This is the 11th in a series reflecting on the highlights of the entertainment scene in 2014.

IT was a slow year for the local movie scene. With no major Hollywood studio jetting in to shoot a blockbuster on our shores, it was left to the local producers to step up to the plate. Only two answered the call.

Jeremy Whittaker — a Jamaican-based in Canada — was the most successful with his project Destiny, which is still showing at Palace Amusement Company cinemas, 11 weeks after it premiered. The movie is listed in the company’s top 10 for the year.

Shot in Jamaica and complemented with scenes from Canada, Destiny has no subtitles, as, according to Whittaker, it was made with an international audience in mind, while maintaining the “true aura” of Jamaica.

Destiny comprises a local cast including Christopher Martin, Khadine ‘Miss Kitty’ Hylton, Grace ‘Spice’ Hamilton, Debbie Bissoon and Scott Wilson. The female lead is played by Jamaican-Canadian Karian Sang.

Meanwhile, the producers of Destiny have secured a global distribution deal with Tuff Gong International for the film’s soundtrack.

The Destiny soundtrack features work from the film’s main stars Christopher Martin and Karian Sang as well as known Jamaican acts Busy Signal, Tifa, and Spice. Paris-based reggae artiste Bazil as well as Garnett Silk Jr, Montego Bay’s Yahsha, and Angele Smith are also featured on the set.

The project is produced by Clive Hunt with Dwain ‘Wiya’ Campbell as co-producer.

The other local flick to hit the screens was Bruce Hart’s kung-fu comedy mash-up masterpiece, Ching Pow: Far East Yardies.

The film takes three kung-fu movies, Ninja Death and its two sequels, re-edits and redubs them into a single picture for maximum laughs. Providing the lead voices are local comedy team Patrick and Paul Gaynor, better known as Twin of Twins. Hart said he was inspired by a badly done YouTube video and felt the concept could work better if given a more professional touch.

The climes of Portland played host to Cinema Paradise — Jamaica’s newest film festival — from August 27 to 31.

Nine feature-length films and documentaries, as well as a number of shorts, were showcased during the five-day event held at the Great Huts resort in Boston Bay.

2014 also saw the announcement of the inaugural Jamaica Film Festival slated to be staged in the Corporate Area from July 7-11 this year.