In Search of Rastafari: A Soul’s Journey has been four (4) years in the making. It is truly a labour of love for producers and members of the production team. The idea for the documentary, came about after PRODUCER PATRICIA SCARLETT encountered yet another Rastafarian in a foreign country. This time it was Melbourne, Australia. It got her thinking about the fact that over the years she has encountered Rastafarians far and wide.
 
Considering the origins of the movement, she felt there was a BIG story to share with the rest of the world. She slowly started researching the history of the movement and interviewing Rastafarians and friends who are knowledgeable about the movement. Over a four (4) year period, she has tirelessly tried to interest broadcasters in the project. Some told her there was a kernel of a story there but wasn’t quite sure if it was for them. Others simply didn’t get it. As one questioned, “Why should our audience care about this?”
 
Well, for starters, Bob Marley was declared the most important artist of the 21st century. He wasn’t described as “a reggae artist” “a black artist”, “a Rastafarian artist”, “a Jamaican artist” but simply the most important artist, period, of the 21st century. Given that Marley’s music and lyrics were informed by his Rastafarian beliefs, its important for people to have a deeper understanding of who Rastafarians are today and the impact the movement has had on peoples of the world. It’s time that this story be told!
 
 
PRODUCER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

PATRICIA MARIE SCARLETT SCARLETT MEDIA INC
 
 An eighteen-year veteran of the international television industry, Patricia has developed an impressive list of clients, partners and co-producers around the world. As president and owner of Scarlett Media Inc., a television and film distribution consulting company, she has developed ongoing relationships with many international broadcasters and producers, including a longstanding relationship with the South African Broadcasting Corporation beginning with SABC support for the documentary series “The Five Minute Project” in 1997, and including pre-buys of the popular children’s series “The Adventures of The AfterMath Crew” from 1999 to the present. She also packages television projects and acts as co-executive producer on select projects.
 
Patricia’s early experience in the industry began at TVOntario where she worked primarily in international sales. As a highly successful Sales Executive at TVOntario, Scarlett was responsible for opening up the Latin American market. She initiated and closed TVOntario’s first educational broadcast and educational non-broadcast sales in Brazil. Other sales followed in Argentina and Chile. During that time she developed and nurtured a number of valuable relationships with producers and broadcasters which have culminated in a number of significant professional achievements, including her representation of “Ataranjuat: The Fast Runner”, winner of the Camera D’Or at the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival.
 
In 1995, Scarlett resigned from TVOntario and launched her own TV and Film Distribution, Compass International. Compass International was created to represent the productions of domestic and international independent producers of children’s, documentary and arts programmes. Compass International represented the following companies: Kuper Productions (Canada), Kalki 2000 (India), East West International (Canada), CF Entertainment (USA), Women’s International (Canada), Bindi Films (Trinidad) and Igloolik Isuma Productions (Canada) – Winners of the 2000 Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes International Film Festival for the first-ever Inuktitut language film – Atanarjuat The Fast Runner. The company was sold in 1999.
 
With the sale of company, it was time to move on to a new venture, Scarlett Media Inc. which was launched in 2000. Scarlett Media Inc. was contracted to spearhead Seahorse Entertainment’s (formerly East West International) sales, marketing and distribution division. Scarlett brings her unique vision, relationships and talent to the task at hand. She is responsible for initiating and implementing their marketing plan and assist in the re-branding of the company.
 
Educated in Canada and Jamaica, Scarlett has travelled extensively and speaks French and Spanish. As a veteran in the TV and Film industry, she has attended all major trade conventions, film festivals and conferences -- MIP-TV, Banff Television Festival, Firstview, Cannes International Film Festival, MIPCOM, NATPE, CFTPA Conference, SPAA, etc. with many She currently resides in Toronto with her son Alexander.
 
PRODUCER

MARILYN GRAY
 
Marilyn Gray is the Associate Producer of the award winning feature film “Love, Sex & Eating the Bones”. This film won nine international festival awards including the CityTV prize for Best First Feature at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. “Love, Sex & Eating the Bones” was released theatrically in Canada in March 2004. The film received three 2005 Genie Awards nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
 
Marilyn worked as Director of Development for Hungry Eyes Film & Television for three years. She was also Manager of Development and Marketing for Inner City Films. Marilyn was responsible for the sales of the Gemini award winning Life network series “Skin Deep” to international markets in the US, Europe and Japan. “Skin Deep” was sold to broadcasters such as Oxygen, TV Norge and Japan TV.
 
