The absence of Caribbean content on entertainment streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple is of major concern to British, Jamaica-based film-maker Rick Elgood. As a result, he is currently involved in a project which is aimed at becoming the first series with content from the region to appear on one of these formats.

Elgood and his team are currently casting and scouting locations for the 24-minute-long pilot of a TV series to be known as The Agency, which he will then submit to becomes a series airing on one of these major international streaming services.

“It all started in 2017. I participated in the Caribbean Tales incubator programme and had the opportunity to pitch the idea for the series in a competition at the Toronto Film Festival. This was very intense. I only had two minutes to impress a panel with my idea for the show. So, what I did was put together a 30-second video and then spoke for the other minute and a half. The thing is when the two minutes is up a bell rings and you have to stop speaking. I was lucky enough to get everything I wanted to say in, and even had a few seconds to spare,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

It was a long agonising two months before Elgood would hear anything regarding the status of his pitch.

“After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got a call saying that I had been successful and won myself a bursary for US$40,00 to make my pilot. Interestingly, a total of four pitches had been chosen to receive the bursary, but the other three have fallen off due to the very strict rules that the organisers have set for the programme,” he shared.

According to Elgood, The Agency will take an insider’s look at the local music industry. He noted that it may be seen as the Jamaican version of the popular American TV series, Empire.

“We are currently casting for all parts in the show and looking at locations in and around Kingston. We are drawing on the talents of local producer Carleene Samuels and casting director Nadean Rawlins. Because streaming sites such as Netflix have such high standards, we will be bringing in a director of photography from the United States who works on projects of this kind, so we can get it right… we have to get it right. When one considers that as many as 150 pilots are submitted to executives at these companies each year, and they only select 10, then we know it has to be done right,” said Elgood.

“We are pitching it from the standpoint of the lack of diversity as it relates to Caribbean content. Yes, there are a few one-off documentaries and other features, but no series from this region. We will be shooting during the last week of this month then its on to editing and post-production… adding some great local music to the soundtrack and a strong original music score. I am confident this will be it,” he added.

Elgood is no stranger to to film and television production. His directing credits include the popular Dancehall Queen and One Love, which starred Ky-Mani Marley and Cherine Anderson. He was also heavily involved in the local television series Me & Mi Kru which aired on CVM TV. Elgood is currently in post-production on a film on the renowned mento band, The Jolly Boys, which he projects will be ready to hit the international film festival circuit in July.