Triniwood Media was founded by Roger French in New York in 2025. The production company is based on the Carnival cultures of Trinidad and Tobago and Hollywood entertainment — fueled by inspiration from Mr. French’s daughter, Si (pronounced as See). Mr. French’s Triniwood was first driven by his great grandfather’s sister, and aspiring pianist, Matilda French, who wanted to be part of Harlem’s music renaissance. Mr. French’s great grandfather, James, a shipwright who often sailed to New York in the 1910s, helped Matilda move to Harlem in 1924.

Mr. French later traced Trinidad and Tobago’s entertainment start in the United States to Lovey’s String Band in 1912. Soon Roaring Lion, Atilla the Hun, Wilmoth Houdini, The Duke of Iron, Lady Trinidad, Mighty Sparrow — and Calypso Rose started bringing the sounds of TT to the US. At the same time Edmundo Ros, Winifred Atwell, Lord Kitchener, Lord Woodbine, Lord Beginner, Mona Baptiste — and TASPO would introduce Latin Jazz, Calypso Blues, piano virtuosity and the steelpan to Europe. Along with music and film masters Hazel Scott, a piano prodigy enrolled in The Juilliard School at 15, Geoffrey Holder, a renaissance man of art, film, dance and stage, and Horace Ové, the ‘Godfather of Black British film,’ they all laid the foundation for TT entertainment becoming the Caribbean’s most courted brand by Hollywood (and internationally) in the 20th century.

At dawn of the new millennium, Nicki Minaj came along and singlehandedly renewed a universal legacy of beauty and entertainment — standing on the shoulders of global queens, Janelle Commissiong, Giselle Laronde and Wendy Fitzwilliam. Minaj’s growing celebrity — in a still-rising social media community of hundreds of millions — helped place Trinidad and Tobago into a new pop culture. As such, some of the islands’ top artists, including Machel Montano, Kes, Lady Lava and Nessa Preppy, were able to find new international venues to present their artistries. Additionally, Princess Celine, 14, Port of Spain’s youngest top rapper, is about to take Earth by storm.

Spurred by the above precedents, along with Si’s interest in developing children’s stories for Triniwood Media, Mr. French looks forward to producing powerful storylines of Trinidad and Tobago — and the wider Caribbean — through TriniwoodFilms.com.