1. Bahamas Film Industry the way it all began

JEFFORD CURRE'

CIVILIAN 

   ENGAGEMENT 

Episode 1

An excerpt from the

''Jefford Curre' Epic Memoir''

Now on STARS IN PARADISE

The all Bahamian movie channel 
@starsinparadise.com 

After 5-1/2 years of non-stop action and 37 successful intervention missions in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, I needed a major therapeutic transition back into civilian life. I decided to follow up on all the concert festival  invites, generated by my latest monster hit record, “Joykanoo”, As a recording artist I had just about won almost every conceivable music award the Bahamas had to offer at the time. It was time to go to work on my international outreach campaign.  So with the help of a few friends I launched into my 1st concert festival tour.  The tour kicked off from Miami with much help from WVCG radio who plugged my record like crazy.  I experienced a tremendous response at live events.  Judging from the incredible turn out, I knew we were in over our heads, in more ways than one, but somehow I knew we were on the right track.  At the half way point of working our way through all 50 states, I took a short break after a spectacular sold out concert in Nashville.  My professional profile was rising but there was still so much I did not know about how to make a transition to an artist that could live on his craft without a regular job on the side. Then I heard of an artist that was doing just that in a manner that was not only impressive but successful. His name was David Baroni. We had a lot in common, but it was obvious that I was the one who needed to take the student position. I needed to fully benefit from what I would call a course in how to live a life of artistic integrity, make money and still go to heaven. He invited me to  hang out at his place for a month. I eat oversize country breakfast made by his wife Reta and rode along with him on tour. It was indeed  a much needed tour mentoring experience for me.  After Nashville I made a few loops  back and forth between the Bahamas and  the U.S.  It’s so important to do this if you’re pursuing art career advancement or educational  research travel. Not only for legal reasons but also for psychological  reasons. If for no other reason, do it because no one is going to take care of anything for you while you are like they say in the Bahamas “Up and down lookin for what ya ain’t put down.’’ If you are fortunate enough to travel be good at taking care of business. When you are away it is perceived that you are avoiding your responsibilities. Regular communication of your progress and most of all let them know in specifically how  your success will impact their life.  This will relieve a great degree of the irritation that could be generated from your success stories. 

Finally the opportunity for a major career expansion arrived. Like most worthwhile opportunities it began with an opportunity to learn something new or something that maybe out of the plan or even out of the comfort zone. My first arrival into Hollywood was nothing like I had anticipated. My ability to make friends that were completely  different from me in many ways came in very handy. It was suggested that I approach the next level of my career with movie industry training, by attending workshops and seminars in production and marketing at UCLA.  I was also fortunate enough to receive overwhelming assistance from a few European philanthropists and business professionals, who gave me an in-resident opportunity to advance my career.  It was at an appropriate time, as I was experiencing a major transition, both in my business and personal life at the time.  I also had to make the difficult decision of organizing the details for my wife and newborn daughter  to stay in Miami for a short time with her Aunt Joan.  This arrangement allowed me  to take full advantage of an opportunity to increase my earning power.  Making this difficult decision would not have been very acceptable in the culture that I grew up in.  I had to play down the reality of the live-in situation, as much as I could.  I mean way down, in order to avoid  reflecting a fun filled escape from reality.  After taking up residence, I realized that there was no reality at all.  There was a sense of freedom for a while, but I soon got lonely to see my wife and daughter.  It so happened that My wife’s  aunt was going through a transition period and needed to relocate from Miami.  Assisting in her transition to Los Angeles created an opportunity to   solved a part of my problem.  My wife and daughter  would relocate with her and be closer to me living in Los Angeles. However, I did not think they would be happy living at my training location. There were about 30 to 40 really beautiful ladies (let me correct that, I mean smoking hot looking girls).  They were not only intelligent and friendly, but  some of them also sat down very badly most of the time).  They were not up to anything, but their sitting style would be considered a little bit too comfortable by the ethical code of my Bahamian culture.  Only four guys including myself lived in with them as permanent residents. No one was in a big hurry to get back into the real world.  In all honesty, reality sucked in comparison to the Artist-In-Resident program. The whole thing felt like a two year studio course in box-office leadership and international relations with a minor in non-stop fun.  In my entire life I had never gotten so much……to be continued