After 15 months of inactivity, local entertainment promoters are racing against the clock to find funding to restart their engines.

Managing Director of Dream Entertainment Limited Scott Dunn told the Business Observer that his company will need about $30 million in grants/loans to provide some liquidity to the business to remain operational.

“Our events will cost us about 25 per cent more on average. Incremental spending will include additional wash stations, restrooms, sanitisation stations, Plexiglass separations for staff, bigger bars, bigger food areas, and the staffing needed for all these things. We will also need COVID-19 marshalls and, in some cases, testing logistics, doctors, and nurses on site,“ Dunn said.

With that in mind, patrons are being told to brace for price increases on some tickets. He noted that the increase is likely to be between 15-25 per cent, depending on what the event owners can afford to absorb.

At the same time, Dunn argues that there’s a funding deficit for companies like his. That’s why he’s urging Prime Minister Andrew Holness to follow through on his promise in Parliament to provide some assistance.

Promoter and sponsorship director for Soca Forever, Marlon Campbell, said the industry has traditionally relied on sponsorship and corporate Jamaica to help offset the costs associated with staging events. But, since sponsors have also been forced to slash their budgets, Campbell said the outlook is even more bleak.

He said promoters will have to dig deep into their own pockets to get the entertainment engine revving again.

“The usual people we would go to are crying that they too had to cut back. As a result, the pie has gotten significantly smaller.” Campbell bemoaned.

In the meantime, he is urging more entertainment stakeholders to get formal.

“An industry with the ability to contribute $87 billion to the Jamaican economy shouldn’t be struggling to find funding. The problem is that the industry is not organised. We would have greater bargaining power if we were formalised as a group.”

Dunn admitted that Dream Entertainment has incurred additional debt in order to reopen successfully.

“We have five events in various stages of planning for this summer. We only applied on Saturday, but we hope the Government is cognisant of the urgency to begin operating right now,” he added.

Of the five events this summer, two of the projects are in the United States – Epic Weekend in Miami (a partnership with Sandz) July 2-5 and Dream Weekend New York, August 27-29, Dream Entertainment’s maiden staging in its biggest Diaspora market.

Dunn said the impact of these overseas events on his company’s financial viability is yet to be seen, but if these events are as successful as anticipated, it will help to stop the bleeding.