TWO MONTHS AFTER hitting the streets in the wee hours for Foreday Morning 2014, Bryan Worrell already has his thinking cap for, trying to decide the themes, concepts and costumes for 2015.
After coming up with the concepts in October last year and playing mas in the St Philip Carnival for the first time, the leader of Colorz Entertainment Foreday Morning Band and his team are preparing to launch Soca Fiesta on May 2.
The idea to have a band came to Bryan while he used to jump in those early years of Foreday Morning with “only one or two registered bands”.
“I thought it would be cool to offer the younger generation an organised band that presented something new, unique and exciting,” he recalled. And so Colorz Entertainment took off.
“My first band was more of an experiment and I must admit I was very nervous. I did everything on a small scale [125 revellers] so I could manage it properly and minimise any losses. So I saved my money for a year and produced the band (without sponsorship). It went relatively good on the road but financially it was a major loss. Yet, I felt proud that I had accomplished it on my own. Then I made a note to myself – ‘Get sponsorship!’” Worrell said.
Why the name Colorz Entertainment?
“I always had a drive for event planning and I was thinking about doing some parties that would have a colour theme for each week. So I played around with some names and then the name Colorz came to me. The spelling made it unique and easy to remember and using ‘entertainment’ would allow me to venture into many other aspects of the industry,” he added.
“For the people wanting to be producers or bandleaders I would say having a lot of friends doesn’t equate to the amount of support you will get for your band. These days it’s all about value for money and your friends will jump with somebody else if they think their product is better.”
Having said that, he noted that producing a band has to be approached as a business.
“If you don’t, you are destined to fail! When you approach a band as a seasonal business then you will treat it professionally and it will show in your product. But still have loads of fun while doing it!” he offered.
“We started registration this year on Valentine’s Day. To date we have one section which is almost gone. That is Ooh La La . . . which is going really well. Right now we have about 300 members already registered. This year we’re catering for 1 000, which is the limit,” Bryan told EASY magazine.
Why start so early?
“So we could give past and new potential members a chance to register over a longer period to ease the burden on them financially. The thought process was, if registration is $100 then it’s easier to pay $10 over 10 weeks than $100 in one go. Money is tight for everybody, and our members really took advantage of that facility.”
Sponsorship is usually a challenge for bandleaders and Bryan is no different. He noted, however, that he has some “faithful” ones who are with him again this year.
“There are some cutbacks so I have noticed a reduction in the level of sponsorship. It’s really tough to get new people on board because people are sticking to who they have worked with in the past so if we look to bring new people on it is really hard to do so.
“We approach sponsorship as a partnership and not a handout. We show them (sponsors) the mutual benefits that both parties can achieve by working together. But most importantly, we ensure that Colorz Entertainment delivers a professional product that sponsors feel proud to be associated with. Our current sponsors are very happy with what we have been doing over the years and they continue to work with us.
“[Our success] is all about perseverance and doing it for the right reasons. It’s not a cash cow! If it was about money I would have stopped after recording losses for five straight years. But it just makes me feel good to see people having a good time and being happy and to able to make a contribution to our festival. When people say things like ‘I can’t wait till next year to jump with Colorz’, I know that I have to get back on the drawing board to produce something for the next year. When you do make a little profit, then it seems like redemption for all the hard work you put it,” he said with a smile. (Green Bananas Media)
