Filmmakers

What does it mean to begin in and belong to an island, where no one begins or belongs? What does it mean, when suddenly you experience a rupture and your sense of self (predicated on fragmented geography/a hobbled together mosaic of opposing colloquialisms) is broken, bent, light under water? What about when we see that everything, absolutely everything, is revolving in a motion of constant push and pull? No wonder we feel split, spread, torn. For example, what could possibly be pure emotion, that which is not a mix of all emotions (particularly those that are "opposite")? Love (and all capitalised emotions) generate their magnificence from the vibration of terror.

I was not born in the isle of St. Vincent, but in England. We adopted the island in 1992 when I was two years old. Twenty-one years later we have been fully expelled. Our house has been broken into too many times, our lives have been threatened, every time we try to go back something happens and we have to leave again. Pulled by exquisite beauty, pushed by intolerable violence, bearing the fears "what if we'd been home when they broke in? what if we'd entered the growing ranks of those murdered during burglary?" These have been real and actual concerns for the past eight years.

Prior to January 2013 I had planned to make my Senior Project Film a portrait piece about one man, Mr. Guy. I saw him as a channel through which I could start asking questions about why the island is so violent. Since a young age I examined my blood, and saw that it was all equally red. Since a young age I've examined my blood, and have seen that it is two different reds, a crackling spark of vibrant red, that of the British, and a red of dull thuds and hammerings, the deeper, quieter, earthen red of the Caribbean peoples. Colonialism, I honed in on it, and prefixes like "post" and "pre". This whole mess is because of these, and there are collective psychological scars (I posited to whoever would listen) from the trauma of colonialism, that hadn't been dealt with. That island needs a good therapist, but first is to acknowledge that we are sick. Mr. Guy worked for many of the British plantation owners. His knowledge about the colonial period is extensive, and his character and charisma are up lifting. Some lessons, to be learned here, to be shared, to be sprinkled across the island in electric image, to smile meekly up from the soil, finally, some seed in which we can be hopeful?

Alison Duke is a filmmaker and owner of Goldelox Productions, a Toronto-based film and video company producing films that works with producers, directors and artists on projects that brings diverse audiences together to affect positive social change. In 2016, Alison executive produced the Akua Benjamin Legacy Project with five black female filmmakers from Toronto. This series of five award-winning short documentaries celebrate the legacy of Toronto's renowned black activists; Gwen and Lenny Johnson, Marlene Green, Rosie Douglas, Dudley Laws and Charles Roach. She will direct DISCLOSURE in 2018 and has several films in development including:

• Mr. Jane & Finch directed by Ngardy Conteh George
• Mothering in the Movement directed by Laurie Townshend

Alwin Bully was born in Roseau in 1948 and was educated at the . He returned to teach at his old Alma Mata, eventually serving as its headmaster. During this time he was deeply involved in promoting all aspects of the arts in Dominica including drama, painting, dance, folk traditions, creative writing and Carnival. In 1965 he had represented Dominica at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in Britain along with members of the Kairi  and Dominica Dance troups. In 1978, with the encouragement of then Minister of Education, H. L. Christian, he established the ‘cultural desk’ in the Ministry of Education that eventually developed into the Cultural Division in the Ministry of Community Development. In 1987 he left Dominica to work at the regional office of UNESCO in Jamaica, applying his creative skills to the wider Caribbean.

My passion for film production began in my teens, while working during Summer/August vacation as a Production Assistant (1996-2000). I appreciate opportunities to collaborate with professionals who share a vision of developing film and cinema in the Caribbean.

•  Locations Scout/Manager and Pre-production on several commercials and documentary film projects | Currently
• Featured ‘talent cameo’ endorsement | Executive Producer Water and Sewage Authority | 2013
'Water Conservation Campaign' | Directed by Viscuna Brothers | Trinidad and Tobago
• Location Scout, Assistant Location Manager and Actress | 2012
'Home Again Movie' | Directed by Sudz Sutherland | Canada & Trinidad and Tobago
• Award Winning (Executive) Producer | Marketing Strategist | 2007- 2011
‘Positive and Pregnant’ short film |
Best Documentary (New York Int. Film Festival NYIFF) | Best Docudrama (NYIFF) | Social Awareness Award (Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival) | Global
•  Special Effects Makeup Department | 2006
'Ghost of Hing King Estate' | Directed by Horace Ove | Trinidad and Tobago
• Publicity, Marketing Strategy | 2004-2005
‘Rapso Music a Documentary’ | Directed by Stacy Lela | Based on the history of an indigenous musical Calypso fusion, with spoken word poetry |  Trinidad & Tobago
• Television and Video Production Assistant | Little Fire Pictures | 1996-2000
'Clico Marathon Documentary' (1996-1999) | 'A Measure of Hope' (1998) |'Time to Lime' (2000) | Trinidad & Tobago

Carver is Managing Director of Sustain T&T, a social enterprise producing and exhibiting educational film content in the areas of environment and sustainability. He has over 15 years of professional experience in the areas of Management and Marketing, in both the public and private sectors. He leads Sustain T&T in providing branding, communications and visibility services to agencies with a public education mandate, informing audiences about issues affecting them, like climate change.

Green Screen | The Environmental Film Series, is Sustain T&T’s marquee event, bringing environmentally themed films and discussions to communities in Trinidad and Tobago on an annual basis.

Carver holds a BSc in Communications and a Diploma in Motion Picture Directing.

Links:  Green Screen - The Environmental Film Series | A Better Place | GreenScreenTT on FB

Charysse Tia Harper, was born and raised in Oxnard, California. She graduated from the University of Southern California (May 2006) with Bachelor degrees in Cinema & Television Productions and Broadcast Journalism. She also earned a Master’s in Management & Leadership (May 2009) at Regent’s University London in the United Kingdom.

Upon finishing her undergraduate studies, Charysse moved to London. Being immersed in an international city with a large mix of ethnicities, she fell in love with learning about different cultures. She has traveled to 20 countries and has enjoyed recounting her experiences with her family and friends. Because of this, Charysse knew that making foreign documentaries would be her calling in life.

Over her career, Charysse has worked on numerous projects ranging from a World War II independent film (Only the Brave), to an informational video about chiropractics (Dr. Eckerson Chiropractics), as well as exploring how people cope when working in Las Vegas (Sin City).

Charysse is of Trinidadian descent. She has focused on her culture in three of her projects: 1) award-winning film, The Other Side of Carnival (2010) that looks at the social and economic impact Carnival has on the Trinidad & Tobago society; 2) T&T 50 in Fifteen (2012), a look at important events that have occurred during Trinidad & Tobago’s 50 years of independence; and 3) Panomundo (estimated completion 2014), a project that is in production, which examines the history of Trinidad & Tobago’s steelpan and its influence around the world.

In addition, she is also producing on 12 Months, a documentary about a Los Angeles man who is renting his three-bedroom home for $1 a month to a family in need for a year and Not In Our Culture, about the differences of tribal weddings in Nigeria. Charysse currently resides in southern California.

"I’m an animator and director from Trinidad and Tobago.

Graduating from Sheridan College I have worked in the advertising industry as an Art Director at McCann Erickson and Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi and also served as President of the Caribbean chapter of the American Advertising Federation. Currently I operate a small design, film and animation agency, Bepperton. My work has won over 90 awards including 4 American Advertising National ADDY® Awards and finalist selections at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International Film Festival and the 2012 Vimeo Awards in New York.

I welcome opportunities to work on projects with creative entities around the world. Also please share your videos with me, I love seeing new stuff!"  (Source: Chris Guinness on Vimeo)

 Links:  Website

Cristian Carretero is from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He has a BA degree from Sarah Lawrence College, New York with a concentration in Film History and Colour Photography. In 2014 he graduated with an MFA in filmmaking from New York University. His short film Yolanda (2013) was a ttff/13 selection. Currently, he is in pre-production for his first feature length film, based on the short This Island (2014).

As a boy growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Damian Marcano often spent his days at play in the streets of his community of Morvant/Laventille, in east Port-of-Spain. He migrated to the US at the age of 12, and later enrolled at Ohio State University, intending to study medicine. Instead he moved to New York and became a web design programmer, then entered the world of filmmaking.

Currently based in Los Angeles, Marcano made his first film, the charming short The Little Boy and the Ball, in 2011. Now he has returned to the streets he knew as a child to shoot his first feature, the gritty drama God Loves the Fighter, the story of Charlie, a young man down on his luck who reluctantly gets drawn into working for a drug-dealing gang leader.

Danielle Russell is an independent filmmaker whose short films and documentaries have been internationally showcased. With a B.A. in Radio Journalism and an M.F.A in Film and TV Production, her professional experience spans multiple media platforms and languages as she has held jobs as a Radio Journalist, TV Producer and a Mandarin/English translator for film.

