The CaribbeanTales Black Incubator and Studio Access Project (CTBISAP) is a business and production hub for emerging black filmmakers designed to build capacity in the Black Canadian Film Industry.

Participants

Cohort 1

AISHA EVELYNA

Actor, filmmaker, and festival programmer at Reelworld Film Festival. Acting credits include Slo Pitch, The Influencers, and Workin’ Moms. Her feature Seahorse was awarded the Indigenous Screen Office Solidarity Fund for radicalized creators. In addition to being a 2021 Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab Resident, other accomplishments include Cayle Chernin Award for Media Arts.

Project Title: Seahorse

DAVID CROPPER

Award-winning Producer/Showrunner and one of Canada’s most sought after urban music video directors who has established himself as a ground breaking Producer/Director in the creation of MTV Tempo. Since relocating back to Toronto, he set off urban TV channel FEVA TV and has received numerous awards including MMVA for Best Independent Urban Video. 

Project Title: The Main Source

DOROTHY A. ATABONG

Award winning Director, Writer, Producer, and Actor. Her short film Sound Of Tears, screened at over 45 film festivals worldwide and garnered multiple awards and nominations. She’s an alumna of the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC), winner of the 2020 Cayle Chernin Award and has directed an episode on CBC’s 21 Black Futures, Season 3.

Project Title: Zenzile’s Journey

FENNELLA BRUCE 

Fennella Bruce is a successful media consultant and public relations manager at the helm of FKB Media Solutions – a media consulting business. She has been a part of many publicity campaigns, media literacy workshops and event consultations.

Project Title: Backbone

GORDON CULLEY

Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, he credits his global perspective to growing up in a multicultural neighborhood where just about every ethnicity was represented. When it comes to storytelling and life in general, he has decided to take a new, no-excuses approach and is looking forward to telling stories through filmmaking and beyond.

Project Title: A Spy Story

IYORE EDEGBE

Born and raised in Southern Nigeria, Iyore Edegbe moved to Canada in summer of 2013. She later  graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in criminology and civil law. During her time  there, Iyore developed a strong passion for filmmaking and mastered skills to be a professional director.  Iyore has since released a number of short films including her award winning debut short film ‘Our  Home’ which was released in the summer of 2020 under her independent company Yellow Flower Films.  

Project Title: Diaspora

KARL HUTCHINSON

Founder of TKJ Productions who has written, directed, and produced more than 12 stage plays in the GTA. He loves working with children and giving them the opportunity to identify and develop their communication skills through the arts. Productions he’s led with children have played in local theaters to sold-out audiences.

Project Title: Decisions, Decisions

LU ASFAHA

Award winning filmmaker based in Toronto. In 2019, she was a Doc Accelerator Fellow at Hot Docs Film Festival and won the RBC Emerging Director Award at Regent Park Film Festival. Most recently, she was a ScreenCraft Finalist, a Charles Street Video Media Creation Resident, and recipient of the inaugural BIPOC TV Reel Work award. 

Project Title: The Fly That Doesn’t Listen Follows the Corpse Into The Grave.

MELANEE MURRAY-HUNT

Writer, Director, Producer and Actress. Greatest accomplishments include being selected for the Women In The Director’s Chair Career Accelerator Program, as well as co-producing a pilot script for Time Warner, creating a three part digital series called The Invisible Bruise for Sagesse and winning several awards for her short films Race Anonymous, The Trial of Miss Mudimbe, and for her solo stage show, The ‘Hoodwink.

Project Title: Finding Mother

MUNIYRA DOUGLAS

Writer, animation filmmaker, and current Vortex Corp.’s Executive Editor. She has previously published and presented on science fiction, dystopian fiction, Black cosplay, afropunk culture, and much more. Her projects have screened at Toronto Short Film Festival, Toronto Lift Off Festival, Cinefam Festival, Carnegie Hall, Toronto Comic Con, and several art exhibitions.

Project Title: Sanduku

ROBLE ISSA

Somali-Canadian filmmaker focused on writing and directing dramatic features, documentaries, and one-hour dramas. He made his directorial debut with a short documentary entitled Mending a Crack in the Sky, which was an official selection at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival before being broadcasted on Crave Television.

Project Title: Last Shot

TEDDY MULLINGS

Teddy Mullings is a Filmmaker based out of Toronto. Some highlights of his career include working on Locke and Key, Umbrella Academy, Star Trek Discovery and What We Do In the Shadows.

Project Title: Mr. Lonely

YASMIN EVERING-KERR

Award-winning Toronto-based filmmaker who frequently addresses issues of race, sexuality and gender. Latest credits include; documentary The Onyx Butterfly, screened in various film festivals throughout Canada and internationally, as well as receiving a 2021 Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Series. Her films have been broadcasted on CBC Absolutely Canadian and Canadian Reflections. 

Project Title: In the Pocket 

Cohort 2

ALLISON WILSON-FORBES

Allison Wilson-Forbes is a recipient of the Banff-Netflix Fellowship for her half-hour procedural comedy, Invisible Underdogs and a graduate of UCLA’s TV writing program. Her diverse journey includes associate producer for live music shows, shorts filmmaker, award show scriptwriter, and film festival curator. Writing in both drama and comedy while being a mid-career performer recurring on Canadian series strengthens her dialogue, but being a French speaking first-generation Canadian that played competitive tennis, draws her toward ambitious outsiders, and a unique point of view. Her affinity for hot places means you can find her running in triple digits in Ghana and Los Angeles, the only hot flashes she’d ever want.

