We Going Pan
When I interviewed Attillah Springer as part of a documentary on the genesis and evolution of Trinidad and Tobago’s national instrument, I was captivated by the lively retelling of her adventures at Panorama, the instrument’s most illustrious music competition — tales perfect for a short film format. The timing was perfect: after two years of COVID-19 restrictions, Carnival 2023 would be the first in-person festival.
While the experience of “going pan” is communal, it is at the same time, individual. That subtle balance inspired Walt Lovelace, photographer Jason C. Audain and I to create this project page, which chronicles our shared participation in Panorama from our singular points of view. We hope you’ll find some of the beauty of your own pan experience in it.
Interviewer & Producer, 2023
Pan Is…
From the moment the first note emerged from the curved face of a discarded oil drum, there was energy…transmuted from the resource the drum once contained, to a sound that redefined what music could be.
With an irrepressible spirit of determination, innovation, and creative expression, that note birthed not only a new instrument, it spawned a movement, a national identity, an undeniable energy.
The short doc “Pan Is…”, produced for the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago, is a glimpse into steel pan’s journey, told through songs that have paid it homage. It was first screened during the 2023 Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference.
Writer, Interviewer, & Producer, 2023
King David
Nearly 40 years after he created history by winning every major title in one Trinidad and Tobago Carnival season — a feat that has never been matched — calypso legend David Rudder talks about the five songs he considers the most impactful of his career. This short-format documentary is the first instalment of a series aimed at telling the stories of some of calypso music’s most beloved living legends. It was screened at both the Africa Film Festival and the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival 2022, where it was awarded the Jury Prize for Best T&T Film. The trailer is below.
Writer, Interviewer & Producer, 2022
Port of Spain, a Writer’s Heaven
A virtual walking tour of Trinidad’s capital city from a literary point of view. Produced for the Bocas Lit Fest, places that authors like Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace, Barbara Jenkins and Breanne McIvor write about come alive under the masterful guidance of host Wendell Manwarren.
Writer & Producer, 2021
Bim & Bam
Everything Slight Pepper came up with the concept for this animated adventure-travel series for children. At the developmental stage in which I was involved, the package was 2D and consisted of 52 x 11-minute episodes, geared towards the 6-9 age group.
Writer, 2016
After Mas
Two young people defy societal boundaries by persisting with an attraction that takes root between them during Jouvay, the heated, raunchy street festival that heralds the start of Trinidad and Tobago’s annual Carnival.
There were so many wonderful challenges on this project, but the best was probably shooting during actual Jouvay celebrations with director Karen Martinez, coordinating talent and crew in the midst of joyful abandon by real masqueraders.
A richly textured film about identity, desire and conformity, After Mas’ premiered at the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival, where it won the judges’ award for Best Local Short.
Producer, 2013
Rum-making, Redefined
Did you know that Trinidad and Tobago has that magical mix of everything that’s necessary to make world-class rum? Neither did I till I worked on this corporate video, which takes a rare look into the fascinating process by which the world-famous Angostura brand designs, ferments and blends its award-winning rums.
Writer & Producer, 2012
Strange Days on Planet Earth
I managed everything from locations and talent to technical and logistical support for the Trinidad segment, where rising asthma rates were linked to the seasonal arrival of Sahara dust, and identified as just one of the negative effects of climate change.
I coordinated the local leg of this progressive National Geographic documentary, which identified the need to deal with climate change years before it became such a mainstream issue. The series filmed different segments all around the world in an effort to show how phenomena happening in one corner of the globe are inextricably linked to goings-on in other areas.
Local Producer/Fixer, 2005