Screen time lacking for Jamaican actors

The season finale of The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate tonight means that, for the next few months, local television screens could be devoid of locally produced dramas or comedies. Since 1994, when Royal Palm Estate became 'must-watch tv', local drama or comedy series have not mushroomed as expected.

According to director and producer of what has become Jamaica's longest running drama, Lennie Little-White, funding is a big reason for the vacancy.

"Once you are doing a scripted programme shot on location with paid actors, your production cost goes through the roof. The sponsorship funds available locally are not sufficient to cover the production cost, and the local television stations have been reluctant to underwrite indigenous dramas or comedies," explained Little-White.

Surviving

In the 1990s, JBC "tried a thing" with Win Some, Lose Some and, more recently, CVM-Television provided significant funding for the comedy Me and Mi Kru. The latter still has to prove if it has legs to stand the test of time. Both productions relied on some brand name local actors to fill out their cast.

On the other hand, talent shows like 'Rising Stars', 'Magnum Kings & Queens', 'Tastee Talent Search' and 'Dancin' Dynamites' continue to pop up and seem to be drawing big bucks from sponsors. Little-White explained that "You will notice that nearly all of these shows are co-sponsored by one of the telecoms.

Because talent shows have a 'phone-in' component, the telecoms are guaranteed an immediate return on their initial sponsorship dollar".

The Jamaican landscape is full of actors who are anxious to expose their talents outside of the theatre. In the last two decades, a few movies have provided an outlet for their skills. The list includes Third World Cop, Glory to Gloriana, Better Mus' Come and the soon-to-be-released Ghetta Life. But movies are few and far between and this trend is not likely to change anytime soon. This is due in large part to scarcity of investors who want to gamble on theatrical motion pictures.

Recently, the music industry delved more seriously into music videos. These have given a few actors a chance to shine, but most of the big-name music-video directors like Jay Will and Ras Kassa prefer to use no-name street actors in their music videos. One reason is that the brand-name actors price themselves out of the market.

Even some make-up artists demand up to $30,000 per day - more than is paid for a similar job in New York.

All this begs the question as to how Mediamix Ltd has managed to produce more than 400 episodes of Jamaica's most successful indigenous drama series. Little-White said "I learnt a lot from the grandfather of local television series - Lime Tree Lane. That show had a judicious mix of 'start-up' actors and others who had no experience at all. That told me that I could mix the best of Jamaica's actors with others who had never acted before. This allowed me to control costs while developing new stars".

Royal Palm Estate is full of names like Reggie Carter, John Jones, and Cyrene Tomlinson who are all now deceased. Couple these ready-made stars with others like Paul Issa, Beth Hyde, Ronald Goshop, Oliver Samuels, Lenford Salmon, Munair Zacca, Teddy Price and Lois Kelly-Miller, and the show started with a solid foundation.

On the other hand, Little-White also relied on a group of neophytes in the acting world who have grown to become brand names at home and abroad. These included Bobby Smith as Inspector Madden, Billy Wilmot as CC, and Adam Hyde as Richard Blackburn. However, the biggest find was Carol Campbell, who plays Jennifer Chambers.

Ace performer

Carol auditioned for a one-day part to dance for Ted Blackburn, but she shone so brightly that, today, she has grown to be the most popular actress ever on Royal Palm Estate. She has become Lennie Little-White's ace performer as he has used her in several other productions - the biggest being the lead actress in Glory to Gloriana.

Today, Royal Palm Estate has morphed into The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate - the continuing saga with a host of newer and younger faces mixed with the original stalwarts and favourites. Fans will be glad to know that Munair Zacca has just signed a new contract which will mark the return of the notorious Sonny Tavares as a regular face on camera, after his exile in Cuba.

It is hoped that the advent of new media, players like Flow with its 'Video On Demand' (VOD), will encourage much more local productions that satisfy Jamaican audiences; while tapping into the export market in the Caribbean and African diaspora, which has a gaping appetite for canned material from Jamaica.

This could be the fillip that creates more jobs for home-based Jamaican actors.