Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor

Alison Saunders-Franklyn is the first to produce a film that has West Indies cricket as one of its themes. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

It is finally a reality. West Indies cricket is now immortalised in celluloid. But it's not just a movie about cricket; it's a tale of love, jealousy, relationships and a little match fixing thrown in for good measure.

Hit for Six is Communications Consultant/business woman Alison Saunders-Franklyn's 10-year dream. The writer/director says the process was made easier because as the owner of a public relations/ communications firm that worked for the region's cricket organisation over a prolonged period, she knew where to go when the time was right.

That was an added bonus. As it relates to funding, she used her connections to start the ball rolling.And when time came to premiere the movie, the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup was the perfect backdrop for the red-carpet affair.

"We had good response from the audience in Barbados even though we were up against Spiderman and Shrek II. It ran for five weeks and people liked and felt proud that it was their own Caribbean film. It showcases regional people both in front of and behind the camera. We shot on location in Trinidad and Barbados and used stock footage from St. Lucia. But they also got some scenes in the new Kensington Oval," Saunders-Franklyn said.

Funding

But, just how difficult was it to get funding for such an enormous project? Mrs. Saunders-Franklyn credits her co-executive producer Dr. Basil Springer, for raising the bulk of the US$700,000 for the film. Filming took six weeks and so far the movie has won three awards at the Bridgetown Film Festival. They are currently doing the paperwork to enter the film in international competitions.

"My trip to Jamaica is the first leg of my push to shore up distribution deals in the Caribbean, making it the first suchfilm to be shown in theatres outside of Barbados. Palace Amusement is handling the Jamaican distribution and Gold Mine Entertainment is handling the rest of the Caribbean," she told Flair.

This is Saunders-Franklyn's second effort; the precursor to Hit For Six was a short film in 2004 (13 minutes long). It was called The Second Innings and looks at a younger protagonist. It was part of her course work at film school and helped to promote this feature film. Hit for Six is the fourth out of Barbados and second shown in theatres there. She is somewhat of a pioneer but takes little credit, preferring instead to wear her Caribbean roots with pride - her antecedents spread all over the region.

In spite of the challenges, it was not so difficult to convince investors because the story was unique and creative. Plus, as a business woman, Saunders-Franklyn has always been involved in the creative process and having partnered with business interests before, she was able to convince them to share her vision.

"We had a good business plan, and raised the money from investment, equity, some donor agencies and some sponsorship. That gave them confidence but it was difficult and there were sceptics," she said. They are far from the break-even point but are hopeful.

Plans are afoot to have the film make it into the markets of all major cricketing nations worldwide as well as the United States of America and Canada. There have been offers for other movies but there is time. And it is early days yet to consider a DVD, Saunders-Franklyn said.

Biggest learning experience

Her biggest learning experience was that the film industry is a hard business. "I went step by step on my faith in God in what seemed like a mission impossible, but I learnt that you can trust God to see challenges through."

Saunders-Franklyn got a big surprise too: both the phenomenal support from people she did not know and how naïve she was when people attempted to steal her intellectual property.

The story

Hit for Six is PG-rated and is the fictional story of the aspirations of a young West Indies cricketer, Alex Nelson, who seeks to overcome challenges related to his professional development, relationships and lifestyle.

The emotional drama is filled with intrigue, excitement and love. After three years away from the team, Alex is trying to return for a chance to play in the Global One-Day series. At stake is his need to gain the respect of his estranged father, a former great WI player, who was denied the chance of playing in the first Global One-Day Series.

Hit for Six will premiere in Jamaica at Carib 5 on July 11 and is a benefit performance for Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC).

Representatives of the historic MCC were at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel last Tuesday to meet and welcome Mrs. Allison Saunders-Franklyn to Jamaica. Jeffrey Mordecai, Tony Becca and Ambassador Courtney Walsh all thanked the producers of the film and pledged to continue the work of the club in nurturing future great cricketers.