Ronnie Apteker (born ) is a South African internet pioneer, writer and film producer.

Early life

Ronnie Apteker was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and attended high school and

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

, from where he graduated cum laude with an M.Sc. in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

Business career

In 1993, Apteker co-founded

Internet Solutions Internet Solutions (IS) is an Internet services provider for public and private sector organisations. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dimension Data Group and part of NTT. Headquartered in South Africa, IS has operating offices in M ...

, South Africa's first Internet service Provider (ISP) in 1993. It became a successful post-apartheid businesses, winning numerous technology awards. Apteker has written a number of papers, published both locally and internationally. In February 1994, he presented a paper in San Jose, California, on Distributed Multimedia to the International Society for Optical Engineering. This paper was subsequently published in the SPIE/IEEE Proceedings. In 2002, Apteker sponsored and produced the Laugh Out Loud fundraiser, South Africa's largest stand-up comedy TV show. It raised half a million Rand for the Reach for a Dream foundation. Apteker is a partner in the video games company

Room 8 Studio In a building or large vehicle, like a ship, a room is any enclosed space within a number of walls to which entry is possible only via a door or other dividing structure that connects it to either a passageway, another room, or the outdoors, that ...

, which developed games such as

Piano City Piano City is a Social Music Game for iOS developed and published by UK-based game development company Room 8 Studio. The game was released on September 24, 2014. Piano City is a music game that takes player to a journey, where he competes in ...

and

Cyto's Puzzle Adventure ''Cyto'' (formerly ''Cyto's Puzzle Adventure'') is a casual physics based puzzle mobile game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on ...

. Apteker became an advisor at 10Guards in Kyiv, in December 2018. Apteker has some IT investments and is currently involved with PYGIO. As a recognized business leader and speaker he has appeared at the Discovery Leadership alongside others such as Sir

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expresse ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of the ...

and Al Gore

Books

* Ronnie Apteker's Funny Business: the Secrets of an Accidental Entrepreneur, Zebra Press, 2010 * Do You Love IT in the Morning?, Apteker, Ronnie & Ord, Jeremy, Media Africa & the Publishing Partnership, 1999 * Trading Spaces: Exploring Internet Solutions, Apteker, Ronnie, Intelligence Publishing, 1996

Film production

Since 2000, Apteker has been one of the leading independent film producers in South Africa. His films include Material, Tell Me Sweet Something and Cold Harbour. Etc. etc. Despite critical and popular acclaim within South Africa, some of the films have failed to find the wider international acclaim that many feel they deserve."Can SA's Film Industry"
Financial Mail, 4 July 2012 Apteker's involvement in the South African comedy club scene has led to several comedians appearing in his films, most notably

Riaad Moosa Riad or Riyad may refer to: * Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia * Riyad, Mauritania * Riad (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name, also Riyad or Riyadh) * Riad (architecture), a traditional Moroccan house ...

, Joey Rasdien and

Vincent Ebrahim Vincent Ebrahim (born 1951) is a South African actor and comedian. He is known for portraying the roles of Ashwin in the BBC later Sky One comedy series '' The Kumars at No. 42'' (2001–2006, 2014), pub landlord Bobby in the BBC One comedy seri ...

from the BBC's

The Kumars at No. 42 ''The Kumars at No. 42'' is a British television show. It won an International Emmy in 2002 and 2003, and won a Peabody Award in 2004. It ran for seven series totalling 53 episodes. It was reportedly a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II. Plot The ...

who appeared in the film

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolo ...

. * 2022 57 (producer) * 2020 Courting Anathi (executive producer) * 2020 Material II (producer) * 2019 Matwetwe (executive producer) * 2018 Feedom (executive producer) * 2017 Catching Feelings (executive producer) * 2016 Vaya (producer) * 2016 Beyond The River (producer) * 2015 Tell Me Sweet Something (producer) * 2015 Tiger House (producer) * 2013 Cold Harbour (producer) * 2013 Nothing for Mahala (executive producer) * 2012 Sleeper's Wake (executive producer) * 2012

(producer) * 2008 Reeker 2 (executive producer) * 2008 Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (executive producer) * 2007

Footskating 101 ''Footskating 101'' is an independently produced, South African comedy film. Plot In order to save his grandmother, his town, and his own skin, Vince, a poor miner's son, takes part in a skateboarding competition without a skateboard. He inv ...

(producer) * 2005 Out on a Limb (executive producer) * 2005 Crazy Monkey presents...Straight Outta Benoni (producer) * 2005 The Flyer (executive producer) * 2005

Reeker ''Reeker'' (released in the Philippines as ''Dead People 2'') is a 2005 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Dave Payne. The plot centers on a group of young adults who are stranded in a desert oasis where they fall prey to a ...

(executive producer) * 2003 Laugh Out Loud (TV Movie) (executive producer) * 2002 Purpose (producer - as Ronen Apteker)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apteker, Ronnie University of the Witwatersrand alumni 1967 births Businesspeople from Cape Town Living people South African film producers