CTWD Celebrates its International Launch by bringing 25 Top Producers to the Toronto International Film Festival.
CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc, the first ever film distribution company of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, will bring twenty-five (25) top Caribbean producers and filmmakers to Toronto this fall, to take part in its unique Market Development Program and participate in the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival 2010.
Launched regionally in Barbados in May 2010 with the Vision Statement “Taking Caribbean Films to the World”, CTWD aims to be the “go to” solution for Caribbean filmmakers seeking to penetrate the international marketplace, and international buyers looking for quality Caribbean-themed content.
“There is an explosion of content coming out of the Caribbean and a need for a focused distribution strategy to ensure that this gets the best deals on the international market.” said CEO and accomplshed award-winning Canadian-Trinidadian filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon.
Already the company boasts a distribution catalogue of over 50 films and television programs by some of the finest filmmakers from the Caribbean and its Diaspora.
The classy inaugural Catalogue will be unveiled in September when the company will host a Market Development Program for twenty-five (25) selected Caribbean producers, aimed at supporting the growth of a vibrant world-class Caribbean film and TV industry. This will include an intensive 3-day Market Incubator (September 6-9th), a Caribbean-themed Networking Launch Party on September 7th, and a Marketplace Brunch (September 13th).
Participants will hone their project proposals through intensive analyses and interventions with international consultants, that will prepare them to participate in the Toronto International Film Festival, where they will take advantage of many networking opportunities with Canadian and international partners and buyers.
More than fifty (50) producers applied to this year’s CTWD Market Development Program. The stellar list of final participants represents a Who’s Who of Caribbean filmmaking.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will fund the participation of 6 established regional producer, all of them recipients of the 2009 UNIDO Cinematic & Entrepreneurship Motivation Awards (CEMA). They are well-known producer/director Alison Saunders (Hit for Six!) from Barbados, ?filmmakers Che Rodriguez, and Rubadiri Victor from Trinidad, Clement Richards from Dominica, St. Lucian music video director Davina Lee, and L.A.-based Guyanese filmmaker and actor? Marc Gomes.
UNIDO is also funding the participation of 4 outstanding producers selected for the exceptionally high quality of their submitted projects. They include celebrated Trinidadian writer /producer Tony Hall, accomplished Jamaican film and television director/producer Mary Wells, and Kirk Buchanan, Deputy CEO of the Creative Production & Training Centre Ltd & CTV Cable Channel.
Innovative Montreal-based Canadian animation company Toon Boom and UNIDO will jointly support the participation of award-winning animator Camille Selvon Abrahams from Trinidad and Tobago.
Invest Barbados will support five (5) established Barbadian producers : Penelope Hynam from Caribbean Island Film, Mahmood Patel (Bridgetown Film Festival/the Film Group), Cabral Trotman (Skylarc Pictures), Rommel Hall (Jesus Army Productions) and producer Lisa Harewood.
The Canada Council for the Arts is supporting five (5) accomplished independent Canadian filmmakers to participate in the CTWD Program: award-winning filmmaker Dawn Wilkinson, celebrity presenter and director/producer Sharon Lewis, NYU graduate Ian Harnarine, talented writer/director Louis Taylor, and prolific documentary maker Lana Lovell
Finally CTWD is proud to announce part-subsidies for attendance by three (3) Diaspora producers: Mariel Brown (The Solitary Alchemist), from Trinidad, and US-based directors Vashti Anderson (Jeffrey’s Calypso), and Melisssa Gomez (Share and Share Alike).
The CTWD Market Incubator Program will be led by respected international consultants including NY-based Marketing and Distribution specialist Michelle Matterre, and Tanya Mudaly, who is Commissioning Editor for Drama at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Their participation is made possible through grants from the Caribbean Export Development Agency, and the Commonwealth Foundation.
CTWD is founded by award-winning Canadian-Trinidadian producer/director Frances-Anne Solomon. Other principals of the company are economist and CTWD Board Chair Dr Keith Nurse who is also Director of the Shridath Ramphal Center at UWI’s Cave Hill Campus in Barbados; international media personality, producer and marketing specialist Lisa Wickham, and talented Jamaican-American producer/director Mary Wells.
CTWD is a member of the Barbados Business Enterprise Corporation that provides Seed and Venture Capital Services.
