The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

AS a Bahamian woman involved in the art and culture scene for several years, Moya Thompson has seen and experienced a lot of local talent.

These encounters became the passion that now drives her company known as C2it Productions – a production company that creates and organises Bahamas based films, television shows and theatre productions featuring mainly children.

“We have world-class talent here. We have excellent musicians, dancers, actors, comedians, camera persons, and even circus performers,” Ms Thompson told Tribune Woman.

“As an educator it is also good to see (the children’s) confidence develop. That has been one of the huge compliments I have gotten about the programme. The confidence of children, particularly those who may be shy or more reserved, is boosted. Grades improve, creative writing improves.”

She said the overall goal for the company is to produce quality Bahamian TV shows and movies that can be shown both locally and abroad. However, at this stage funding continues to be an issue. 

“Last year I wanted us to use more original soundtracks and background music for the movies, and incorporate the services of more people from the filmmaking community like sound and editing, but the struggle continues. A lot of things pertaining to the final film projects I still ended up having to do myself – editing, scoring, producing, promotions, photography at the premiere, etc. So I want to get to a point where I can have a reliable team,” said Ms Thompson.

Last Thursday, she hosted C2it’s second screening of the 4th Annual FilMAD Movie Premiere at Galleria Cinemas. FilMAD (the Film, Movement, Art and Drama Programme) is designed for children and teens.

The first screening was held last December where scores of attendants were treated to an array of film projects created by the students of the FilMAD summer camp and FilMAD’s school programme that covered themes such as bullying, divorce, friendship, communication, working hard, sex, dating and the effects of the cyber world.

The FilMAD programme was born out of Ms Thompson’s love for the arts and from her involvement in various arts related activities.

“I had been involved in liturgical dance and had some formal classes under Robert Bain for a few years and had been to several dance workshops. I was in the National Youth Choir for about three years in the late ‘90s and travelled around the world in that group. I’ve been acting since 1992 and have done a few movies (“Rain” and “Windjammers”) and a number of stage performances, and I really got involved and interested in filmmaking from that point,” she said.

“I love the medium of fine art as well – craft, painting, sculpting – after being exposed to it as a teaching major at the College of the Bahamas. So FilMAD was born out of my love for the arts and how they all intertwine on a film project.”

The second FilMAD screening featured movies from the premiere that were not previously seen. The movies covered a wide variety of topics and themes based mostly on the filmmaker’s personal experiences. Students got the support from parents, family members and friends, some of whom played roles in the films.

Ms Thompson said in the case of young Carlton Johnson, his entire family played roles in his movie (mother, brother, cousins, uncle). Taylor Minnis’ movie was based on her family and her entire family showed up in the movie, including the baby sister. She said quite a number of the kids used their mothers, or in some cases the mothers were used in someone else’s film.

“I just want to invite schools to realise the benefits of filmmaking when it comes to teaching kids, especially when one considers that it is actually a part of the national curriculum. While some administrators, public schools in particular, are hyped about the prospect of such a programme, many seem to be caught up in doing things with a ‘business as usual’ mindset, which is not effective when working with kids who live in a technological era. Hopefully C2it Productions via FilMAD can change that. It’s been a gratifying ride so far,” she said.