Frances-Anne Solomon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Frances-Anne Solomon
Solomon in July 2012
Born	(1966-06-28) 28 June 1966 (age 58) London, England
Nationality	Trinidadian, British, Canadian
Education	Theatre, Television Production, Directing
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Occupation	Filmmaker, producer
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Film, television
Style	Television drama, Film, radio drama.

Frances-Anne Solomon (born 28 June 1966) is an amazing filmmaker, writer, and producer. She has lived in England, Trinidad and Tobago, and Toronto, Canada. She is known for creating films and TV shows that share Caribbean stories with the world.

About Frances-Anne Solomon

Frances-Anne Solomon was born in England. Her parents were from Trinidad. She started her career at the famous BBC in England. There, she became a successful producer for both radio and television. She also made her own independent films through her company, Leda Serene Films.

In 1999, she moved her company to Canada. She continued to write, direct, and produce films, TV shows, and theatre plays.

CaribbeanTales Media Group

In 2001, Frances-Anne started the CaribbeanTales Media Group. This is a special organization that creates and shares educational projects. These projects are all about Caribbean-heritage stories.

The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival began in 2006 in Toronto. It includes an annual festival, community screenings, and film challenges for young people. The CaribbeanTales Incubator Program helps new filmmakers create original content. CaribbeanTales also holds workshops and festivals in other places, like New York and Barbados.

In 2010, Solomon started CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc. This was the first company in the English-speaking Caribbean to sell and market Caribbean-themed films. Later, in 2014, she launched CaribbeanTales-TV. This is an online platform where you can watch Caribbean films and shows.

Frances-Anne Solomon is now a director member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is the group that gives out the Academy Awards (the Oscars)!

Early Life and Education

Frances-Anne Solomon is the granddaughter of Dr. Patrick Solomon. He was an important politician who helped Trinidad and Tobago become independent. When her grandfather became a diplomat, her family lived in many different countries. These included Canada, the United States, Europe, and Venezuela.

When she was nine, she moved back to Trinidad. She went to Bishop Anstey High School, a well-known girls' school. At 18, she moved to Canada to live with her mother. There, she discovered her love for the arts. She studied theatre at the University of Toronto and poetry with Jay Macpherson. In 1986, she moved to England to work for the BBC.

Filmmaking Career

Frances-Anne trained in TV production at the BBC. She worked on Ebony, the BBC's first Black magazine program. Later, she became a Radio Drama producer in London. She helped many new talents get their start in BBC Radio Drama. These included actors, producers, composers, and writers.

She returned to television as a Script Editor. From 1992 to 1998, she produced and executive-produced feature films for the BBC. These included Speak Like a Child and Love Is The Devil. She learned a lot at the BBC about how important public service broadcasting is.

In 1993, Solomon was chosen for the BBC Drama Directors Course. While working for the BBC, she also ran her own company, Leda Serene Films. She made films like What My Mother Told Me, a story set in Trinidad, and Peggy Su!. Peggy Su! was set in a Chinese laundry in Liverpool in the 1960s. It is one of the few British films to show the lives of Chinese people in Britain.

Frances-Anne found it hard to work in the British film industry because of racism. So, she moved back to Canada in 2000. There, she continued to create TV shows, feature films, and new media projects. Lord Have Mercy! was Canada's first multicultural sitcom. It starred famous actors like Russell Peters. A Winter Tale (2007) showed a Caribbean-Canadian community in Toronto dealing with gun violence.

Solomon also directed HERO, a feature film. It was inspired by the life of Ulric Cross, a war hero and judge from Trinidad and Tobago.

Frances-Anne Solomon received the Visionary Award from the ReelWorld Film Festival in 2018. In 2019, she was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. This group works to promote movies and filmmaking.

CaribbeanTales Initiatives

CaribbeanTales Inc.

CaribbeanTales Inc. is a non-profit company started in 2001. It began as an online platform for Caribbean films and arts. Early projects included an e-newsletter and Literature Alive. Literature Alive was a project with an educational website, audio books, and a documentary series about Caribbean authors. The non-profit company became a registered Canadian charity in 2014.

In 2006, Solomon started the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival in Toronto. It gives a platform for films and filmmakers from the Caribbean. The CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival shows Africentric films in schools during Black History Month. The Film Festival Group has also held events in Barbados and New York.

CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution

In 2009, while teaching film in the Caribbean, Frances-Anne made many connections. This led to the creation of CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution. This company is based in Barbados. It is the first film distribution company focused on sharing Caribbean audio and visual content around the world. The company aims to help Caribbean films make money and grow the Caribbean Film Industry.

Creators of Colour Incubator

The Creators of Colour Incubator (formerly CaribbeanTales Incubator Program) started in 2010. It is an annual program held during the Toronto International Film Festival. It trains filmmakers to create and market their content. The program helps build the film industry in the Caribbean and share its films globally.

This program has become a hub for developing and producing regional content. In 2015, CaribbeanTales partnered with Flow. Flow is a large telecommunications company in the Caribbean. This partnership helps produce at least three TV series pilots each year from the Incubator Program. In 2016, the first projects selected were Caribbean Girl NYC, Battledream Chronicle, and Heat. In 2017, Flow and CaribbeanTales allowed Flow subscribers to watch many Caribbean films through Television on Demand.

CaribbeanTales-TV

CaribbeanTales also created an online video-on-demand (VOD) platform called CaribbeanTales-TV. This platform makes it easy to watch Caribbean films and shows online.

Selected Works

Radio Drama

Film and Television

Community Awards