Danielle has also been involved in the academic side of the creative industry as she has presented research on the portrayal of the physically disabled at the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference. Danielle’s participation in the recent British Council Script Development Workshop, puts her as one of fifteen who were selected for this inaugural training programme. Her career in film began when she attended a 6-week Filmmakers’ Workshop, after which she founded the Campion College Filmmakers’ Society. Danielle currently lectures in Storytelling and Scriptwriting at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Davina Lee Films is a film production company based in Saint Lucia, which specializes in films, music videos, documentaries, television shows and commercials. Filmmaker Davina Lee runs the Company she has a BFA in Film and has ten years of experience in production and has produced films, television programs, music videos and commercials. Another producer in the company, Esther Lee-Leach is based in Denver Colorado, she holds a MFA in Fashion Journalism and has had 10 years’ experience in television production.

Davina Lee Films' aim is to produce high quality films with a Caribbean Aesthetic by capturing the essence of traditional storytelling, music and vibrancy of the islands and export it to the World.

Eljon Wardally is a Playwright and Screenwriter born in New York with Grenadian roots. She got her start performing at Downtown Art Theatre on the Lower East Side and has worked for MTV as a Producer/ Director covering red carpets and special events across the U.S. and Caribbean. Plays include: Big Black Balloon (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist), Bishop (O'Neill National Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist, Kennedy Center Finalist) The Gift (The Network One Act Festival Semi-Finalist), Home Sweet Home (The Strawberry Festival Semi Finalist),  Docket 32357  (New Works By Young Women Finalist), Charlotte's Song (Judson Church).

Short Films include: Kicked, Docket 32357 (Winner Audience Choice International Black Film Festival of Nashville, Winner Grand Jury Prize Huffington Post Black Voices Breakthrough Theater Series). Docket 32357 Web Series. She received her MFA in Playwriting from Fordham/Primary Stages as part of its Inaugural class.

Eljon is also the author of the blog: imakethestrokeunitsexy.blogspot.com

Provider Films was founded in 2013 as a limited liability company (besloten vennootschap) by Ewoud Bon and Germán Gruber jr. and is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The company’s main purpose is to develop and produce quality feature films set in the Caribbean looking to foster a strong filmmaking culture in the region, while cultivating local talent and reaching out to international audiences.

Having met at the Utrecht School of Arts film school in The Netherlands in 2004, Germán and Ewoud started developing concepts, producing and creating successful projects together. Because of Germán’s Caribbean background, they travelled to the island of Curaçao, where they shot the documentary BRION: YU DI KORSOU (2005), for local television. THE LEGEND OF BUCHI FIL (2008), their graduation film based on the poem by Pierre Laufer called Balada di Buchi Fil, was awarded “Best Short” at the Trinidad International Film Festival in 2010 and was screened at several film festivals around the world.

Their first feature film SENSEI REDENSHON (2013) became the first Papiamento-spoken feature in twenty years, and was a big success in cinemas in Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba. It screened in several festivals, including Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (“Special Mention of the Jury”, feature film competition), Havana International Film Festival, World Cinema Festival Amsterdam and The Americas Film Festival New York. The film was theatrically released in the Netherlands in Autumn 2015, including several weeks at the Pathé Cinemas in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. SENSEI REDENSHON was among the Top-10 films at the box office in the whole country during its premiere week, marking a successful starting point for Provider Films.

Born in The Netherlands, 1983, Ewoud grew up with a great admiration for film and television. As a young kid he had is own favorite movies, which he reenacted with his friends. When he received his first photo camera as a gift, he never let go of it. He went on to study film and soon discovered his path into cinematography. At the Utrecht University of the Arts, he met Germán Gruber during their first assignment. Immediately they clicked, and decided to work together on more projects.

Ewoud became fond of the Caribbean and followed Germán to Curaçao where they shot the documentary BRION: YÚ DI KORSOU and later their graduation film E LEYENDA DI BUCHI FIL.

Upon returning to The Netherlands, Ewoud gained experience as a cinematographer within the Dutch film industry. He has worked as camera assistant on numerous feature films and commercials, collaborating with directors like Paul Verhoeven, cinematographers like Guido van Gennep (Winter in Wartime), and learning about shooting in countries like France, Serbia, Iceland and Ghana. As a cinematographer, he has worked in commercials and documentaries, as well as several short films, including THE BLUE BUS and CONNECTED (dir. Sanne Kortooms), ROMANCE and HABITAT (dir. Joeri Pruys).

He worked closely with Germán on his debut feature SENSEI REDENSHON as cinematographer and producer. This film’s cinematography was acclaimed by the press as ‘a masterclass in Hollywood filmmaking’, ‘inventive and daring’.

Gavin Ramoutar is a New York based film and television producer, and a native of Guyana. He is currently Associate Producer on the Amazon comedy series, Mozart in the Jungle. Gavin’s celebrated short film, ANTIMAN won the 2016 LGBT Special Prize at the Sao Paolo International Short Film Festival, and the 2015 Youth Jury Prize at the prestigious Odense International Film Festival. He is presently writing a feature length version of the film. Gavin most recently worked on Errol Morris’ upcoming Netflix limited series, Wormwood, and worked for two years with the development team of HBO’s Pretty Matches Productions, helmed by Sarah Jessica Parker. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from New York University Tisch School of Arts.

Provider Films was founded in 2013 as a limited liability company (besloten vennootschap) by Ewoud Bon and Germán Gruber jr. and is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The company’s main purpose is to develop and produce quality feature films set in the Caribbean looking to foster a strong filmmaking culture in the region, while cultivating local talent and reaching out to international audiences.

Having met at the Utrecht School of Arts film school in The Netherlands in 2004, Germán and Ewoud started developing concepts, producing and creating successful projects together. Because of Germán’s Caribbean background, they travelled to the island of Curaçao, where they shot the documentary BRION: YU DI KORSOU (2005), for local television. THE LEGEND OF BUCHI FIL (2008), their graduation film based on the poem by Pierre Laufer called Balada di Buchi Fil, was awarded “Best Short” at the Trinidad International Film Festival in 2010 and was screened at several film festivals around the world.

Their first feature film SENSEI REDENSHON (2013) became the first Papiamento-spoken feature in twenty years, and was a big success in cinemas in Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba. It screened in several festivals, including Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (“Special Mention of the Jury”, feature film competition), Havana International Film Festival, World Cinema Festival Amsterdam and The Americas Film Festival New York. The film was theatrically released in the Netherlands in Autumn 2015, including several weeks at the Pathé Cinemas in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. SENSEI REDENSHON was among the Top-10 films at the box office in the whole country during its premiere week, marking a successful starting point for Provider Films.

Germán was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1980. When he was 8 years old, he moved with his family to Bonaire. During his school years, Germán regularly visited his father’s workplace at the local television network and spent most of his free time watching hundreds of films. This motivated him to pursue film studies in The Netherlands, where he got accepted into the directing program at the Utrecht University of the Arts. Having gained valuable experience as writer and director abroad, he decided to return to the Caribbean and realize his plan of making films with Antillean stories in Papiamento, and bring these to international audiences. With his graduation film E LEYENDA DI BUCHI FIL, which focuses on slavery in Curaçao during colonial times, he discovered that films from the island are well received, both in the Caribbean and outside the region.

Germán has been working in the Curaçaoan audiovisual industry as a director for commercials, documentaries and institutional videos since 2008. He recently wrote, produced and directed the first locally produced dramatic TV series.

His first feature as a writer-director-producer, SENSEI REDENSHON (2013), followed after three years. The film was the first full-length Papiamento-spoken feature in twenty years and it gained a lot of popularity on the islands. Its wide release in The Netherlands can be called a milestone for Dutch-Antillean cinema, being the first film in Papiamento language ever to be released in the Pathé Cinemas circuit. SENSEI REDENSHON screened several weeks in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, and was part of the top 10 box office hits during its premiere week.

Guetty Felin was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and grew up in New York. She has an MFA in cinema from the University of Paris. Her films include the documentaries Closer to the Dream (10) and Broken Stones(12). Ayiti Mon Amour (16) is her fiction feature debut.

In 2001, HAMAFilms became the first indigenous company in the Eastern Caribbean to produce a feature length film with the release of “The Sweetest Mango” a romantic comedy. This was followed immediately in 2002, with their second film “No Seed” a political drama. Another film, “Diablesse” based on Caribbean Folklore was released in 2005. Released on June 2nd, 2011, is HAMA's fourth film, “The Skin” a supernatural thriller based on Caribbean Mythology.

Howard Allen is a film and television director/producer and the founder of HAMA Productions. While his career in television spans more than 30 years, he made his feature film directorial debut in 2001 with the release of The Sweetest Mango a romantic comedy based on how he and his wife met and fell in love.

The Sweetest Mango became Antigua and Barbuda’s first locally produced feature film and the first indigenous film for the Eastern Caribbean. It has become an iconic film that is still being screened after appearing at several film festivals in North America and the Caribbean and made its world- television premiere on Caribvision in via DirecTV. It is now archived at the Toronto International Film Festival Bell Lightbox Reference Library.

