Tara to take fight to Hollywood
(CNS): The financial services minister and her team will be turning their attention to one of the most persistent sectors peddling what she said was misinformation about Cayman by engaging the US film industry. Taking the fight to Hollywood, Tara Rivers said she planned on meeting movie makers, script writers and others in the business of making films and TV shows that still paint this jurisdiction in a negative light in an effort to enlighten them on the real Cayman, she told the Legislative Assembly Friday.
Making her contribution to the budget debate before legislators adjourned for the weekend, Rivers described the efforts made over the last two years to lobby politicians and other groups about Cayman’s financial sector. But outlining the plans for more investment in promoting the industry’s adherence to international standards on the world stage and engaging organisations, Rivers revealed her intention to include the home of movie making on that agenda.
From the famous movie adaption of John Grisham’s novel, The Firm, to crime TV series where villains often hide their ill-gotten gains in the Cayman Island, the image of this jurisdiction as a tax haven in popular culture is enduring.
But the minister said that she planned to “set the record straight” in Hollywood and address the continuous misinterpretation of this jurisdiction in popular culture. The end goal, she added, was to influence how Cayman is portrayed and referenced in movies and minimise the negative slights about this country.
“To help dispel the misperceptions and indeed misrepresentations… it is important to address the source of the modern-day misinformation,” she said. “It is time we take this fight to Hollywood.”
She explained that her department would use the same direct engagement efforts that they have used before with politicians and other groups, to engage organisations within the American film-making industry.
“A targetted campaign for engagement with leading entertainment company executives is planned for the upcoming year. Our objectives for this effort are to correct the record, to educate content providers and to set the record straight about Cayman’s commitment to meeting international standards and combat financial crime and tax evasion. End goal is to positively influence how the Cayman Islands is referenced in film and television,” the minister said.
At the very least, Rivers added, she wanted to stop the erroneous throwaway references about the Cayman Islands that is still making its way into film and TV. The intention, she said, was to engage those writing the scripts and creating the stories to give them a reason to pause before they choose to refer to the Cayman Islands in a bad light.
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Category: Business, Government Finance, Media, Politics
Ok then……… What was the jobless rate again????
I have absolutely nowhere to use my votes in west bay.
Truly idiotic leadership. 1. Talking to filmmakers will not make them change anything about what they write. Believe me, I know. In fact, it will probably antagonize them to mention Cayman as tax haven EVEN MORE. This effort will be taken as censorship which will NOT go over well in Hollywood. 2. The more you bring it up, the more they will think about Cayman as a tax haven trying to clean its image. Does she not understand the Streisand Effect?
yawn…. any excuse for tara to get trip away.
why not be honest…. this place is built arounfd tax evasion(financial services)……..
why keep lying to ourselves???
Another prime example of CIG WASTING public funds on something that is so petty and trivial while schools remain either unfinished or failing, the dump remains a health hazard, traffic still sucks, Caymanians unemployed because we are squeezed out by foreign company wanting their own foreign workers.
Enjoy your trip Chucklehead, you won’t get anymore public funded ones after your worthless ass is voted out.
Why not promote the Cayman Islands as a film Destination and say that we’ve given certain tax breaks for that? Nothings going to change the perception of what this place is so shut up and don’t waste our money going to travel there if you think that’s gonna happen. Sensationalism works in Hollywood.
This would probably provide better results for the same investment. Change the hearts and minds of those that make the films rather than market to them. Side bonus of providing other opportunities and diversification of the Cayman economy.
There you go, trying to use logic and good sense again. Didn’t we just talk about this? 😉
Hey, Tara, have you watched movie The Laudromat (on Netflix)? It referred to a few tax havens and Cayman wasn’t one of them. There really aren’t many movies in which Cayman is mentioned to justify this new campaign of yours and it will probably have the opposite effect anyways. BVI was mentioned In The Laundromat, so maybe you can join one of their posse on a trip to LA if you’re that desperate!!
Money hiding/laundry an tac evasion. Its all the financial sector does.
Stop acting as if it is not happening.
Just tax the shit out of them.
And watch us leave. Look, it’s legal, if you don’t like it… tough.
Wannabe rich guy.
I wasnt talking about you.
