Rogan Productions opens in South Africa

Rogan Productions has announced the launch of Rogan South Africa, a new production base in Johannesburg with strong links to Cape Town, marking the company’s first permanent international office.

The expansion follows the delivery of Original Sin: My Son the Killer for Showmax Original, and comes as Rogan builds on its growing slate of internationally commissioned work.

The announcement also marks a change in leadership structure at Rogan, with founders James and Soleta Rogan both taking on the title of Co-CEO. Under their joint leadership, Rogan has grown from a UK documentary specialist, expanding into cinema releases, scripted development and now international production.

Between the UK offices in London and Glasgow, Rogan has picked up award nominations and wins, including four BAFTA nominations this year for Grenfell: Uncovered (Netflix) and winning Best Single Documentary, also with critical acclaim for Boom Box: Beats and Betrayal (HBO Max).

The opening of the Johannesburg office marks the next step for James and Soleta as co-CEOs. The pair share a “long-standing personal and creative connection” to South Africa. Their most recent project, Free Nelson Mandela, is a three-part Channel 4 series tracing Nelson Mandela’s journey and the global movement that fought for his release. The new Johannesburg office builds on these ties, giving Rogan a permanent creative and production base to develop and deliver content across the region.

Co-CEO James Rogan said: “South Africa has always inspired and captivated us with its deep creativity and extraordinary stories so setting up a base here has been a long-held ambition for us. Whether in drama or documentary, there are world class filmmakers in South Africa, that we are looking forward to working with, and new platforms that are showcasing the brilliance and the potential of African stories. Rogan SA connects us to a storytelling tradition that is hugely powerful and it is an exciting next step on our creative and commercial journey.”

Co-CEO Soleta Rogan added: “With our broader footprint, Rogan is afforded the scope to deliver more stories in more formats, to more audiences. This has been an aim we have been actively working towards for the past couple of years, with the idea first being ruminated long before that. Opening in a territory that holds a personal connection is a real moment of celebration for us, and we look forward to delivering shows from our widened slate in the future.”