Frances-Anne Solomon

Frances-Anne Solomon (born 28 June 1966) is a British-Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker, writer, producer, and distributor. She has lived in Britain, Trinidad & Tobago, and Toronto, Canada.

Biography Born in England of Trinidadian parents, who had gone to Britain in 1958, Frances-Anne Solomon began her professional life at the BBC in England, where she built a successful career as a producer, first with BBC Radio then with BBC television drama. She also produced and directed independent films through her company Leda Serene Films.

In 1999, she moved her company to Canada, where she continued to write, direct, and produce films, television programs, theatre plays, and new media projects. In 2001, she founded the CaribbeanTales Media Group, a charitable organisation producing, exhibiting and distributing educational multi-media projects based on Caribbean-heritage stories. The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, founded in 2006 and based in Toronto, includes an annual festival, community screening series, and youth-focused film challenges. The CaribbeanTales Incubator Program develops original content for the regional and international market, CTFF also holds workshops and festivals in other territories, including to date New York, Barbados, Belize, South Africa, and Cuba. In 2010, Solomon founded CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc, the first film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean dedicated to the marketing and sales of Caribbean-themed films. In 2014 she launched CaribbeanTales-TV, a video-on-demand platform. Solomon is a Director member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life

Solomon is the granddaughter of Trinidad and Tobago independence politician Dr. Patrick Solomon. When her grandfather left politics and took a role as a diplomat, the family lived in different countries including Canada, the United States, Europe and Venezuela. She moved back to Trinidad at nine years old, and attended the girls' "prestige" school, Bishop Anstey High School.

Ultimately she found the racism of the British film and television industry constraining, and like many of her peers, chose to emigrate. Returning to Canada in 2000, she founded the CaribbeanTales Media Group and continued to develop and produce television, feature films and new media projects. Lord Have Mercy!, produced with Claire Prieto and Vanz Chapman, was Canada's first multicultural sitcom, and starred Russell Peters alongside Caribbean stars Leonie Forbes and Dennis "Sprangalang" Hall. A Winter Tale, CityTV, 2007, depicts a Caribbean-Canadian community plagued by gun violence in Toronto. Solomon is the director of HERO, her third feature, inspired by the life and Times of Trinidad and Tobago war hero, judge and jurist Ulric Cross.

Solomon was the recipient of the 2018 Visionary Award from the ReelWorld Film Festival.

On 1 July 2019 Solomon was one of 842 new members invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. The 2019 class is 50 per cent women, 29 per cent people of color, and represents 59 countries.

CaribbeanTales CaribbeanTales Inc CaribbeanTales Inc a not-for-profit company was formed in 2001, originally as an internet platform for Caribbean-themed film and arts. This led to the creation of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, a Barbados-based company, and the first film distribution company dedicated to international distribution of Caribbean-themed audio visual content. The company was co-founded with cultural industries specialist Dr. Keith Nurse, businessman Terrence Farrell, and filmmakers Lisa Wickham and Mary Wells, with the goal to tackle head-on problems of the monetisation of Caribbean-themed content and the development of the Caribbean Film Industry.

Creators of Colour Incubator The Creators of Colour Incubator (formerly CaribbeanTales Incubator Program), also founded in 2010, an annual program that takes place during the Toronto International Film Festival, aims to train filmmakers in the creation and marketing of sustainable content, and has been committed to helping to develop an infrastructure and international profile for Caribbean films, in the region and the diaspora. The Program has evolved into a development and production hub for regional content. In 2015, CaribbeanTales won a five-year sponsorship and production deal with Flow, the brand name for Cable and Wireless Ltd, the largest telecommunications conglomerate in the Caribbean. The deal, brokered with Flow C.E.O John Reid, supports the production of at least three television series pilots a year from the CaribbeanTales Incubator Program. In 2016, the first of these projects were selected: Caribbean Girl NYC by Mariette Monpierre, Battledream Chronicle by Alain Bidard, and Heat by Menelik Shabazz. Production is underway in New York, Martinique and Barbados respectively. In 2017 Flow and CaribbeanTales expanded their relationship to give Flow subscribers around the Caribbean access to CaribbeanTales vast catalogue of films through Television on demand.

