SJ van Breda was born and raised in Durban, South Africa. She studied engineering before pursuing film at Vancouver Film School.

SJ has screened films at Whistler Film Festival, Oxford International Film Festival, Chilliwack Independent Film Festival, SA Indie Festival, and has filmed two shorts in Italy for the Pigneto and CICI Film Festivals. She was also placed in the top 10 of the Nespresso Talents 2018, was selected for the Adobe Design Achievement awards and won the documentary category of FilmicFest 2019. SJ is currently a Mi Creator with Xiaomi Studios and a freelance director and editor in Cape Town, South Africa and works mainly on editorial content, music videos and short films. She is also serving as an instructor and jury member for the inaugural MMOCA Film Festival in Cape Town in 2020. She is currently in development on two feature length documentaries and is writing her first feature film.