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So You Want to Film in the Caribbean? Talk to Bruce by Joanne Butcher
Bright blue green sea, white sand and dense tropical foliage are just many of the locations at which Trinidad and Tobago excel. photo: courtesy B. Paddington
BASICALLY THIS INTERVIEW IS A BARELY
concealed invitation to Bay Area filmmakers to consider Trinidad and Tobago for their next film production. The invite comes from a father and son filmmaking team, Bruce and Luke Paddington who have been crossing back and forth between the West Coast and the West Indies for years. While Luke's interview is in the following article, here I speak with Dr. Bruce Paddington.
An award-winning filmmaker, he founded Banyan Productions and the Caribbean Federation of Filmmakers as well as has directed and produced over 500 films and television programs. is the co-designer and coordinator of the BA Film Program in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, the University of the West Indies.
He was the consultant for the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, a State Agency under the Ministry of Trade and Labor that offers domestic and international film producers tax incentives and other support.
On top of all that, he is the Founder/Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival which recently took place in September, 2013.
Doctor Bruce Paddington. photo: courtesy B. Paddington
Bruce Paddington: We started as a small, one week event focusing on T&T and the Caribbean.
In our 8th year, we have widened our Panorama Features to include Caribbean Diaspora/heritage nations—India, China, Africa, Syria, Lebanon —and the lands touching the Caribbean—Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay. We include African-American features, Sundance prize-winners.
All the shorts—about 50 of those—are from the Caribbean, and about 25 from T&T. Of the Caribbean features, about 5 are from T&T. One of the greatest difficulties we face is that the English-speaking Caribbean is not as well funded as the Spanish and French-speaking Caribbean.
What can the Bay Area learn from T&T?
That a small organization in a small place can put together a team of passionate enthusiasts who can put on a film festival that gets better and better every year.
That with training in place—like the quality program at the University of the West Indies, support from the Government through programs like the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company—with Film Incentives and Tax Benefits for Producers—that all this synergy inevitably leads to an increase in quality as well as quantity.
The waterfront in Port of Spain. photo: courtesy B. Paddington
What are the similarities between the Bay Area and T&T for filmmakers?
That for independent producers in both places it is incredibly difficult to find money and to get your work shown at the local cinema or on television. It’s a fight! Even though the producer is American or the film is in Jamaican creole or in subtitles, it’s very hard.
It may be tougher for the Caribbean film and in 50 years the only film people remember is 'The Harder They Come'.
What would constitute a successful Caribbean film today?
A local success would be to get your film into the local cinemas for 5 or 6 weeks. “Home Again” did that. 'I’m Santana' by Roger Alexis was an Internet success in Brooklyn and Queens.
Success for the Festival means that we are now seeing attention from International journalists from Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, and CineSource and that is raising the profile of the Festival locally, regionally and internationally.
17,000 people attended last year. PBS has picked up a new film - Pan - on the steelband, which also has interest from Arte and will be coming out next year.
This year’s Opening Night film, 'Half of a Yellow Sun' [dir. Biyi Bandele, 2013, Nigeria] comes straight from the Toronto Film Festival
We have a 3 day conference with UNESCO; all the Caribbean Film Commissioners are here; the African Motion Picture Awards are here; and we have a comprehensive advanced education program for filmmakers and actors during the Festival.
What can Bay Area filmmakers gain from making their films here in T&T?
It would be great for them to link up with T&T producers here to make some co-productions. The incentives are REALLY good. Cash returns.
Ben Zeitlin, who directed 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' that won an Oscar Nomination for Best Actress, is here right now to look at locations and how he can benefit from incentives for shooting his next movie here.
We run a nice Festival. It would be lovely for Trinidadians to see the African-American experience here. It would be nice to put together a package of Caribbean films for the Bay Area.
Recently, a Canadian film 'Home Again' was shot here. It was about Jamaican deportees, but they shot it here because they benefited from the cash incentives.
In terms of locations we have places that look like Oakland and places that look like the Caribbean or Mexico. We have bush and jungles and rainforest and little villages that could be in India, and Tobago that has high-end and eco-tourism, and East Indian mosques, industrial areas.
I encourage producers to come to the festival. Enjoy the Caribbean films. Make connections. Do a little tour. See the locations. Come a make a film.
Joanne Butcher is a writer of English and Trinidadian descent who now lives in the Bay Area. Posted on Oct 27, 2013 - 02:35 AM