MEDIA ADVISORY: PRESS CONFERENCE - CARIBBEANTALES NEW YORK FILM SHOWCASE/CARIBBEAN WEEK IN NEW YORK/ BARBADOS TOURISM UPDATE

WHO: Founder and CEO of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, Frances-Anne Solomon; Lennox Price, Consul General of Barbados at New York; Sylma Brown-Bramble, Director of the Americas, Caribbean Tourism Organization; Campbell Rudder, Vice President of Marketing, Barbados Tourism Authority.
 
WHAT: Press Conference to announce The CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase to be held during Caribbean Week in New York on Saturday, June 11; updates from the Caribbean Tourism Organization about the week's activities; and to introduce the new Vice President of Marketing of the Barbados Tourism Authority.
 
WHEN: Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 5 p.m.
 
WHERE: Consulate General of Barbados/ Barbados Tourism Authority, 820 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017 - 5th Floor Between 43rd and 44th Streets.
 
WHY: The creativity of Caribbean filmmakers will be a focus of the Caribbean Tourism Organization's Caribbean Week in New York, June 4 to 11, 2011. CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution has announced a new partnership with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) which will feature trailers of top Caribbean films during CTO meetings and events, and a day-long Caribbean film showcase with panel discussions and networking on Saturday, June 11. The Showcase has received early support from the Barbados Tourism Authority, the Consulate General of Barbados in New York, Caribbean International Network (CIN TV) and Distribution Specialist Michelle Materre.
 
RSVP Contact:
Bevan Springer, Marketplace Excellence + 1 201 861-2056 - bevan@marketplaceexcellence.com

Barbados to host 'Best of CaribbeanTales'

From the Jamaica Gleaner

Published: Wednesday | December 16, 2009

by Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Following its strong presence across the region last year with the feature film, A Winter Tale, CaribbeanTales, the Canada-based multimedia company run by Frances-Anne Solomon, will be holding the 'Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival and Symposium' in Barbados.

Officially launched in Bridgetown last Tuesday, the event includes a one-day symposium on Global Distribution, a film Market, workshops, master classes and educational screenings. It runs from February 23 to March 10 at the Olympus Cinema, Sheraton Centre and at University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus.

In an email interview, Solomon said the response to the launch "was overwhelmingly positive", emphasising the importance of the teamwork that is giving the festival a boost.

"One of the most positive aspects of the festival is the strength of the partnerships that we have forged this year. Alongside One Caribbean (the largest media company in the region) which will be co-hosting the Symposium on Global Distribution, UWI's Shridath Ramphal Center, that will co-host a film Market at the festival, and the Barbados Film and Video Association, that will host a workshop at the festival, we also have a stellar core team comprising Mary Wells (Jamaica), Mitzi Allen (Antigua), and Lisa Wickham (Trinidad), that will assist me in the programming, management and promotion of the festival," she said.

Weighing options
She said Barbados was chosen as the host country for three reasons - "it is central, accessible and beautiful and "we expect many people from all over the world to attend because of this location ...".

There is, however, the possibility that the 'Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival and Symposium' will move around the region, as Solomon said, "in the future we are exploring other islands as possible locations. We have had a number of offers and are weighing options."

She pointed out that, "it's a regional event, and so will bring together people from around the region. It will bring lots of international visitors to the region. It will bring everybody together to strategise about how to create an international vision."

The symposium on Global Distribution takes place on February 24, with the first ever Caribbean Film Market on the following day.

Solomon said the new associate directors are "people who I worked with over the past years, whose work I admire greatly, and with whom I share a vision and commitment to developing an industry that serves the needs of our films and those of the Caribbean film industry as a whole."

Adding, "I have known Mary Wells for several years and she is quietly a very talented, generous and visionary person. You need all these qualities to hold a vision that includes all of our movies and the whole industry. Lisa Wickham is an extraordinary businesswoman and fantastic public relations person, who also has a big picture of what we need to achieve to sit on the world stage as filmmakers and as an industry. And Mitzi Allen is a pioneer and warrior."

The 'Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival and Symposium' caps off CaribbeanTales' first five years and Solomon said the company "has exceeded my expectations 100 fold. The growth of the company has, luckily for us, mirrored the growth in interest in the Caribbean and its brand, and so we have seemed to ride that wave, at the same time, I believe, as contributing to it".

"The low points have been, as always, trying to raise money. The high points have been connecting with like-minded people from all over the world to do something that helps everyone, and makes all of us special and feel useful and good," she said.

"The projection for the next five years is to take Caribbean film to the international stage and establish it as a brand alongside Hollywood, Bollywood and the British film industry, in terms of quality, viability and audience reach. In order to do this, we have to develop a business model for production and distribution that draws on skills and the help of all stakeholders: government, private sector, broadcasters, distributors, and cinema owners, to make it work," she said.

"That is what we are on course to achieve in the next five years."

Photos: (top to bottom) Frances-Anne Solomon, Mary Wells, Lisa Wickham, Mitzi Allen.