Howard’s directorial credits also include No Seed (2002) a drama and Diablesse (2005), Caribbean folklore. He wrote the screenplay for his fourth film The Skin (2011) a supernatural thriller starring Jamaican film icon Carl Bradshaw.

Howard’s work as a filmmaker has been singled out by the department of Cinema and Photography at Ithaca College in New York, for his innovative approach to filmmaking in a developing country. He has conducted master classes at Ithaca College on “Feature Filmmaking on a Shoestring Budget.”

He has also conducted UNICEF funded television production workshops for the Youth Department in Antigua and has worked closely with regional organizations training young people in television and film production.

In 2008 Howard was recognized by the Youth Department in the Ministry of Education with a “Young Pioneers” award for his inspiring work as a pioneer in filmmaking in Antigua & Barbuda.

Howard hopes by building a cadre of future film industry professionals, filmmaking will become an important part of Caribbean cultural expression.

Ian Harnarine was born in Toronto and studied physics at York University and the University of Illinois. He has an MFA from NYU’s Film School where he now teaches along with the Physics Department. His short film Doubles With Slight Pepper, won the Best Short Film Award at Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Ian is co-writing Time Traveler with Spike Lee, an adaptation of David Chariandy’s novel Soucouyantand a feature adaptation of Doubles With Slight Pepper. Recently, Ian was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film and profiled in the New York Times.

Ida is an independent documentary filmmaker and producer and resides in Holland and Aruba. Ida Does (Paramaribo, Suriname) has worked as a journalist for different media in Holland, Suriname and Aruba. She published in Dutch, Caribbean and Surinamese journals and magazines. She was editor in chief of Mutyama (magazine for culture and history )and of the daily Amigoe (Aruban edition). Furthermore she worked for the Caribbean edition of the Dutch Newspaper Algemeen Dagblad and wrote a series of short Caribbean stories for Dutch radio (VPRO De Avonden).

"Through journalism, music, and film, Jason aims to channel the spirit and stories of Miami and the Caribbean."

Joel Burke is a filmmaker from St. Andrew Jamaica. Joel is a director and editor of several music videos, commercials, short films and feature length movies. Joel has directed music videos for Jovi Rockwell and Bounty Killer, as well as commercials for Jamaica Yellow Pages, National Integrity Action, Salada Foods, Red Stripe, Supligen, Flow TV and Red Bull.Joel wrote and directed his first short film in 2005, titled Bad Lucky for Firefly Films, and his second Candy Shop in 2007 which he later turned into a feature length movie in 2008, and is awaiting its theatrical release. He edited the hit movie Ghetta’ Life for Chris Browne, which is one of the most successful locally produced movies, and is currently in post production for another feature film titled Destiny, directed by Jeremy Whittaker. Joel has been a part of the New Caribbean Cinema movement since its inception in 2010 and has been a part of all of their productions to date. Joel’s addition to the New Caribbean Cinema movement is his short film “My Vote”.

Juan Francisco Pardo is an Aruban filmmaker. His first film, 10 Ave Maria, won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the TTFF ’11. His second film, Awa Brak, won Best Short Film at the AIFF ’12 and a Special Jury Mention at the TTFF ’12. His first feature-length film, Abo So, won Best Caribbean Spotlight Series AIFF ’13 and Best Narrative Film BIFF’14. Alto Vista is his most recent film.

Originally from Trinidad, Juliette McCawley began her career as a Writer/Director in the United States, after acting for over 15 years.   Her involvement in film continued during her five years in Shanghai where she wrote, produced, directed and edited a variety of film projects - from award winning short films to corporate films for major international companies, to collaborating on Chinese and international films. Also an accomplished award winning photographer, her photos have appeared in Chinese and European magazines.

Here short films have been seen in film festivals in Chile, Trinidad, Canada and the UK.  Currently based in Trinidad, West Indies she continues to look for projects that inspire and challenge.

"I grew up on a small Caribbean island called Carriacou, 13sq miles, population 5800 and 2,102 miles SE of my birth place Brooklyn, NY. Too much info? Yea, thats what I thought too, so on to the good stuff. I live in Brooklyn. I am a computer engineer for J.P. Morgan. I also enjoy being a film artist, where I focus on direction and cinematic design. Fun stuff right? Booyah! I am very passionate about the development of the kids of tomorrow's future. I feel engaged to help shape it.

Besides being a big thinker, I enjoy alot of outdoor activities."

Kareem Mortimer first started his career in the film industry when he wrote and served as one of the producers for the 1998 Bahamas Games Documentary at the age of seventeen. Since then, Kareem has made short music documentaries for the syndicated show Hip Hop Nation :Notes from the Underground; produced the short film Varmint Day, winner of Best Comedy at the Made In Miami Film Festival; served as a producer and edited the feature length documentary Where I'm From,HIV and AIDS in The Bahamas with Maria Govan (Rain) , the short narrative, Chance; produced and directed The Eleutheran Adventure, Winner of the 2006 Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Bahamas International Film Festival; Directed the documentary Chartered Course: The Life of Sir Durward Knowles; and has written and directed the short Narrative  film Float that has won 5 international awards and distribution in North America, Germany, and,Austria. Most recently he has completed the documentary I Am Not A Dummy, and the highly anticipated debut feature film Children Of God. Kareem has co-directed and produced a second feature narrative WindJammers that is in post-production and is in development of his third and fourth feature The Holiday and Cargo.

Karen Marks Mafundikwa is a Jamaican filmmaker and the director and producer of The Price of Memory (2014). Previously, she produced the documentary featureShungu: The Resilience of a People (2009), which screened on three continents, including at IDFA and BFI London, and which won the Ousmane Sembene Award at the Zanzibar International Film Festival 2010 and Best Documentary, Kenya International Film Festival 2010. She has a BA in Journalism and Anthropology from New York University and an MSc in International Development, Tulane University School of Law.

KAREN MARTINEZ is a dual national UK/Trinidad & Tobago filmmaker, with a degree in Film, Video & Photographic Arts from The University of Westminster, London. 

After university, Karen worked in Trinidad for a number of years producing and directing several Caribbean TV series, including the popular Gayelle, as well as Body Beat, which both won National Media Awards.

Later, Karen returned to the UK and directed two documentaries: Kaiso For July 27, for the Channel 4 series 'South', which looked at Trinidad and Tobago one year after an attempted muslim coup, using calypso to help explore the story; and Chutney in yuh Soca, for the Channel 4 music series Black Trax, about an Indian-soca musical hybrid in the Caribbean.

More recently, she made a short film about a theatre project that works with trafficked women called Marginal Voices and the lyrical film Dark and Unaccustomed Words based on the work of British/Trinidadian poet Vahni Capildeo.

After Mas, made with financial assistance from the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company, is her first foray into drama, and she is now developing a feature film script, a psychological drama / thriller set in the UK and Trinidad, provisionally entitled Blanchicheuse.

She has also just been awarded another grant from the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company to make a new lyrical documentary-essay film, Dreams in Transit, that examines the meaning of "home". Shooting will commence in early 2014.

A cinephile from a young age, she approaches this passion by a circuitous route.Biology, through science journalism, she finally came to filmmaking in Seattle, USA.At the end of her film studies, the attraction of the Big Apple was stronger.She moved to New York to gain work experience as a light technician.Years later she felt the need to return to her island of Guadeloupe, at first be closer to her family and to make her contribution to the building of Guadeloupe cinema. However, she learned working as a cinematographer there was not easy - she has always wanted to showcase black skin through lighting, which has fed her passion for writing and filmmaking.

Glenford K. Adams was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. At the age of 14 he left Mt Hope Junior secondary moving to Buffalo, New York where he continued his education at Hutchinson Central Technical, one of the cities premier high schools. In 1998, he pursued a film degree at Brooklyn College, focusing on screenwriting, producing, directing and production. In late 2004, Kevin began an internship with SONY Music where he later became a production assistance on numerous music videos. In 2005. he created TriniGoodfellas Film & Video as his independent production company where he contracts video production services .

At the beginning of 2006, Kevin worked as an assistant to the producers of Fox 5 hit reality series, Trading Spouses, and most recently as an assistant to the casting directors for ABC’s, hit game show reality series Show Me The Money. Success has followed him back to T&T where in 2008 he won Trinidad & Tobago (TTFC) Production Assistance & Script Development Programme Award for his reality series Warrior Princess, but because of budget constraints, it didn’t materialize.However it didn’t stop there, in 2009, he developed a one off TV programme that was sold to Caribvision titled “Sexy Singles.”

In March of 2010, his screenplay No Soca NoLife, was one of three production that was chosen (out of over 80 submitted) to be developed TTFC. “No Soca No Life” won best actress in the TT Film Festival. In 2013 launched a series of TV shows that includes Models of the Caribbean, Carnival Climax and Local Addicts and a direct to DVD video production on Carnival events.

Check out Kevin's video for one of this year's soca hits, below.

