MENELIK SHABAZZ, a Barbados Jubilee Honour recipient and noted film-maker, has been named among three Caribbean film producers who will be developing pilots for their original TV series projects, via funding from Flow and Caribbean Tales Media Group.
Born in St John, Shabazz is acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of independent black British cinema, having been in the forefront of contemporary British film-making for more than 30 years.
A film director, producer, educator and writer, Shabazz is best known for the 1981 film Burning An Illusion, The Story Of Lover’s Rock and, more recently, Looking For Love.
With $40 000 funding for each project, production will begin on Heat, a sweltering crime/drama series filmed in Barbados; as well as Battle Dream Chronicle, a sci-fi/drama-animated series created by Alain Bidard, which is based on his ground-breaking, multi-award-winning feature film; and Caribbean Girl NYC, an ensemble female-driven sitcom from New York-based Guadeloupean film-maker/producer Mariette Monpierre, whose award-winning film Elza won, among others, the prestigious NYT Award.
Support for these pilots is part of the Caribbean Tales Incubator programme, a year-round development and production hub for Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora producers to assist in the creation of resilient, compelling and viable regional content for the global market.
“We recognise the significant hurdles that Caribbean producers face in financing and producing their content, and getting it out to audiences,” said John Reid, chief executive officer of Cable Wireless, operator of Flow and lead sponsor of Caribbean Tales Incubator.
“We are honoured to help support this programme that is enabling the production and monetisation of this exciting, emerging cultural industry.”
Caribbean film festival
Production on the pilots will begin next month. The films will premiere later this year at the 12th annual Caribbean Tales International Film Festival. Flow is also the lead sponsor of the festival, a mix of exciting and dynamic films that showcase diverse, shared stories and cultures, and celebrate the talents of established and emerging film-makers of Caribbean heritage.
The festival will be held in Toronto, Canada, between September 6 and 20.
As a bonus, an eight-part documentary series has been filmed and is currently in post-production. The series follows the ten teams of film-makers who competed for this prestigious award and will be shown on Flow1 later this year.
Frances-Anne Solomon, CEO of Caribbean Tales, said: “We are delighted that, together with Flow, we are able to provide the Caribbean’s top film-makers with funding and a platform to produce top-quality, local content with the capacity to reach audiences across the region and the world.”
