WES, an 80-minute documentary on the life of a Jamaica-born Canadian business leader Wes Hall, was screened to specially invited guests at the Carib 5 cinemas in Cross Roads, St Andrew, recently.

“I realised at this point in time I wanted to tell my story to inspire not only kids in Canada, but those in Jamaica,” he told the

Jamaica Observer.

Hall’s story is one of overcoming poverty in St Thomas and migrating as a teen to the Land of the Maple Leaf, where he now stands as one of the most powerful business people of 2016 as named by Canadian Business magazine. He’s the founder and CEO of Kingsdale Shareholder Services.

The documentary came about when Canadian media production student Samuel Lehner stumbled across an article in The Globe & Mail newspaper about Hall.

“As I was reading through Wes’s story, I knew immediately that it would make a great documentary,” Lehner was quoted as saying.

Hall added that the fact that he was a man of colour in a white-dominated business sector was another major point of interest. Over six months Hall opened up about his life that stretched from the poverty-stricken community of Golden Grove, St Thomas, through to his current role on Bay Street, Toronto, Canada, the country’s equivalent of Wall Street. In the end, the 80 minutes prove that one should be prepared for any changes in one’s circumstances, positive or negative.

“I think the film represents me well. Of course, a few things didn’t make the cut for various reasons as with any film,” he said.

Hall hopes his documentary will make the rounds to local schools.

— Rory Daley