Through the lens

Even before he was a teenager, Carlos Barrow’s book collection might have been able to rival a small library.

Today, the film-maker and chief executive officer of Rock Stone Media Inc. firmly believes that early exposure to various types of literature and the arts nurtured his creativity.

Recently at the Nation, Barrow said his father Victor Smith, a musician, passed on some of his artistic ability, while his mother, athletics coach Wendy Barrow-Smith provided him with more books than he could read.

Over 700 books

“I had an entire library of like over 700 books by the time I was 11, so reading those books allowed me to expand my mind and visit different places and super-charged my imagination,” he said.

And with that foundation, he then joined the Dramatic Society at Combermere, where his artistic pursuits were further developed.

“I think my school nurtured artistes as much as they would the next lawyer, scientist or business person; so that was also very important,” he added

The 31-year-old decided to form the company after he attained his Bachelor of Arts in film production from Full Sail University in Florida.

Rock Stone produced the closing video for CARIFESTA XII in Haiti and then the cinematic presentation during the opening ceremony for CARIFESTA XIII in Barbados last year.

Two NIFCA films

They have also produced two NIFCA award winning films; one about domestic abuse, My One And Only and Contracts. The latter tells the story of how locals can be overlooked for foreign people who are said to be “more qualified”.

My One And Only in particular was based on a series of interviews with domestic violence survivors. It is an issue he felt needed to be further highlighted.

“I had just returned home and started the company and we were trying to figure out our direction and at the time there were domestic disputes and murders being reported in the media. And those types of issues really caught my attention when I came home in 2014.

“I felt like I needed to say something, so that cemented it for me because if we are trying to tell Caribbean stories, I think we should always try to educate while we entertain. And if you have a gift or a job that reaches the masses, I feel like it’s your duty to do something to help and invoke change in some way and that is what we are trying to do,” Barrow said.

First feature film

At the moment he is currently busy developing screenplays, and a long-time goal of his to produce their first feature film Task Force. The working title is a project he wrote six years ago based on the special unit in the Royal Barbados Police Force.

This ambitious project will be expensive because he intends to have special effects such as police chases, shoot-outs and so on and all the magic that make for a good action movie.

He has launched a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo, where people are being asked to donate what they can.

“I think it’s important for country to support artistes. Those films we made for less than $300, so if you want to see bigger and better,  you have to support the artistes, so we can show the world what Barbados can do,” Carlos said. (TG)