Durban Filmmart (DFM) Awards

Co-Founder and MD Aoife Lennon-Ritchie leads the agency in representing, negotiating, and advocating on behalf of our list of emerging and established above-the-line talent. With a focus on developing and building careers, and a multinational reach, Aoife is committed to motivating for the best possible deal for her clients.

As well as working with her Torchwood film and television talent, Aoife runs The Lennon-Ritchie Agency representing authors internationally and selling book-to-screen rights and international publishing rights on behalf of publishing houses including Penguin Random House South Africa, Pan Macmillan South Africa, Jonathan Ball Publishers and Duck Creek Press New Zealand.

Aoife was shortlisted for the inaugural Sharjah International Rights Connection Awards in 2022 and has been a chair, fellow, mentor, or panelist for a myriad Film, TV, and Book events and organisations including The AuthenticA Series Lab, MIP Africa, Cartoon Movie, Essence, Torino Book Fair, Sharjah International Publishers Conference, Istanbul Publishing Fellowship, The Cape Town Film Market, The Cape Town International Animation Festival, Silwerskerm, Franschhoek Literary Festival and The Open Book Festival.

David Kayser is a literary agent based in Johannesburg South Africa. He spent the best part of the last decade in London at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Ltd, one of the world’s leading creative agencies, representing both emerging and internationally acclaimed writers, directors and Heads of Department across film, television & theatre. He launched Torchwood Literary & Scouting with partner Aoife Lennon-Ritchie in 2020 and together they have a growing list of writers/directors/producers and script editors across South Africa, the continent and beyond. David is proud to have nurtured and advised talent both in-house and at festivals and organisations such as London’s BFI Flare Festival, BFI S.O.U.L, BAFTA Guru, The Cape Town International Film Market & Festival, pan-African screenwriting residency the Realness Institute and the UK’s leading film schools including the NFTS. David studied at Rhodes University and The Oxford School of Drama, was mentored by industry stalwart Rachel Holroyd and has worked alongside multiple Academy nominated and BAFTA winning writers and directors.