Brian Munene

Brian Munene Gitahi is a respected writer, director, thespian and sound designer. He started acting professionally in 2007 and is a devoted member of the Phoenix Players since 2010. He is a self-taught play, screen writer and sound designer. His love of film was escalated when he played a minor role the critically acclaimed film 'Nairobi Half Life' in 2010. Some of his accolades include writing eight seasons of the comedy television show, 'Classmates' for KBC which was nominated twice for best comedy at the Kalasha Film festival 2013 and 2014. He was also nominated for a Sanaa Award in 2014 under 'best playwright' for the play 'Roots of shame, seeds of pain'. He also wrote and produced the short film, 'My Fatih', which was nominated under the 'best editing and cinematographer' category at the Kalasha Awards 2014, it won best East African short film at the inaugural Mashariki Africa film Festival and earned him the best script writer 2015 at the Riverwood Academy Awards. 'Between the Lines' another short film that he co-wrote and produced was nominated for best short film at the 2015 Africa Magic Viewer's choice awards. He was nominated for five awards in the 2015 Kalasha International Film festival but only won best sound designer from the list. Late 2016, he as the team leader of Kibanda Pictures embarked on the 48 hour fil project where their short film 'Bait' won both Judges choice and Audience choice award together with four other awards. In 2016 he won best scriptwriter at the Riverwood Academy Awards for the short film 'Bait' which also took home best actress and best short film. In May of the same year, 'Bait' was among fifteen other short films at 'Filmapalooza' that were selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. Together his close friend and colleague Likarion Wainaina, they attended the festival and gathered a wealth of knowledge from the various workshops they attended. Mid 2016 he was part of the story advisory team for 'Watu Wote' a short film by the Hamburg Media School that focused on the Mandera bus attack in Kenya by the Al Shabaab terror gang. Late 2016 Brian took part in the 48 hour film project with his short film 'working Title' which won best audience choice award and was among the top ten shortlist in 2016's Machawood short film festival with his film 'Day Dream'. Brian is currently the Creative and Production Director and Lightbox Africa, a film production company based in Kenya, where he has written and directed a number of infomercials and documentaries for the NGO world and local media companies from 2014 to date. He is also the co-founder and co-owner of Kibanda pictures.