Khris Burton is an award-winning film and commercial director, from Martinique, French West Indies.  He graduated from ESRA (Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle) , an high-end educational academy, located in Paris, which specializes in cinematography, TV broadcasting, scriptwriting and sound engineering training.

A music fan as a child, he went on to direct music videos. He quickly gained recognition in this industry, both from his peers and from the audience. In 2011, the French professional music association (S.A.C.E.M) bestowed him an award for his music video "Trêve de bavardages".  Khris Burton has also been directing commercials for half a decade. In this field too, his work won awards.

Since 2013, Khris Burton's international status has increased: his short movie "Maybe Another Time" won People's Choice Award, Top Rated and Jury 1st Commendations at the 8th edition of Filminute, the internationnal one minute film festival. Becoming the most awarded director in the history of the festival.  The movie also got Best Narrative Ultra Short Award at International Film Awards of Berlin (IFAB 2014).  In 2015, His one minute short "Nanny" won People Choice Award and Jury 2nd Commendation at the 10th edition of Filminute, the internationnal one minute film festival.

Throughout all his achievements, one can notice how human emotions matter for Khris Burton and are central in his work. His ability to catch these emotions and his technical expertise have made him an highly skilled director who is always willing to push back his limits. 

Visit Khris' website to see more of his work.

Kim Johnson is currently the Director of the Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago. His films, which were all screened at the TT Film Festival are The Audacity of the Creole Imagination, The Radical Innocence of Jackie Hinkson  which he wrote and directed. He also wrote PAN! Our Music Odyssey, Re-Percussions: Our African Odyssey, and Our Soul Turned Inside Out.

Over the last ten years Kojo Chukwuma (McPherson) has operated as a creative professional in Guyana. He has worked professionally as a scriptwriter and director for a radio serial drama; a writer/director/producer in educational video production; and a freelance photographer. In his leisure time he performed as a leading spoken word artist and has done some work as a writer and director for stage. In 2011 he added filmmaking to his portfolio. Among other projects he has completed three short films with a fourth one, a co­production with the Caribbean Film Academy, in post-
production.

Kojo is the winner of the RBC Focus: Filmmaker’s Immersion 2015, a ‘best project & pitch’ competition for feature­length films hosted by the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival.

Kojo is a Daddy (with a capital ‘D’) to two girls, Kinaya and Mapenzi.

Kyle Chin is a true son of the Jamaican film industry and has experience in many areas of the film world. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Philosophy from the University of West Indies before attending Los Angles Film School where he studied the art of filmmaking. Upon returning to Jamaica he was invited to join New Caribbean Cinema; an association of young, up and coming filmmakers with a desire to create communal films with a Caribbean perspective. Since then he has created films exploring man's ability to overcome adversity, as in 'IAMKING' and tackled one's capacity for redemption in 'Sunday'. Kyle has also been involved in the production of a number of commercial projects, including campaigns for PUMA, Digicel, Lime and Supligen.

Laurie Townshend is a writer, director, educator, and erratic blogger. Credits include The Railpath Hero (13), Human Frequency Streetdocs (14), and Charley (15) and Mothering in the Movement (upcoming), an intimate look at the power and potency of mothering in times of resistance.

"I was always inspired to draw, paint and make up stories, my home country Trinidad, is filled with a rich culture full of colourful characters, folklore and history. Design always felt natural and it consumed most of my time as a child. My granny would attest to this since my canvas was diverse and included her table spreads and her newly sewed dresses. Ha! Those were great days.
I also love writing and illustrating and my dogs.

I worked in Advertising for nine years at two agencies, McCann Erickson and Saatchi & Saatchi. I won 20 local and international awards from our local AAATT to The Addy Awards. Life in advertising was an exciting rollercoaster. You learn a lot about yourself and what you’re capable of under pressure, it shapes you as a professional, it surely shaped me as an artist and made me appreciate the concept of time and work I care about.

My intention is to create work from the heart that will be remembered."   (Source: Leizelle Guinness on Behance)

Leticia Tonos Paniagua was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. She completed her studies at the London Film School, where her thesis was an adaptation of the Junot Díaz short story “Ysrael”. La Hija Natural, her first feature, was the Dominican Republic’s entry to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Cristo Rey (2013) is her most recent film.

Lisa Harewood is a lifelong and passionate film fan from the island of Barbados. AUNTIE is Lisa’s debut effort as a writer and director and came about as a result of a last-minute decision to enter the Commonwealth Foundation’s Short Film competition. The short explores her interest in the effect of migration on those who leave their home countries and those who are left behind. These are issues she is exploring in-depth with a feature length narrative project currently in development.

After a working life spent mostly in the fields of advertising, marketing and development communication, she decided to pursue her long-held ambition of making a film, joining writer/director Russell Watson’s micro-budget feature project, A Hand Full of Dirt, as Producer.

On its release in 2011, the film was nominated for Best First Feature Narrative Director at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and won the Audience Award at the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto. That year Lisa was also selected to participate in an incubator programme in Toronto for emerging Caribbean film producers and in 2012 she was tipped as one of Reelworld’s Emerging 20 filmmakers.

Her production company, Gate House Media, is dedicated to making work that accurately reflects the Caribbean experience and to broadening access for the Caribbean Diaspora to their own stories.

Born in Guadeloupe, Lynda D' Alexis felt, at ?irst a strong interest for music, which pushes her shortly after obtaining her high school diploma in sciences, to leave her native island to pursue sound engineer's training in a studio in Marseille (FRANCE).

At the age of 20, she joins ESRA (Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle) , an high-end educational academy, located in Nice (France).  In 2013, she writes and direct her ?irst short ?ilm « L’EMPRISE (THE INFLUENCE) ", a movie dealing with the emotional and moral manipulation in couples.  The movie was showcased at FEMI (Regional and international Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe) during the movies-debate evening on " characters of women who move mentalities; daily heroins. « ;and at 15th Cinema and Video Meetings of Nice (France).

From then on, installed in Paris, she dashes into the writing and the production of her second short movie : "RICO" which she direct with a small crew of 5, at the age of 23 in Guadeloupe.  The money for the movie was partially raised from a successful crowdfunding campaign allowing her to gather more than 30 % of the movie total budget thanks to a faithful and active community which follows her still to this day. in 2016 Lynda won People Choice Award and Jury Special Prize for RICO at « Prix de Court » one of the biggest Short Films Festival in the French Caribbean.

Born and raised in Martinique, Maharaki presently lives in Barbados. She graduated in 2004 from the Ecole Internationale de Création Audiovisuelle & de Réalisation (EICAR) in Paris. She received her Bachelor of Fine arts Motion Picture Directing from the European Accreditation Board of Higher Education Schools (E.A.B.H.E.S) in London.

Her short film DIG IT has received the EICAR 2004 Grand Jury Prize. She has since won numerous awards for her commercial spots, music videos, scripts and short films.  Maharaki has just completed her much anticipated film, VIVRE, supported by several institutions such Le Centre National du Cinema & de l’image animée (CNC). The film project was presented at the 2012 Cannes film festival.

VIVRE was officially released in September 2013 in London.

To date, VIVRE has won 11 awards: The Youth Jury Prize at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, the Prix Jury Jeune du meilleur court-métrage de fiction at Le Festival International du Film Insulaire de Groix in France, the Prix Regards Francophones at Le Festival du film Court de Troyes in France, the “Prix de Court 2014 Canal +” at the Festival Prix de Court in the Antilles & French Guyana, the “Agency 71 Blue Wave Award ” & the TD Waterhouse Audience Choice Award at the Lakeshorts Film Festival of Toronto, the “Best international short film” at FEMUJER Festival Internacional de Mujeres en Corto, in Dominican Republic, the “FEMI dans les murs” at the FEMI in Guadeloupe, the “Grand Jury Prize” at the Bahamas International Film Festival, the “Second Jury Prize" at Ciné Global in Dominican Republic, and the "Audience Award" at the festival "Courts des îles" in Tahiti.

Maharaki is currently preparing her first feature film.

A woman of Greek, Scottish and Bahamian descent, Maria’s creative voice is deeply rooted in a dialogue with her home, the Bahamas.   Her first film, Junkanoo: The Heartbeat of a People, celebrates the spiritual and creative life force of Bahamian culture by exploring the African rooted festival-tradition of Junkanoo. Her subsequent work is an intimate look at the somewhat shattered lives of three Bahamians living with HIV. That film, Where I’m From: HIV and AIDS in the Bahamas, was an official selection at the Bahamas International Film Festival where it received wide support from both the local audience and visiting filmmakers alike.

Mary Wells is an independent/freelance director, writer and producer presently based in Jamaica. She has almost 20 years experience in TV and film production and continues to do ongoing production work. She has developed, produced and directed documentaries and narratives for mainly the Caribbean region. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Television Production and Theatre Arts from George Washington University, Washington, DC.

