three young filmmakers, in addition to mentoring several youths during productions. in 2014 he secured bursaries to attend film school for 25 previously disadvantaged students.