Island Girl
When the head of Dominica’s Film and Television Task Force, Sobers Esprit invited Tonya Lee Williams (Olivia, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) to visit his small island, he had no idea what it would turn into. “He thought I was just going to be a soap actress who shows up to sign a few autographs, but once I started to talk to him, this whole other event started to take shape,” recalls Williams, who just returned from her first two-week visit. “It was beyond a small autograph session, which is why it took over a year and a half to organize.”With five talented friends from the States and Canada, Williams met with the Task Force and other government officials to help Dominica create an industry infrastructure. In addition, “We created a series of workshops,” says Williams, whose team trained local talent in everything from screenwriting to acting for screen. “There’s a whole synergy here, because all the workshops were also about [ultimately producing] a specific script.”Of course, between meetings and classes, there was also time for those fan signings, a few meet-and-greets and a bit of tourist fun! Take a look at who joined Williams and what they got into during their two weeks in gorgeous Dominica.
Williams and pal Joan Jenkinson, director of programming at Canada’s VisionTV, got down to business with the OECS, “an umbrella organization of all the Eastern Caribbean islands with a mandate to promote any kind of product on an international scale,” explains Williams. “Of course, entertainment is one of those products.”
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