Cameras roll for Get Millie Black
At least seven Corporate Area locations will feature in the
Hbo/channel 4 series Get Millie Black, currently being shot on location in Jamaica.
The series – which is based on a screenplay by award-winning Jamaican writer Marlon James – follows ex-scotland Yard detective Millie-jean Black, who returns to Kingston to work in the missing persons branch and soon finds herself entangled in a web of personal and professional matters.
Information coming out of the production is limited. However, a Jamaica Observer source shared that the cast and crew were on location in the Sherlock Crescent area of Kingston 20 for most of last week. Other locations being utilised over the next three months of the shoot are: Hellshire hills in Portmore, St Catherine; and Hunt’s Bay Police Station, Braemar Avenue, Ravinia, and Strathmore Great House in the Corporate Area. Additional filming is set for London at a later date.
In a media statement, James, who is listed as creator and executive producer, noted that he was pleased to put Jamaica on the series map.
“This is the first major international TV show to put my home country, Jamaica, centre stage, so it’s beyond awesome to have actual world-class Jamaican talent both in front and behind the camera, with our star Tamara Lawrance and director Tanya Hamilton,” he said.
Simon Maxwell, CEO, Motive Pictures and executive producer, also praised the quality of the cast and crew.
“We are immensely proud to announce such a stellar line-up of talent on Get Millie Black – from directors Tanya Hamilton and Annetta Laufer, to writers Theresa Ikoko, Lydia Adetunji and Joshua St Johnston, to a cast that showcases some of the most exciting acting talents from Jamaica and the UK, led by Tamara Lawrence, Joe Dempsie, Gershwyn Eustache Jr and a debut performance destined to electrify audiences from rising Kingston star, Chyna Mcqueen,” said Maxwell.
Mcqueen – who is being represented by local agency Raw Talent Management – which is headed by actress, director and casting agent Nadean Rawlins, has been cast in one of the the primary roles. Publicity material notes that she will play Hibiscus, Millie’s sister, and one of the Sunlight Ladies, a band of queer outcasts living hand-to-mouth yet exuberantly in the gullies that run throughout Kingston.
It has also been announced that British actress Tamara Lawrance is playing the title role. She was named the Breakthrough Talent 2020 by the British Academy Television Awards. Her impressive credits also includes
The Long Song for Heyday Films which earned her the lead in the independent feature Kindred, for which she was nominated for Best Actress at BAFTA Scotland. Lawrence is also known for several award winning plays in London including leading roles at the National and Royal Court Theatre.
Tanya Hamilton – a Sundance Institute writing and directing fellow – is the writer/director of the award-winning film Night Catches Us. Hamilton was also the pilot director and executive producer of the series Cherish the Day. Among her other small screen directing credits are multiple episodes of HBO’S Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Showtime’s The Chi and Epix’s Berlin Station, and The Godfather of Harlem.