'Spooksoeker' on TV

SPOOKY: BASED ON THE BEST-SELLING SERIES OF YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

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With new episodes every Thursday, Spooksoeker is now streaming on Showmax. When Warno Alberts turns 15, he suddenly becomes aware of ghosts in his dorp – and that it's now his job to banish them.

Based on the best-selling young adult novels by multi-award winner Francois Bloemhof, Spooksoeker introduces Rico Immelman as Warno and Zarelda de Bruin as the literal girl next door Melissa, with Silwerskerm 2023 best supporting actor winner and double Aardklop 2024 nominee Joshwin Dyson (2024 Oscar entry Old Righteous Blues) as Warno's best friend Allies.

The job of finding the teen stars fell to casting director Ira Blanckenberg, herself a Safta nominee for South African Oscar entry Toorbos. Blanckenberg was uniquely placed for the job – she set up the Proscenium Drama Competition for high school students last year, after having run her own drama school for 15 years and judged the ATKV Tienertoneel drama competition for 12 years.

She loves finding, coaching and supporting young talent. "It's like eating dessert," she tells Roz Els. "There is nothing more enjoyable for me than helping other actors open their doors of creativity and seeing them shine."

Tell us about the casting process for 'Spooksoeker'.

What's incredible about the producers is that they want to make dreams come true. Jean-Pierre de Waal, co-founder and co-owner of Starscape Motion Pictures, has been dreaming about making this series for probably eight or nine years, and it was clear from the beginning that they also wanted to make young actors' dreams come true.

That was always the starting point, to find those actors who want to create magic and have big acting dreams.