Tolga Akcayli
Tolga Akcayli (born 15 April 1993) is a Vincentian – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Film Director and Olympic swimmer. Tolga is known for his success with an unusual film production strategy where he convinced students of New York Film Academy to fly to Barbados in order to make a feature film with no upfront payments, but instead, to receive shares of the profits earned. The film Too Lickrish [2] which he wrote and directed, was successfully completed, secured international awards, and had international theatrical distribution.
Tolga Akcayli | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 April 1993 (age 27)[1] Hendon, London, UK |
| Citizenship | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Education | New York Film Academy |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2018–present |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Akcayli (m. 2016) |
| Children | 1, Leyla Akcayli |
| Parent(s) |
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Early life
Tolga was born in London, England to a Vincentian Mother, Beverley Gunn-Akcayli, and a Turkish Father, Tansal Akacayli. He lived the first 6 years of his life in Istanbul, and joined a children's theater and ballet school at age 4. In 1999 Istanbul suffered detrimental earthquakes, killing over 40,000 people during the Izmit Earquake (1999).[3] His mother being from a small island of 100,000 people, was not used to such catastrophe and his parents decided to return to the Caribbean, where they lived back and forth between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. Tolga spent most of his early youth organizing plays and filming short stories with his siblings and friends on his father's camcorder.
Education
Tolga went into studying Law at the Barbados Community College [4] where he gained College attention from winning several mock trials and was asked to design new ones, creating elaborate scenarios and arguments that are still being used in exam papers to this day. However, he decided it wasn't for him and he took the leap of faith and ignored the adage that lingered over him all his life, "a career in the film industry is not realistic in the Caribbean," and enrolled for a course at the New York Film Academy [5]
Career
When Tolga completed the filmmaker's course at NYFA, he convinced his classmates to come down to Barbados to attempt to make a feature film with no upfront payments, but instead, agreements in shares of the profits they'd earn. 5 months later, they were all in Barbados filming Too Lickrish [6] an award-winning comedy feature film that had international theatrical distribution, running for 6 consecutive weeks in cinemas.
Too Lickrish earned nominations at the New York International Film Festival for "Best Fiction Film," where it made it as a finalist. Too Lickrish has also been nominated by the Film Festival International Group [7] and won "Best Comedy Feature" at their 2020 festival held in the south of France.
Tolga's goal is to establish a production company that creates narrative, documentary, and TV series that focuses on Caribbean stories, culture, and history. Tolga believes it will create channels for international revenue while exporting Caribbean art, culture, and history that can be distributed worldwide.
Tolga is currently working on seeking funding for a new film project that will be made in either Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or Barbados.
Sporting
Tolga represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines in competitive swimming, specializing in 50 m freestyle and butterfly events.
2011 Pan American Games
He competed at the 2011 Pan American Games, which took place in Guadalajara, Mexico.
2011 World Aquatics Championships
Tolga competed in Shanghai, China, at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships where he won his heat in the 50M freestyle, gaining international exposure on ESPN Sports.
London 2012 Olympics
Tolga qualified to represent Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the Swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre freestyle at the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, England, and was ranked 45th out of the 300 swimmers.
2012 FINA World Swimming Championships
In Istanbul, Turkey, Tolga competed at the 2012 world championships where we won his heat, gaining interest in Turkish media for his unique mix of being Caribbean/Turkish.
Tolga has since retired his swimming career to pursue filmmaking.