ATLANTA-BASED film producer Profisi Kev said he would like to see more Jamaican-produced movies which capture the essence of our culture.

“By this, I mean there are so many aspects of Jamaica that a single movie can capture — our diverse terrain of lush mountains contrasted with the sunshine on our white-sanded beaches. Then, there is our music and the people behind it with their abundance of energy and realness which comes out of acting,” he said.

He is currently promoting his latest short film, Ugly, shot in Atlanta.

“This is a short film about a worker who goes through an ugly day when everything goes bad,” he said.

The film-maker plays the lead role as a worker who started out his day on a bad note and it gets uglier for the rest of the day.

In addition to the film-maker, the cast comprises Marcus Lamberts, Chozy Aiyub, Rayjay Serrano, Brice Anthony Heller, Dean Khandjian, and Philip McFarlane.

“Shooting began May 2021 and ended July 2021. The financing of the film was my investment because I believe in my dreams; in addition to skilled professionals, who were willing to jump on board because they believed in me,” he said.

Profisi Kev (born Kevin Miller) grew up in the upper-scale community of Norbrook, St Andrew. He attended Vaz Preparatory School in east Kingston.

“I have to give credit to my music teacher and immediate family who were very involved in music. My grandmother Gwenneth Gallimore, for example, was the choir director for Calvary Apostolic Church in St Ann’s Bay, St Ann. My grandfather David Gallimore was the pastor,” he said.

“All my uncles could play numerous instruments, including the bass guitar, saxophone, keyboard and drums, so too were my cousins. It was not surprising I could play almost all these instrument, as well as the piano.”

Profisi Kev’s journey to the US in 2003 opened more doors.

“I produced my very first song, Mama’s Boy, on my owned Rite Track Music label in 2008.

“With a BA degree in multimedia communication. I now had the skills of photography, videography, graphic design, audio engineering and motion graphic. This was almost everything I needed to be a movie producer,” he said.

As a videographer, he has produced at least 20 music videos, including Rod Pinnock’s It’s A New Day, and Dawn Penn’s Growing Up.

As an actor, he has appeared in short films including Closure, Can’t Get Right, and The Car Lot.