Dean knew he wanted to be a writer ever since the 11th grade when he wrote a short story about a talking dog. Writing was his first love and cinema was his mistress. Dean found a way to marry his love of film and passion for writing when he viewed the Quentin Tarantino masterpiece, Reservoir Dogs and knew he wanted to be a screenwriter. Since then, writing screenplays became an addiction and so he pursued it, graduating with a bachelor's degree in film and media studies from the University of Cape Town, specialising in the art of Screenwriting.
With a desire to cultivate a unique voice and make sure people heard it, he's been the writer (and sometimes director) of his own collection of short films, often with just the right mix of dark humour and witty dialogue. To ensure bills and student loans were paid on time, Dean successfully applied for a graduate internship programme at an events company, and yet the desire to write screenplays was so strong that he ended up writing a sitcom pilot about some of his experiences as an intern. This cathartic passion project ended up being nominated for Best Sitcom Screenplay at the WGSA Muse Awards in 2020. Dean has written four feature length scripts and four television pilots of varied genres and includes stories that involve supernatural heists, dysfunctional lovers, estranged superpowered families, and even a group of female vigilantes.
MIA&I
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Day Zero
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Breathe Easy
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Paul Ian Johnson Foundation Award for Best Emerging Writer (WGSA Muse Awards)
(2020)
University of Cape Town
(2008-2011)