This is really exciting. The director of FireFly Films, Paul Bucknor, that also produced the Saul Storm masterpiece “Better Mus Come” is working on his upcoming project, a children musical comedy, titled “Swag”.
Bucknor, who was also the producer of the award-winning film Better Mus’ Come, (which will air on BBC2 on May 9), returned to Jamaica a couple of weeks ago to start work on his latest project.
He revealed that he has already done screen tests with many top reggae and dancehall acts, including Etana, Jah Cure, Tommy Lee Sparta, I-Octane, Alkaline, Tifa, Garnet Silk Jr, Romain Virgo, Alborosie and Gentleman.
Bucknor says if everything goes as planned, the film will be the first of its kind to come out of Jamaica.
He also said that he decided to use an all-artiste cast because of the fact that it will be a musical, and compares the storyline to a cross between the action franchise The Fast and the Furious and the ’70s musical film Grease.
The producer explained that although he is the co-writer of the film and will also be in charge of directing it, all the planning thus far would not have been possible without his team.
“Casting Director Tameka Reynolds, of Free Entertainment booking agency, and musical director Clive Hunt are an important part of the team, and we could not have done all we have without them”.
He also named Regina Beavers as his talented co-writer, who helped him put the script together.
SWAG tells the tale of a nerdy child who decides to challenge the defending champion of a street-car racing competition in the hopes that victory will gain him popularity. In a twist of events, the child gets into an accident and falls into a coma and the story develops further from that point.
Bucknor hopes to start shooting by October, but said that would depend on funding.
“Sorting out the finances is taking longer than I hoped. If all goes well, filming should start by October; if not, it will have to wait until 2015,” he said.
He also said that the support of corporate Jamaica is imperative as it may trigger international support.
“I’m hoping corporate Jamaica will respond positively because if your own people don’t support you, then the task of getting support overseas becomes harder. However, I remain optimistic”.
