African rising actor/writer/producer Ernest Napoleon was born in Moscow, Russia to a Tanzanian father and a Russian mother.
His first acting experience was in a Christmas play (New Year’s in the old Soviet Union) at the young age of 3.
His family moved to Tanzanian when he was 5 years old. Ernest was a very active child with elaborative plans his mother coined as “Napoleon plans” after Napoleon Bonaparte, a French military and political leader.
In Tanzania, Ernest did everything from working as a TV presenter for the largest TV station in East Africa at the time (EATV), to DJ-ing at one of the prominent nightclubs in Africa (Club Billicanas) to becoming a recording artist of a famous music genre in East Africa (Bongo Flava), going by the name of MC Napo.
As a teen, Ernest moved to Los Angeles to pursue a computer science degree and a career in films. In Los Angeles, he devoted his time to acting and writing classes for a period of 7 years. After helping friends and colleagues make their own short films and TV pilots, Ernest embarked on a journey to make his very own first feature film called Going Bongo.
In the film he plays the lead character, Dr. Berger, who happily lands a job at the prestigious Beverly Hills medical Centre in Los Angeles and is eager to impress his new boss. After attending a Gala arranged by his superiors, he “mistakenly” volunteers to work in Africa for a month at an under resourced hospital. Leaving his fiancé and the life he knows behind, the American Doctor heads out to Tanzania to follow through with his promise.
Going Bongo is now the first international film made by a Tanzanian and the first ever East African film to be accepted by iTunes. Ernest produced, co-wrote and acted in the film.
He is currently writing and developing new projects and will play a lead character in “From Freetown” directed by Antony Szeto (Jackie Chan Presents Wushu) to be released in January 2016.
ERNEST NAPOLEON - PRESIDENT OF D STREET MEDIA GROUP
D Street Media Group is a privately backed media company and the holding company for D Street Releasing, D Street Pictures, D Street Medienvertrieb, GmbH Germany, Americine, SRL Argentina, D Street South Africa and the newly formed DSNC LTD in London, England.
The company was founded in 2003 to address a growing need for a truly independent film company that embraces world cinema, American independent voices and Hollywood respectfully. A company that produce and distributes international film successfully in the United States, as well as providing international producers a home for their movies to take advantage of the most successful film market in the world.