(Trinidad Newsday) The first of the three episodes of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta filmed in Trinidad & Tobago will air on VH1 on Monday.
A release from CreativeTT stated that the three episodes of Season 8 of popular reality TV show was produced in February in partnership with the TT Film Co Ltd, the Ministries of Trade and Industry, and Tourism, the Trinidad Tourism Ltd, and Imagine Media International Ltd.
It said, “VIACOM/VH1 invested 100 per cent of the filming and production budget into the country. However, the Ministry of Tourism and Trinidad Tourism Ltd facilitated tours by local tour operators to various eco-tourism destinations and supported this with additional security protocols handled by local security teams, due to the large cast and crew of over 100 persons.”
In response to a question in Parliament on Thursday, Tourism Minister Randall Mitchell confirmed that his ministry paid $75,000 directly to local service providers for transport for the over 100 member crew including the 12 cast members.
In a previous Newsday article FilmTT Dionne McNicol-Stephenson added that FilmTT contributed $150,000 to the expenses of transport and security for the duration of the production on the ground.
In February, the 12 cast members visited various locations across the country, attended several fetes, and were hosted by Machel Monday and Jam Nation. They also enjoyed some eco-tourism and were hosted to day-to-day lifestyle experiences of TT. One of the stars Karlie Redd has local roots as her mother is a Trinidadian.
Quoting Sherrese Moise, supervising producer of Love and Hip Hop it said, “It’s is always great to see Trinidad & Tobago featured as a tourist destination in the Caribbean. I believe that our culture and activities inclusive of the carnival season attract millennials from around the world whom within recent years have shown spending power and variety of influence in their travel interest. Spanning from adventurous travel to cultural and leisure opportunities Trinidad & Tobago is now positioned itself amongst the most talked about countries of interest to see because of popular tv shows like Love and Hip Hop which audience span the globe.”
It added that 22 locals were hired to the crew in several positions including production assistants, gaffers, location coordinators, and production coordinators. “Productions like these also continues to stimulate the economy and spur growth within the film and television production industry. Opening doors of opportunities for advertisers, reality shows, documentaries, television and digital series to see the variety of locations available in Trinidad & Tobago.”
