Carla Parris celebrates Business of Carnival streaming deal with Roku

Entertainment and sports lawyer Carla Parris founded The Business of Carnival (BOC) four years ago, as the first web-series of its kind globally.

Her intention of educating viewers on the legal and business side of the industry in a novel way saw her launching it on YouTube and Parris is excited to announce that it will be available for international viewing on all Roku devices and platforms across the US, UK and Canada.

Roku is an international streaming platform where viewers can enjoy a wide range of content and operates much like other popular streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu.

It gathers over 56 million monthly viewers in the US alone and will further expose the world and the Caribbean diaspora to major contributors in the Carnival industry while shedding light on its ins and outs.

Parris said the BOC team is excited by the possibilities ahead and briefly chronicled the show’s growth over the past four years.

“This show started off as a passion project, born out of my realisation that education was sorely needed in the entertainment industry. It was just supposed to be this fun creative project that I created with the spirit of service, to address a serious knowledge gap in the market. It was never meant initially to be a business product.”

Parris said when she pitched the concept to a few local TV stations and got no feedback, her sister encouraged her to try filming on her own.

“Since we had no budgets for locations, the first two seasons were filmed in my Uncle and Aunt’s living room and we turned the place upside down for two days turning into a home-grown film set. As much as I enjoyed the process of independent filmmaking, the reality is that this has also been a severe financial strain.”

When she realised the large interest in the content after the first year, she determined the show could gather greater following and could make a wider educational impact as business product.

“We began the process of seeking brand partners. This journey was extremely stressful and strenuous as we are still largely a country where companies understand partnerships with brick and mortar companies as opposed to those in the film and creative industries. I’m grateful to agencies like Tourism Trinidad, The Sanctuary Day Spa and Paul Mitchell out of LA whose partnership in a few seasons allowed us to offset some of the production costs. Over the past four years, the first three months of my life were dedicated purely to the production of the show, so I was not practising as much law as I had grown accustomed, I had to figure out really creative ways of balancing my time between the show and the practice and it was not an easy journey. This Roku deal therefore feels like years of financial sacrifice, belief in the vision have paid off.”

In season one, the team began the journey filming in TT and Barbados, which were aired on YouTube. In season two, they executed the Hollywood edition, after which they were featured by the Caribbean Airlines app Caribbean View for season three. Then, the BOC team were picked up for broadcast on TV by TTT and partnered with them to create season four.

Parris said she is excited by the fact that the show will share the business journeys and lessons of 19 guests from TT, Barbados and LA, who are, in their own rights, at the leading edge of what they do. Along with the array of guests, which includes fashion designers, bandleaders, photographers, music producers and performing artistes, various talented professionals who made the show possible will have their entertainment industry businesses on international display.

“I have noticed that business owners in TT from industries such as oil and gas, food and beverage, information technology and tourism often focus on the creation, marketing and sale of products, but hardly ever set aside budgets to ensure the key legal aspects of their businesses, such as confidentiality and protection of sensitive information, are implemented. Key areas, such as ensuring that brand names can be protected as trademarks and matters, such as ensuring they are not in breach of laws regarding the use of other people’s creative work and intellectual property are often ignored.”

In many episodes, emphasis is placed on the importance of entering into written agreements to generate royalties, which proved even more relevant during the slow period for earning opportunities for creative professionals during the height of lockdowns and limited gathering implemented to limit the spread of covid19.

“I have received feedback from many people from varying fields who watched the show over the years. They said the show advised them on how to structure their businesses in such a way that they could enter into effective licensing agreements for music, videos and how to enter into appropriate agreements with international celebrities who were providing brand endorsements for products and services.”

Regarding the current limitations which gave birth to the concept A Taste of Carnival, Parris said, “The current state of affairs in the local Carnival industry demonstrates why a show of this nature is necessary, because matters such as advance budgetary planning prior to the staging of events, and in-depth market analyses of changes in customer needs and audience taste are essential for data-driven decision-making.”

“I am happy this deal was finalised at this time, particularly during a season when many of our creative private sector entrepreneurs are not able to earn in ways to which they would have grown accustomed, as a result of the abridged version of Carnival. This exposure has the potential to provide business opportunities for the entrepreneurs featured. It may create an opportunity for them to ply their trades in foreign markets such as the US, Canada, Europe and across the continent of Africa where various carnivals and similar types of cultural festivals are held.”

Parris said she is aware of instances where carnival bands emerging across Africa have reached out to Caribbean designers for collaboration, which marks a pivotal point in the evolution of the industry. She is optimistic that the future holds possible business investors coming to the region, who can enter into collaborative relationships with local and regional stakeholders, enter into distribution deals with performing artistes and designers, as well as cross-sectoral deals as the entertainment industry is symbiotic – it’s thriving, is in interplay with industries such as technology, film, tourism, which is seen increasingly in foreign markets.

“We hope it will also contribute to building bridges across cultural oceans.” These bridges, she said, will involve a deeper understanding of the many features of Carnival, how each participant contributes, how they benefit and how further exposure to collaboration can contribute to furthering the growth and development of the industry.”

“This would inevitably have a downward stream effect on everyone involved – bandleaders, costume designers, wirebenders, pannists, hoteliers, traditional Carnival creators and other small-scale vendors who all have their own stories and crafts, and who, of course, benefit greatly from the increased income generated during Carnival.”

She said she is always pleased when contacted by university students across the region, and even some based outside the region with questions regarding legal matters after they encountered the BOC series on YouTube.

“They said they referenced certain aspects of some episodes in the examination material. That was additional inspiration and motivation to continue with the show in the direction of seeking revenue-generating opportunities. I realised the value of the show was more than I had initially envisioned.”

“The BOC on this global streaming platform will be a celebration of everyone. From the production team, fashion designers, makeup artist, hairstylist – all the richly talented people who shared their services, stories of perseverance and success amid challenges, as well as the gifted creative professionals who contributed to the finished product. We are proud to share this product and our culture with the world and to have been sought out to enter into a licensing deal with Roku.”