Brothers in Arms: 1978

Brothers in Arms: 1978, was the first short feature for director/writer Christopher-lee dos Santos and Egoli star Dino Pappas. The pair of filmmakers co-directed the film, with dos Santos penning the screenplay and Pappas working as cinematographer for the film. The production was filmed with some friends from Chris' film school over the course of 4 days at a farm belonging to one of the actor's parents. The film was then entered into a competition at a local TV network in South Africa called MNET, but the film was too long to be considered into the competition. The films running time was 54 minutes in length. Luckily, the commissioning editor at the TV network saw the potential in the film and instead, signed up the film to be broadcast on national television for a 2 year license starting in 2007. It was the first taste at becoming filmmakers for dos Santos and Pappas and their first time playing a film to a broad audience (throughout Africa). The budget was $400.