PRODUCTION ON Island Lyme, a Caribbean soap opera, is expected to start this year, according to Lennie Little-White, one of the principals behind the project.

Little-White told Tidbits Tuesday yesterday that producers are trying to finalise a US$500,000 budget but hope to start filming in five months.

"Hopefully, by the end of January, we will have a fairly good idea of where sponsorship stands. That's the only thing holding us back," Little-White said.

Caribbean issues

If things go as planned, Island Lyme will be shot in four Caribbean territories: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia and Barbados.

Its plot, Little-White explained, is based on issues that have long affected the Caribbean.

"It involves oil, reggae, soca, education and transnational trade. It can't get any more Caribbean than that," he said.

Island Lyme centres around a Trinidadian girl of East Indian heritage whose father sends her to Jamaica to study at the University of the West Indies.

Romantic involvement

Elombe Mottley

Here, she gets romantically involved with two men; a medical student from a tough Kingston community, and a Barbadian professor who is a close friend of her family.

Little-White said preliminary casting for Island Lyme has begun, with Nadia Khan, a Trinidadian based in Jamaica, dancehall artiste, Daniele, and Barbadian musicologist, Elombe Mottley, all up for major roles.

Barbadian soca singer, Alison Hinds, is another a potential cast member.

"The idea is to go for brand names because they are marketable and appeal to young people," Little-White said.

Little-White has been on the soap scene for some time. His Mediamix Limited company produces the long-running drama, Royal Palm Estate, on CVM Television.

Little-White said Royal Palm Estate's popularity in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago influenced his decision to pitch a 'soap' with a regional flavour to Caribbean television interests.

"There's a tremendous appetite for that sort of series in the Caribbean. It's only right we should do a transnational show," he said.

Lennie Little-White