Origins - A Word from the Founder, Nigel Trellis

Tropical Films was founded by me in January 2009 as a volunteer group for like-minded filmmakers in Antigua and Barbuda. In that year, the group produced its first short, filmed on a zero budget and showcased it on social media networks and on local television stations for free. Rave reviews were received, and the group’s Facebook audience grew overnight to over six thousand fans. We were heavily encouraged by this but could not ignore the fact that film making is a taxing and costly enterprise which could not be sustained for any amount of time on a strictly volunteer business. 

I therefore decided to pursue the next project, a feature, on a commercial basis and the group successfully completed “Working Girl”, wholly financed by me with the support of a few relatives and friends. The film premiered at Cinemas in Antigua and sold for six weeks straight to raving audiences. The downside, however, was the use of the Cinemas as the main avenue for distribution. This resulted in financial losses as the Cinema’s took between 50% and 60% of revenue, not having contributed a dime to production, postproduction or marketing costs. So, while audiences were loving our work, we were saddled with an unsustainable approach to disseminating our content. This led to a long period of disillusionment and hibernation from filmmaking as the I became more focused on my “real” career and the more crucial aspects of life such as starting a family, building a home and solidifying more reliable sources of income.  

The coming of the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020 brought a sobering realization that life can never really be all secure. It suddenly became clear to me that given the unpredictable reality in which we all live, it probably serves us no good to suppress the things we truly love while striving to live as risk free and as conservatively as possible. 

I therefore decided to return to filmmaking, my true love so far as careers go, with a view to never again give up and to ensure that before I die, I carve out a space where Caribbean people worldwide can congregate, see themselves and their culture on screen and be darned proud about it.