Filmmaker Lennie Little-White and his team have named the cast for Family Affair, the maiden project of his film cooperative initiative.

The project — which will commence shooting during the first week of June at the Melia Braco Village Resort in Trelawny — has a six-member cast headed by Ian ‘Ity’ Ellis, better known as part of the comedic duo of Ity and Fancy Cat and broadcaster/theatre practitioner Dahlia Harris. The troupe is then rounded out by Tony ‘Paleface’ Hendricks, Bertina McCaulay, Emprezz Golding and Brian Brown. In addition, veteran stage and screen actress Leonie Forbes will make a cameo appearance in the film.

A year ago, Little-White, a renowned local director and producer, announced the initiative which will see a number of low-budget films being produced based on the popular and financially successful filmmaking model out of Nigeria.

“This is the first of what we hope to be a number of these films. It took us a longer time than expected to get off the ground simply because we did not have the financial outlay that is required. We have had to rely on the generosity of family and friends, as well as the assistance of a few corporate entities,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

He explained that Family Affair, a comedy, looks at the clash of cultures which occurs when a Jamaican man and his wife decide to renew their wedding vows at a family reunion and invites his sister from Britain and a brother from the United States.

“It is set in a hotel over the course of a weekend. We have really learned from the Nigerian film industry, popularly called Nollywood, to stick to a small cast with few locations in order to keep production costs down. Over the years, we in Jamaican have been aiming for the Hollywood-type films and productions with broke-pocket budgets. When you look at the fact that Jamaica has had a film industry since 1948, yet we are no further, we need to re-think the model. I believe this is the way to go,” he said.

Little-White is aiming at a September release for Family Affair and is currently in discussions with local film exhibitor Palace Amusement Company regarding a theatrical release. Following which, he hopes to take his film to the people and has identified 20 locations in communities across rural Jamaica where the film will be shown. After that, he plans to take it to the wider Caribbean and then on to North America and Europe.