CaribPR Wire

The Wonder Years Star is in discussions to play Jamaican-Canadian Community worker Harry Gairey

For Immediate Release

CaribPRWire, Toronto, Canada, Thurs. Nov. 11, 2021: Casting is underway for In the Black and popular American actor Richard Gant has been attached to the project to play the role of Jamaican-born Harry Gairey. Produced by CaribbeanTales Media Group and directed by Caribbean-Canadian Frances-Anne Solomon, the feature film is an adaptation of entrepreneur and activist Jamaican-Canadian Denham Jolly’s memoir of the same name.

In the newly re-imagined The Wonder Years (ABC), Gant guest stars as Granddaddy Clisby – the latest role for the 77-year-old actor who also plays grumpy Walter on CBS’s The Neighborhood. The veteran actor is known for his roles on Greenleaf (Percy Lee), The Mindy Project (Melville Fuller), Men of a Certain Age (Owen Thoreau, Sr.), General Hospital and NYPD Blue.

“I met Richard last year in Los Angeles at the premiere of Hero at the Director’s Guild of America Theater,” recalls Solomon. “So, when I was thinking about who would be the perfect actor to play the role of the legendary Harry Gairey, a Jamaican-born community leader and activist who worked as a railroad porter, Richard’s commanding presence and booming voice instantly came to mind. He will be phenomenal!”

In the Black focuses on Jolly’s journey from Jamaica to Canada, the enormous influence Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey had on his life as well as Jolly’s fight to secure a license for a Black-owned Toronto radio station, Flow 93.5.

The film has received support from the Harold Greenberg Fund and Telefilm Canada. Producer Nicole Brooks has also recently signed onto the project. Brooks’ production work began with Frances-Anne as story editor for Lord Have Mercy (Vision TV/Showcase/APTN/Toronto One) and she has gone on to create and produce several critically acclaimed and groundbreaking television and theatre productions including Echo (SunTV), Divine Restoration (Vision TV/ TVOne), Obeah Opera and executive produced CaribbeanTales’ slate of international pilots through its flagship Incubator Training Program. Also on board are writer Andrew Burrow-Trotman - The Porter (CBC) Frankie Drake Mysteries (CBC) Utopia Falls (CBC/Hulu), Diggstown (CBC) and development executive Jamie Gaetz. Solomon’s recent feature film, Hero: Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross is now available on Showtime, Prime Video, Hulu and Cineplex Store.

Media Contact: Fennella Bruce | 647.290.7610 | [email protected]

CaribbeanTales Media Group (CTMG) is a multi-faceted group of media companies that produces, markets, and sells culturally diverse film and television content from the Caribbean and its wide Diaspora.  Founded by award-winning filmmaker and Academy Member Frances-Anne Solomon, CTMG includes: CaribbeanTales Inc, a registered Canadian Charity, CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, a film distribution entity, CaribbeanTales International Film Festival; Caribbeantales-TV, a VOD streaming service; the Creatives of Colour Incubator, a year-round development and production hub, and CaribbeanTalesFlix, our production arm.

PHOTOS:

Actor Richard Gant, l, and CaribbeanTales Media Group founder and director  Caribbean Canadian Frances-Anne Solomon. (Photo courtesy of Caju Creative)

Actor Richard Gant (Courtesy: richardgant.com)

For Immediate Release

CaribPR Wire, TORONTO, Canada, Thurs. March 19, 2020: Toronto-based CaribbeanTales Media Group has announced that it has begun work on a feature film based on the award-winning memoir In the Black by one of Canada’s most respected entrepreneurs, Denham Jolly. The feature development is supported by the Harold Greenberg Fund and the Telefilm Development Program. A short film based on Jolly’s early life is also being produced. His compelling memoir, that won the Toronto Book award in 2017, tells the inspiring story of his journey from Jamaica to Canada in the 1950’s, through his struggles to overcome racism and become an extremely successful businessman, activist, philanthropist, and publisher.

Solomon, the producer and director on this project, will work with screenwriter Andrew Burrows-Trotman and development executive Jamie Gaetz  to recreate the triumphs and trials of  Jolly’s life, the fabric of which is interwoven with Marcus Garvey’s ideals of economic self-empowerment,  music of the time, and the activism of several generations of Black Canadians who are also part of this remarkable story.

“Denham Jolly’s ten-year battle to win a license for Canada’s first black radio station, is the stuff of urban legend. In the Black shows Canada from a unique point of view. It’s the story of Canada herself, through a fresh and important lens. Our audiences are hungry for authentic stories about Canadian life: Real lives of real people who came to this country and made it their home.” says Solomon.

An icon of the Black community in Canada, Jolly is a founding member of the Black Business Professional Association, Harry Jerome Scholarship Fund, Harry Jerome Awards, Black Action Defence Committee and the Harriet Tubman Games, to name just a few organizations his hand has touched. A self-made millionaire, last year he paid off the mortgage for the Jamaican Canadian Centre and continues to be a philanthropist working behind the scenes to support numerous community causes.

“I cannot express how pleased and excited I am to know that my experiences in Canada and the building of the Black community in Toronto will be documented in film. Writing my memoir and receiving tremendous feedback for it has been both gratifying and humbling. Now, future generations will be able to watch my life story on the big screen,” says Jolly. “I trust Frances-Anne Solomon to tell this story with honesty, integrity and the directional creativity she always brings to every project she touches.”

Frances-Anne Solomon is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, curator and entrepreneur.  A 2019 Director member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, her  third feature film Hero Inspired by the Extraordinary Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross has received wide critical acclaim on its worldwide tour, that includes theatrical runs in both Canada and U.K. and the Opening Night sold-out screening at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.  She is the founder and CEO of the multi-facetted CaribbeanTales Media Group. In 2017 she founded CineFam, to support bold original stories by women of colour creators. Prior to returning to Canada in 2000, Solomon had a successful career as a TV Drama Producer and Executive Producer with the BBC in England.

Andrew Burrows-Trotman is an established Canadian writer. He has been in the writer’s room for Frankie Drake (CBC), Homicide Club (Bell) and Diggstown (CBC).  He is currently working on a dramatic pilot with executive producer and former NBA player Steve Nash called Hardwood, and he is developing a miniseries based on Lawrence Hill’s acclaimed novel The Illegal (Conquering Lion, CBC).

Jamie Gaetz is a story editor and development consultant with extensive experience in the Canadian media industries. As an analyst at Telefilm Canada, she worked with clients across Atlantic Canada and in Quebec., part of  the team that nurtured talent behind many award-winning films, including two shortlisted for Cannes, one Sundance selection, a winner of the Claude Jutra Award, several selected for TIFF and a top download on iTunes.

The CaribbeanTales Media Group produces, markets and sells Caribbean-themed film and television content for global audiences. It includes the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, CaribbeanTales Incubator Program, CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution and CaribbeanTalesFlix.

The Harold Greenberg Fund/Le Fonds Harold Greenberg is a national funding organization that supports the development of Canadian dramatic feature films. Since 1986, it has invested over $85 million in the Canadian film and television industry, which is more than 4, 000 projects.

Peter Williams and Melanie Nicholls-King play Harry Gairey and Violet Williams, respectively, in the short film Violet's Story.

Denham Jolly

Director Frances-Anne Solomon

For more information:

www.caribbeantales.org

https://www.bellmedia.ca/harold-greenberg-fund/

Media Contact: Fennella Bruce|FKB Media Solutions|[email protected]|647.290.7610

More photos and B-roll available upon request.