boasty

Dr. Clive Forrester has been teaching academic writing and linguistics at the undergraduate level for roughly 12 years now. He's a faculty member at the Dept. of English Language & Literature at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Before moving to Canada, Dr. Forrester lectured at UWI, Mona and UTech, Jamaica. His research in forensic linguistics focuses on how Jamaican Creole shows up in courtrooms.

​He joins me on this episode, along with artist and creative entrepreneur Robynn Bourne, to talk about how Jamaican language is treated in films featuring Caribbean characters.

We talked about:

• Kromanti (aka Jamaican Maroon Creole). Read more about it here.
• The Dictionary of Jamaican English by lexicographers - Frederic G. Cassidy & Robert Le Page
• Quick fact check: Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou) was born on September 7, 1919
• The Jamaican Creole writing system & resistance to it. "Distinct and separate language needs a distinct and separate writing system," an important quote by Dr Forrester. This is how demystify the notion that patois is a type of English or as Robynn said, “just an accent”
• How close we are to getting patois as an official language, symbolically recognized by Jamaica's parliament
• What it means that Jamaica is one of the only countries mass producing music in a language other than English for the purpose of international export!
• How attitude toward the language (at home) and linguistic insecurities passed down by generations play a big role in how our language is treated elsewhere.

Connect with Dr. Clive Forrester

• Website
• Twitter

Select courses

• Intro to Lingustics (University of Waterloo)
• The famous Jamaican Creole (York University)

Connect with Robynn Bourne

• Website
• Instagram
• Art Instagram

Writer/director/producer Kafi Kareem has two family-friendly shorts under her belt, and she’s currently developing her first feature with a team of international producers having recently served as a writing consultant on the 2019 feature film, Queen of Soca. Kafi won the 2018 Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival’s (ttff) Caribbean Film Mart where her movie pitch was selected by a panel of Hollywood industry professionals from among over a dozen pitches as the strongest for development and production.

Having gained script development experience as a reader at boutique literary management companies Radmin Company and Madhouse Entertainment, Kafi learned how Hollywood decision makers select movie and television scripts, and she’s eager to pass that knowledge on to other writers.

In this episode, we talk about how we could bring our regional comedic creators together, drawing parallels through the lens of Astronomy Club: the Sketch Show on Netflix, and our favourite sketch, A Good Old Fashion Shade Off!
We've partnered with Kafi Kareem & Story Play Media to offer a script coverage service, Script Concierge.
Connect with Kafi:

• from the Story Play Media website
• on Story Play TV, watch Big Man Dan (4 mins)
• on Twitter
• on Instagram

Connect with Rachel:

• at Isle + Indies
• on Twitter
• on Instagram

Our mid season episode, a solo joint with Rachel Osbourne.
At the end of 2019, I got to work stripping things back and adjusting the Isle + Indies and b/dscvrd models so our brands could better serve our audience. This episode covers how we got here: the personal and professional development hurdle I overcame, considering erasure of identity for Diaspora actors, developing meaningful partnerships, and answering pointed and important questions.
The episode also covers what we're working on in 2020:
b/dscvrd is now a casting company, working with producers/creators to find the right Caribbean talent for their projects, check out our new website: https://www.bdscvrd.com/
We're seeking working Caribbean actors with at least one professional credit to apply for the b/dscvrd directory, Slate here: https://www.bdscvrd.com/actors
Isle + indies now focuses on marketability for actors and creators. We've partnered with Kafi Kareem of Story Play Media to offer a script coverage service, Script Concierge: https://isleandindies.com/script-concierge. And, we'll be launching our Actors Toolkit experience later this year.
Connect with Rachel:

• at Isle + Indies
• on Twitter
• on Instagram

I met Chris in Kingston, Jamaica in 2013 during pre-production for a scripted series I was producing. The following year, I helped him transition into the NYC market, finding him an agent, and submitting him for commercial & film roles. He's now navigating the Toronto market, auditioning for commercials and continuing his theatre career, acting, directing, and set designing for Jamaican plays.
He's a character actors who's played a gang leader's henchman, the long lost son, the corrupt rookie officer, or the man who fell in love with a ghost. No matter what the role, Chris M. Hutchinson brings his brand of raw, animated play to the stage or screen. His love of complex characters is rooted in his commitment to studying human behavior.
Read his full bio.
In this episode, we talk about:

• Developing a relationship with yourself to get out of the way of becoming the character & method acting
• His aunt seeing the potential in him
• Approaching Oliver Samuels on a whim, jumpstarting his career
• Auditioning in different markets

Connect with Chris:

• on his website hutchinmotion.com
• on YouTube
• watch Chris' award-winning performance in Punkin Pie
• watch Chris in Parish Bull

Connect with Rachel:

• at b/dscvrd
• at Isle + Indies
• on Twitter
• on Instagram

Your Caribbean parents likely didn't want you to become an actor. So, even if you felt the hunger in your belly and fire in your chest for the arts and acting, you may only have seen acting as a hobby.
This narrative is the reality for a lot of folks with artistic talent who are now in sensible careers as doctors and lawyers. This is changing, and educator Fabian M. Thomas is on the frontlines. He interacts with high school drama students, university arts majors, and adults seeking opportunities to hone their craft as actors.
As the creator of the Actors' Flex training program, he's facilitated workshops with film industry professionals like Gabrielle Blackwood, Kurt Wright, Noelle Kerr, Natalie Thompson, and more in Kingston Jamaica. He joins Rachel on this episode to talk about the Actors' Flex initiative and share his experience as an educator in the performing arts.
Actors' Flex 3
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2019
Time: 9AM – 5PM
Location: National Volunteer Centre, 2d 4, Camp Rd, Kingston, Jamaica
Connect with Fabian:

• by email
• on Facebook
• on Twitter
• on Soundcloud

Connect with Rachel:

• at b/dscvrd
• at Isle + Indies
• on Twitter
• on Instagram