The annual Skylark Film Festival returned this year November 4-5 for its third staging at Skylark Negril Beach Resort. The festival continued its celebration of Jamaican films and creatives with the showcasing of eight short films and two feature films, as well as the hosting of an industry seminar.

The event began on Friday night with the viewing of four shorts: Before Yu Dead, Cross My Heart, Sugarcake, and Traytown. This was followed by the feature presentation, Blackjack Christmas, a Victoria Rowell-directed film shot on location in the United States and Jamaica. The showing was also the premiere of the film, which has been picked up by BET+ and will air on December 15.

On Saturday afternoon industry players gathered for a seminar on the “Growth and Opportunities in the Jamaican Film Industry”. The panel of industry leaders included Maxine Walters, Jamaican film producer; Victoria Rowell, award-winning actress and director; Tristan Alleyne, consulting officer, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro); Carleene Samuels, creative producer; Saeed Thomas, president, Jamaica Film & Television Association; and Tashara Johnson, COO, The LAB, as moderators. The seminar focused on the current state of the local film industry and expansion plans considering the recent influx of productions coming to Jamaica (such as James Bond & Get Millie Black) and the growing demand for content created in the country. It also included discussions on the needs in the different departments of production and the need to build human resources to best meet those needs.

Coming out of the panel discussion the consensus was a clarion call for the development of a film fund, implementation of tax incentives and capacity building in the industry across the island.

“Jamaica has seen total film expenditure at US$11m for this year and that was achieved through productions including Get Millie Black for HBO and Black Cake. The latter is Oprah Winfrey-produced and has been ordered by streaming service Hulu. What we’re seeing is that there’s significant interest in Jamaica as a film location. I agree with the panel on the call for incentives, as they’re a critical component of film industries across the world because the industry worldwide is competitive. When you look at the Dominican Republic they have a significant incentive, so does Trinidad and other film-making territories. This move for incentives is especially important for capitalising on the growth we’re seeing in the industry,” Alleyne stated.

Rowell spoke on the need to capitalise on ultra-low budget (ULB) films that could eventually lead to bigger budget productions.

“A model that film-makers can do is ULBs. These are US$250,000 or lower feature films that are viable to make profit and licensed throughout the world. Components would include raising private equity, solid script and at least one named actor for marketing. These projects can lead to bigger budgets and sequels, based on viewership and new subscriptions. In doing these projects you have to bear in mind the business aspects; it has to resonate with the audience and [be] written with a marketing mechanism in mind. Thinking has to be strategic and not only creative,” Rowell explained.

Samuels, meanwhile, added to the discussion regarding capacity building and the need to look beyond traditional markets and platforms.

“Jamaica is so close to the US, I think we’re always looking at the big markets like New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles. We need to find our own models and connect the dots ourselves. Doing smaller-budget projects and using influencers, YouTube and looking at places like Nigeria and India how they were able to build their industries. When we go outside of Kingston to shoot, we can employ or get interest from those persons to build the capacity there. We also need to build on the capacity that films bring as jobs are available in several departments including make-up, clothing, scriptwriting, catering and transportation and these jobs are available for not only films but docuseries and commercials done locally, or international ones shot on location in Jamaica,” Samuels said.

The festival concluded on Saturday night with short films Sunday, Out Of Many, Grave Digger, Nice Lady and Yardie which was directed by Idris Elba and was the feature film on the playbill.

Paul Salmon, chairman, Skylark Negril Beach Resort, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, explained Skylark’s motivation for staging the event.

“Supporting the arts, and the film industry, is critical as creative work inspires us, leading to a better understanding of self and the world around us. The arts also strengthen our communities socially, educationally, and economically. We are honoured to host the Skylark Film Festival and are looking forward to continuing this annual event,” Salmon expressed.

— Text & photos by Aceion Cunningham