. . It began on a beach
two south
Asian digital nomads
Started collaborating on community film projects.
Swamped with work and no brand, they started
this business to focus on their best work.
our team today
-
dylan
DIRECTOR, EDITOR,
SOUND RECORDIST
MAROOCHYDORE, QLD -
ROBIN
CINEMATOGRAPHER,
3RD GEN. FILMMAKER,
BRISBANE, QLD -
josie
PHOTOGRAPHER,
WEB/UX DESIGN
SYDNEY, NSW -
JOHANNES
CINEMATOGRAPHER,
PHOTOGRAPHER,
BYRON BAY, NSW -
LUKE
AUDIO ENGINEER,
BROAD/PODCAST,
HOBART, TAS -
MAIA
MUSIC VIDEO DIR.
EDITOR, EDUCATOR
SYDNEY, NSW -
REHAN
FILM DIRECTOR,
PRODUCER, ACTOR
COLOMBO + LONDON -
DININDU
COLOURIST,
EDUCATOR,
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
BUT, let’s take it back
We’re not going to give you our life stories here
But since we’re asking you to trust us with telling your story, we thought we’d open up about ours. Our co-founders Lakshya and Dylan, are both members of the South Asian Diaspora who have chosen unusual life paths.
Lakshya is a Nepali-Canadian who moved halfway across the world to a country where she knows no one. She soon set off on a DIY lo-fi performance tour across South Asia with musician Ditty, dubbed Streets For Us. Dylan is a Sri Lankan-Australian who went from drumming in bands to performing hip-hop comedy solo, then touring around Australia. He then lived his dream of travelling back to his motherland without flying, taking six months to complete the trip overland and sea.
“
#StreetsForUs is an audiovisual performance
That questions and redefines what public spaces mean to people,
Especially women across the world. It uses art as a vehicle to
transform and reclaim the streets.
”
Pettah, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
“
I was stuck in a post-colonial feedback loop and I needed to break out.
#motherlandvoyage was a long-held dream to travel to my motherland and immerse myself
for a period of three years. I wanted to live in sri lanka for the first time, learn my mother tongue,
connect with culture and seek out creative traditions.
”
Did you see the foot on the mast? (click to enlarge) This is shot in the middle of the Bay of Bengal.
where did your story start?
in 2015: a silent brand film WAS COMMISSIONED
Colombo’s busiest print shop, ANIM8 needed a brand film for an upcoming expo. After a 10 year hiatus from video, Larry hit the ground running and pulled off an agency-grade production with a crew of two. He wrote, directed, edited and featured in this comedic brand film. The silent film was well received at the expo, so he added “silent film music” for posting online. The video cleared over 50,000 views which is quite significant for Colombo. Local Blog YAMU said the video “Basically revolutionized digital advertising in Sri Lanka”. Since then the video has played almost constantly on screens inside ANIM8 for the past six years, keeping customers amused in the waiting room.
in 2017, this happened
The organisers of a kids creative camp asked for all the participants to make some shoutout videos. Dylan (aka Larry) borrowed Lakshya’s student camera and MacBook Air to shoot, edit and upload on the same morning. The video became the most popular piece of content and sold out the whole camp. The organisers immediately booked him to cover the whole week, whilst teaching!
by 2018, our work looked like this
Here’s our one-minute showreel for 2018. It features largely South Asian projects with artists, brands, NGO and Community Work.
in 2019, the founding
duo returned home
Lakshya returned to Canada to continue her studies in documentary media and to pursue broadcast work. Dylan returned to Australia, hung up his performer hat and focused on solidifying Kaju Creative as a force in factual content in Australia. Lakshya is no longer active in the business, but you might find her pop up as Story Consultant on a project like our 2021 short film Grandma’s Bike. You can find her striking signature work here.
in 2021,
our work
looks like this
A major filming project over 2019/2020 and the initial Covid crisis: Grandma’s Bike is a client-commissioned branded content documentary, was selected to premiere at the 19th Annual Filmed By Bike Festival in Portland, Oregon, USA.
When Omafiets Bicycles were faced with an eviction, we pitched to cover their journey as a documentary, rather than trying to attempt more conventional brand films during a testing time. We designed a film that would be appropriate for the festival circuit and that is exactly where it is being shown.
The film was recognised with an Honourable Mention in the Audience Favourite Category from the Filmed By Bike Festival.
As a result, the film is not yet under public release, however, if you would like to watch the film please request the private link below.
but what’s KAJU?
The word Kaju is used across a number of south Asian languages for the cashew nut
Our original tagline (in South Asia) was :
KAJU CREATIVE - We’re nuts about Your Story
Go ahead, give yourself a treat.
<— Have a good look at the logo.
What can you see?
Yes! it’s a Cashew Nut projector!
But what else?
Ah - can you see the ‘K’ and the ‘C’ in there?
Bonus points if you already got it - let us know!
