The Team

WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN
AND MEN SUPPORTING WOMEN

Sam Suter

Producer
Read Her Bio

Savannah Lee-Warden

Production Manager
Read Her Bio

Zahn Scholtz

Production Coordinator
Read Her Bio

Jean-Michelle Tane

Editor and Production Assistant
Read Her Bio

Zee Muller

Editor
Read Her Bio

Alizé Jireh

Videographer
Read Her Bio

Men Supporting Women

James Suter

Director
Read His Bio

Oli Caldow

Director of Photography
Read His Bio

Leon Visser

Video Editor & Colourist
Read His Bio
Follow us on Instagram
Sam Suter, producer of The Matriarchs series and documentary

Sam Suter

Producer

Sam studied Marketing and comes from a background of Human Resources, Community Development and Production. She is involved in every aspect of the production business, with a focus on the financial, managerial and creative aspects of the making of each film. Sam has seen first-hand the importance of conservation and is passionate about creating films that are impactful, empowering and inspire positive change.

Savannah Lee-Warden

Production Manager

As our Production Manager, Savannah plays an integral role in all phases of the production process and works to ensure that all the behind-the-scenes components run as smoothly as possible. Savannah is passionate, warm, and thrives off the challenges that come with producing content that is consistently high in quality, yet unique to every clients’ needs. Savannah is currently completing her BSc in Environmental Management and Zoology and is driven by a passion for conservation and human-empowerment. Her passion and genuine love for creating content that raises awareness around important environmental and humanitarian issues, and inspires change is an incredible asset to our team.

Zahn Scholtz

Production Coordinator

Zahn Scholtz is our Production Coordinator and manages a variety of tasks from shoot logistics and research to social media management and writing. She has a background in Industrial Psychology and Marketing, which has been a great asset to our team. It was her love for photography and storytelling that initially drew her to The Matriarchs. Zahn is creative, adaptable and has a great passion for people.

Jean-Michelle Tane

Editor

Jean-Michelle Tane is our Editor and Production Assistant. She assists with a variety of tasks including media management, colour grading and sound. Jean-Michelle has always known she wanted to be a part of film post-production and is at her happiest when she is in the editing suite. Her love for learning new things and willingness to tackle any challenge that comes her way makes her an excellent addition to our team. Jean-Michelle is passionate about her craft and plays an important role in ensuring our content is always of the highest standard.
Zee Muller

Zee Muller

Editor

Zee Muller studied film, specializing in editing and has over 10 years experience in the industry. She has an intense passion for telling stories, especially those connected to wildlife, the environment and human-spirit. Zee knew from a young age that she wanted to use her passion to make a difference in the field of conservation.
Alizé

Alizé Jireh

Videographer

Alizé is a passionate visual storyteller who loves to capture the real, messy and beautiful stuff in this world. She is all about adventure and travel, and is not afraid of getting her feet dirty. As an experienced videographer and photographer, she beautifully documents the moments that move you and make you feel something.

James Suter

Director

This is James Suter, Co-Founder and Director of Black Bean Productions. James inherited his love of wildlife and passion for conservation from his father. This has been the driving force behind the work that James has done and continues to do. With his extensive background in professional guiding and travels throughout Africa – he used to be a full time Game Ranger, and now completes a number of private guided safaris every year, as well as managing Black Bean Productions – James is able to capture the efforts of organizations doing important work on the ground in an intimate and honest way. Using his profound knowledge of the African bush, he aids Black Bean Productions in producing content that allows our audience to connect to the places, people and wildlife featured in our films, and in his photographs. His passion for our natural world is infectious and comes through in the films he has directed for Black Bean Productions and the content he produces on an ongoing basis.

Oli Caldow

Director of Photography

Oli Caldow is an incredible asset to our team and co-founded Black Bean Productions with James 7 years ago. As our Director of Photography, Oli plays an incredibly important role in the making of our films. Oli has over 10 years’ experience in the film industry and comes from a commercial background where he worked on high-end productions all over the world. Through his expertise and experience Oli has developed a unique visual style, which shines through in our films. He has a talent for capturing moments in an incredibly beautiful, and cinematic way – giving a real edge to documentary story telling. This adds so much value to the work we produce. He has years of experience in documentary filmmaking – in documenting wildlife in isolated and pristine wilderness areas, and in documenting people all over Africa – often in very remote areas – working hard to tell their story – in a honest way that sheds a light on their experiences and daily life. His experience and passion is invaluable to our team.
Leon Visser is an award-winning South African film editor, best known for Gaia, Die Spreeus and HUM.

Leon Visser

Video Editor & Colourist

Leon Visser, is an award-winning Video Editor and Colourist, and is also co-founder and the Head of Post Production at our sister company Kin Media – (post production and media management). At Black Bean Productions we create high quality content and Leon’s skills and expertise are a huge part of this. As a Colourist Leon has worked closely with our team on many films and his attention to detail and dedication to his craft shines through in his work. Leon is one of the best in the industry and is always willing to share his knowledge with others, and is continually working to improve upon his skills and ensure our clients’ content is produced efficiently, and to the highest standard.

#thematriarchs

Follow us on Instagram

Join Our Herd

Enter your name and email address below to join our newsletter and receive the latest matriarch stories.