About VALU — An origin story

Every studio
has an origin
story.

This one starts on a studio floor in Johannesburg, crosses three continents and nineteen years, and lands in Berlin in 2023 under four letters: VALU.

Pius Okaba, founder of VALU, on a bicycle in front of a domed church and a marble monument
Pius OkabaFounder · Director · Producer

Cold open

Before VALU had a name, it had a habit: say yes to every job on set, and learn it properly.

Five cities.
One story.

Selling airtime, acting, producing, directing. Every chapter added a job VALU can now do in-house.

Chapter 01

Johannesburg

The studio floor.

Urban Brew Studios

It started at Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg. Airtime sales in the morning, on-air imaging in the afternoon, live studio production when the red light came on. Live television teaches you fast: there is no second take.

Airtime salesOn-air imagingProducingLive TV studio

Chapter 02

New York

In front of the lens.

New York Film Academy — Acting

To direct actors, first become one. Acting at the New York Film Academy taught him what a performer needs from the person behind the monitor, and how much a set's energy depends on it.

ActingPerformanceStory

Chapter 03

Johannesburg

The business of film.

AFDA — MFA, Film Producing

Back in South Africa for an MFA in film producing at AFDA: budgets, financing, the deal behind the dream. Europe called before the final chapter was written, and he answered.

ProducingFinanceDevelopment

Chapter 04

London

The director's chair.

University of West London — MA, Film Directing

A master's in film directing in London sharpened the voice: how to build a scene, hold a tone and lead a crew toward one picture everybody can see.

DirectingVisual storytellingLeading a crew

Chapter 05

Berlin

VALU. 2023.

VALU GmbH — Founded

Nineteen years, three continents and almost every job on set later, VALU opened in Berlin. Today the focus is sharp: make feature films that look like the world, and get them sold to it.

Film productionSales & distribution

19+

Years in film & TV

3

Continents

4

Film schools & studios

2023

VALU founded, Berlin

Why it matters

Europe's streets are diverse.
Its screens should be too.

Walk through Berlin, Paris or London and you hear a dozen languages before lunch. Switch on European film and TV and you rarely see that world looking back. VALU exists partly to close that gap. We cast wide, hire wide and tell stories from the places the industry usually only films from a distance. Not as a quota. As better filmmaking.

On screen

Faces, voices and stories European audiences rarely get to see.

Behind the camera

Crews that look like the cities we shoot in.

In the market

Films from new voices, sold to the whole world.

“I learned film from the studio floor up. VALU is the company I wished existed when I started: one crew, every job, and room on screen for everyone.”

Pius Okaba — Founder, VALU

Got a story the screen hasn't seen yet?

Chapter six is open. Bring us the script, the shoot or the finished film.