10 years after “Arrowhead” Courtney Noel eyes movie gig

Jun 13, 2010 News

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By Neil Marks

Courtney Noel has a meeting coming up with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony. His wife has left him in charge of her snackette on Quamina Street, so the meeting with the Minister is just a dash across to Main Street. It’s a convenient place to cut time.
But Courtney is having a hard time. He fights with the fridge trying to find a green crush drink and then makes more of a studied look on the wall at the price list before giving the woman her change.
“The movie, Similar Differences, is an interracial romantic drama which starts in New York and ends in Guyana,” he starts off, getting down to the real point of the interview.
But what has he been doing in these 10 years since he shot to fame with “Arrowhead”, the saucy, upbeat soca tune that revived the spirit of patriotism within us? One-hit wonder is how he has been described in some quarters, and his attempts at covering Michael Jackson have only met with, “Who you trying to sound like, Michael Jackson?”
Maybe, but he clarifies he is not trying to clone Michael Jackson’s voice. Would he even dare? In fact, Noel says he is busying promoting “The Thrilla Stands Alone” an ode to his idol.
“Strong man” shows up for a light. He obliges, and settles back into the iron chair.
“I want to show this country to the world like Guyanese abroad have never seen before. I want to show places in Guyana that Guyanese here have never been to before,” he says, switching back to talk of the screenplay he has been writing for the past three years or so.
He has a job at the United Nations in New York, but is on a break home, and hoping he can push in as many meetings as possible with the business community and the government. The independent film he hopes to co-produce involves a male Indian Hindu called Ramnaresh, or Romeo, as the character prefers to be called.
Romeo’s grandmother wants him to “find a nice Indian girl and settle down”. But soon, he meets an idealistic Afro Guyanese girl who also lives in New York. She doesn’t consider herself Guyanese; she wants an African man, always has. But the relationship always goes sour. She and Romeo meet in the height of Labour Day celebrations and a dramatic tale unfolds. Already, one gets the impression that Courtney is trying to put much into this. He talks about a place for fashion designers and Guyanese music. But he seems to know what he wants the end product to be.
He is neither a trained musician nor a professional screenwriter, but he has been trying to learn a thing or two. He is right when he says “people don’t know who the hell Courtney Noel is.”
That is except for “Arrowhead”, of course.
How much money does he have to get going? “Not a dime, not a dime,” he insists, “but things have a way of moving once they start to move.”
He wants this movie to generate the same kind of excitement that “Arrowhead” did, and he is making it a point to make sure that the idea is really thought out.
There are the obvious dream killers out there, and of course it’s a bother. But Courtney’s dynamic background offers the needed encouragement.
He was born into a family of musicians. His grandmother, a Jewish woman from Kerala, India, played the harmonica while his grandfather played the fiddle. And then there is the sister who sings, the uncle who used to be in the Police choir and so on and so forth.
Family is very important to him, and in fact, his family has been his greatest critic. He describes singing in front of a crowd of thousands, opening for Machel Montano, as a”joke” compared to singing in front of his family. The success of “Arrowhead”, came as a surprise to him. He is more comfortable with R&B and Pop, while drawing on inspiration from greats like Stevie Wonder and Nat King Cole. Soca was not something he thought he would take on.
But he has a renewed appreciation for this genre of Caribbean music, and its penchant for invigorating celebration. Today too, he has a keen eye on singers with a Guyanese heritage such as Anjulie and Melanie Fiona.
He hopes he can bring the sort of vibes produced by these two artistes, and others as well, to the soundtrack of Similar Differences.
He hopes to get the production off the ground very soon, but it will depend on a tremendous amount of support.
He faces quite the challenge, and having to confront dream killers is the worst of the entire process.
“People talk about luck, I say blessing. It is where opportunity meets preparation. Dream killers tell you that it is impossible. But going to the moon and climbing Mount Kilamanjaro were also impossible dreams at one time!”

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