Shebada (Keith Ramsay, right) and Babalita (Abigail Grant) on set during the shooting of 'Bashment Granny'.

Stages Films is as old as its first project, the Bashment Granny movie, which has been four months in the making. The newness shows in the furniture and fittings at its St Andrew offices - and from the screen of a MacBook Pro on which director Paul O Beale is giving The Sunday Gleaner a look at the trailer for the movie with the same name and characters (plus others) as the hugely successful two-edition play.

At least he is giving The Sunday Gleaner a closer look at one of them. For one, the trailer had debuted the previous night at the first Jamaica World Cinema Showcase, held at Finnigans Winery, Cranbourne Avenue, St Andrew. In addition, there will be three trailers.

Beale explains that the completed trailer is a mix of drama and comedy (it ends with an overhead shot of Keith 'Shebada' Ramsay saying in his inimitable gap-toothed style "anybody make it out alive can call me!". The next will have a strictly comedic bent, while the third will also be a blend of the dramatic and comedic elements, but with more emphasis on distinguishing the two.

completed trailer

The completed trailer introduces the familiar characters, Garfield 'Bad Boy Trevor' Reid dominating the clip with his snappy dressing and personalised licence plate on his hot ride. Deon Silvera's British 'haccent' makes the nefarious Half a Dog's name a rib tickler, while Maxwell Grant fuses dismissal, scorn and exasperation into a single shrug and twist of the face. The film quality is good and Beale says it was shot using Panasonic P2 cameras, equipped with prime lenses. "Chris Browne as cinematographer made a difference. It would have been tough if he had said no," Beale said.

Joel Burke is editing Bashment Granny right there at Stages Films and the movie is slated for a June 2010 release, Beale determined to get the final product just right. "Jamaica will always be first. The world premiere is right here," Beale said, promising a premiere unlike any other.

Stages Films may be all of four months old, but Beale has heady dreams for the fledgling company. "We got off the ground running, like a baby that was born but did not even creep, just started running," he said. And he projects that in five years it will be top of the pile in the Caribbean, not only with in-house productions, but also work done for other individuals and organisations.

Beale said the pilot for a family oriented sitcom will be shot before the end of the year. Though it will feature the tried, tested and proven characters ("We like to move on our strengths," Beale says) it will be geared towards the entire family. It is hoped that the sitcom will be shown on free to air television.

This debut project, though, is geared towards the big screen only, Beale saying there are currently no plans to go to DVD.

And as Bashment Granny progresses, Beale points out that only the sound won't be done in Jamaica. Everything else will be done in-house. "That's one of the services we offer here," Beale said. "We need to be able to do our own work," he added.

Director Paul O. Beale (facing camera) discussing aspects of a scene with Apache Chief and Sarge. - Contributed photos