Lungile Radu: From Soweto and sneakers to on-screen success.
Hosted by GIBS EDA Business Development Manager Matshepo Koape, the massively talented executive director of Parental Advisory Productions (PAPSA), actor, producer and GIBS EDA alumnus Lungile Radu, zoomed in for the November Slaying in Your Lane fireside chat, sponsored by the SME-centric fintech ProfitShare Partners.
The born and raised “boy from Soweto” shared how he started out loving the entertainment industry and all the people he watched in it. His dream was to showcase his own skills one day – and this is a man who makes dreams come true.
Even as a primary school kid, Radu had that entrepreneurial spark. Posing for photo shoots was not only about getting into the industry as a youngster but knowing if he did the shoots, he could buy the sneakers…
Not only did he get the pay that bought the sneakers, he found his passion. Radu went from modelling to a TV series, to hosting shows and later, becoming a director and executive producer. Like many entrepreneurs often noted by Andrew Maren, ProfitShare Partners founder and CEO, Radu had “the spirit” required to grow his passion into a business he loves.
With his purpose fully set – “to create content that spoke to and about us, and not other people’s perception of us” – Radu knew he had to get behind the camera and not just in front of it.
Here he shares his journey – a “rollercoaster ride” from Soweto to success in a challenging, exciting industry. Highlights that have powered his pathway to where he is today include his part in creating stories that resonate with South Africans and enable them to see themselves in his characters.
He speaks of the lows, too – trying to convince people to back a pitch that he knows will be a winner and facing the scepticism every start-up will face. His is a story of what it takes to adapt to change as a small business, overcoming those days when you want to give up and get a day job and do what you love for a living.
If you, like Radu, have “the spirit of an entrepreneur” that spurs you on not only to start a business but to leave a legacy, click on this Facebook link – https://www.facebook.com/GIBSEDA/videos/540855147893606 – it’s likely to be life-changing.
In Brief: Lungile Radu Bio
Lungile Radu is the executive director of Parental Advisory Productions (PAPSA), a renowned actor and producer, and GIBS EDA alumnus. Parental Advisory Productions is a young, vibrant, fully black-owned film and television production company.
The company was formed in 2011 with the sole purpose of taking over the entertainment world of television and film.
Parental Advisory Productions is the company behind the hit reality shows “Forever Young” and “MoLove”. Both of which were aired on Vuzu in their 1st seasons in the same year and claimed number-one spots on the channel.
Both shows were re-commissioned for a second season in 2013, and Forever Young enjoyed so much success on Vuzu that it was migrated to a much larger audience on Mzansi Magic.
Parental Advisory Productions is also in a unique position of having the executive producers also being well-known public figures with a combined experience of 26 years in front of the camera.