Project Title: Invisible Underdogs

DAISY KOMUJUNI 

Daisy is a Toronto based writer and producer. She always had a passion for media but her interest in film was piqued while taking part in the U for Change film cohort. After interning in the film and broadcasting world while working in the market research analysis and publishing industries she channeled the skills acquired into establishing Afrotinis at Sunset, a multi-media platform that explores the stories, history and cultural nuances that form the rich and diverse tapestry of the black experience. In her spare time Daisy enjoys photography, comedy and listening to dramatic cinematic music while doing mundane things.

Project Title: Oakwood

KAI LITTLE-WHITE

Writer, producer, director of immersive experiences for kids full of fun, purpose, and heart. Kai’s career spans development to distribution on features, TV, shorts, and music videos. Kai’s work plays with intersectionality and universality with sprinklings of humour and themes around wellness. Kai is a graduate of CFC’s Producer’s Lab and Centennial’s Children’s Media program. Kai associate produced and wrote on CBC Kids in-house content like “Gary’s Magic Fort” and “Studio K”. In 2022, Kai won the YMA-TAAFI John Rooney Creator Fund.

Project Title: Solstice Stories

KIRSTY PLANGE

Kirsty Plange is a screenwriter and director based in and from Toronto. Through U for Change’s film program, she created her first project Borders Carry Me Home, a short personal documentary encompassing the struggle of belonging and identity in the face of immigration. She currently works as an assistant production coordinator for the upcoming CBC documentary series, Summit 72. She conceptualized and wrote, Oakwood, a show centered around two unlikely allies set in an everchanging Toronto, Kirsty’s first love. Kirsty’s hope is to create art that reflects difficult truths and bridges the gaps with those unlike ourselves.

Project Title: Oakwood

KRISTEN LAMBIE

Kristen Lambie is a Jamaican/Canadian writer, actress and filmmaker who has worked in front of, as well as behind the camera in a variety of independent film and television projects. Kristen has a Master of Arts in Media Production from Ryerson University and also has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Film Studies with a specialization in Film Production from Wilfrid Laurier University. Kristen strives to tell stories about her experiences as a woman of the Caribbean/African Diaspora; including topics of identity, belonging and her Jamaican culture. She is now taking the next step into a career behind the camera by honing her skills as a writer and producer.

Project Title: Fever Street

TOBI ABDUL 

Tobi Abdul is a Nigeria-born, small town-raised and Toronto-based director and producer. They directed Fashion Dis, a 6x30min docu-format, 2nd Unit for the upcoming Cirque Du Soleil “O” documentary and in 2021, Tobi directed episode 106 of Shine True, an award-winning 8x30min docuseries, for which she was also the casting and associate producer. Tobi is currently in development with two projects and was recently named one of 25 participants in the 2022 Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Pitch Program. As a story and associate producer, previous credits include Call Me Mother, Great Canadian Baking Show, Revenge Of The Black Best Friend, Canada’s Drag Race and Big Brother Canada. Tobi is most passionate about community-building and amplifying diverse, 2SLGBTQ+ BIPOC stories. She’s not just looking for a seat, they want to build a whole new table

Project Title: Mids

"We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario."

Supporting Black Filmmakers

●Training in Marketing and Branding

●Business Production Resources

●Delivery of Proof of Concept

●Build International Contacts and Reach Mentors

Increases the potential for emerging Black Canadian filmmakers to monetize their intellectual property.
Lays the groundwork for products of Black Canadian media entrepreneurs to become viable and sustainable within the mainstream Canadian media industry.
Supports existing Black Canadian entrepreneurs, and provides opportunities for emerging Black Canadian media entrepreneurs to acquire new skills.

CTBISAP Program Overview

The CaribbeanTales Black Incubator and Studio Access Project is a 3-year program consisting of 3 cohorts per year. Black filmmakers will attend lectures for skills development, and practical deliverables while collaborating with mentors for guidance and support. Participants will have an opportunity to produce a short proof of concept for their series or feature film, valued at at least $10,000 with resources provided by CaribbeanTales.

2022 March

Development

Over the two-day incubator, participants will acquire the basics regarding conceptualizing their idea and developing a strong proof of concept for market submission.

2022 July - September

Market Access

Over the span of the 6 week module, participants will go through themed weeks obtaining knowledge and experience in different areas of development and marketing within the industry. By the end of the 6 weeks, they will walk away with a 3 minute pitch video as well as full knowledge of marketing and development practices needed for the film and television industry.

2022 October

Production

This final two-day incubator is focused on the stage of development and puts more emphasis on production.

caribbeantales incubator training program

Before you apply...

Eligibility

CTBSIAP is focused on Canadian Black Filmmakers. ONLY Black Canadian citizens and permanent residents can apply. Each project team will have a maximum of 3 participants and each incubator will hold a maximum of 15 participants. This incubator will be offered virtually.

Submission checklist for all applicants:

  • Resume
  • Letter of Intent – one page of why you are interested in taking part in this program and goals for your project. 
  • Project Title and Synopsis of story you would like to develop. 
  • Sample of work (script, showreel, writing sample)

Please complete the application form to apply to the CTBSIAP today!