Representing TT on big screen

Most people know Pryce as the young model who claimed Oprah’s title of King of the Caribbean in 1999 and became well-known as the Caribbean’s sexiest man.

But he’s done a lot since then, such as appearing in television shows such as Netflix’s Marvel series, Jessica Jones and AMC’s Unforgettable.

Last month he attended the 2017 Cannes Film Festival with his 12-minute suspense/thriller short film, Come Out, Come Out.

The festival ran from May 17 to 28. Come Out, Come Out, which debuted from May 22 at the festival’s short film corner, was written by Pryce and produced by long-time collaborator, Ron Morales (writer, director and producer).

Being at Cannes was just the start of bigger things. Pryce is now working on a feature film, set in TT, called the Deliverer, which tells of a fisherman who is trying to save his village from a corrupt government.

In a Skype interview with Newsday, Pryce said being at Cannes was a wonderful experience.

“It is my first film and it was an early project...something that I was working on for a while... Earlier on this year we decided to complete the whole film, the post-production, that was done early on in March.

After that we decided to start sending it out to film festivals, and Cannes was one of the first festivals we sent it off to. This world premiere at Cannes was a huge honour for us.” Come Out, Come Out was developed from a writing challenge which asked him to write something that could easily be produced and was about two people in one location. This led to the idea of a woman being trapped on one side of a bathroom door with her ex-husband on the other side trying to get at her.

While the film was well received at Cannes, he said, part of attending was not only to show the film but to also showcase ideas he wants to develop.

“It is partly the project that you have there, but also the projects to come. Ron and I both went there with a slate of feature- length projects, and part of the opportunity there is to talk about the short that is in there, but also talk about the other feature project that we have in development.” Pryce said talking about future projects enables a writer or producer to “get interest and to gauge their value on the market and how you can make the best steps forward with the projects that you are working on.” This is the approach he’s taken with his upcoming film set in Trinidad. It’s in the final stages of rewriting before packaging and sourcing talent.

Pryce and Morales shot the film’s proof of concept [a short film which gives a sense of what a feature film would be like] in Grande Riviere last month.

And while many might believe that to make it big in the film industry, one must be abroad, Pryce does not share this view.

In fact, he thinks the success of the TT and Caribbean film industry lies in first “making it big at home.” “I think before Caribbean film can do well internationally, it has to do well, locally and regionally. I think those are the benchmarks we can look at first.

If a TT or Caribbean film dominates a multiplex in Trinidad as a number one film over an American film...then the world takes note. It is hard for a Caribbean film or Trinidad film to really make a splash in the US or Russia or an international stage when it does not even have a market at home. I think you see the countries whose films are doing well abroad, have very strong home/domestic box office.” But he said: “Now is now a really exciting time in Trinidad and Tobago in terms of film and development.” While he thinks TT has made tremendous steps in “terms of production and just overall understanding of the business and what is required to operate on the highest level,” however, he felt there were infrastructural and other issues which needed to be addressed.

“I think the human capital is certainly in place, and always has been. I think Trinidad and Tobago is just an incredibly talented space. But, I think there is infrastructural development that needs to happen. There is no sound stage, there are certain types of equipment that would have to be brought in. ‘Infrastructurally’, there is a lot of development that needs to happen, if the country is serious about developing the film industry.” But Pryce also saw solutions for the further development of the local industry and further access to grants for local film-makers and developers through international co-financing treaties.

“I think what is also eye-opening is that so many others countries have really developed ways of accessing financing, grants.

The French, Koreans, the Europeans on a whole have a lot of resources to help their artists and film-makers that we don’t have in place yet, things like international co-financing treaties and agreements.” While TT and the Caribbean have done well musically on the world stage, representing themselves still needed some work, he said.

“I think it is so important to have representation of yourself on the big screen, or the silver screen. I think we’ve done a good job in terms of music...but I think in terms of the moving image and visual image, we have a long way to go.” It is his hope to pass on the knowledge he has gained to young writers, actors and producers in the local industry by teaching one day. Trained at the Yale School of Drama as an actor, he has taught at HB Studio in New York, Yale and elsewhere and will now join Wesleyan University.

Asked who he wanted to work with, Pryce – with the big broad smile one suspects made him the Caribbean’s sexiest man – first listed all local film and Caribbean industry players, such as Bahamian director Maria Govan (Play the Devil), young film-maker Maya Cozier and actors Marvin Ishmael and Michael Cherrie.

In the US, he’d like to work with Donald Glover and said, “I would love to do a buddy movie with Idris Elba. That would be amazing.” Ultimately, Pryce wants to teach in Trinidad and contribute more to its performance landscape in the coming years.