The first dramatic film she wrote, produced and directed, “Vicious Cycles”, won the Filmmaker’s Award at the Jamerican Film Festival in Jamaica. She went on to produce the Reel Black Awards shows for 2000 & 2001 and a music video for 70’s pop icon Gloria Gaynor in 2001. Marilyn was also the Senior Producer on ten Episodes of the 1/2-hour magazine show “Caribbean Vibrations” in their first season for Omni 1 Channel. “Caribbean Vibrations” is a cultural show on the carnivals, music and food of people from the Caribbean.
 
Marilyn is currently in development on two feature films “Or Best Offer” for Citytv, Movie Central and The Harold Greenberg Fund and the coming of age film “Bannock and Bratwurst”, for Movie Central and Telefilm Canada. Other television shows she is developing includes the youth series “Double Trouble” that she is producing with Hungry Eyes Film & Television and has received support from Telefilm and NSI Totally TV. She is also developing a 13 x 1/2 hour lifestyle series entitled ‘Whose Taste Better" and “Get A Round Tuit, and a 90min documentaries, “In Search of Marley’s Legacy” with Scarlett Media, for Vision TV. Marilyn is Co-Producer on a four-hour miniseries for CBC called “Guns”.
 
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, DIRECTOR & CREATIVE CONSULTANT
 
STUART SAMUELS

DOCUMENTARIES
 
In 1993, Stuart produced and co-directed the award-winning VISIONS OF LIGHT: The Art of Cinematography, about the history of cinematography in motion pictures. The New York Film Critics Circle, The National Society of Film Critics and the Boston Society of Film Critics named VISIONS the year's best documentary while The New York Times, USA TODAY, The Los Angeles Times and The San Francisco Chronicle awarded it four-star reviews. VISIONS OF LIGHT was the first High Definition (HDTV) feature to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival (1993), and was selected for the Edinburgh, London, Telluride, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Munich, Tokyo and Sundance Film Festivals. A survey of 40 major film critics named it "the most critically acclaimed film of 1993."
 
In 1998, Stuart co-directed and co-wrote HOLLYWOODISM: Jews, Movies and the American Dream. Based on the acclaimed book by Neal Gabler, HOLLYWOODISM chronicles how Jewish immigrants founded and built Hollywood in the early twentieth century. The film garnered Stuart best director honours at Toronto's Hot Docs Documentary Film Festival and best documentary at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
 
Stuart began his career first in academia. He has a PhD from Stanford University (1967), did post-graduate work at Oxford University (St. Antony's College) and was a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), from 1968 to 1981, where he pioneered the teaching of cultural history using feature films from around the world. In 1981 he published the book, Midnight Movies (Macmillan, 1981). Two decades later, Stuart combined his academic training with his filmmaking, by turning his book into an award-winning documentary, Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream.
 
Midnight Movies profiles six seminal cult films from the early 70s whose impact endures: Alexandro Jodorowsky's El Topo, George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, John Waters' infamous Pink Flamingos, Perry Henzell's reggae classic The Harder They Come, David Lynch's Eraserhead and, of course, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Hollywood Reporter called Midnight "an affectionate glimpse into those countercultural times," while The Guardian proclaimed, "this is a documentary that makes you regret the loss of the midnight movie culture."
 
MUSIC & HDTV
 
Leaving academia in 1981, Stuart turned his attention to the newly emerging field of music videos. From 1983-1986, Stuart co-produced and directed NightFlight, one of America's first music video programs, broadcast on the USA Network. NightFlight, was an alternative to Top 40-driven MTV, and was hailed by TV Guide as "the most entertaining late night show on cable TV."
 
In 1987, Stuart moved from programming to producing music videos with Academy Award-winning director Zbig Rybczynski (Tango). Using revolutionary High-Definition TV (HDTV) the duo redefined the genre with videos for Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, Herb Alpert, Supertramp, and John Lennon, for his anthem Imagine. To recognize his pioneering work, Millimeter magazine named Stuart one of the Top 50 Film and Television Producers of 1987.
 
Two years later, Stuart and Zbig received further acclaim for PBS

#039; The Orchestra, a series that showcased classical musical video works. The Orchestra captured the Emmy for Best Special Effects Program, The Prix Italia for Best Arts Program, and the Grand Prize at the International Electronic Film Festival in Tokyo.
 
Stuart has created many music programs during his career: The Dionne Warwick AIDS Concert (1990), which was the first HDTV live music broadcast, Sting's 40th Birthday From Hollywood Bowl (1992) and Woodstock '94. All programs were produced in HDTV for the Japanese Broadcasting Company, NHK, Enterprises and broadcast in Japan.
 
TELEVISION
 
Since 1995 Stuart has been making documentaries in Canada, including: Investigative Reports and Cartier: Jewelers to the Kings (1999) both for A&E; Peace, Love and Murder: The Ira Einhorn Story, (1998); and the five-part television series, Searching For Lost Worlds (1996) broadcast on The Discovery Network.
 
