Frances-Anne Solomon is one of the hardest-working folks in the business that I know, and I’m glad to see her and her company (CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution – the first full-service film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean) make further strides…

NEW YORK (June 26, 2011) – Following the first CaribbeanTales New York Film Showcase in New York, a Caribbean company has moved to announce a major deal with a veteran New York-based distributor to promote Caribbean culture to global audiences.

Frances-Anne Solomon, CEO of the Barbados-based CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD), explained that its new partnership with New York’s Third World Newsreel (TWN) links the region’s premier sales and distribution company for Caribbean films with a seasoned educational distributor in a deal which will allow both companies to distribute each other’s Caribbean-themed content across their respective networks.

Third World Newsreel (TWN) is a long established alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, dissemination and appreciation of independent film and video about people of color and issues of social justice.

CaribbeanTales films will immediately benefit from TWN’s wide access to the North American educational markets in both the United States and Canada, while TWN films will be distributed internationally by CTWD, and benefit from the Barbadian company’s access to the Caribbean market, including regional and international marketing initiatives and festivals.

Solomon described the partnership’s mutual benefits: “Third World Newsreel’s important catalog and huge contact base will be an invaluable addition to our own business, because we will have more focused reach into the educational market. The deal will also substantially increase the size of our catalog in the international marketplace.“

Dorothy Thigpen, Executive Director of TWN, whose catalog includes “The Other Side of the Water,” the journey of a Haitian rara band in Brooklyn, and “Sweet Sugar Rage,” the story of a popular Jamaican women’s troupe who use improvisation and theater as consciousness-raising tools, said the new partnership will also enhance her organization’s catalog.

“The Caribbean is an important market for us and this deal melds seamlessly with our mission to effect social change while encouraging people to think critically about their lives and also the lives of others,” said Thigpen.