CaribbeanTales Media Group has entered a new partnership between the Cross Continental Forum (CCF) and the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO), as CCF expands into a year-long international lab connecting Black and Global Majority producers across Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, the UK, Europe, and the wider diaspora.
The expanded CCF lab will launch in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and culminate at the TIFF market in Toronto in September 2027, creating a sustained pathway for producers to develop projects, build relationships, deepen market knowledge, and move toward meaningful international co-production opportunities.
SACO Executive Director Unathi Lutshaba will attend the South Africa edition of CCF, joining producers, facilitators, funders, and industry partners from across the global screen sector. The partnership brings together CCF’s international co-production and market access platform with SACO’s research, policy, and creative economy expertise.
“The cultural and creative industries are not peripheral to economic development. They are central to how we understand value, identity, employment, and growth,” said Unathi Lutshaba, Executive Director of the South African Cultural Observatory. “We are pleased to join the Cross Continental Forum in advancing conversations and connections that support African and diasporic creative entrepreneurs, and that help position our sectors for long-term impact.”
Founded by CaribbeanTales Media Group, the Cross Continental Forum supports Black and Global Majority producers in building sustainable screen businesses, developing market-ready projects, and forming long-term co-production relationships. The year-long lab will include in-person intensives, online sessions, project development, mentorship, market preparation and international relationship-building through one-to-one pitch and B2B meetings.
“This partnership with the South African Cultural Observatory is deeply meaningful for us,” said Dr Keith Nurse, Chair of CaribbeanTales Media Group and a prominent Cultural Industries specialist. “CCF is about more than bringing producers into a room. It is about building the knowledge, relationships, and confidence we need to create lasting creative economies. SACO brings a powerful research and policy lens to that work, and Unathi’s presence will help ground the conversation in the real value and future potential of our cultural industries.”
The South Africa launch will bring selected producers and industry leaders together for project labs, strategic sessions, co-production training and market preparation. CCF’s South Africa expansion is being developed in collaboration with ITC, Durban FilmMart and other screen sector allies committed to strengthening pathways for Black and Global Majority producers.
“Across the Caribbean, Africa and the diaspora, we are facing many of the same questions,” added Frances-Anne Solomon, CCF Founder and CEO of the CaribbeanTales Media Group that produces the Forum. “How do we build an ecosystem for our international work — one that links producers, creates real pathways, and builds a knowledge database for the work we want to do, both historically and into the future? This is the heart of the Cross Continental Forum. We are not only preparing individual projects for the market. We are building the relationships, intelligence and infrastructure that can support our producers and our stories for years to come.”
About the Cross Continental Forum
Now in its third year, the Cross Continental Forum is an established international co-production lab created by CaribbeanTales Media Group to help build a global ecosystem to support co-production deals between Black and Global Majority producers. The year-long program connects producers with partners, financiers, and markets to advance market-ready projects and secure co-production agreements across Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the diaspora.
The Cross Continental Forum is presented by CaribbeanTales Media Group, in partnership with the South African Cultural Observatory and ITC, with funding from Creative Export Canada, Telefilm Canada, Durban FilmMart, High Commission of Canada to South Africa (Pretoria), the Bell Fund, and the City of Toronto Creative Industries Fund.
About the South African Cultural Observatory
A project of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) measures and values South Africa's cultural and sport sector, functioning as the national research centre for cultural and creative industries data and insights. Conceived in 2013 through the Mzansi Golden Economy strategy, SACO is an organisation of the South African Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) hosted by Nelson Mandela University in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Rhodes University. Since 2015, SACO has been fundamental in developing a sophisticated understanding of South Africa's cultural and creative economy, expanding its mandate in 2023 to include mapping the economic impact of sports. This understanding supports South Africa’s competitive positioning in the Sports Economy and the Cultural and Creative Industries in line with the national CCI Masterplan.
About CaribbeanTales Media Group
CaribbeanTales Media Group is a Canadian-based, internationally focused media company founded by filmmaker and producer Frances-Anne Solomon. The company has built a powerful ecosystem for Black, and Global Majority creators, that includes activities at every stage of the media production value chain, including development and training, production, exhibition, distribution, and international market access.
Through signature programs like the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, the Creators of Colour Incubator, CineFAM, CaribbeanTales-TV, Black Market Releasing, and the Cross Continental Forum, CTMG seeks to create pathways for Global Majority storytellers to reach audiences across Canada and around the world.
Rooted in the joyful resilience of Caribbean culture and committed to authentic, transformative storytelling, CTMG champions stories that reflect the richness, complexity, humour, and imagination of Black and Global Majority communities.
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