I came across this posting this morning and found it very interesting. As always it's a little annoying when The Bahamas is portrayed as NASSAU/PARADISE Island, but I got over it once I watched the full video.
Well shot and produced by a Bahamian Company. It really does show Nassau/Paradise island off to it's full advantage which is great for visitors.
I hope it reaches it's target market and stimulates the numbers of new visitors arriving on our shores. Because even though it focuses on Nassau, the spill off might well land here.
THE Tribune and USA Today are set to make history this weekend when its pilot TV show Passport to Paradise is introduced at the pilot TV convention in Las Vegas.
All top American networks, cable companies as well as other worldwide networking executives will attend the NATPE convention to shop for new programming. Passport to Paradise, the first of its kind to be produced by a Bahamian company - will be there to discuss an international syndication deal.
The show will feature history, culture, shopping, nightlife and fun in a hip, creative and fresh manner in locales throughout the Bahamas will get massive international exposure. But the ambitious project doesn't end there, as in its first season the show will search for paradise in 13 countries around the world, including Australia, South Africa, Thailand, Brazil and Cuba.
The project was produced using a combination of Bahamian and world-class international talent.
Tribune president Robert Carron is keen to emphasise that the show - the first of its kind to be produced in the Bahamas - has the potential to propel a number of Bahamians into the limelight.
He said: "For the first time, I hope we have shown that Bahamians can produce network quality shows with video and audio that can rival the best."
Passport to Paradise, an upbeat and entertaining travel and leisure TV magazine inspired by The Tribune's print version of the same name, will take viewers on a virtual vacation to places they've only dreamed of.
"Everybody has a dream of where they want to go and we hope we can fulfil those fantasies," said producer, Lou Maggio. "Each week we're going to go some place exotic. We're going to take you some place that you've never seen before."
In the pilot episode, our host Rachael Carr and correspondents Clair Cooper, Miss Great Britain 2009, Sean Nottage, Bahamian voiceover and Phillip Sands, Bahamian radio personality and associated host, help viewers discover paradise in the Bahamas. On the way, they will play tug-of-war with sharks, race a pig drinking beer, skydive, help direct traffic with a Royal Bahamas Police Force officer on Bay Street and learn the secret of making a good conch salad.
But the show is about more than attractions. As Rachael the host explains in the pilot, "It's all about the people, it's all about the culture, it's all about the history, it's all about the fun, it's all about the shopping and nightlife but most of all it's all about you!"
Rachael has been in the spotlight in one way or another since she was a teenager, producing her first chart topping single in her native Britain at age 16 in the group called Boom!. She followed this on by being selected as the human face of the Cloe Bratz doll on the Bratz World Tour.
She is the current body double for internationally-acclaimed Australian singer Kylie Minogue and has also body doubled for Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.. She told The Tribune, though, that she has never done anything quite like this.
"It is just amazing getting the chance to go to all these places. Who wouldn't want to work in sea and sun? I never thought I would get paid to see places that people only dream of," she said. "I can't wait, I want to go everywhere in the world, like Phileas Fogg - around the world in 80 days!"
Rachael said that after the Bahamas, the team will head to Mexico and then to Jamaica. After that, it's on to Dubai and Las Vegas.
"Even though it's called 'Passport to Paradise', it is not necessarily beaches," she pointed out. "Anywhere can be paradise, right?"
The producers believe the show will outshine its competitors because it appeals to a broad demographic.
"It's geared towards everyone from families, to young people to executives - it's a little more classy," said Mr Maggio.
Rachael couldn't agree more: "The opportunities presented by this project are just immense. I can't wait to see what happens," she said.
Robert Carron explained how the idea came about: "After we launched our magazine, someone in the entertainment industry said, 'Passport to Paradise is a great title, it should be a TV show.' Rachael gently reminded me about this on numerous occasions, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised that this was a great opportunity.
"There were only two problems: first, I know nothing about TV, so it would be the blind leading the blind. Second, we have no TV equipment.
"Then I remembered that my friend Lou Maggio produced Wild on 'E!' so I talked to Lou, who said it's a great idea if we can get it paid for - that was problem number three."
Mr Carron explained how he then approached his father, Tribune managing director the late Roger Carron, who gave the project the green light.
"Now we have come to a point I never thought we would have," Robert Carron said, "A pilot funded by USA Today and ourselves; a network pilot based on Passport to Paradise of The Tribune."
Mr Carron will be travelling to Las Vegas this weekend to attend the convention.
Mr Carron said that throughout the project, his philosophy was to rely on "smart people who know what they are doing, and get out of the way."
The show was produced by a team with decades of experience in the film, television and entertainment industry.
Robert Carron serves as the show's executive producer, with the talented and accomplished Rob Mason signed on as director and editor, and UK videographer Andres Lesauvage overseeing photography.
Mr Maggio - a former director of photography and product promotion for Venus Swimwear, the largest swimwear company in the US - has produced two major motion pictures, including "The Year of Getting to Know Us" staring Sharon Stone and "The Six Wives of Henry Lefay", starring Tim Allen, set to be released this spring.
He also executive produced the documentary "Thespians" recently screened in Los Angeles and New York and in negotiation for a distribution deal.
Mr Carron is keen to emphasise, however, that the point of utilising top international experts is to facilitate a "transfer of talent" to local journalists, allowing them to gain valuable experience in cutting edge, multi-disciplinary media production.
Tribune news editor Paco Nunez said: "The opportunity to work with cutting-edge TV producers, editors and videographers will be hugely beneficial to our news team as it evolves into a fully-fledged multimedia unit."
Mr Carron also spoke of the opportunities that will be presented to Bahamians who work on the project, for example co-host Philip Sands and voice-over talent Sean Nottage.
"We wanted to show there are Bahamians that can produce whatever this country needs. You can get outside people if you want to - the point is you don't have to. We may not have the experience, but if we have drive and self-belief, anything is possible," Mr Carron said.
"We wanted to take Bahamian ideas and Bahamian drive and match it with the talents of the best graphic artists, the best videographers, to create the best Passport to Paradise possible. I can say we have done that and I am proud to be a part of it."
He said the show is intended to be a launching pad for the future of The Tribune, and that he plans to reinvest the proceeds into expanding the multi-media scope of the company, including a television presence, while retaining the newspaper as the core of the business.
He added: "We feel this is a tremendous achievement and I would like to invite everybody to please watch the trailer for the show on the homepage of tribune242.com, enjoy it, and share your views - both positive and negative - with us."
To advertise in Passport to Paradise magazine, email:
jpinder@tribunemedia.net
