ST. CROIX — When St. Croix native Peter Noel received a 35 mm Kodak camera from his father as a child, it sparked a creative passion he polished in high school that led him on a career path in film, photography, and media — most recently filming the Cardi B civil trial for Court TV.
In addition to covering high-profile trials across the country as a courtroom and field photojournalist for Court TV (The E.W. Scripps Company), Noel is the founder and creative director of MFK Visual Communications LLC, formerly known as Miami Film Kings. He also has clients who fly him globally to photograph events, direct music videos, and work on video productions.
And his path from the Caribbean to being behind the camera on national television and the world stage happened naturally.
Born and raised in the Fritz Lawaetz Complex (Lagoon Street Homes) in Frederiksted, Noel used his Kodak to take pictures of family and friends in his neighborhood. By the time he entered St. Croix Educational Complex High School in the late ’90s, he enrolled in a photography class taught by the late Ralph Burgess.
“He taught me the ins and outs of the camera,” Noel said. “I always had the camera, but I never knew how to use it. But I got into his photography class and developed my own negatives in the dark room that the school had provided at the time, and it kind of piqued my interest.”
Although he completed his senior year after moving to Miami, Noel still considers himself a Barracuda for life. He recalled advice his sister gave him to attend photography or film school after he told her he wanted to do what Spike Lee was doing. He enrolled in the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, earning a film degree with a minor in photography.
“I was interested in movies since I was a kid,” Noel said, adding that he watched a lot of them growing up with his younger brother, Preston. “It was a dream of mine.”
As Noel honed his skills and advanced his career, his brother has always been by his side to assist him with his projects, whether it was writing, producing, or filming.
“He’s just involved in everything that I do,” Noel said, adding that one of their proudest accomplishments was co-directing a feature film on St. Croix with local actors, producers, and cinemaphotographers called “AKENO” that they hope to premiere on island at the end of the year during the Crucian Christmas Festival.
Noel described “AKENO” as a coming-of-age story about a young man, Akeno Canton, who aspires to be an entrepreneur but must decide between achieving his dream or following his friend into the street life.
“We felt like we faced those challenges as kids in the Virgin Islands, and we wanted to bring that message across,” he said. “It’s definitely an inspirational film.”
While Noel came up with the story for “AKENO,” Detroit-based playwright Danetta Barney wrote the screenplay.
When Noel is not making movies or doing photo shoots, he travels the country from his home in Atlanta to film trials for Court TV, a gig he landed three years ago after working 20 years as a photojournalist for Fox News in Miami.
“It was easy for me to move from Miami,” he said, noting Court TV is headquartered in Atlanta and four of his brothers live in the area. “I’m always open to do new things, and they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, so then I left and started shooting trials.”
When Noel is not inside the courtroom filming trials — including rape, murder, and celebrity trials — he takes live shots outside the courthouses or captures B-roll.
“I can get my notice, like, maybe Saturday evening and say that I need to fly out Sunday to be at a courthouse Monday morning,” he said.
Noel said some of his most memorable celebrity trials have been the 2022 defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard; the 2023 ski-collision lawsuit against Gwyneth Paltrow; the 2024 involuntary manslaughter case against Alex Baldwin following the fatal shooting of a cinematographer while filming a movie; the 2024 racketeering trial of Jeffery Williams, professionally known as Young Thug; and the Sean “P. Diddy” Combs racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation for prostitution trial in May, during which Noel captured live shots outside the courthouse.
After covering so many celebrity trials, Noel said he was most excited to shoot footage in Alhambra, California during the recent civil trial of Cardi B, a Grammy-winning rapper whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar. A jury cleared Cardi B of assault allegations on Tuesday after a security guard accused the recording artist of cutting her cheek with a fingernail and spitting on her outside an obstetrician’s office in 2018 in a $24 million lawsuit.
“I’d have to say the Cardi B trial was pretty cool because Cardi B is a character in herself, and it was just exciting to see her in person and just be who she is,” Noel said. “That realism that you see on video clips of her; it’s the same. Nothing changes with her.”
Noel said he also enjoyed covering the Cardi B trial because it impressed his two daughters — Danielle and C’Maiyah.
“I was excited to see that my girls are fans of her, so it’s pretty cool to be working on that trial, so I can tell them, ‘hey, I’m working on the Cardi B trial,’ and they couldn’t believe me,” he said.
Noel operated the only camera allowed in the courtroom during the Cardi B trial because Court TV was selected to be the pool camera. The footage was then provided to all the other media outlets.
“I shot everything that you saw on all the media outlets,” Noel said.
Noel, who lives in Atlanta with his wife, Chenelle, and their 14-month-old son, Peter “Petey” Noel Jr., travels to Miami often to visit his two daughters. He also makes frequent trips to St. Croix to visit family, including his brother Preston. His advice for young Virgin Islanders interested in film and photography is to “go out and do it.”
“Don’t let anybody hold you back,” he said. “Push forward.”
As Noel continues pushing forward himself, the next trial he will cover for Court TV is just a phone call away. He also plans to continue collaborating with Virgin Islanders to make more movies.
“The idea is to create our stories and bring them to life,” he said. “We got about four more feature films that we want to bring back home that are already written and ready to go. ‘AKENO’ is just the first one.”