In 1999, she directed and produced a documentary short called Now Jimmy!, which was awarded Outstanding Documentary from the Caribbean in the Sheryl Lee Ralph Jamerican Film & Music Festival in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In 2002, the film was accepted into the very prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, and was also chosen by UNESCO to be a part of an international selection of films from around the world for the new Radio-TV Afghanistan.

In 2009, she began work on Kingston Paradise, a dramatic feature film. Fully shot, she is now currently in the throws of post-production. Currently, the project has attracted a Co-Executive Producer/Distributor out of the USA.  (Source: www.caribbean-tales.com)

Maya Cozier is in her second year studying Film and Video at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Melanie's parents are from Trinidad. Melanie was born in London but spent some of her childhood in Trinidad. Her parents, Carol and Lennox, eventually moved to Toronto where Melanie became a Canadian citizen. She attended the University of Windsor briefly before deciding to pursue an acting career. She then studied acting at The Playhouse Acting School in Vancouver.

She has been acting in plays, films and TV series since the early 90s in both the U.S. and Canada. She is married to American jazz musician, Larry Johnson and has one son, Elijah, who was born in 2004. Melanie is a member of Sugar'n'Spice productions, a theatre company, based in Toronto.

Visit the website below for more information about Melanie and her work.

Meschida Philip was born in Grenada and spent her teenage years in Westchester, New York. Philip earned her MFA in Film at CCNY, and as both activist and filmmaker, she is primarily interested in social issues including immigration, education and children/women’s rights affecting the Caribbean culture and communities throughout Grenada and by extension the Caribbean Diaspora.

Michael Anthony Tinglin was born in 1972 in rural Jamaica. At age 17 he moved to Kingston where in later years he became known as Ras Tingle. Eager and ready to learn about video production, Tingle observed and got involved in all areas of production from assisting prominent Jamaican Director, Ras Kassa in areas such as creating concepts, storyboards and budgets. In 2007, he and business-partner Danielle Desulme established their own production house known as TD FILMS. As a Director, Ras Tingle continues to ‘push the envelope’ in the music video industry. His upcoming projects include documentaries with a focus on stories indigenous to Jamaica and television programmes aimed to empower and uplift young people.

Soleil Michelle Serieux, is a filmmaker and actress local to St Lucia and Jamaica, working in fiction, non-fiction and new media. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Chicken and Egg Pictures, Women Make Movies, The Alter-Cine Foundation, Maine Media Workshops and a Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival documentary development workshop. She holds a MA in Film + Cinema Studies from Columbia University with Honours in New Media and a BA with First Class Honours in Media and Communication, Drama and Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies.

SUGAR, a first time collaboration with Jamaican writer Sharon Leach, was a winner of the inaugural JAFTA PROPELLA initiative. She is the 2018 Filmmaker in Residence at the University of the West Indies Mona through its Department of Literatures in English, and also Lecturer of  Audio Visual Histories in the UWI Mona Department of History.

Miquel, is a documentary filmmaker, born in Barcelona, and based in the Caribbean. He has worked as a Director, Producer, Photographer and Editor for more than 25 years. With experience in television, commercials and feature film production, he has traveled extensively and filmed on location around the world.

Miquel, brings fresh insights and master craftsmanship to all his projects. His documentary “Songs Of Redemption” won the best documentary award at Krakow film festival in 2014, and recently his feature documentary “Art Connect,” won the premier award at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival.

Links:  Website

In 2001, HAMAFilms became the first indigenous company in the Eastern Caribbean to produce a feature length film with the release of “The Sweetest Mango” a romantic comedy. This was followed immediately in 2002, with their second film “No Seed” a political drama. Another film, “Diablesse” based on Caribbean Folklore was released in 2005. Released on June 2nd, 2011, is HAMA's fourth film, “The Skin” a supernatural thriller based on Caribbean Mythology.

Mitzi Allen is an award-winning broadcast journalist and film and television producer.  She is the managing director of HAMA Inc. and has produced four feature films, four television series and countless documentaries. Her career began as a broadcast journalist for CFTO TV (CTV Canada) as a reporter and continued in Antigua & Barbuda with various media organizations before she joined her husband Howard Allen as co-owner of HAMA Productions, an independent film and television production company founded in 1992.

She is the recipient of an award from the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS for her work on LIVE UP the show, which she hosted for five years (2007-2012). She continues her work with the CBMP as a member of the Steering Committee and as a trainer.

She is a member of the Board of the Antigua & Barbuda Humane Society and Island Academy International and is a mentor to many young filmmakers and budding journalists.

Nadia Charlery, is a French Director from Martinique. After graduating from ESRA (college of Media & cinéma) in PARIS, she decided to return to Martinique, to live and express her passion for film there.  For several years, she worked as assistant director and producer, and casting director for advertisements, feature films, and tv programs, with various productions companies.

Her first short film as director, " Le pense bête," received an award in an Ecological festival.

Her second short film " In Betwen," produce byd Chronoprod, received the first prize in a short movie contest - Prix de Court, in the Antilles Guiana 2013 Film Festival, and the "Special Choice of the Jury, " at the FEMI Festival.  She followed this with another short film, "35minutes before 40," which was nominated for the 2015 Festival Prix de court.

Also interested in script writing, the screenplay for her short movie, "Ti Coq," won a prize in Cannes at the HOHOHA Script Contest. This short is currently in the festival circuit.

At the same time, she works on vidéo clips, documentaries, advertising and TV programs.

FILMOGRAPHY
TI COQ short movie 24’’ – 2015
35 MINUTES AVANT LES 40 Short movie 6’’- 2014
IWA- BRUNO PEDURAND Documentary 26’’- 2014
IN BETWEN 
Short movie- 2013- 8min
LE PENSE BETE 
Short movie- 2min- 2010

TV and VIDEO
LAPLI Video Clip Jocelyne Beroard -2015
AN DIDAN Video Clip Fal Frett- 2015
LES 3 FRERES Tv advertising Comia -2015
TV PROGRAM « PARLONS DECHETS » Institutional program - 2015
SAUDADE
 Vidéo Clip Victor O- 2014
PIERRE NOEL
 TV Advertising Orange Caraibe - 2013
NUIT DE L’ORIENTATION Institutional program -2013
VINI DOU
 Vidéo clip Victor O- 2012
DEZILUZION
 Vidéo clip Bassingo- 2012
HEC-PME 
Institutional movie -2012
CABARET KREYOL Trailer- 2012
WOUSPEL TI BWA 
Vidéo Clip Thierrey Boucou Pastel- 2011
MADISOUND FESTIVAL Making off -2011 / 2012
LAISSE LA TERRE GALERE Video Clip Bassingo- 2011
CADOS 
Institutional movie- 2011
JENCARLOS MARTINIQUE TOUR Making off- 2010
LE PLUS FORT DE France Video Clip Bassingo- 2010
MY NATTY DREAD 
Video Clip Victor O- 2009
DEFENDER 
Institutional advertising- 2008
SMHLM 
Institutional advertising- 2005

Driven by the desire to showcase the good, bad and ugly elements of his diverse Jamaican homeland, Nile decided to pursue filmmaking at an early age. He moved to Los Angeles in 2001, where he studied the introduction to filmmaking. He embarked on 3 year stint in the US, moving also to Miami and New York where he furthered his film education by working on sets and also as the Asset Manager for RES magazine and the world famous RESfest. In 2004, Nile traveled to London where he received formal training with the New York Film Academy, focusing on writing and directing.

Upon returning to Kingston, where he’s currently based, Nile jumped straight into filmproduction, working in various capacities such as Assistant Director, Second Unit Director and Director of Photography on several projects. To date he has written and directed three short films, and also does commercial work such as editing and directing commercials, short documentaries and music videos. He’s currently finishing up his first feature film script and has a slew of video art projects lined up.

Vilus Nina graduated in 2006  with an MBA in audiovisual production from the GSS Paris, a prestigious business school. Shortly after obtaining this degree, she flew to Los Angeles.Back in Guadeloupe in June 2007, she had the opportunity to work as a production assistant on a documentary series of DNA Productions.This immersion in the documentary reinforced her desire to get into this field. Building on her past experience and armed with a steely resolve, Nina Vilus created in 2008 Art & Vision Productions, a company whose primary objective is to put the spotlight on documentaries and short films.

