By VERNON CLEMENT JONES,Guardian Business Editor,vernon@nasguard.com

A local movie producer has raised $150k for his next feature film, in the process shooting down stereotypes about the ultraconservative nature of Bahamian investors.

Kareem Mortimer is looking to explode further those pre-conceptions: He aims to double that $150,000 by returning to the same investment pool. All his initial seed money, in fact, came from Bahamian pockets.

"Daybreak will be a Bahamian film, like Float," said the 20-something, "and it's just easier to raise the money here rather than go outside the country for it."

That probably wouldn't have been the case were it not for the critical and distribution success of Mortimer's 2007 short film.

Produced with the lowest of low budgets — the coming-of-age flick was shot for some $50k — it has now won an all-important DVD distribution deal in the States.

His San Francisco-based distributor Frameline has just inked a deal that will see the 34-minute movie placed on thousands of video stores shelves across the United States, including Blockbuster's.

"We are taking this success and applying it to Daybreak," Mortimer told Guardian Business earlier this week. "We hope to shoot this year for a budget of $650,000 and we have secured 15 percent of our budget already and seeking equity investment for the remaining amount."

That seemingly impossible dream may actually be within reach, said investment banker Owen Bethel, who has performed the treasury function for Pirates of the Caribbean II and III, among other feature productions.

"Mortimer has proven himself to be innovative and to have the skill of a budding director," he told Guardian Business Thursday. "That, coupled with the increasing willingness of normally conservative Bahamian investors to back film projects, means he could well raise the amount he is looking for."

Daybreak may also benefit from sharing the same genre with Float. Both actively explore questions of sexual identity. That film also has a niche audience, one willing to shell out big bucks for DVDs as well as the more lucrative pay-per-view purchases Frameline is also shooting for.

Mortimer aims to start shooting later this year.