Troll.
Tara , this is a bad idea. No one give a S… you are only going to draw attention to us more.
The effort is noble but the result will not be what you want. Listen, Republicans have been trying to for decades to stop the liberal approach from Hollywood and that hasn’t work. What makes you think they will listen to Cayman? I do understand what you are trying to do but I just cannot see why they would even listen or change the script.
You have to remember that the more the US/Hollywood talks about Cayman it deflects from the real tax heaven called DELAWARE. Just remember that Jo Biden represented this tax heaven state in the Senate.
They will always deflect and brand Cayman. Let is go!
This has to be a joke.
I would really like to see the itinerary of this trip, exactly how many people are willing to meet with her, what she hopes to accomplish through it, and how she will measure the success of this trip we are all about to pay for.
Shopping, spa, cocktails, dinner, sleep in, take some low level rep from a Hollywood writers association to a swanky restaurant for lunch and drone on for 10 minutes about the difference between tax avoidance and evasion. Shopping, spa, cocktail, dinner, sleep in, first class flight to the next junket.
I believe this is a leak of her actual schedule
They like me! They really, really like me!
She can also discuss the advantages of hiding their money here! Win-win!
Invite them down to Cayman for Pirates Week and tell them we are not really pirates – just pretending to be…
Money laundering in Cayman is no longer the kind portrayed by Hollywood! Now we launder in plain sight – numerous restaurants which have few clients but bank bags of money every week; luxury developments which don’t sell out but yet the same developers keep building more; diamond merchants; other fake businesses which don’t need to profit but compete with struggling genuine local businesses, etc.! Money laundering in the 21st century!!
You missed out churches. Soooo many f them here making deposits fro their ‘collections’.
What a joke – just another excuse to take her “ Crew “ on another all expenses paid ”Jolly” – this time to La La Land. She will achieve NOTHING, except to give the Hollywood moguls something to laugh about when she has left – these people would eat her for breakfast in an instant.
Tara, Tara, Tara, please do not do that unless you want to be written into the plot. I listen to you sometimes and I get that you get it. I think that you are smart and understands the financial sector inside out however do not let emotions get the upper hand. They will not let go their sensational comments. They have been repeating that line about ” it being so easy to have money in the Caymans” for decades. long gone are those days we know it and they know it but they think it makes them sound funny. Heck it is more difficult to open an account here than anywhere else in the world I believe! We have run thousands of ” anti money laundering seminars, you have attended more overseas meetings than any other financial ministers and the story still goes around and around. Please do not go up there and fall into their trap. The will write you into the script and get higher ratings. Please do not let them win like this. Bless you Tara!
Govt and DOT have contracts with , and Pay PR firms in US hundreds of thousands a year to represent us on this kind of stuff.
Tara is an amateur going on another freebie which will cost us as well as embarrass Cayman.
She has an “achievement” she is very proud of, since she mentions it on her site: a stillborn “National youth policy”. For some reason the honorable Minister of Education also claims credit for it.
Completely agree with you on that comment. Can we send the politician from Cayman Brac East too – she likes to travel. Surely the Hollywood moguls will listen to the barefoot girl from Watering Place – right?
Wow! More than 2 years after referring concerns to her attention, I’m still waiting for her to address some matters in West Bay! How about starting a little closer to home, Tara
Apparently Trump says Climate Change is not real, yet that is all you see on TV.
I am sure Tara has a bit of clout with Hollywood.
Good luck my dear. Another trip we are paying for and wasting money and time on.
Well you can start by not glamorising Cayman as an imagined “pirate’s lair”. Paint the image that there’s centuries of plundering and pecuniary misappropriation here and what do you expect.
Pirate this pirate that. Pirate’s week. Come on. Glamorising criminals. What’s the message here? Putting an end to all that marketing malarkey would be a step in right direction.
“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” Oscar Wilde
I’m my opinion the cultural references are prob a net plus. All publicity is good publicity.
Yes no-one deals with the Caymans because of their tax free regime. No-one at all….
Cue inane parochial comment about the perfectly acceptable term “the Caymans”
Cue troll with no respect.
Hollywood will have plenty to make fun of us for if this Port BS goes through!! The shady way of this govt is already churning into a movie plot!!
