Frances-Anne Solomon

Frances-Anne Solomon
Solomon in July 2012
Born	(1966-06-28) 28 June 1966 (age 50) London, England
Residence	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Trinidadian British
Education	Theatre, Television Production,Directing
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Occupation	Filmmaker, Producer
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Film, television
Style	Television drama, Film, radio drama.
Website	http://francesannesolomon.net

Frances-Anne Solomon (born 28 June 1966) is a Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker, writer, producer, distributor and entrepreneur.

Born in England of Trinidadian parents, she began her professional life at the BBC in England, where she built a successful career as a producer, first with BBC Radio then with BBC television drama. She also produced and directed independent films through her company Leda Serene Films.In 1999, she moved her company to Canada, where she continued to write, direct, and produce films, television programs, theatre plays, and new media projects. In 2001, she founded CaribbeanTales, a charitable organisation producing, exhibiting and distributing educational multi-media projects based on Caribbean-heritage stories. The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival founded in 2006 and based in Toronto, includes an annual festival, community screening series, and youth focussed film challenges. The CaribbeanTales Incubator Program develops original content for the regional and international market, CTFF also holds workshops and festivals in other territories, including to date, Barbados, Belize, and Cuba. In 2010, Solomon founded CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution Inc, the first film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean dedicated to the marketing and sales of Caribbean-themed films. In 2014 she launched CaribbeanTales-TV, a video-on-demand platform. She lives between Toronto, Canada, and Barbados.

Solomon is the granddaughter of Trinidad and Tobago independence politician Dr. Patrick Solomon,. When her grandfather left politics and took a role as a diplomat, the family lived in different countries including Canada, the United States, Europe and Venezuela. She moved back to Trinidad at nine years old, and attended the girls' "prestige" school, Bishop Anstey High School. At 18 she moved to Canada to live with her mother, and discovered a love of the arts, studying theatre at the University of Toronto's U.C. Playhouse, and poetry with Jay Macpherson. In 1986, she moved to England, to work for the BBC.

She trained in television production through the 2-year BBC Production Training Program and worked with Ebony, the Corporation's first Black magazine program, before being hired as a Radio Drama Producer in London. While there she was responsible for helping to introduce a number of initiatives aimed at diversifying the talent pool in BBC Radio Drama. Many great talents got their first entry to Radio Drama in this way including actors Adjoa Andoh and Clarence Smith to the BBC Drama Repertory Company, producers Pam Fraser Solomon and Nandita Ghose, composer Dominique Le Gendre and writers Parv Bancil, Maya Chowdhry, Rukhsana Ahmad, Tanika Gupta and Jackie Kay among others.