Jimmy, Cheddar and the Streets That Made Them

How Jimmy and Cheddar Brought Soweto to Life with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Some stories can only be told by the people who lived them.

When Samsung approached us at Between 10and5 to put the new Galaxy S26 Ultra through its paces, we knew immediately who we wanted behind the lens.

Jimmy and Cheddar are a Soweto-born creative duo whose work sits at the intersection of photography, film, music and storytelling. Their bond started long before any brief or brand partnership. Gomolemo “Jimmy” Moloto and Sibusiso “Cheddar” Kgokane met in first grade, shared lunch, and on civvies day started taking portraits of each other. That early curiosity never left. It just grew into something bigger.

Today, Jimmy directs and shapes the emotional arc of a story, while Cheddar operates as DOP and editor, building the visual language frame by frame. Together they make work that is intentional, culturally grounded and emotionally resonant. For this project, there was only one place to start.

Going Home

Ask Jimmy and Cheddar where their creativity comes from and the answer is simple: their home town, Soweto.

“Soweto gives us identity, and an endless sense of possibility,” they say. “From discovering our love for fashion, to our uncles playing music outside on Saturdays, to our grannies allowing us to build our first makeshift studio in the front yard, this place has always been central to our creative journey.”

The vision for the video was clear from the start: to offer a different portrait of Soweto than the one most people expect. “Soweto is often portrayed through the lens of struggle,” they explain.

“Soweto is often portrayed through the lens of struggle,” they explain. “We wanted to offer a different perspective, one that acknowledges the challenges while still highlighting the beauty that exists within them.” Pantsula, bujwa, umrapper culture. People who carry themselves with pride and intention regardless of circumstance. “These are the values that raised us and ultimately carried us to where we are now.”

“For us, the vision was not just to document a place, but to honour the lived experiences that shaped our creative journey.” – Jimmy and Cheddar

The Moments That Made the Film

Two scenes from the shoot stand out as the emotional heart of the video.

The first was a portrait session with their grandmothers. “That moment was a highlight of the shoot because the frames felt so meaningful and beautifully captured,” they recall. “Seeing them experience themselves in a new light, almost as if they were being celebrated in a way they had never seen before, was deeply special. They also came with so much style and presence, which made the moment even more powerful.”

The second came at a local park, where they photographed children from the neighbourhood. “Their excitement when we showed them the pictures on the phone was priceless,” they say. “Watching them recognise their own beauty and joy through the images reminded us why we do this. Those moments carried the heart of the day.”

Watching them recognise their own beauty and joy through the images reminded us why we do this.

A Tool That Keeps Up

As working videographers, Jimmy and Cheddar are not easily impressed by phone cameras. So their response to the Galaxy S26 Ultra carries some weight. “The phone genuinely surprised us,” they say. “Without trying to sound like we are overselling it, the experience lived up to what the marketing promised.”

“The phone genuinely surprised us.” – Jimmy and Cheddar

The camera’s colour science in particular stood out, delivering visuals with a strong, polished look straight from the device. But it was the way the phone integrated into their professional workflow that made the biggest impression.

“It changed the way we worked because it allowed us to move faster without compromising too much on quality,” they explain. The LOG video feature, paired with preset LUTs, gave them the kind of colour grading flexibility usually reserved for dedicated camera systems, making the footage feel more cinematic and intentional in post.

The Horizontal Lock feature kept moving shots stable on busy streets, removing the need for excessive correction during editing.

Galaxy AI also earned its place on the shoot. “The biggest highlight for us was definitely the AI Remove tool,” they say. “Something that would usually take a few minutes in post could be done in seconds, and the accuracy was impressive. It showed us how much a phone can now support the creative process, not just as a capture tool, but as part of the full production workflow.”

Circle to Search proved quietly useful too, allowing the pair to look up visual references, architecture and cultural touchpoints on the move without breaking the flow of the day.

The Whole Point

At the centre of everything Jimmy and Cheddar make is a simple but deliberate philosophy. “We always try to keep the main thing the main thing,” they say. “The project is never about one person’s ego or one person’s idea. It is about what the story needs.”

“The project is never about one person’s ego or one person’s idea. It is about what the story needs.”

What the story needed this time was honesty, community and a phone that could keep up with two creators who never stop moving. And The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra delivered.