Having directed notable videos for some of dancehall music’s biggest names such as Vybz Kartel, Alkaline and I-Octane among others, through her production company “Bling Blang,” Director Sasha-gay Roache shares her journey in becoming one of the most creative minds in the entertainment space.
Why a career in Entertainment?
The talented creative director noted that her sojourn into media was more serendipitous than an initial passion after being recognised for her voice by someone from the Creative Production & Training Centre (CPTC) during a casual conversation while in high school.
At what point did you decide to go into directing?
The former Fiwi Choice personality explained that it was while at CPTC that she gained a passion for the mechanics behind the scenes and the influence and impact it has on the final. She also shared that growing up watching videos on BET and other music videos locally she developed an eye for how she could make her version of the respective visuals.
The “Bling Blang” head credited I-Octane for giving her directorial debut in the business, which has since blossomed into a successful career in visual storytelling, which spans over a decade.
Her creative vision was evident from her first solo video, which was I-Octane’s “Happy Time,” earning her a Youth View Award for Music Video of the Year that year.
She would later go on to direct several of the hitmaker’s videos as well as guide his general brand over the next 10 years as his status as a top-tier entertainer grew.
The connection eventually expanded to other acts as she helped develop equally compelling visuals for Alkaline during his climb.
“Champion Boy,” “How It Feel,” and “On Fleek” are among some notable visual projects produced by Roache.
Most creatively challenging video
“One of the most creatively challenging would be Alkaline’s “On Fleek” video. We [originally] set up the shoot in the day [however, because] his flight kept getting delayed, production was already paid for however, it kept getting pushed back,” she joked reflectively.
In a show of composure and adaptability under pressure, the shoot became an unplanned night project using the available resources at the time mixed with some ingenuity to produce a well-received product, which played into the revised theme.
The Director emphasized that her projects are always concept-focused to leave a lasting impression for years.
Industry
Outside of music, Roache is also an acclaimed TV show producer with the vastly popular and entertaining cooking show “Cooking with Love” among her noted productions, where she also directs on set.
“I do TV production…for instance, “Cooking with Love,” [with] Chef Simpson. He has the biggest Jamaican Restaurant in this hemisphere. [On the show] what we do is we cook with extraordinary Jamaicans and other Caribbean people in the world doing their thing.
The show, which is in its fifth season this year, has seen personalities such as Shenseea, Romaine Virgo, I-Octane, and Lady Allen, Stone Boy and Shaneil Muir among other notable guests, “throw down” in the kitchen with their cooking skills.
“Because of my love for Jamaica and the dancehall culture, I believe how we package and brand ourselves to the world is very important, and “Bling Blang Work” agency does that. For instance if an artiste drops in a project, we handle it from the cover art stage to the booking of the shows. We[also] manage several celebrity accounts,” she shared, noting that they focus on developing the overall brand of the personality and not just the music aspect.
Challenges
“People think because you are a woman, not everybody, because my work is there to show. If you go to my stuff you’ll see the things I do. So they’ll be like “oh, a you shoot “Any Weather” or You shot that oh!,” She joked.
“So they’ll judge me from that before they judge me as a woman, which not everyone has that privilege, but it’s still very much a challenge in the space. But for me it’s never about verbal prooving it’s showing through the work.“
How creatives can expand the space
She notes that the creative space can expand if more people think outside the box of limitations aka “resources” and start with what they have and just be consistent.
Working with Yohan Blake
The talented creative shared that her company “Bling Blang” has partnered with the sprint great, to show his personality off the track.
The project is also a collaboration with Beautiful People Management, owned by another amazing Jamaican woman Wendy Morgan.
The director also recently dropped a project with dance sensation and artiste Kaka High Flames with Bridge Official titled “Track Suit.“
