“Corentyne Thunder” movie director scouting for locations, investors

Jan 08, 2009 News

Guyanese actor Marc Gomes says his screen adaptation of the iconic Guyanese novel “Corentyne Thunder” will zoom in on the character of Kattree and he is currently in the country scouting for locations and investors.

Marc Gomes

The novel was written by Guyanese Edgar Mittelholzer, who is thought to be the first professional novelist to emerge in the Caribbean.

“Corentyne Thunder” is supposedly the first modern novel to focus on the lives of immigrants from India in the British Caribbean colonies, moreso Guyana. It tells the story of an old Indian cattle-herder, Ramgolall, who works hard to save money but finds himself enveloped in a never-ending series of problems.

His daughter by his first marriage marries a well-off White planter and gives birth to Geoffry. However, the plot takes a twist when Geoffry lures Ramgolall’s daughter by a second marriage, Kattree, into bed and abandons her after she gets pregnant.

The story gets more complicated when Kattree’s sister, Beena, becomes involved with a married man, who is subsequently arrested on a murder charge. Ramgolall’s discovery of the intentions of Beena and what follows forms the climax of the book.

However, Gomes is anchoring the movie version of “Corentyne Thunder” on Kattree’s character and he attempts to portray her will to survive despite the odds.

Gomes is serving as director and writer for the movie, with his wife, Kathryn Arnold as producer. Arnold currently consults with several European-based production companies on packaging and film financing.

Gomes was born in Guyana, but left for Canada at age 11 and attended high school and university in Toronto. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

He has had an eventful career in theatre and television.

After graduating from Ryerson University, he went on to perform in key productions in noted theatres in Canada.

His TV career included movies and series. He was a lead on the television series Lightning Force, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven and Sue Thomas FBEye, among others.

He has also been cast in ABC’s Commander in Chief and CBS’ Criminal Minds.

Gomes has directed several plays and wrote and directed the short film, Stir Crazy, which made several film festival appearances in the U.S. and abroad in 2002 and 2003.

As a guest artist and member of The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, Gomes volunteers with underage offenders in the Los Angeles penal system. The company works with former gang members and uses aspects of theatre—writing, staging and performing—as a means to foster pride, self-confidence and racial tolerance.

This is where Gomes passion for teaching emerged. He has been coaching actors and directors privately, utilizing the basics of Kristin Linklaters work, which emphasizes attaining a free body and voice as the foundation for the actor to be grounded and fully expressed.

He works with actors Roma Maffia (Nip Tuck, Internal Affairs), Taylor Nichols (Barcelona, Mind of the Married Man) among others, and directors such as Bryce Zabel (Poseidon Adventure, Dark Skies) and Ken Haines (Sue Thomas FBEye, Til Death Do Us Part).

He is a long standing member of Angel City TryWorks, a writing and performance collective.

Gomes only recently finished writing the film adaptation of Corentyne Thunder and is determined to get the movie off the ground in the second half of the year.

He said the lack of infrastructure to produce films in Guyana is one of the major challenges facing the production of the feature film.

Once production begins, he hopes to recruit 12 technical interns, so that the country can start to develop technical expertise in film production.

After meetings with officials at the Guyana Office for Investment, Gomes was introduced to businessmen in Guyana who might be interested in investing in the film’s production.

Gomes has been in Berbice to seek out locations for his film.

He also hopes to rope in Guyanese actors in finalizing the cast for the movie.