CaribbeanTales-TV CaribbeanTales established an online VOD platform CaribbeanTales-TV.

Works

Selected radio drama Year Radio Play Credit/Role Notes 1990 Nadir by Parv Bancil Director / Producer 1990 Monsoon by Maya Chowdhry Director / Producer Winner— Sony Radio Awards, Best Original Screenplay 1989 The Adoption Papers by Jackie Kay Director / Producer 1989 Asha by Tanika Gupta Director / Producer 1989 I Is A Long Memoried Woman by Grace Nicholls Director / Producer Winner— Sony Radio Awards, Best Feature Winner - Prix Futura, Best Documentary Feature 1991 Her Father's Daughter by Winsome Pinnock Director / Producer 1989 Afrogoth by Peter Kalu Director / Producer 1989 Parker's Mood by Alex Ward Director / Producer

Film and television Year Film/T.V. Project Type of Program/Funder Credit/Role Awards 1990 I Is A Long Memoried Woman Documentary Feature - Arts Council of Great Britain/Britannia Entertainment Writer / Director / Producer Gold Award - Television Performing Arts - New York International Film and TV Festival Best Feature - Sony Awards Prix Futura - Best Documentary Feature 1992 Reunion Documentary - BBC 2 Writer / Director / Producer Prized Pieces Award - National Black Programming Consortium, US 1994 What My Mother Told Me Feature Film - Channel 4 Television Writer / Director / Producer Producer's Award - Women of The Sun, US Best Film Portraying the Black Experience - Berlin Black Film Festival 1994 Siren Spirits Short Film Series - British Film Institute Writer / Director / Producer 1995 Flight Television Drama - BBC Drama Executive Producer 1995 Bideshi Short Film - BBC Drama Director Best Short Film - Bombay Film Festival 1997 Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon Feature Film - BBC Films / The British Film Institute Executive Producer 1997 Sixth Happiness Feature Film - BBC Films / The British Film Institute Executive Producer 1998 Peggy Su! Feature Film - BBC Films Director BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design Royal Television Society Award for Best Costume Design 1998 Speak like a Child Feature Film - BBC Films / British Film Institute Executive Producer 2001-2003 Lord Have Mercy! One / Aboriginal People's Television Network Co-Creator/Producer/Director Nominated—Best Comedy Series Gemini - nomination, Best Comedy Series (with Claire Prieto, Vanz Chapman) Gemini - nomination, Best Actress for Leonie Forbes 2006 LiteratureAlive Documentary Series - Bravo Creator/Producer/Director(selected episodes) 2008 A Winter Tale Feature Film - City TV/Telefilm Canada Writer/Director Best Canadian Feature - ReelWorld Film Festival Audience Award, Best Feature - 'Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival Best Foreign Film - San Diego Black Film Festival Ousmane Sembène Award for Best Foreign Film - Lagos Film Festival Diaspora Award - Fespaco 2008 HeartBeat Documentary Series - Bravo Creator/Producer/Director (selected Episodes) Best Canadian Feature 2013 Kingston Paradise Feature Film - CPTC / CaribbeanTalesFlix / Caribbean Creativity Producer/Executive Producer (with Mary Wells) Audience Award—CaribbeanTales International Film Festival Programmer's Award - Pan African Film and Arts Festival Best International Film - Africa Movie Awards 2019 HERO Feature Film Writer/Director/Producer / Republic Bank / Telefilm / CaribbeanTales / Imagine Media International Audience Award—Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival Janet Dubois Award Best Narrative Feature - Pan African Film and Arts Festival Best Diaspora Feature - Africa Movie Academy Awards

Community awards Year Organisation Award Notes 2017 100 ABC Awards 100 Accomplished Black Women 2016 2015 Consulate General for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Toronto For "Outstanding Contributions to Caribbean Film and Television" 2015 Jackie Robinson Fortitude Awards 2015 Persistence Award 2014 Planet Africa Television 2014 Heritage Award 2012 Tropicana Community Centre 2012 Community Builder Award