Soon after establishing his company in 2000, Stuart produced and directed Urban/Wild, a four-part series that focused on the relationship between urban life and wildlife in Paris, New York, Tokyo and Toronto. Shot in HD, Urban/Wild was broadcast on The Discovery Channel, HD Net, DISCOVERY HD, La Cinquieme in France and NHK in Japan. In 2002, his 13-part series, Paparazzi, debuted on The Life Network and A&E. Paparazzi is a reality based show based on a world-renowned celebrity photojournalist Louie D.
 
WRITER
 
ROGER MCTAIR
 
Roger McTair teaches media writing at the School of Communication Arts at Seneca @ York. He is a writer and documentary film director.
 
From 1992 to 1999, Roger McTair appeared regularly on the Toronto Star's Opinion page as a writer on the Diversity column. He has written for newspapers in the Caribbean.
 
He has also written and directed several documentary films. His interest in documentary film parallels his ongoing interest and participation in Canadian society. His most recent film, Journey to Justice, focuses on the role of Blacks in Canada’s civil rights movement. His films have been shown at a number of North American festivals and screenings. Journey to Justice received the Black Film and Video Network’s award for best documentary film. It was a finalist in the Best Documentary Category in the 2002 Gemini Awards, and has been shown at universities across Canada.Journey to Justice was aired on February 25th, 2002 on TVO.
 
Roger is also a poet and short story writer. His short stories have been published in Critical Strategies and the Faber Book of Caribbean Short Stories, and have been aired on CBC and BBC radio. He was a panellist on Vision TV's Arts Express for the four-year duration of that show which explored arts and culture in a political context.
 
McTair is currently a full time professor of writing – Radio, Television, Journalism, and Corporate Media at Seneca@York. Roger has also taught Media Ethics and Issues, Basic and Advanced Media Writing. In his courses he has emphasised a grounding in journalism as a foundation for all television, radio, public relations, and new media writing.
 
Since the 1970s, he has been active in cultural and educational activities in the Black and larger Toronto communities. He was involved with the Black Educational Project and the Library of Black People’s Literature. He directed the Afro-Caribbean Theatre Workshop, and served on the Board of the Caribbean Cultural Committee. He is a founding member of the Black Film and Video Network. He has served on committees for the Art Gallery of Ontario and the City of Toronto. He spent five years on the Board of Factory Theatre during a transitional period. He currently sits on the Board Dance Immersion.
 
In 1993, Roger McTair received the Award of Merit from the City of Toronto for his contribution to the life of the city. Roger is a Ryerson graduate, with a degree in Film Studies. He has taken additional academic credits from the University of Toronto and has participated in, and given, numerous writing workshops. He is a past-president of the Ryerson Afro-Caribbean Association.
 
Roger McTair has sat on juries for the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council. Wingfield: Comedy series, Producer - Based on the hugely popular one-man stage plays performed by Rod Beattie and written by Dan Needles, this television series (of 20 half-hours) stars Rod Beattie as Walt Wingfield, a stockbroker who leaves Bay Street to take up farming on a hundred acres in mythical Persephone Township (about an hour north of Toronto), and recounts his misadventures in weekly letters to the editor of the local newspaper. The series brings the plays, Letter from Wingfield Farm, Wingfield's Progress, Wingfield's Folly, and Wingfield Unbound to television. Wingfield was broadcast on CBC and Bravo!
 
Conquering Niagara: Producer - A one-hour documentary on the history of the Welland Canal. Combining rare archival footage with remarkable new footage of the Canal as you’ve never seen it before, this riveting documentary takes viewers on a journey of discovery through the canal’s rich history and engineering achievement. Conquering Niagara aired on TV Ontario, January 2005.
 
Knowing Eternity: Producer/Editor - A 13-episode, half-hour doc series featuring prominent Catholic layperson Jean Vanier discussing the relevance of the Gospel of John in today's troubled world, with an emphasis on the Middle East. The series aired on Vision TV.
 
Peoples Poet: New Brunswick Alden Nowlan: Producer/Director/Editor - An hour long documentary exploring the life and art of one of Canada's most prolific and renowned poets. People’s Poet aired on Bravo and Vision TV.
 
 Defying the Law: Producer/Director/Editor - A one hour documentary about the 1946 Stelco Steel strike, Defying the Law charts the historic struggle for union recognition against both government and a historically powerful industry. Defying The Law was co-produced with The National Film Board. Since its airing on ONTV, the show has received much critical acclaim.
 
Train Of Thought: Producer/Director - A poetic look at the last run of The Canadian, Canada’s great cross-country train, Train of Thought aired on CBC.