Vote No
About F’n time. The Cayman Islands should have sued John Grisham for defamation 30 years ago!
40 years of negative press aimed at our financial sector. Meanwhile, we’ve adopted every flipping regulation imaginable, staffed our industry with Magic Circle lawyers and Big 3 accountants, and still we have to endure the “money launderer’s paradise” BS? Cayman is the most over regulated financial regime on the planet! Why aren’t we promoting that? Why aren’t we shouting that from the roof tops? Oh yeah. It’s because our political leaders aren’t informed enough to know this themselves. SMFH!!
I beg to differ. They have been trying to explain to these jealous overseas people that yes we are a tax neutral jurisdiction. It is as simple as that! We also need to tell them that it is not our duty to police their countries. While they are constantly harping on us out of one side of their mouths from the other side they are trying to figure out how they can avail themselves of what we have to offer. Chances even the soap opera monguls are using out tax neutral- low tax jurisdiction themselves. They will never admit that. Tara it is useless to try to explain to these jokers so please do not go up to Hollywood to try to pacify them. They have Delaware, they have channel island, guernsey, jersey and Zurich, Luxembourg, Monaco etc. etc. and we have George Town. Go Figure!
Grisham hadn’t even written the book 30 years ago. And to be fair, in the 80’s Cayman was not a squeaky clean jurisdiction by any measure. The problem is once you establish a reputation for shady practices it is extremely difficult to change it. Blame those in charge of the financial services industry back then instead of whining about how unfair it all is now.
Since when has defamation applied to nation-states?
Where would one even pursue a remedy for “defamation” as you are claiming it between a country and a non-citizen who has likely never set foot here in his life
Should we try extraditing him (ridiculous) or should we take him to court in the US for writing fictional stories that reference us ( good luck with that)
Seriously stick to your wheelhouse because clearly you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about in terms of legal issues
I suggested it years ago in a CIFSA meeting. Everyone laughed. I was like “no, I’m serious”. They said “oh” and moved on.
Good on you Tara. Don’t listen to the haters.
We love you Tara!
Is this a joke? These morons are our leaders….ffs?
Sounds like another overseas trip is brewing…
Only one? And a handsome lobbying contract for someone too I suspect.
The Firm will never die, and let’s face it, the Cayman financial industry is wholly devoted to minimizing taxation (and getting a little confidentiality and very lax regulation.) Maybe the cartel money is gone, but the trope still works.
Look for the next Hollywood blockbuster where a washed up pseudo politician shows up totally out of her depth to try and convince the world’s greatest script writers to ignore an enviously wealthy offshore jurisdictions success, while telling them this is all the result of years of honest above board business transactions involving ethically superior individuals and corporations who have laboured long and hard for their honest dollars.
Throw in a whiff of underhanded bribery in a rapidly developing major infrastructure project involving the most ethically untouchable employee and environmentally friendly benevolent businesses from the real world as they attempt to manipulate their share of profits from the success of the small island nation…
Wow. Talk about an unbelievable work of fiction…
Wait, someone is already working that plot? For real? In real life? Nah, never would happen….
Well we’re not very smart so this totally waste of public money sounds good.
I’m sure Tara will enjoy her trip to Hollywood, might as well include Monaco as well (and take her bike), we need to spend that surplus somehow.
Tara, its what they call in the US the First Amendment: Rights to Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition. What a waste of money and time. And this is why the Education Department is in a mess for when she was in charge. Still can’t figure out what she is in charge of now! If you thought we were the laughing stock before, wait till she goes to Hollywood and opens her mouth. What a joke!
“A targetted campaign for engagement with leading entertainment company executives is planned for the upcoming year.“. Translation: Joey and Alden had their fun, now it’s my turn. I want a budget for repeated trips to Hollywood and lavish parties where I can rub shoulders with movie producers and glitterati. Which I will justify by saying it’s necessary to protect the financial services industry, even though the industry itself doesn’t think it’s necessary or worthwhile. The amount of GDP generated by financial services is way higher than the yacht registry, and no one in Hollywood will want to be seen anywhere near the offshore industry ( and I will have to compete with industry parties) so the budget will have to be really high to get them to attend. Thinking a bit like the Oscar parties where they give away Rolexes in the gift bags, that sort of thing. We can afford it after all given the size of the surplus, so no issue there. It’s going to be tough on me personally, but I am all about making sacrifices to represent my country and the people of West Bay.