Patricia Benoit was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and grew up in Queens, New York. Her family was forced into exile under the Duvalier dictatorship and moved to France before moving to the United States. Benoit’s documentary Courage and Pain (produced by Jonathan Demme), about victims of political torture in Haiti, was shown at the Walter Reade Theater in New York and the London Film Festival.Tonbe/Leve, her award-winning documentary about the struggle for democracy in Haiti after the end of the Duvaliers’ 30-year rule, was an official selection of the New York Film Festival, The Havana Film Festival, The New York Human Rights Film Festival, and the San Juan Film Festival. Benoit’s short story, “The Red Dress” was included in the anthology, The Butterfly’s Way, edited by Edwidge Danticat.  WithStones in the Sun, Benoit was a fellow at the 2007 Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs, and winner of the first Time Warner Storytelling award in 2007.  (Source: www.africanfilmny.org/2013/stones-in-the-sun/)

RAOUL PECK was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In 1961 his parents fled the Duvalier dictatorship, finding asylum and a new life in the recently independent Republic of Congo, which became their second home for nearly 25 years. Raoul Peck attended school in Leopoldville, later public school in Brooklyn, NY and finally Orleans, France. Upon completing his Baccalaureat, he left for Germany where he studied economics and industrial engineering. After completing his diploma, Raoul Peck worked for one year as a taxi driver in New York City while awaiting his acceptance at the German Film and Television Academy (DFFB) in Berlin. He was accepted along with 17 other colleagues into the class of 1984. While a student at the DFFB, Peck completed his first award-winning full-length feature--a film made for $150,000--HAITIAN CORNER, shot in Brooklyn and in Haiti. Other projects soon followed, establishing him as one of the most prominent and prolific black filmmakers.

Between 1982 and 1990, Peck worked on numerous development projects in Europe and in Africa. He taught at the Berlin Film and Television Academy, at the F.E.M.I.S. (France's national film school) where he worked with Krzysztof Kieslowski and Agnieska Holland, and at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He returned to Haiti as Minister of Culture in the government of Prime Minister Rosny Smarth after the restoration of democratic rule.

Following political confusion and an 18-month struggle, Peck, along with Prime Minister Smarth and several other Ministers, resigned from his post. He left behind a number of important development projects, most importantly the groundwork for the first National Cultural Plan Directive of the Republic of Haiti.

Peck resumed his career as a filmmaker with the award-winning, feature-length documentary LUMUMBA - DEATH OF A PROPHET (1992) and MAN BY THE SHORE (1993), the first Caribbean film to be selected in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. LUMUMBA was also presented at Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival .  (www.haitisurf.com/raoulpeck.shtml)

Rebecca Roos was born in the Netherlands in 1967. In 1968 the family moved back to Aruba where she lived until 1979, before moving back to Holland to attend the "gymnasium" (a classical based high school). She has a "propedeuse" Art History and Archeology and a Masters in Communication (majoring in Cultural Media Studies).

In 1993, right after finishing University she started working at Hungry Eye Lowland as the assistant of producer Rene Seegers. In 1996 Rebecca Roos moved back to Aruba, and worked for the Aruba Broadcast Corporation, getting the new TV station ATV ready for broadcast for 9 months, and another year while the station was on the air. Her tasks were program manager, producer, and director.

After leaving ATV, Rebecca Roos started her own production company where she produces and directs documentaries, corporate and institutional videos and TV-programs.

Mental Chung Creative Labs is the online portfolio work of Reinardo Chung, a Jamaican based all round computer artist, with a supreme level of design aesthetic and technical Skills. The Lab executes projects with creative precision from concept to completion. Skills include: Concept development, 3d modeling and animation, graphics design, illustration, motion graphics and web design. In addition Mental Chung Creative Labs creates original content in the form of films, animation & artistic designs, expressing popular and Jamaican culture. With over 8 years of experience, Mental Chung Creative Labs has done work in many areas the computer Graphics world. These include music videos, web design, vehicle wrapping, 3d animation, concept art, 3d art and photography.

Rhonda, is a documentary filmmaker by trade. She pursued a Master's degree in documentary filmmaking at Wake Forest University, with an interest in cross cultural communication and storytelling.

Upon returning to Trinidad in 2014, she has worn several hats in the local film industry, from camera department PA, to video assist, to script supervisor and co-producer.

Two of her short documentary films produced in Trinidad and Tobago have won awards locally - “Riding Bull Cart”, which won the Best T&T documentary short at the trinidad + tobago film festival in 2015, and “Quiet Revolution” which won the Jury Award at Trinidad and Tobago’s Green Screen in 2016. 

She is now focusing primarily on documentary film, with an interest in social issues, environment and cultural identity. She is working with NGOs to create documentary content in these areas, and is also developing personal creative projects.

A HAND FULL OF DIRT is Watson’s first feature length film. Prior to tackling the script he had created several short film and multimedia works. His video short, PREFIXED, was the first video work to be included in the annual Black Creativity Exhibition at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.  He is a visual artist who has exhibited his work internationally and is in private collections in Jamaica, Barbados, New York, London and Chicago.  Russell was previously Curator of Art and Media at Chicago’s HotHouse Center for International Performance and Exhibition, and Expanding the Walls and Youth Programs Coordinator at the Studio Museum in Harlem where his work with budding young artists has received many accolades.

Russell was born and raised in Barbados where he got his start in theatre and was a protégé of the late Earl Warner. He is a graduate of the Edna Manley School of Drama, Jamaica and holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ryan C. Khan is a filmmaker hailing from the twin island republic of Trinidad & Tobago and prides himself on being one of the many filmmakers who are a part of the New Caribbean Artist Movement. Accolades include an award for the Tribeca Film Institute/Worldview CBA Pitch Competition at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2012, getting the well received music video for KES THE BAND - STRESS AWAY into the BBC Music Video Festival in 2012, participating in the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2013 as a Director and screening his 3rd short film HOW MANY TIMES? at Cannes Short Film Corner 2014.

RYAN FIGUERA is a Trinidadian filmmaker. From the young age of seven (7) years old, he got his first taste of filmmaking. Using whatever he could find around him, he created movies. Story after story, he was not only able to live and enjoy his life but also the life of his characters. The worlds he created. At the age of twenty-one (21) he wrote his first script in the year 2013 and began production on his first short film, Victim, from which he learned to love not only directing but also the work that goes into creating the scene. Taking words on a page and having a team of capable people take your direction and realize it within the 16:9 screen on the camera. During the pre-production phase, he created the company Ink & Mirrors, a television and film production company based in Trinidad & Tobago. Through this company he will, along with many other creatives in the region, create visually stunning stories to inspire and entertain those who view them.

Ryan Latchmansingh is a Trinbagonian filmmaker based in California. He received his BA in Film and Television Production from Loyola Marymount University in 2010 and received the Golden Lion Award for most outstanding senior level film. He has since worked with many notable directors and producers.

Born into a family of photography enthusiasts in Trinidad & Tobago, Ryan Lee was imbued with a passion for capturing images on film. Later in his childhood he fell in love with music and he would eventually follow this passion to study sound engineering at SAE Institute of Technology in Miami. During this time, he never strayed far from his passion for portraying life on film.

After graduating in the top three of his class he returned to Trinidad and while working in the production department of a radio station, UNICEF in collaboration with MTV used the building to shoot a film for World Aids Day. It was while working on the set of this film that his eyes were fully opened to the filmmaking world and would be one of the factors that led him to enroll in the Film Programme at The University of the West Indies. While there he achieved a B.A in Film Production and was amongst the top graduates of his year winning all three awards available to final year film students. In 2014 he was nominated for the Dream Big Award and got the opportunity to visit the set of Will Smith’s Concussion (2015).

During his first year at the UWI Film Programme, his first film, Popo’s Journey was selected to be screened at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2012 (ttff/12). Since then two more of his films (Cubes & Flying the Coup) have been selected for the festival with Flying the Coup, his final year film in the UWI Film Programme, winning the People’s Choice Award for a short film at the ttff/14. Popo’s Journey was also selected for screening at the Caribbean Tales Film Festival in Toronto 2015.

Films:

Flying de Coup (2014)

Cubes (2014)

Popo's Journey (2012)

Sean’s passion for filmmaking began as a young child, when he would borrow his father’s VHS Camcorder to shoot “horror” films. After obtaining a degree in Geography and Environmental Policy from Brock University in Canada, he moved back to Trinidad and a chance encounter with a local Producer steered him into the world of video production. As a production coordinator, he was given the opportunity to work in the industry that he had always dreamed of. With a Certificate in Filmmaking from the London Film Academy in 2009, Sean has not looked back. In 2010, he penned his first screenplay, and two years later, A Story About Wendy premiered at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival/12, with the first screening selling out in a record 45 minutes. The phenomenal success of A Story About Wendy has paved the way for the sequel “A Story About Wendy 2,” which will premiere at the Zanzibar International Film Festival in June 2014. Sean is currently working on the dramatic film “Trafficked,” which he not only wrote,but is producing and directing.

Links:  Website

Originally from Barbados, Sean is an award winning filmmaker and writer who moved to the US as a small boy and began his journey thru the world of media. His versatility and attention to detail led to his first corporate job as a senior analyst at AT&T (formerly S.N.E.T.). He moved onto a successful career in the advertising industry where he created projects for international brands such as Mount Gay Rum, P. Miller Clothing and MacMillan Publishers under his design arm CRE8SEAN. With a desire to go further in the industry he relocated to Los Angeles and was casted in major US advertising campaigns and movies such as the Nintendo WII Olympic promotion and the superhero action film Hancock featuring actors Will Smith and Charlize Theron. He started Iland Boy Films to bring to life the story of the Caribbean to a broader audience. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of NEXUS Networks, the first lifestyle caribbean television network. Sean has found the merger of the practical and creative mind to be a blessing. He aspires to bring to screen a unique look at life from a Caribbean perspective. Sean is a an avid soccer fan, film-a-holic, lover of music and dad to two wonderful sons.

