The FIlm Incubator (CTI) is a year-round development and production hub for Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora Producers that aims to create strong, compelling and sustainable content for the global market.
The ultimate goal of the CTI is to increase the pool of world-class indigenous film and television content so as to build the region’s audio visual capacity.
The Film Incubator Program has hosted over 80 producers from around the region and the diaspora. The Program has evolved and in 2014 for the first time, we have re-designed it to encourage, and facilitate the creation of long running series content. Our reasons for this are primarily market-driven, in terms of what will be sustainable and popular in the current global economic climate.
In our inaugural year, we had a staggering 25 filmmakers across the region participate in the launch of our incubator.
Since then, we have tailored our programming to a specific selection process to include only a maximum of 15 participants a year to accommodate the intensive nature of the program to ensure adequate training both in group and one-one sessions for the participants.
Incubatees will pitch their projects to a panel of industry leaders, including producers and development executives at major distribution companies.
Frances-Anne Solomon is an award-winning filmmaker of Caribbean heritage and a writer, producer and director in film, TV, Radio and New Media. She is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Arts and Pictures (the Oscars).
Andrew Millington is an independent filmmaker and educator born in Barbados. He is the writer, director and editor of the narrative feature film Guttaperc, and serves as Senior Lecturer in Motion Picture Arts at the Errol Barrow Center for the Creative Imagination, University of the West Indies in Barbados.
Mary Wells is an award winning independent film Director/ Writer and Producer based partly in Jamaica. She has worked for Government Broadcasting, US Cable TV, a private production company and has over twenty five years experience in television and film production.
Suzette Zayden is a Belizean filmmaker passionate about promoting Caribbean films regionally and internationally. She is currently the Coordinator of the Film and Media Arts Unit for NICH – Belize’s National Institute of Culture & History.
John Reid is the former CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) and former president of Columbus Communications. Over the past 11 years, John has led the launch of Digital Cable TV, IPTV, Broadband Internet and IP Telephony service in several Caribbean countries.
The feedback given has been extremely helpful but as also been motivation to keep moving forward in my career. The excellent choice of helpful mentors and the feedback from the professionals after my pitch was much needed. I was especially grateful for the feedback given on my script by the story editor- script writing can be such a solitary process – her professional feedback was a gift. I hope the program continues to move forward from strength to strength
Regardless of your level of expertise, the workshops are an excellent venue to hone your craft. The mentors really push you to go further so to get those pitches as concise and catchy as possible. It helps to get ideas and comments from other people which serve as a springboard to actual pitches.
I can say that the CaribbeanTales Incubator program has elevated my status in the Dominican film community. The things I learned in the program, like preparing for a professional pitch, definitely aided in securing the funds for my first feature film, which I’ll be producing next month.
