Bridgetown, Barbados, 22nd May 2015. For Immediate Release CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD), the region’s premier distribution platform for Caribbean film and television content, has received a 3-year funding commitment to provide eight partial scholarships a year to regional audiovisual content producers to attend its renowned CaribbeanTales Incubator Program (CTI). The funding is provided by the REACH Project — an initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Compete Caribbean (CC), and the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) — that aims to develop sustainable income streams through the monetisation of intellectual property. “CTWD’s impressive work in the Caribbean region is perfectly aligned with the REACH’s goals in improving the monetization capabilities of producers of creative content. The Caribbean region is bursting with creative talent which with guided mentorship and assistance can turn creative intellectual assets into strategic tools for generating and maximizing new revenue streams. We look forward to a fruitful partnership.” said Ignacio L. De Leon, Innovation Lead Specialist, IDB.
Producers and Mentors at CTI 2014: From L-R: Chartrisse Dolabaille (S. Lucia/Canada), Dr Rita Deverell (CTI Producer and Mentor), Melissa Gomez (Antigua/U.S.A), Camille Selvon Abrahams (Trinidad & Tobago), Faisal Lutchmedial (Trinidad/Canada), Rodney Smith (Barbados), Peyi Guzman (Dominican Republic) Rene Holder (T&T), Jelani Nias (Jamaica/Canada).
Dr Keith Nurse, Chair of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution
About the REACH PROJECT
REACH is a recently approved regional technical cooperation project funded by the IDB’s Regional Public Goods initiative aimed at building the commercialization capabilities of competitively selected Caribbean entrepreneurs and firms. The project will provide institutional capacity building, training, and mentorship in three main thematic areas: (i) technology commercialization (ii) creative industries intellectual asset management and (iii) product branding value capturing. Efforts are expected to result in improved commercialization of intellectual property rights that would transform intellectual ideas into profitable business models thereby narrowing the productivity gap of Caribbean entrepreneurs relative to global competitors and capturing more income opportunities for these firms. The REACH project is being executed by the University of the West Indies with financing from the IDB’s Regional Public Goods Initiative and a growing number of partners which include the World Intellectual Property Organization, Compete Caribbean, CaribbeanTales, Connect Americas, and the Young Americas Business Trust.
About ACPCULTURES +
The ACPCultures+ Program is implemented by the Secretariat of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and funded under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) by the European Union. Its objectives are: to reinforce the creation and production of cultural goods and services in the ACP States (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) through an approach integrated with distribution networks; to support increased access to local, regional, intra-ACP, European and international markets; to build the capacities of culture sector professionals in ACP States, and to improve the regulatory environment of the culture sector. With the financial contribution of the European Union and the assistance of the ACP Group of States.
About CARIBBEANTALES
CaribbeanTales (CT) is a group of media companies that produces, markets, and exhibits Caribbean-themed films and television programs for regional and international distribution, including: CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD), the first full-service film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean. As well as distribution, CTWD provides co-production services to producers of Caribbean-themed content. CT’s other activities and brands include : CaribbeanTales Inc a registered Charity in Toronto, Canada; the Caribbean-Tales International Film Festival (CTFF) that produces events around the world, the CaribbeanTales Incubator program (CTI), that develops original sustainable content for the international market, CaribbeanTalesFlix, our production arm, and CaribbeanTales-TV, a video on demand platform.