CaribbeanTales takes film-makers to international marketplace

CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc (CTWD), the first ever film distribution company of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, will take 25 top Caribbean producers and film-makers to Toronto this fall, to take part in a unique market development programme and participate in the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.

Launched in Barbados in May, the organisation is trying to become the bridge between Caribbean film-makers seeking to penetrate the international marketplace and international buyers looking for quality Caribbean-themed content.

"There is an explosion of content coming out of the Caribbean and a need for a focused distribution strategy to ensure that this gets the best deals on the international market," said Frances-Anne Solomon, the organisation's chief executive officer. Solomon is himself an award-winning Canadian-Trinidadian film-maker.

Already, the company boasts a distribution catalogue of over 50 films and television programmes by some of the finest film-makers from the Caribbean and its Diaspora.

The inaugural catalogue will be unveiled in September when the company hosts the 25 Caribbean producers.

The market development programme will include an intensive three-day market incubator (September 6-9), a Caribbean-themed networking launch party on September 7 and a marketplace brunch (September 13).

Participants will hone their project proposals through intensive analyses and interventions with international consultants that will prepare them to participate in the Toronto International Film Festival.

At the festival, film-makers are expected to find many networking opportunities with Canadian and international partners and buyers.