Philip Karanja

Philip Karanja (born February 22, 1987) is a Kenyan director, producer and actor best known for his role as Melvin in the Citizen TV drama series Tahidi High in 2007. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Phill-It Productions, a film and television production company he established in 2012 with writer Abel Mutua. Karanja began his directing career in 2014 with the KTN comedy series, The Real Househelps of Kawangware. He has since directed projects including Sue and Jonnie, A Grand Little Lie, Click Click Bang, Makosa ni Yangu and Untying Kantai. As an actor, he has also appeared on Tahidi High, Aphrodite and Haki Mwitu.

Early life Karanja was born on February 22, 1987 in Nairobi, Kenya as the second-born and only son in a family of five. He was raised in Dandora. Both of his parents were teachers, and his father died in 2002 while Karanja was in high school.

Education He began his primary education at Tom Mboya Primary School in Dandora before transferring to Hospital Hill Primary School in Parklands. He later attended Dagoretti High School in Nairobi for his secondary studies. Karanja then studied film production and acting at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication, where he graduated in 2008.

Career While still a film student in 2007, Karanja was cast in the Citizen TV series Tahidi High as Melvin. Within a year, he was promoted to production assistant and later to assistant director. He also worked as an assistant director on Mother-in-Law series on Citizen TV.

In 2011, he was cast as Mike in a short film Aphrodite. As a director with Protel Studios in 2014, his first projects were the television series Hapa Kule News and The Real Househelps of Kawangware on KTN. He directed 104 episodes of the latter before leaving to focus on Phill-It Productions. in 2017, he directed Maisha Magic Plus comedy series Hullabaloo Estate.

His next project as a director was Sue na Jonnie on Maisha Magic East and Showmax. It was the first production from Phil-It productions to be broadcaster by a mainstream channel. In 2021, he directed the feature film A Grand Little Lie and later the action film Click Click Bang.

Karanja returned to acting in 2024 as Mr. X in the television series Haki Mwitu, before resuming his role as director on the same show. He also directed Untying Kantai and worked as a producer on both Haki Mwitu and A Grand Little Lie.

Personal life Karanja met Catherine Kamau at the set of Mother-in-Law in 2012 and they began dating in 2013. They got married in 2017 in Nairobi. Karanja adopted Kamau's son, Leon Karanja and in December 2019 the couple welcomed a daughter, Karla Njeri.

On September 19, 2023, they both announced their divorce with a joint statement on their social media accounts.

Filmography

Awards and nominations