She just wants to meet famous people. What a crock.
Tara loves to travel
What?????????
WHAT??
Really? Tara is going to cut a mighty swath out of the “tax shelter” mythology with her mighty sword?
Will the Speaker be going with her?
Can they stay?
She is only destroying the biggest promotions for the islands….
Clearly don’t know the audience. It’s about entertainment so if you want to take something away by “educating” them, better take along something with you that they can sell.
Are you kidding me? That movie came out almost 30 years ago!!!
What kind of rock is Tara living under that she doesn’t understand she is needed in Cayman right now! There is a major civil movement about to take place and she’s worried about setting the record straight from a MOVIE that happened 30 years ago?
Tara, you are nothing more than a potato. I am embarrassed for you and the Cayman Islands.
#nobodycares
A potato! Best political assessment I have seen on CNS in ages. Lol.
Because they will only listen to those who are self important. Right? Great excuse(not really) for a free 5 star trip to Hollywood. Have fun. Eat a lot.
Huh? Does she really believe that people and corporations aren’t hiding money here?
The more you fight against IT the more you get of IT.
just let it go. draw attention away from it. Don’t pour gasoline on the fire.
It will burn itself out.
Can’t change reputation by force. What you resist, persists.
But it sounds so romantic and exciting… I laugh every time I hear it in a movie
I wonder how much this “Official Trip” is gonna cost the public?
How many others are going in “Official Capacity”?
How many Hollywood Elites and Stars are going to met with?
I think its all a sham to get a free trip to see the Stars and peddle movie ideas at the cost of the Cayman Public.
At a Cinema near you, Now Playing “West Bay Gangstars” or the “Birch Tree Letters”………Starring the gorgeous and talented Tara Rivers…….
This is a waste of time and money for a free loaded vacation. Normally she would not even get any where near any of these people, if she even gets near them at all.
What a waste of resources…
I’d be surprised if anyone gave her the time of day…Hollywood is out to make money does she really think that meeting with her will have any impact on what they write in a script?
Our reputation precedes us, and the funny business still goes on, case in point, recent gold smuggling. You are essentially pissing into the wind Tara. Hollywood wants a story and as sure as death and taxes the Cayman Islands will provide it. Suck it up and move along!
Jeezz Jonny the smugglers got arrested remember. Everything has changed since the 1980. If you don’t believe me try opening a bank account. Thank you Tara for trying.
Smugglers including a local operator were arrested yes, but this kind of thing has been on the radar for over 10 years without any oversight from local authorities.
Agreed. You’ll never persuade them, and there’s a real danger of being perceived to “protest too much”. God knows what goes on in some local trust companies even nowadays, with their rinky-dink $5k-a-pop directorships and desperation for new sources of income. Take a good look at the Latin American private business that’s still pouring in. All you need is one Cayman scandal (and that’s inevitable in any financial centre) to make this PR effort a laughing stock.
“James you do understand that you will have to complete both Parts A and B”
“I had a feeling you might say that. Good thing I brought a new pen”
Sideshow Bob goes to Hollywood. Next Simpsons movie?
Lmfao
lol. good one.
Good luck with that Tara,
Go far and stay long
Then again you were an american citizen… so feel free to stay there
The shopping is good in LA!
Oh dear,!, I had the TV on in the house and when passing through the room I caught snippets of her debate. I thought she was joking. Tara by now you should realise that you cannot stop them, be it the US, U.K., Europe or wherever. That is their talking point, let them talk. While some of them are bashing Cayman others are trying to find out how they can take advantage of the low tax regime,. Make the financial sector as transparent as you can and tell these countries that we csnnot legislate for their citizens. That is something they need to do themselves. Please do not go up to Hollywood with this rubbish.
Lol!! Of all the things, hope this works out….
Were? She still is a US citizen. Didn’t renounce her citizenship- that was part of the unsuccessful appeal against her election.
Anyone know how and when she became Caymanian?