Greenlight Toolkit a boost for Caribbean film industry

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) served as the launchpad for a groundbreaking initiative to transform film financing across the Caribbean.

TidalRise, a Kingston-based creative economy consultancy, unveiled the Greenlight Investor Toolkit at the festival being held in Trinidad and Tobago - a first-of-its-kind AI-powered due diligence toolkit designed to bridge the gap between Caribbean filmmakers and financiers.

Backed by the UNESCO Creative Caribbean programme, with support from the European Union and the Organisation of ACP States, and utilising the AI-engine Largo.ai, the toolkit is poised to address one of the region’s most persistent barriers to growth: limited access to production financing for screen content.

“For decades, our region’s extraordinary stories have struggled to attract investment - not because of a lack of stories, talent, or audience demand; but because our investors need robust de-risking tools to suitably assess creative projects,” said Renee Robinson, founder of TidalRise and creator of the Toolkit.

“The Greenlight Toolkit changes that by providing financiers with clear, data-driven, culturally contextualised insights into the viability of Caribbean screen projects.”

The toolkit combines AI-driven analysis from Switzerland-based platform partner Largo.ai along with expert regional knowledge to generate investment prospectuses for film and TV projects.

The due diligence packages offer intelligence on:story analysis and script coverage; revenue and budget forecasting; talent and casting analytics and distribution opportunities.

TidalRise and TTFF launched the project at an industry presentation held last Friday at One Woodbrook Place. At the launch, speakers unveiled the AI process, its impact on high-potential projects curated from across the Caribbean, and shared insight on the Caribbean Investor survey and report that was conducted as a backdrop of the initiative.

“Launching at the TTFF serves as an opportunity for dialogue around areas of growth and support for sophisticated investors seeking bankable screen-based projects”, said Mariel Brown, festival director.

She added, “The TTFF has always been a vital space for discovery, collaboration, and industry growth. We are proud to support the launch of this innovative tool, a much-needed addition to ongoing efforts to build the sector’s technical capacity and expand opportunities for creators of film, episodic, and AI content.”

Now in its 19th year, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival continues to champion Caribbean voices through its annual festival, year-round programming, and global outreach.