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MEDIA ADVISORY : INTERNATIONAL FILM DISTRIBUTION WORKSHOP SET FOR TRINIDAD.

WHO:

Frances-Anne Solomon, CEO, CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD). 

 

WHAT:

CTWD International Distribution Workshop, presented by CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution in partnership with Animae Caribe and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company.

WHEN:

Saturday November 19th,  2011 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

 

WHERE:

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, Victoria Avenue, Port of Spain, Trinidad. (868) 701-4722

 

WHY

The first in a series of regional workshops on International Film Distribution takes place this  Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 1-5 pm at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, Victoria Avenue, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

 

Entitled “Taking Caribbean Films to the World” and presented by CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution -- the Region’s premier film distribution company, the event is aimed at film and television producers, film industry stakeholders and film and animation students.

 

It marks the Official Launch of an important new partnership between CTWD, the Animae Caribe Film and New Media Festival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, that envisions Trinidad and Tobago films holding an increased platform and building a stronger profile on the world stage.

 

Frances-Anne Solomon, CEO of CTWD said: “We are delighted to be working with these two extremely important local organizations in a sustainable partnership that will bridge the gap between local production and the international market and take the local industry to the next stage.”

 

Carla Foderingham, CEO of the TTFC, said."The CTWD-led workshop is timely as the commercialization of local content is the next natural area of focus for local filmmakers and by extension the TTFC."

 

The workshop will cover principles of marketing and distribution of Caribbean content, and ways to work with international distributors. Solomon added “We know these are areas where local producers can benefit from a deeper and better understanding of skilled practice.”

 

Animae Caribe’s CEO and Founder Camille Selvon Abrahams summed it up: “Our partnership with CTWD is necessary and integral to the development of our industry going forward, as it connects us to the Bigger Picture.”

 

The cost of the workshop is $175TT, with a special discounted rate for students of $50.

 

ENDS

For more information about the CTWD International Film Distribution Workshop on November 19, 2011, pls call 701 4722 or RSVP email info@caribbeantales-worldwide.com.

International Film Distribution Workshop scheduled for Trinidad.

CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution joins forces with Animae Caribe and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company  to promote and distribute T&T Films on the world stage.

November 11th 2011. For immediate Release

The first in a series of regional workshops on International Film Distribution will take place next week Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 1-5 pm at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, National Academy of Performing Arts, Keate Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Entitled “Taking Caribbean Films to the World” and presented by CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution -- the Region’s premier film distribution company, the event is aimed at film and television producers, film industry stakeholders and film and animation students.

It marks the Official Launch of an important new partnership between CTWD, the Animae Caribe Film and New Media Festival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, that envisions Trinidad and Tobago films holding an increased platform and building a stronger profile on the world stage.

Frances-Anne Solomon, CEO of CTWD said: “We are delighted to be working with these two extremely important local organizations in a sustainable partnership that will bridge the gap between local production and the international market and take the local industry to the next stage.”

Carla Foderingham, CEO of the TTFC, said."The CTWD-led workshop is timely as the commercialization of local content is the next natural area of focus for local filmmakers and by extension the TTFC." 

The workshop will cover principles of marketing and distribution of Caribbean content, and ways to work with international distributors. Solomon added “We know these are areas where local producers can benefit from a deeper and better understanding of skilled practice.”

Last week the TTFC was pleased to increase its sponsorship support of the 2011 Animae Caribe Animation Festival to facilitate a two-day CTWD-led intensive mini – incubator called “The Pitching Game”.  Some thirty (30) T&T filmmakers were trained in areas including marketing and distribution at the participatory session that was tutored by Solomon, and adjudicated by a panel of international experts. The first prize -- a scholarship to attend the well-respected ten-day CaribbeanTales Toronto Film Showcase and Incubator Program (2012) that runs alongside the Toronto International Film Festival, was won by 20-year old Claire Hamel-Smith of Lab206 Studio.  

“We worked really hard on our pitch and I am very excited that it paid off. I can’t wait to go to Toronto to tell the world about Lab206 and all the work we are doing here in Trinidad.” enthused the young animator.

Animae Caribe’s CEO and Founder Camille Selvon Abrahams summed it up: “Our partnership with CTWD is necessary and integral to the development of our industry going forward, as it is exposing producers to the bigger picture.”

The cost of the workshop is $175TT, with a special discounted rate for students of $50.

Those interested in attending the CTWD International Film Distribution Workshop on November 19, 2011, should call 701 4722 or RSVP to email info@caribbeantales-worldwide.com.

Camille Selvon Abrahams (Anime Caribe) and Frances-Anne Solomon (CTWD) congratulate "The Pitching Game" winner 20-year old Claire Hamel-Smith.

