Principal photography on Mama Jack, the latest film from South Africa's King of Comedy, Leon Schuster, took place in Cape Town at iconic locations like Robben Island and the Cape Town cableway. The film sees the reunion of the successful team of producers Anant Singh and Helena Spring and director Gray Hofmeyr, all of whom were involved in Mr Bones, the highest grossing South African film of all time. Mama Jack is Leon Schuster's first major motion picture since that overwhelming success and, like Mr Bones, a break-away from the candid camera style.
Mama Jack stars a host of local talent, among whom are Egoli's Shaleen Surtie-Richards, one of South Africa's most popular actresses who plays the mayoress in the film.  Also in the film is Mary-Anne Barlow, best known as Egoli's super-bitch, Coreen Edwards who plays the love interest, Angela, while longtime Schuster collaborator, Alfred Ntombela plays Shorty Dladla, the talented make-up artist responsible for Jack's transformation.  Also starring in Mama Jack is the multi-award winner Jerry Mofokeng (Max And Mona, Mr Bones, Mandela and De Klerk) and Lionel Newton (Forgiveness, In My Country, Stander).  The film also features a number of well-known Cape personalities, including Goodhope FM's Priya Reddy, KFM's Mehboob Bawa and Cape Talk's Africa Melani.

LEON SCHUSTER
Leon Schuster is South Africa's foremost comedian and the mastermind behind the phenomenally successful comedy feature, "Mr Bones', which broke all local box office records to become the highest grossing South African film of all time. 
Leon was drawn to the filmmaking process at an early age and fondly recalls how, as children, he and his brother would play practical jokes on his family and film their escapades with an old home movie camera. 
After studying for a BA degree at the University of the Orange Free State, Leon spent two years teaching at a high school in Bloemfontein before joining the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1975.  During his time at the SABC, Leon created the hit Afrikaans radio series, Vrypostige Mikrofoon, in which he would disguise his voice and  take the mickey out of unsuspecting victims.
In 1982 Leon was approached by Decibel Records to compile a series of sports songs and his first record, Leon Schuster, eventually sold 100 000 units.  His second album, Broekskeur, sold in excess of 40 000 units and this was followed by Briekdans and Leon Schuster - 20 Treffers which sold in excess of 270 000 copies.
His hit CD Hier Kom Die Bokke garnered an FNB Sama Music Award for Biggest Selling CD of 1995.  His following CD, the acclaimed Gatvol in Paradise, sold in excess of 125 000 units and gave rise to the unofficial Gauteng anthem, Gautengeling. 
Schuster the well-loved comedian became Schuster the South African Comedy Legend with his foray into film.  His first feature, You Must be Joking, produced in collaboration with Johan Scholtz and Elmo de Witt became an instant hit with South African audiences and the success of this first film gave rise to the equally successful sequel, You Must be Joking Too.
Having captured a massive and very loyal audience with his slapstick brand of comedy, Schuster produced a string of films that hit the mark with his adoring public.  These included Oh Shucks, it's Schuster, Oh Shucks, Here Comes Untag, Zulu on My Stoep (released internationally as Yankee Zulu), Short and Sweet and Panic Mechanic. 
Yankee Zulu became a mega-hit in Germany where it became the biggest box office earner after the Bruce Willis vehicle, Die Hard with a Vengeance. 
Following Zulu On My Stoep was The Millennium Menace which was initially filmed as a series of candid camera television inserts.  This became an instant hit with viewers and met with such an appreciative response at a private screening that it was released at cinemas.
The highly successful Mr Bones marked a departure from Schuster's candid camera formula and was a sophisticated film that remained true to the Schuster formula, while retaining classic slapstick elements.  The film emerged as the most successful South African film ever, earning more that R32 million at the South African box office.
In 2004 Schuster was back with the hilarious film Oh Shucks, I'm Gatvol which looked at the funny side of people emigrating to Australia with the added twist of Schuster being stalked by a fictional despot, Samoosa Woestyn. 
Mama Jack sees Schuster once again collaborate with the team that made Mr Bones, director Gray Hofmeyr, and producers, Anant Singh and Helena Spring.  The film tracks Jack Theron, who works on a movie set as a grip.  He aggravates his director boss and in a bid to get rid of Jack, the director spikes his drink at a glamorous function. Before long Jack has unwittingly offended all the attending dignitaries, ruined the function and got himself on the wrong side of the law.  Now, on the run and desperate, Jack turns to his friend, Shorty, a make-up artist for help, and emerges disguised as a black woman, Mama Jack. 

