Jamaica: Film Industry

The Mexican writer and literature noble prize winner, Octavio Paz said that ‘ every culture is born from mixing, meeting and clashes. Conversely it is from isolation that civilizations die’.











There is therefore a great need for societies to understand and respect one another and to innovate. The Film Industry is then the ideal tool to help societies to accomplish this objective.

According to Brian St. Juste president of the Jamaica Film & Video Production Association in a Gleaner article dated February 19, 2006 the Jamaican film industry earns an estimated $1.5 billion annually.

The industry which had it birth in the 1950’s under Britain’s colonial power has journeyed from the 1951 ‘Let’s stop them’ (a film about perennial larceny) and in two decades in an emancipated Jamaica through the work of Perry Henzell, Trevor Rhone and a talented staff and crew created the 1972 hit ‘The Harder They Come’ (a film which explored the music, drug trade and social conditions of the time) arguably the best film production in Jamaica to date.



The industry has produced films at various points in time, some very successful some are merely a blimp on the radar:

1973/4 ‘Marijuana Affair’ - William Greeves

1974/5 ‘Every Nigger is a Star’ - Calvin Lockhart

1976 ‘Smile Orange’ - Trevor Rhone

1982 ‘Countryman’ - Dicky Jobson

1997 ‘Dancehall Queen’ – Rick Elgood/Don Letts

1999: ‘Third World Cop’ – Chris Browne

2002 ‘Shottas’ – Cess Silvera

2003 ‘One Love’ – Rick Elgood/ Don Letts

2006 ‘The Candy Shop’ – Joel Burke.

This profusion of time between really successful films has led many to feel as if nothing is being done within the industry.

Much like America’s film industry ‘Hollywood’ there are no policy guidelines set by government for Jamaica’s Film Industry. The Jamaican film industry consists of both local productions and the export of film services fueled by the country's popularity and success as a production location.

The slew of Jamaican films that have been produced are by private individuals who have a passion to work in the business. Despite an abundance of available content, talent and technical expertise, the quality and quantity of local feature films, documentaries and television programmes have been constrained by the inability of local filmmakers and producers to raise sufficient funding and support for projects.

There is an arm of the Government of Jamaica the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) that has the infrastructure, equipment, resources and competence to create feature films for the Jamaican public. However, this venture has not been exploited JIS only produces non-commercial content on government policies.

According to Jamaica's Film Commission, Jamaica facilitates 150 film projects annually, with associated foreign exchange inflows of US$14 million and direct employment for over 2,000 creative professionals. 

The local film industry in Jamaica is made up of entrepreneurs such as Nile and Storm Saulter, Michelle Serieux, Joel Burke, Ras Kassa and others who are passionate about the sector and bringing their stories to life. They have united to network and pool their resources hoping the powers that be will wake up and see the potential for economic growth in what they have dedicated their lives to doing.