High rolling psychological drama

IN YOUR HEAD: Joshua Rous viewing a scene from Geraamtes in die Kas (Skeletons in the Closet)
Following shortly after their SABC3 drama series High Rollers, brothers Luke and Joshua
Rous of Rous House Productions new television series Geraamtes in die Kas (Skeletons
in the Closet) starts airing on SABC2 on 29 October 2013 at 19h30.

The 13 x 48-minute drama series is written and directed by Joshua and produced by
Luke and is shot on location in Waterkloof in Pretoria.

Set in the world of psychology, the mind games are on as psychiatrist Adriaan Vermaak
(Gys de Villiers) undergoes a change of heart in his relentless pursuit of making money.
He employs Rudi Abrahams (Wayne van Rooyen), a music therapist who has been
working pro bono with children on the Cape Flats in an attempt to redeem himself and
go back to his true calling of helping people for the right reasons.

However, his high paid partners, sexologist Palesa Ramaposa (Vuyelwa Booi) and
forensic psychologist Susan Brink (Anel Alexander) are reluctant to allow Rudi into the
private practice. Adriaan starts to descend into schizophrenia after he learns of the
death of his estranged father, a world-renowned child psychologist, who he hadnt
spoken to for 15 years.

Joshua and Luke Rous worked with and consulted Dr Katherine Bain, a lecturer of
psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, who advised them about the world
they wanted to explore. She helped them delve deeper into the psyche of people
suffering with mental disorders such as frotteurism (the urge to rub the penis or pelvis
against someone, usually in a public place such as a crowded train or concert),
Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (a relatively rare form of child abuse that involves the
exaggeration or fabrication of illnesses or symptoms by a primary caretaker) and
paedophilia.

I wrote the series about five years ago in response to a brief for a show based in the
workplace. It was commissioned by SABC3 at the time with the working title Borderline,
says Joshua. There hadnt really been any shows about psychologists. We thought the
profession would be interesting to portray with the premise that sometimes the people
who treat us for being crazy arent so sane themselves. It also gave us an opportunity
to really delve into interesting psychological disorders.

Luke says: The original script was translated and reworked by Sandra Vaughn and
Corine du Toit from the company @Lettergreep. Theyve brought the Afrikaner
sensitivity and the female mind to what was originally quite a male-dominated
process.
Geraamtes in die Kas also stars, among others, James Alexander, Vuyelwa Booi, Kim
Engelbrecht, Helene Lombard and Duke Motlanthe.

Apart from their success with television series, the brothers plan to start shooting
feature movie Bruid van die Jaar (Bride of the Year) at the end of this year. Written by
Vaughn, this magical realism romantic comedy has already received development funding
from the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF).

The movie already has a built-in market and tremendous sponsorship opportunities.
Our industry needs to learn how to make money so this film has been specifically
tailored to be both as artistic and commercially viable as possible, concludes Luke.