ANANT SINGH Producer
Anant Singh is recognised as South Africa's preeminent film producer, having produced almost sixty films since 1984.  He is responsible for many of the greatest anti-apartheid films ever made in South Africa, including "Place Of Weeping," Sarafina! and Cry, the Beloved Country.  Nelson Mandela called him "a producer I respect very much…a man of tremendous ability" when he granted him the film rights to his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom.   Singh is set to film Long Walk to Freedom next year with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and director Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, The Four Feathers).
Born and raised in Durban, South Africa, Singh began his film career at age 18 when he left his studies at the University of Durban-Westville to purchase a 16mm movie rental store.  From there, he moved into video distribution, forming Videovision Enterprises (now Videovision Entertainment).  He moved into film production in 1984 with Darrell Roodt's acclaimed Place of Weeping, the first anti-apartheid film to be made entirely in South Africa.
Singh is the producer of the groundbreaking film, Yesterday which received South Africa's first Academy Award Nomination in the Best Foreign Language Picture category. 
A selection of his subsequent feature films includes: Sarafina! with Whoopi Goldberg, Leleti Khumalo and Miriam Makeba; The Road to Mecca, with Kathy Bates; Father Hood, with Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry; Captives, with Julia Ormond and Tim Roth; Tobe Hooper's The Mangler, with Robert Englund and based on a Stephen King short story; Cry, the Beloved Country, from Alan Paton's revered novel, with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris;  Paljas (shot in Afrikaans, the first South African film to be selected for Oscar Consideration in the Best Foreign Language film category); Face, with Robert Carlyle; The Theory of Flight, with Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter; Bravo Two Zero, with Sean Bean;  The Long Run, with Armin Mueller-Stahl; Tsui Hark's remake of The Legend of Zu, with Zhang Ziyi; I Capture the Castle, with Tara Fitzgerald and Henry Thomas and.   Upcoming is Red Dust, with Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor, a drama centering on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 
Anant Singh has also been involved in the production of many important documentaries, including "Countdown to Freedom," about the first free election in South Africa, and "Prisoners of Hope," about a reunion on Robben Island of 1250 of its former political prisoners led by Nelson Mandela.
Singh is the president of the Independent Producers' Organisation, The National Film and Television Association and serves on the boards of Kagiso Media Limited, South African Tourism and the International Marketing Council Of South Africa. He also sits on the Board of Governors for Media and Entertainment of the World Economic Forum and is a board member of the Los Angeles-based Artists For A New South Africa and the Mandela 46664 Concert with Richard Branson, Dave Stewart and Jim Beach.  He is also the only South African member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. President Thabo Mbeki appointed him to the board responsible for the organization of South Africa's Ten Years Of Freedom Celebrations in 2004.
Singh is a recipient of the Crystal Award of the World Economic Forum and the Lifetime Founder Member Award of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. Both the University of Durban-Westville and the University Of Port Elizabeth have conferred honorary doctorates on him.

HELENA SPRING Producer
Worldwide Head of Production for Anant Singh's Videovision Entertainment, Helena Spring has produced more than sixty television projects and some twenty feature films. 
Her most recent motion picture credits as producer include the Academy Award Nominated, Yesterday, the South African hit Mr. Bones, The Long Run, starring Armin Muehler-Stahl, The Theory of Flight, starring Academy Award-winning Kenneth Branagh and Helena Bonham Carter, "Bravo Two Zero," (as co-producer), a BBC co-production starring Sean Bean, and based on Andy McNab's best-selling book of the same title. 
Spring executive produced the comedy drama, Get Real, a British Screen and Graphite Films co-production, which won the Best Picture award at the British Film Festival of Dinard in France, and the 1998 Trophée Hitchcock D'Or,  Trophée Hitchcock Audience Award, and the Trophée Hitchcock Kodak cinematography Award.  She also executive produced the motion picture "Waati," directed by Palme D'Or winner Souleymane Cisse, "The Mangler," directed by Tobe Hooper, Katinka Heyns' "Paljas," which was accepted as South Africa's first official entry in the 1998 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film Category and Darrell James Roodt's "Sarafina!", starring Whoopi Goldberg, which received a New York Christopher Award.
Helena's associate producer credits include "Face," starring Ray Winstone and directed by Antonia Bird ("Priest"), Darrell James Roodt's "Cry, the Beloved Country," starring James Earl Jones and Richard Harris, which garnered the New York Christopher Award, and "Dangerous Ground," starring Elizabeth Hurley and Ice Cube.

GRAY HOFMEYR Director
As a WRITER writer and DIRECTOR director of feature films and television drama, Gray Hofmeyr is generally regarded as being at the top of his profession in South Africa.  He has won more awards for direction than any other director in the country and in addition .  He holds the distinction of having more than twenty actors and actresses win best performance awards under his direction.
He began directing television drama in 1975 after training in the United Kingdom and working for the B.B.C. as a floor manager, and nine years ago began script writing.
He has directed five feature films, three of which he co-wrote, and has directed numerous television commercials.   In January, 1997 Hofmeyr became Head of Drama for Endemol South Africa, a division of the largest television production company in Europe, Dutch based Endemol Entertainment.
His most prominent achievement in this position has been the creation of Isidingo, a soapie which consistently garners both huge audiences and critical acclaim.
'Mama Jack' sees Hofmeyr reunite as director with the production team of 'Mr Bones' with producers Anant Singh and Helena Spring and star, Leon Schuster with whom he co-wrote the script.