Jared Seemungal: Building the Film Arm of SGP Studios.

When Carnival Catwalk became the first Caribbean production on NBCUniversal's Peacock, it proved that a show made in Trinidad and Tobago could reach a global audience without losing its identity. For SGP Studios, that was a starting point. Jared Seemungal's job is to bring the same model to film.

From Trinidad to Film School

Seemungal's first set was not behind the camera but in front of it. From around the age of six into his teenage years, he was a lead child actor on JJ and Friends, a hit television show in Trinidad and Tobago. Growing up on set gave him an early education in performance, production, and the ins and outs of a working crew. More than that, it sparked a lasting passion for the arts and for the culture he would later put on screen.

By the time he moved behind the camera, he knew instinct alone would not be enough. He enrolled at the New York Film Academy to learn the full discipline of filmmaking at a professional level: development, directing, cinematography, editing, and producing. Training in New York also gave him an outside view of home, and a clearer sense of what made Caribbean stories distinct.

Building a Track Record

Back home, he directed commercials for brands including Carib, while building a body of original short films. Most recently, he served as a key creative for Carib Global, shaping campaigns rooted in Caribbean identity that reached regional and international audiences.

His short film Paid in Blue has just completed its festival circuit. The film opens up the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago's Blue Devils, a Carnival tradition rich with myth and menace that global audiences have rarely seen on screen. For Seemungal, it is exactly the kind of story the world has not seen yet, and needs to.

His latest short, Fishbowl, has just launched in New York City. Set inside Brooklyn's drill scene, the film features Mike Dee, a close friend of the late Pop Smoke, and is already gaining traction. It marks a bold step for Seemungal: carrying the same culturally rooted instincts that shape his Caribbean work into one of the most influential music movements of the moment, and staking a claim in a new era of raw, music-driven filmmaking.

Head of Film at SGP Studios

Founded by Rodney Seemungal, SGP Studios works across film, television, commercials, documentaries, and branded content. As Head of Film, Jared leads a slate spanning short films, feature development, music videos, and brand campaigns.

His goal goes beyond any single project. He wants to take Caribbean stories to the world and establish Trinidad and Tobago as a serious home for filmmaking, a place where films and culture are developed, produced, and exported, not just shot on location by others.

That ambition depends on people. Seemungal sees SGP's film work as a way to strengthen the local industry and open a real path for young, passionate filmmakers: the chance to learn on professional sets, build credits, and see that a film career can be made at home. Every production is a chance to grow the next generation of Caribbean storytellers.

What Comes Next

He is now leading SGP's feature film development and is on track to move into feature production in 2027. Each project builds credits for local crews and talent, the foundation that a real industry needs. The Peacock milestone opened the door; Seemungal aims to make sure Caribbean film walks through it.