Lights, Camera, Caribbean – an intensive program for Caribbean filmmakers

BY SELINA McCALLUM

Imagine seeing your name in the credits of a feature film as the director or producer. This is what the founder of the Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF) envisions for the Caribbean community.

Frances Anne Solomon is the founder of The Caribbean Tales Film Festival in Toronto.

Solomon was born in England of Trinidadian parents, she was raised and educated in the Caribbean and Canada. She is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, producer, curator, and entrepreneur in film, TV, radio, theatre, and new media.

The founder of CTFF is also the founder of Leda Serene Films. Leda Serene Films is a film, television, and theatre production company based in Toronto, Canada. The company has produced award-winning projects from feature films to original theatre.

The CaribbeanTales Incubator (CTI) is a year-round development and production hub for Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora producers that aims to create strong, compelling and sustainable content that can be consumed worldwide.

“We realized there was a need for training of diverse and Caribbean heritage filmmakers that would address how to develop world class content,” said Solomon. “We don’t have the opportunity to create content, so people don’t have those skills.”

The ultimate goal of the CTI is to increase the pool of world-class indigenous film and television content.

“We have a one-month program online where they prepare their projects for pitching. Then they come to Toronto for four days and they train with an incubator mentor. Then they pitch it at what we call the Big Pitch which takes place at the TIFF Bell Lightbox which is open to industry leaders to come,” said Solomon.

Judges who have been a part of the program are Nicole Mendes from the CBC, Karam Masri from Ontario Creates, and Kathleen Meek from Corus Entertainment.

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder, an actress that plays Dr. Loretta Wade on NCIS: New Orleans, was in Toronto to be a judge for the 14th Annual CTFF’s Incubator Program’s Big Pitch Breakfast.

“What a wonderful experience! Eighteen aspiring producers from all over the Caribbean and African Diaspora pitched their stories for a chance to win $10,000,” wrote Pounder in the CTFF newsletter.

The stories that people pitch range from all kinds of genres.

“There are as many stories, as there are people. So, you have animation, you have drama, documentary, crime, fiction and different kinds of storytelling. We don’t restrict the kinds of stories that people want to tell,” said Solomon.

In the past, Solomon has encouraged people to make series instead of feature films, so that they can become a franchise which will help them continuously profit and become sustainable.

In many parts of the world, good quality movies are being made about the people in that country, but when it comes to the Caribbean, it seems that we are lacking in the tools to compete. Solomon thinks it is the lack of infrastructure in the industry and the difficulty to reach several kinds of audiences in the Caribbean.

“Hollywood has a commercially successful model, and then you have other models like the U.K and Canada, which are government subsidized. In Bollywood, the model is audience driven, so they make content that they know their audiences will want to see,” said Solomon.

“For whatever reason, in the Caribbean, there is not an infrastructure for funding and producing content. The governments don’t support it to a very large extent, except in countries like Dominican Republic. Also, because the islands are small, spread out and have their own identity, it’s difficult to find a common audience base that can drive an industry,” said Solomon.

CTFF also offers a smaller training program called the Accelerator Program which takes place in specific markets. Currently, their Accelerator Program is in South Africa specifically for African female filmmakers. They also off a feature film program in Toronto for first time feature directors.

CaribbeanTales Inc. is a registered charity in Canada.

Caribbean Tales Film Festival has launched their fundraising campaign to raise money for these programs.

“Our donation drive funds scholarships for participants to participate in the Incubator Program. It covers their travel, accommodation and tuition, which is great because that means a lot of the times emerging filmmakers don’t have a lot of money at the beginning of their careers,” said Solomon.

To date, the campaign has raised just under $20,000 of their $100,000 goal.

“The CTFF Incubator Program is now in its tenth year. It is a necessary and vital part of the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, because it fuels new and potential producers and offers them a platform to tell their stories,” wrote Pounder.

If you would like to make a donation or receive more information on the Incubator Program, visit https://www.caribbeantales.org/donate/