FILM-MAKER Rick Elgood premiered the pilot for his series The Agency at CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) in Toronto last Friday.

The episode, shot in Jamaica in May last year, was warmly received, according to Elgood.

“There wasn’t really any faults. Everyone was behind it and want to push it, especially the Jamaicans, but people from outside were interested also,” he said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer from his London base.

Elgood’s dream is for The Agency — which looks behind the scenes at Jamaica’s music industry — to be the first Caribbean series on a major streaming platform such as Hulu, Amazon, or Netflix.

“Nobody has anything from the region on these platforms; I see this as a great opportunity to take Jamaican music and culture to the world. When you look, there is content from everywhere on there…Spain, Mexico, Argentina…everywhere, and not one series from the Caribbean. The time has come for this to change,” he said.

Elgood admits he is learning the ropes as it relates to getting content on these mediums.

“The truth is, you can’t just go up to these big streamers and say ‘I have an idea and I want to interest you in my product’. It just doesn’t work like that. Some of them tell you up front that they don’t take cold pitches, so you now have to make representation through and aggregation producer of an agent who has worked with them in the past, to work on your behalf,” he said.

“Through networking I have been able to get an agent in Hollywood who has worked with one of these major platforms and he loves the idea, as there is nothing like it out there right now. So, I’m slowly climbing the ladder. I also have very keen interest from an entity out of Canada, so I’m keeping that one close to my chest while still seeking the bigger ones out there in the bush, so to speak,” Elgood added.

The Agency stars stage and television actress Camille Davis and recording artiste/actor Kadeem Wilson, as well as choir director/actor Hugh Douse.

The pilot is the only episode which has been shot but Elgood has already scripted six episodes for the first season.

Elgood noted that COVID-19 had an effect on post-production for The Agency.

“I had edited the pilot and we were about to do the audio mix when the pandemic hit earlier this year. I came to London and we had to do it via remote. Dale “Dzl” Virgo did his magic and was able to set up a remote studio so I could hear all he was doing in Jamaica on my speakers in London. I am happy we were able to do it that way,” he said.

Elgood’s road to The Agency began in 2017 when he participated in the CaribbeanTales incubator programme and had the opportunity to pitch his idea for the series in a competition at the Toronto International Film Festival. After two months came news that he was successful and won a bursary for US$40,000 to make the pilot.

Elgood is no stranger to to film and television production. His directing credits include the movies Dancehall Queen and One Love.

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 mento band, The Jolly Boys.