St.Kitts born Producer Rudy Langlais (“The Hurricane,” “Sugar Hill”) and partners, entrepreneur Valmiki Kempadoo, producer Don Allan and veteran film executive Neil Sacker have closed an unprecedented equity financing agreement with the government of the Antigua that will see $125 million invested in the launch of a long-term commitment to film production in the Caribbean nation, starting with an initial slate of five feature films.
The agreement was announced today in Toronto at the international film festival.
The deal comes through the newly created venture, Golden Island Filmworks, an independent feature film finance and production entity run by Rudy Langlais, and his partners Sacker, Kempadoo and Allan.
The first five feature films, individually budgeted between $20 million and $85 million, against a cumulative budget of $250 million, will be produced through Golden Islands Filmworks in collaboration with the government of Antigua and Barbuda, headed by Prime Minister, the Honorable Gaston A. Browne.
Through this venture, Antigua aims to establish itself as the center for film production in the Caribbean. A portion of all films on this slate will be shot in Antigua, which will inject tens of millions of dollars back into the local economy and foster employment and growth.
The arrangement is a first-of-its-kind film financing model that uses funds generated by the Antigua Citizenship Investment Program. Funds collected from the highly sought after Prime Minister Browne said: “Welcome to the start of this new day in the history of my nation, the Caribbean and worldwide cinema – the further transformation of Antigua and Barbuda as the economic powerhouse of the Caribbean through the power and art of film. We are welcoming the leading directors, actors and filmmaking technicians of the world to Antigua and they are coming to create exciting films that capture the beauty, mystery, history and complexity of our country, our history, our people.”
Rudy Langlais said, “My partners and I had a dream more than 10 years ago, that the Caribbean, which has produced brilliant statesmen like Alexander Hamilton, Nobel Prize-winning poets and novelists, Walcott and Naipaul, legendary athletes like Sobers and Richards and Bolt, and perhaps the world’s greatest cultural icon in Bob Marley, should add its “voice” now to filmmaking. We have wanted to join our colleagues around the world to share our stories and join in telling stories together. Now that time is here. Exciting films will come of this collaboration.”
Commented John, “Of all the projects that I have had the privilege of bringing to Antigua, this project has the potential to create the biggest impact on both the economy and the social transformation of Antigua. It brings a whole new industry into Antigua that will affect tourism and culture.”
Films on the initial slate include “Rebels” which is described as a journey through the life and musical times of Bob Marley, prospecting the early career of the musical icon and unearthing an unknown side of the man and his music. Never before revealed stories and music will show a side of the legend that few would ever imagine.
Golden Island Filmworks has assembled a rich tapestry through its acquisition of the life stories of the men who signed, developed and produced Bob Marley’s music. The company has also secured the rights to the never-before-released JAD Records catalogue of Marley music to tell this story of the unknown Bob Marley.
There is also the adaptation of the “Nick Carter: Killmaster” book series – the longest-running franchise in U.S. book publishing history, producing 261 books over 26 years and selling more than 30 million copies.
The books developed a fan base of millions and launched the careers of a generation of thriller writers, including Martin Cruz Smith, who went on to write Gorky Park and Havana Bay becoming one of the top thriller writers of the past 30 years.
“Nick Carter: The Judas Conspiracy” is set between Bond and Bourne — and firmly in the world of contemporary, cutting-edge cyber-espionage, being fought out in cyberspace with viruses that destroy nuclear centrifuges and bring down banking and energy systems.
Details on expected filming and premiere dates of both projects (and what can be expected from the rest of the slate) are forthcoming.
But Just before departure from St Kitts in January 2015 to attend the Golden Globes Awards in Los Angeles, Langlais was Freedom Fm’s special guest for Friday’s January 9,2015 edition of the popular talk show ISSUES.
Mr Rudy Langlais has produced such films as “The Hurricane”, the saga of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter’s journey to freedom, “Sugar Hill”, which starred Wesley Snipes as the son of a ravaged Harlem family trying to save what’s left of them, “Who Killed Atlanta’s Children?”, recounting his own investigation for SPIN of the series of brutal slayings in Atlanta, which featured Jim Belushi and Gregory Hines, and “Redemption” for 20th Century Fox and the FX Network, which starred Jamie Foxx in his Golden Globe-nominated role as Stanley Tookie Williams, the founder of the Crips gang. He was nominated for seven Nobel Prizes for writing children’s books.
Born in Mc Knight, St Kitts, Langlais and his family migrated to the US at the time when racial prejudice was the order of the day. He credited his success to values taught to him by strong parents. His most daunting task he said was preparing himself for a profession in a film/tv industry that he had never grown up seeing and had not seen until migration to the US at age 10.
Langlais is currently working on films which tell the Kittitian and Nevisian story.
A Film about the historic Buckley’s Riots showcasing the importance for race relations in the region will be shot in St Kitts. Another important story to be told according to Langlais is that of the events leading up to and after the Carib massacre at Bloody Point.
Langlais explained that work on this films is well on its way and expressed pride that the Federation will finally be given the opportunity to showcase the wealth of talent is that quite often taken for granted on the islands.
Langlais told an ISSUES audience back then that St.kitts-Nevis would become the focal point for film making in the Caribbean.
Freedom Fm tried unsuccessfully to contact Mr Langley to ask what had changed his mind from making that investment in St.Kitts-Nevis. Minister of Tourism Lindsay Grant was out of office and could not be reached for comment.