Filmmakers still seek help

Hasani Walters, Gleaner Writer

With the recent crop of Jamaican movies making their way onto the big scene recently, Jamaican filmmakers have high hopes that the industry will be revived, but they say this cannot be done without the help of investment from members of corporate Jamaica.

Much help is needed, they say, to aid in the the development of the film industry, as the industry itself helps to develop the Jamaican economy.

Joan Edwards, executive producer of A Dance For Grace, spoke with The Gleaner about the matter, saying, "We need for corporate Jamaica to come onboard and help the industry. What happens sometimes is that there are a lot of persons who are trained to work in filmmaking, but there is not enough opportunity here to do so".

She congratulated sponsors who had taken the risk of assisting the industry, describing them as visionaries.

"I really want to commend those companies that have come onboard. If only more of corporate Jamaica would do that. It would be of great assistance to filmmakers," said Edwards.

She went on to state ways in which the film industry helps the Jamaican economy:

Job opprtunities

"Employment opportunities arise as actors, directors, production crews, electricians, drivers and props people, among many other persons, are needed. Add up those and the many other jobs on set, and you'll see how many persons are needed. Think about how many stories we have to tell in Jamaica. It would create employment for a lot of young people. It also provides international exposure for local actors and exposes Jamaican culture and heritage - that means more tourism exposure," said Edwards.

Director of Better Mus Come, Storm Saulter, in a past interview with The Gleaner also said, "Investment in the industry would do a lot as at the moment, there is not enough being done to help."

Despite this, Saulter said that there is currently enough activity going on in the industry for filmmakers to say that they can put out a movie probably every year.

He said, "There's the New Caribbean Cinema, a group comprising of eight directors doing eight different short films. So yes, finally, there's enough activity going on that we can say it's not every five or 10 years we going to put out a movie. We can say every year, we're going to put out at least one or two."