ABOUT CARIBBEANTALES WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION: CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD) is the first full-service film sales, and distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean, and aims to become the reference point for producers and buyers of Caribbean filmed content. Founded by award-winning filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon its principals include creative industries expert Dr. Keith Nurse; economist and businessman Dr. Terrence Farrell; media personality and producer Lisa Wickham; and filmmaker and writer Mary Wells. CTWD, a member of the Bim Ventures, family of entrepreneurs, hosts annual film festivals in Toronto, Barbados, and New York, through the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group, has produced training workshops for filmmakers, and now has scores of films in its catalogue. http://caribbeantales-worldwide.com

ABOUT ANIMAE CARIBE: Animae Caribe, the Caribbean's leading animation and new media festival, recently celebrated its tenth year of ground breaking activity since introducing Caribbean-themed animation to the Region. Founded in 2001, by Camille Selvon Abrahams, and based in T&T, the festival is a creative space where animation, storytelling, technology, and discussion meet; and it has become a dynamic forum for regional youth participation and interactivity. http://animaecaribe.com

ABOUT THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FILM COMPANY: The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) was established to facilitate the development of the film industry in T&T. It provides logistical support, and acts as a liaison between industry partners, community, production houses and Government agencies. The company administers a tax rebate program to support the development of local content, and has provided funding and support to hundreds of filmmakers since opening its doors in 2006. http://trinidadandtobagofilm.com

Geraldine Connor - Obituary

I was priveleged to work with Gerry Connor in the early 90's in London - she composed and did the musical direction for a number of radio plays that I directed. Always up for a challenge, always ready to deliver in spades. She was a prolific and talented artist, teacher, and friend, whose spirit was irresistible, generous, and infectious. So long, Gerry - I'm sorry I didn't get to see you again. FAS.

Energetic theatre director, musician and academic best known for Carnival Messiah

by Margaret Busby | guardian.co.uk, | Monday 31 October 2011

Geraldine Connor, who has died aged 59 following a heart attack, latterly described herself as a creator of theatre, artistic director and heritage consultant. However, it requires a far longer list – including musician, composer, ethnomusicologist, performer, writer, singer, academic, broadcaster and cultural ambassador – to do justice to someone fittingly termed (by the Yorkshire Post) "a tropical storm of energy". Her most spectacular endeavour, Carnival Messiah, which she wrote, composed for and directed, married the European classical tradition of oratorio with masquerade and musical inspiration from the African diaspora in an iconoclastic way that typified all that she did.

A radical reinvention of Handel's Messiah, with a 100-plus cast, the show was first produced at West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1999, and was later staged in Trinidad and Tobago. It has been experienced by about 75,000 people. In 2007, upon the bicentenary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act, Geraldine staged it in partnership with David Lascelles (now the eighth Earl of Harewood) in the grounds of Harewood House, which was built with funds acquired through slave trading. With brave ambitions, she had been developing a commercial arena production that she hoped would begin touring large-scale venues across the world in 2012, including at the opening of the Olympics.

Geraldine was born in London to high-achieving Trinidadian parents who paved the way for UK-based black artists. Her father, the singer, actor, folklorist and film-maker Edric Connor, was responsible for bringing the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra to the Festival of Britain in 1951. Her mother, Pearl Connor, was a theatrical agent and founder of the Negro Theatre Workshop. Edric died in 1968. Pearl later married Joe Mogotsi, the leader of the South African vocal group the Manhattan Brothers.

Throughout her life, Geraldine nurtured cultural and educational links between the Caribbean and Britain. She was schooled in Trinidad (Diego Martin government secondary, 1963-68) and in the UK (Camden school for girls, 1968-71). At the Royal College of Music, in London, she studied classical voice, pianoforte and conducting. She graduated in 1974 and returned to Trinidad to teach music for eight years at Queen's Royal College, one of the island's leading schools. Meanwhile she became a licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in classical voice (mezzo soprano).

During these years she was impressively productive both as an educator and a practitioner, working with choirs, vocal soloists, instrumental and folk ensembles, and teaching extramural vocal classes at the University of the West Indies. As a performer, she toured with productions of Porgy and Bess, Showboat and Carmen Jones, and was a backing singer for Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Tom Jones.

Geraldine played bass for the Trintoc Invaders steel band in Trinidad, where she believed she was the first woman to arrange a tune for the Panorama steel-band competition. Her close association with steel-pan music continued on her return in 1984 to the UK, where she made award-winning arrangements for the steel band Ebony. In 1990 she moved to Yorkshire to take up the post of senior lecturer in multicultural music at the University of Leeds, later being appointed senior teaching fellow and lecturer on the popular music studies BA degree course at Bretton Hall. She completed her doctoral research at the Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Leeds, in 2006, with a thesis that addressed issues of Caribbean consciousness, identity and representation.

Specialising in devising epic theatre events, Geraldine boasted directorial skills guaranteed to add brio to any writer's work. Her daring interpretation turned my historical drama Yaa Asantewaa – Warrior Queen into an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza that toured the UK and Ghana in 2001-02, with stunning carnival-inspired design by Clary Salandy, some 50 dancers, actors, musicians and singers, and the title role shared by three women, depicting the story through dance, song and the spoken word.

Among the other acclaimed shows she mounted was Vodou Nation(2004), a multimedia reflection on Haiti, and a hit production of the reggae-infused musical The Harder They Come (for which she composed the Ganja Song). Bouts of ill health in recent years did not dim her visionary spirit. Geraldine never settled for half-measures; whatever she turned her hand to was infused with infectious enthusiasm and a passionate determination.

In 2005, she accepted an award from the British Association of Steel Bands in recognition of the Connor family's contribution to the promotion of steel-band music, Caribbean art, culture and heritage throughout the UK. In 2009, she was presented with Trinidad and Tobago's second highest national honour, the Chaconia medal (gold).

She is survived by her brother, Peter, and his children, Teo and Casey.

• Geraldine Roxanne Connor, theatre director, composer and performer, born 22 March 1952; died 21 October 2011.