The driving force behind The Writing Studio is Daniel Dercksen, a published film and theatre journalist of 40 years, who’s been teaching workshops and courses in creative writing, playwriting and screenwriting throughout South Africa since he formed the studio. During the last 24 years, The Writing Studio has taken many leading South African storytellers from first idea to success on the big screen and publishing their novels locally and internationally.

Our first workshops were hosted by legendary South African filmmaker Dirk de Villiers at the Longkloof Studios in Cape Town in 1999, shaping the destiny of many aspirant writers and storytellers. Known as ”The Godfather” of the South African film industry over the past 40 years, de Villiers revolutionized the South African film industry and established his production company, Ad Astera in Cape Town.