"I create most of my stories while sitting on the beach with my laptop - nothing can cure writer’s block like the splash of waves. When I'm not crafting characters, I write articles for magazines, copy for websites, commercials and educational scripts for local, regional and international organisations.

I explore various topics; lifestyle, travel, and the creative industries, but I have a passion for Caribbean folklore, unsolved mysteries and true crime. You know that crazy person who visits haunted graveyards after midnight? Investigates ghost stories? Has a bookshelf full of serial killer autobiographies? Well that’s me. ☺

You can browse my portfolio for a list of publications, awards, interviews and samples of work. If I still have your attention, you can check out my resume onLinkedIn for project management experience, as well as my qualifications. I always tell my students that I spent a long time in school, but it was well worth it.

In 2009, I founded a freelance writing company called getWrite! (yes, copyrighted with the exclamation mark), and also made it into a place where struggling writers can find writing opportunities, helpful articles and advice. I've been told that the space has been inspirational, entertaining and informative, so as the Scots would say, have a wee wander over to the site.

In 2013, I had decided to focus on getting my scripts from the page to the screen. My first feature film, PAYDAY, was released Summer 2013 and went on to win Best Film (I won Best Script!) at the Barbados Visual Media Awards. My second film, Two Smart, starring Soca Queen Alison Hinds, was released in June 2014. The sequel toPAYDAY, Next PAYDAY was released in April 2015. To find out more about them, check out the page on Facebook."  

Shari Petti is a 22yr old Film student at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad. She has worked as an actress, production assistant and camera assistant on numerous film productions in her country. She directs, shoots and edits the Youtube Docu-series “Small Lime” which features young Caribbean natives as they explore social issues affecting their society.

Her film Sorf Hair, which explores the natural hair experience in Trinidad and Tobago, has screened at several film festivals including the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival in Canada, The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, the Barbados Independent Film Festival and is carded to screen at the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival in Guadeloupe and the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Sharon Lewis’s talent successfully criss-crosses the genre of television, film, digital, print and theatre in a variety of roles as an award winning director, actor, producer and writer. Sharon garnered the highest ratings for hosting the CBC live political talk show, counterSpin in the history of that show. She is the first woman of color in Canada to host a national prime time talk show. She is a Leo and Gemini nominated television host for ZeD an interactive television and web CBC show.

Voted one of the top most powerful people in Canada by Elle Magazine in 2004, award winning writer/director/producer Sharon Lewis has been creating ground-breaking content since her 1994 play Sistahs. Sharon has a track record of working with a variety of top tier Canadian and International talent, including Drake, Timothy Hutton, Jennifer Beals, Maroon 5, Property Brothers - Jonathan and Drew Scott, Dan Akroyd, Clarke Johnson, Tonya Lee Williams and many more, in diverse capacities.

Her award winning short films Chains and Ritch have been sold and broadcast on such networks as BET, HBO, and CBC. She has received support for various projects from funding agencies such as the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Arts Council, National Film Board of Canada.

She has directed over 100 hours of popular television, appearing on HGTV, CBC, SUNtv and the Food Network.

Sharon has currently wrapped her debut afropunk feature film inspired by Nalo Hopkinson’s award winning novel, Brown Girl in the Ring. Sharon wrote, directed and produced with a stellar team this groundbreaking sci fi feature film. Sharon has already received development funding towards a video game, inspired by the novel.

Sharon was one of the first women of color to co-found a theatre company in Toronto,the first woman of color to host two national live TV programs, and now the first to bring to the screen a Canadiana-Caribbean fantasy film.

URBANSOUL INC FILMOGRAPHY urbansoul inc founded in 1995 by Sharon Lewis is a company devoted to the production of television, film and multimedia projects that reflect the diversity of artistic voices. urbansoul inc. offers a full service of pre-production, production, postproduction with both above and below the line casting and crewing. We have experience working with limited budgets and outside the mainstream projects. 2015 BROWN GIRL IN THE RING: THE PREQUEL (feature film) 2013 IN BETWEEN LIFE (short film) 2010 CHAINS (short film) 2006 RITCH (short film) 2001 MAPLE (short film) 2001 DESIRE (short film) 2001 IMPASSE AT HOLY FAITH (short film) 1999 STYLE OF MY SOUL (short film)

Shaun Escayg was born in twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. At age 16, he was given a PA summer job at Mc Cann Erikson. On one of his routine days of fetching coffee and delivering mail he was offered a chance to design the calendar cover of the Royal Bank Of Trinidad and Tobago. An offer he eagerly accepted. The cover was a huge success and confirmed his interest in pursuing art as a career. Later that year Shaun met with one of Carnival’s legends Peter Minshall. He had always been inspired by Minshall’s work and landed an interview with the legendary Mass-man for his school thesis.

At 20, Shaun attended the School of Comunication Arts Of Raliegh NC, USA where he pursued a career in 3D animation. After graduating from the School Of Communication Arts in 1997, he returned home to pursue a career in film and animation. It wasn't long before he was hired by one of the leading companies in the country Video Associates where he began working on numerous commercials and documentaries.

In the fall of 1999, Shaun partnered up with some of the top local talent and co-founded Blue Bottle Productions Ltd. Blue Bottle Productions would go on to dominate the local commercial, music video and film industry working with top advertising agencies such as Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi, Mc Cann Erickson and award winning directors Hype Williams and Little X. on internationally known artists JayZ and Eric Bennet music videos.

With plans to expand into Latin America, Shaun moved to Venezuela in 2001 and formed Wireframe Entertainment, an animation studio and a small sister company of Blue Bottle Productions. It was here that he focused solely on 3D character animation. Wireframe proved to be a fruitful venture and Shaun worked closely with top advertising agencies such as Bigott and Antares Interactiva. However, in 2005 the political climate of Venezuela led Shaun back to North America, where he landed his first job as an Animator on Walt Disney's Get Ed TV series at Red Rover Studios Toronto.

Shaun's main passion was still Visual Effects and in 2006 Shaun joined Spin Productions Toronto as a lead animator. Here he worked on several commercial spots including the M&M, Nissan Versa, Alabama power company campaigns and many more. Shaun also worked on numerous feature films such as Outlander, The Marsh and George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead. It was here that Shaun's passion grew for creature animation.

A call from Rainmaker Entertainment to work on an upcoming all CG feature led Shaun out west to Vancouver BC. Rainmaker, a much larger company, allowed Shaun to grow not only as a Lead Animator but as an Animation Supervisor. Shaun supervised and led his team on the feature length all CG direct to DVD, “The Nutty professor “Facing the Fear”. The project was such a success that Shaun was given an opportunity to direct his first in game cineractives “50 cent- Blood in the sand” for SwordFish Studios UK and Vivendi Games.

Shaun caught the attention of Blur Studio's founder Tim Miller and in 2008 Shaun moved to LA to work as an Animation Supervisor at the award winning cinematic studio. Shaun supervised and animated on Cinematics such as Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, Brink , Dc Universe, Transformers and much more. At Blur he also worked on films such as Scott Pilgrim vs the world and The Goon.

In 2010 the Visual Effects industry came knocking once again and Shaun joined Industrial Light & Magic where he worked as an Animator on Michael Bay’s Transformers- Dark of the Moon. Shaun moved back to LA in 2011 to pursue a career as a Director. His debut live-action short film FISH has already won Best Short Film at the Belize International Film Festival and is currently making waves in the festival circuit.

He’s also joined Naughty Dog Studios where he heads up the Cinematics team as the Director of Photography and Animation Supervisor on The Last Of Us.

Links:  Website

Shea Best, is a young filmmaker from Trinidad and Tobago. Born in 1991 in the twin island republic, he grew up being immersed in various extra curricular activities inclusive of the arts. He participated in theatre production in the capacities of acting, dance and minor technical stage work with a faith based arts company COPAC (Covenant Performing Arts Company).

Having completed a BA double major in Film Production and Film Studies at the University of the West Indies, he has worked on numerous films in different capacities in the USA, Dominican Republic and T&T. His directorial work includes Darkie (2011/2012) which played in festivals and private screenings all over the Caribbean, most notably the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival and the Antigua and Barbuda International Film Festival. His most recent work, The Cast (2013), was shot under Vin Diesels’ One Race Films developmental arm of production, in the Dominican Republic and had its premiere at the Dominican Republic International Film Festival (2013), followed by its English-speaking Caribbean premiere at the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival. His most notable film experience to date is his personal internship with actor Will Smith on After Earth in 2012.

