Biography

Barend Kruger is the founder of Bystorm Pictures where he has multiple projects in development.

Prior to that he produced the new Dark Matter Studios feature film: The Unfamiliar (2020) with Llewelynn Greeff. The film was directed and co-written by Henk Pretorius and opened in North America on 21 August 2020.

Barend graduated from the University of Pretoria in 2001 with an honors degree in Accounting. He then went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in 2005 and worked for the top auditing firm Deloitte from 2003 to 2006.

From 2007, after moving first to Boston and then to London, he enjoyed a rewarding career in London's investment banking sector. Between 2007 and 2014 he worked at Barclays Capital Investment Bank in London, where he was promoted to Assistant Vice President in the Private Equity Finance team.

In 2013, Barend decided to focus his attention solely on film production and creative ventures when he joined Dark Matter Studios to help build a pioneering and lucrative business in the global entertainment industry.

Barend was an associate producer for Scramble Production's Discreet (2008), executive producer for Dark Matter Studios' Leading Lady (2014) in 2013 and an executive producer for the award-winning Blood and Glory (2016) (Blood And Glory). Along with Henk Pretorius and Llewelynn Greeff, Barend is busy with pre-production for their next international feature film. Barend produced and was part of the team of executive producers that produced British-horror film: The Unfamiliar (2020).

Barend produced Forever Young (2023) with Llewelynn Greeff, written and directed by Henk Pretorius. The film has industry veterans: Gareth Jones and Cassian Elwes executive produced alongside Dark Matter Studios.
- IMDb mini biography by: Barend Kruger