Arthia Nixon, The Ambassador Agency
A wave of Bahamian talent has taken center stage in the soon to be released film “Pages Of My Heart 2,” a Florida production currently making waves on Fox Soul, Peacock, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV. The film boasts a star-studded cast, including Geneva Maccarone, renowned for her role as Sylvia in “A Madea Homecoming,” alongside Jaron Webster. Notably, the supporting cast features talented Bahamian comedian, Jaquay Adderley.
The project which has already won Best Actress, Best Director and Best Feature Film at the Sunshine City Film Festival, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival, Best Romance at the Athens International Monthly Art Film, and was a finalist at for Best Feature Film at the Charlotte Black Film Festival.
Deon Gibson, the co-writer, producer and filmmaker behind this A New Vision company venture is excited to be making significant strides with his fourth and fifth feature films. Gibson ventured into photography in 2001 and that opened doors for him to travel to Haiti, Ethiopia, and Mexico as a photojournalist. That eventually led to story writing and filmmaking which has become his focus today.
“It has been a goal to create family friendly content with books, films, music and television so that we can reach people from all walks of life and inspire them in a unique and inspiring way,” Gibson said. “In the past few years, we have been blessed to have gotten awards and grants and even The St. Pete/Clearwater Film Commission has acknowledged the work we’ve been doing so it is a tremendous blessing.”
For this latest project, Gibson wanted to tie in The Bahamas and thought to bring in talent to the Florida gulf coast to stay within the budget. That’s when he directly reached out to bring in Bahamians.
“We could have created products here or gotten actors in Florida, but I wanted to bring in the best of the best and so we had some costumes in the film by Kache Knowles of I Is A Bahamian Bey and for casting, we had Earlene Camille of Casting Call Bahamas,” said Gibson. “As for acting, we were thrilled to have JaQuay Adderley come on set. He is an amazing talent and we were happy to have him.”
Geneva Maccarone expressed how happy she was with the opportunity to play the lead actress Aaliyah Wilson, noting this was her first lead film role.
“This has been an unforgettable experience,” she said. “I’m so grateful that I got to go on this journey. This film brought me my first award in acting.”
Adderley says he was happy to be set with such a professional team and to work with Gibson.
“It was a blessing for an island boy like me to be discovered and given an opportunity to take my talents to another level,” he said. “I felt super excited when I was contacted to act in Florida. Coming highly recommended from other professionals and entertainment chiefs in the country, it makes me happy to know that my gift and hard work are not only making room for me but expanding them as well. I have the chance to put The Bahamas on the map.”
Gibson, who is also known for his tv series Church Folks starring Dorian Wilson also known for his role as Professor Oglevee in The Parkers and Chris Martin of hip-hop duo Kid N Play and House Party films is already got ideas for his other projects which will be released and filmed as early as summer 2024.
“There are certainly plans for more projects and we are working on them already,” said Gibson “Working on these two films back to back has been a life-changing experience. It was challenging, enlightening, and most of all, lots of fun. I’m looking forward to shooting the third installment in my home country, The Bahamas.”