As a director and television editor Sonia Godding Togobo has over 15 years of media experience.  The heft of her experience being in post production Sonia has edited television programs for BBC, Channel 4 and ITV in the UK as well as shows for OWN, CBC, HGTV, SLICE and E! in Canada and the US.  Sonia’s feature documentary Adopted ID explores race and class from the perspective of Haitian transracial adoptee Judith Craig. The film opened the Images of Black Women Film Festival at the British Film Institute and the Blackstar Film Festival in Philadelphia.  It also screened at the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Caribbean Tales Film Festival in Toronto. Sonia’s second documentary, Rosie Douglas : A Fearless Rebel is a short film about Dominican born - Canadian raised Roosevelt Douglas who went from grassroots activist to Prime Minister.  Sonia produced and directed R7 for  and the poetical short film Dreamcatchers for RSA (Royal Society of the Arts) which explored the existential themes of fate and free will. 

Sonia co-produced and directed In The Black Canada, a documentary web series and video installation which gives voice to and space for Black Canadians to tell their own stories. The Windsor Project, the most recent incarnation of ITBC, opens at the Art Gallery of Windsor in February 2017. 

Sonia enjoys sharing her industry experience of 15 years and is making the Canadian media industry more accessible to youth and marginalized communities.  She is the Founder of A Black Woman's Gaze - a networking and masterclass series that brings builds bridges between filmmakers and their audiences. She is also a member of Black Women and Film in Toronto where she recently facilitated a directing and editing workshop for young black women filmmakers. She also served as a board member on Scarborough Arts’ Animating Democracy project which took 15 young filmmakers through an intense training process to find their voice and make films about issues that are important to them. 

If she's not scrubbing through video, she's scrubbing grass stains out of her daughter's soccer shorts. Along with her husband, the happy trio travel the world in search of the best jollof rice and their next untold story. 

Sonja Dumas is a performer, choreographer, writer and arts development consultant. She is also a filmmaker, having written, directed and produced various films having to do with selected aspects of Trinidad and Tobago dance history or which use dancers to tell the story. These include: Julia and Joyce: Two Stories of Two Dance Pioneers (winner of the Best Local Film at the 2010 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival), and Tickle Me Rich (Special Mention – Best Local Short Film – 2012 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival; Honourable Mention: Rochester International Film Festival 2014; Nominee, 2014 Africa Movie Academy Awards).  She also produced her own spoken-word CD, Once Upon a Caribbean Time, a series of original stories for children based on traditional folklore characters of Trinidad and Tobago and on new characters which she created. Some of the stories have been adapted for film and television.  She recently completed her sixth short film, Avocado and Zaboca, adapted from the eponymous story from Once Upon a Caribbean Time, and is currently writing a scripts for a full-length animated film, The Twelve Dancing Mango Ice-Cream Princesses, also for young children and a general audience comedy – Angels Live in Tunapuna (also titled the Tunapuna Angel Boys).

A dance practitioner for over three-and-a-half decades, Sonja is the recipient of several international grants for her choreography, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Fellowship in Modern Choreography (1995) and project grants from the Inter-American Development Bank (1999) and the Prince Claus Fund (2002), and a residency grant from Art Omi in New York (2005). For Trinidad and Tobago Carnival 2006, she was the choreographer for The Sacred Heart - the winning presentation of master Carnival designer and Emmy-award winner Peter Minshall. Her work has been recognized in newspapers such as The Guardian (London).  In 2012, she was selected to deliver a TEDx Port of Spain talk on wining culture.

The first female laureate of Caraïbes en Creation, a project of the French Government, she has performed with and/or choreographed for The Astor Johnson Repertory Dance Theatre, The Trinidad Theatre Workshop, The Metamorphosis Dance Company, the La Chapelle Dance Company, Standing Room Only, Noble Douglas Dance Company Inc. (NDDCI) and Reggie Wilson’s Fist and Heel Performance Group. She also creates work for her own pickup company – Continuum Dance Project.  The company received critical acclaim for their tenth anniversary production in 2014 – The Museum of Difficult Women, and in 2015 began a new work entitled Beyond the River, which has been performed in Costa Rica and Trinidad.

Sonja has curated over fifteen exhibitions in her capacity as curator at the Gallery at CLICO from 2004 to 2007, and has collaborated with curators from institutions such as the Meridian International Center (Washington, D.C.), The Historical Museum of Southern Florida, and The Drawing Center (New York).  She is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Business School and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Carnival Studies at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.  She currently resides in Trinidad.

Storm Saulter is a writer, director, cinematographer, and visual artist. Born in Negril, Jamaica, he received formal film training at The Los Angeles Film School, graduating in 2001 with a focus in Cinematography and Editing. He served as writer, director, and cinematographer for his multi award-winning first feature film, “Better Mus’ Come” – which opened in US Theaters in March 2013, and had it’s UK television debut on BBC TWO in May 2014. The film was hailed by critics as one that heralds a new movement of independent filmmaking throughout the Caribbean.

Saulter is the co-founder of the New Caribbean Cinema film collective; A pioneering effort to showcase thenext generation of Caribbean filmmakers through the creation of uncompromising narrative films and documentaries. The collective’s first feature film project “Ring Di Alarm!” – for which Storm served as Executive Producer – made it’s debut at the British Film Institute in London in 2012 and is currently touring the international film festival circuit.

Saulter’s experimental films have been shown at The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art Miami, The British Museum, Paris Photo, The Caribbean Biennial, The National Biennial of Jamaica, and Berlin Art Fair, among numerous other exhibits.

He received the 2011 Jamaica Gleaner Honor Award for his work in developing Jamaica’s Film Industry. The Jamaica Observer has named him one of his country’s most influential people, and 2012 he was identified as one of the 50 under 50 business leaders shaping Jamaica’s future.  (Source: www.stormsaulter.com)

Travolta Cooper is a filmmaker who hails from The Bahamas. He’s produced two documentaries - “Founding Fathers: Sir Stafford Sands” and “The Black Moses”. With the success of his second film ‘The Black Moses’ he landed an endorsement deal with The Bahamas’ theater chain Galleria Cinemas, in which produced a show to promote Hollywood and Caribbean Cinema. The show was called The Cinemas and is now being launched to the world via Tempo Tv and Anansi Studios.

Tyler Johnston, is an award-winning Producer, Director and Actor, with Caribbean and American roots.

His work as an artist and filmmaker is recognized internationally and throughout the Caribbean, including the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas’ permanent collection. His short film “Five Bones” won the RBC First Look Caribbean Award in 2011 and in 2015, his feature documentary, “My Father’s Land,” was awarded the Amnesty International Human Rights Award.

Tyler is also the founder of the Portland Maine Film Festival.

Vashti Anderson is a Trinidadian-American woman who grew up in the U.S., Trinidad, England, and India. Her background has had a profound impact on her work and has resulted in her passion for telling stories that examine the complex and ever-changing themes of cultural identity. She holds an MFA in Film from New York University and has won grants, recognition and awards at national and international film festivals.

Vashti Harrison is an artist and filmmaker whose work focuses on the natural and the supernatural. Folklore, fables and fairy tales tend to weave their way into everything she makes. Working in multiple formats and mediums she uses the form and aesthetics of classic tales to retell stories from her own life and investigate her Caribbean Heritage.

Vashti earned her MFA in Film/Video from CalArts and her BA from the University of Virginia. She held the Aunspaugh 5th Year Fellowship in the McIntire Department of Art from 2010-2011. She is from Onley, Virginia, currently living in Valencia, California.

Victoria Soberal, of Puerto Rican descent, was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Victoria received her MFA in Film Production from NYU Tisch Asia and has worked as a producer, writer, director and cinematographer on numerous short films, commercials and music videos. Chula (2014) is her most recent film.

Wayne Benjamin is a video Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor, who owns and operates Fabrikated ProjeX.  He is also a screen writer who has written all his productions, from music video treatments, TV Shows and short films such as 6am: Joel, The Croft and Us&Them.   Wayne has been a video producer since the mid nineties, who started out as a photographer for thirteen (13) Years. The skills he learned as a photographer helped to morph his talents as a cinematographer, giving him a better understanding of how to manipulate lights and depth of field and such things, these techniques can be seen in all videos and movies produced by Fabrikated ProjeX.

Fabrikated ProjeX is a production unit that specializes primarily in the production of music videos,EPKs and Tour Documentaries, but also does a lot of corporate projects such as Company Profiles, training DVDs, Television ads, infomercials, general documentaries and short Films.  The company is also responsible for the creation of Television shows such as, The Lab Video game TV,Dancehall Glory, Real Estate Complete and more .

For the last 10 years Wyatt has been a producer, director, writer and actor. She has also consulted for small businesses on building their presence on the web. Before Bardouille Productions, Wyatt spent several years managing the creation of international e-commerce solutions for Microsoft and Expedia. She has a BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan and certification in Filmmaking from Seattle Film Institute. Wyatt is currently a partner at Whaam Media. She is an organizational fanatic and she has a terrific sense of humor.