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Jamaica Great For Films

JA is a premier location for movies, but getting funding seems to be difficult for some local filmmakers.

Storm Saulter, who produced the low-budget Better Mus' Come feature film, said he was lucky because his project was financed by someone in the United States.

"It was funded privately by a lawyer in Miami who I was developing a good relationship with. It was really a blessing. That was an ideal situation," Saulter told The Sunday Gleaner.

Saulter said Better Mus' Come cost much less than the ideal budget world-class film. Nonetheless cheaper films can be just as effective, depending on the script, characters and locations.

Local filmmakers

However, generally Saulter does not believe funding and information from government agencies are easily accessible for local filmmakers.

"I had no idea if there was any government agency in place for that (funding). Whichever governmental body there is needs to build up ways to interact with the local filmmakers," he said.

Saulter said he was aware that the Culture Health Arts Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund gives assistance to some local filmmakers, but the process of getting it is time-consuming. Hence, he plans to get funding from other Caribbean islands for his future projects.

In 2007 CHASE Fund allocated $200 million to arts and culture projects. During the 2005/2006 operating year the fund approved 77 projects covering the performing arts, visual arts, literary works, libraries and archives, museums, media, film and music, craft, heritage, historical sites and monuments and sponsorships.

In addition, CHASE approved more than $2 million for the production of a feature-length movie, Ginger Knight's Room for Rent. Financial assistance was also granted to Kimala Bennett for her documentary Roots of Black Hair in Jamaica.

Bennett said the process of getting funds was simple. She said she merely wrote a proposal highlighting what the documentary was about and how it would have impacted Jamaica. Thereafter, she received money that partially funded her project.

External funds

While CHASE provides funding, Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) also helps local filmmakers to source external funds.

"We assist filmmakers in identifying funding, whether through an investor or it might be grant funding and we assist them in the application process," said Nardia McKenzie, senior consultant at the Creative Industries Unit JTI.

She added that "we are a government agency and currently we do not have a film fund, but we are looking at developing that".

McKenzie mentioned the co-production treaty between Jamaica and the United Kingdom (UK). The treaty, signed in Kingston in April last year, is an arrangement between the UK and Jamaica. Under the treaty UK nationals co-producing films with Jamaican filmmakers will get access to UK film funding and tax breaks.

In addition McKenzie said there was also the Motion Picture Encouragement Act, which gives local film makers incentives. Under this act, a recognised film producer is entitled to relief from income tax for a period not exceeding nine years after the first release of the motion picture.

The investor would also benefit from an investment allowance of 70 per cent of the total expenditure on the production facilities and this may be carried forward. In addition, the investor would also be exempt from the payment of import duty on equipment, machinery and materials for the building of studios or for use in motion-picture production.

Even with the Motion Picture Encouragement Act in place, Saulter said he had difficulty getting his special effects into the island. Luckily, he got the Jamaica Constabulary Force and Jamaica Defence Force to allow him to use their weapons and blanks in a "safe and professional way".

Like Saulter, Joel Burke, who wrote Candy Shop, said the Government could do more to help local filmmakers. He said the Co-production Treaty would not always be beneficial to Jamaican filmmakers.

No local gov't initiative

For instance, in cases where the script and/or the crew is 100 per cent Jamaican and have no connection to the UK, he said the Jamaican filmmaker would not necessarily benefit.

"There is no local government initiative that helps local filmmakers so we can get tax exemptions and equipment," Burke told The Sunday Gleaner. "Apart from the JTI, I don't know any other agency or organisation that deals with films."

McKenzie also said the JTI sends information about activities in the film industry to the Women in Film and the Film and Video Producers associations.

However, Saulter said he was uninformed about JTI's activities. He also said the government needed to do more to aid the blossoming film industry.

"In Jamaica we push without any support. I am just coming back from Trinidad and Tobago, where I showed some short films. And I see that they are taking a direct interest in filmmaking," Saulter told The Sunday Gleaner. "They are waiting for people to finish scripts so they can fund them, because they realise how much they can diversify their economy."

With the beautiful and varied landscape that Jamaica has, Saulter said the Government needed to do more to help the film industry. And, especially when compared to the United States, Saulter said Jamaica was a cheaper location to make films.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

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