By Tanya Batson, Staff ReporterONCE AGAIN, local film- makers gathered to discuss the road forward for their industry. As a result, a call to action was given, and it is to be seen whether the advice will be taken.
The call to action was made by Brian St. Juste of Apex, who urged local producers to look beyond local television stations for their products. He advised that they should buy air time on cable stations and sell their programmes there. Advertisers, he said, would follow their programming.
St. Juste was speaking on Sunday afternoon at the seminar 'Contributing to a Caribbean Film and Television Industry: Opportunities and Pitfalls' at 'Mini-Input Caribbean', a workshop put on by the Doctor Bird Awards Foundation. Mini-Input took place at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston from Saturday through to Monday and involved screenings along with discussion.
The two-part discussion looked at different forms of films (artistic, commercial and public service) and the opportunities offered by television.
According to St. Juste, he is tired of having the same dead-end conversations with the local television stations.
This statement followed discussions of the opportunities television provides to the region's film industry. He pointed out that the local economy cannot afford to support more than one major local series as the advertising budget does not exist. He pointed out that after all the sponsors are gathered to make Royal Palm Estate (our only such series), on a minimum budget, enough major sponsors are not left to support another such series.
Although she did not encourage producers to look elsewhere, Elaine Bryan, programmes director of CVM Television, supported St. Juste's point. Although she lamented the lack of local programming on television, in the end she noted that the station cannot afford to make them.
Last month at 'One Pot Stew', (the 'Women in Film and Television summit 2002' forum held last week) Marcia Forbes, General Manager of TVJ, also corroborated Juste's argument by pointing out that there is not sufficient advertising revenue to support local productions.
St. Juste's reference to Royal Palm Estate was particularly relevant as earlier Lennie Little White said that Royal Palm Estate was the only local programme that attracts the audience level which interests advertisers. Little White, who heads Mediamix, pointed out that the show attracts over 650,000 viewers.
He pointed out that producers need to recognise that there are only about 18 major investors, who all want to appeal to the mass market. He said that producers therefore need to create programmes which appeal to the masses.
He noted that he had been scoffed at for his willingness to allow sponsors to display their products in his programme.
The Mediamix head noted that he agreed with St. Juste that local producers should look elsewhere. He argued that in doing so, however, they need to be better prepared for the marketplace. In order for true growth to occur, he said, producers need to be creating more than 'one-off' programmes as television needs series in order to be profitable.
Yao Ramesar, who like St. Juste, had been one of the panellists on the earlier discussion, noted that one did not need to 'prostitute' oneself in order to make a living. The Trinidadian stated that television stations need to stop holding producers hostage to advertisers. Earlier, Ramesar noted that he made his living not through broadcasts of his work in Trinidad, but through selling his work directly to foreign universities as well as engaging in workshops and filming projects outside of Trinidad.
During his presentation, Ramesar referred to himself as a migrant worker, because of the way he makes his living and all the travel it entails. He pointed out that the money he has made has given him sufficient financial freedom, to be able to create his films the way he wants to, rather than compromise his artistic integrity because of economic pressure.
Jessica Canham of Link International Productions in Dominica pointed out that opportunities to air programmes outside of the Caribbean exist. Her company creates programmes for City TV, and she noted that other companies can engage in similar arrangements. Canham noted however, that this only works if the regions producers learn how to work in a timely fashion and work under budget.
St. Juste remarked that more local producers need to follow Ramesar's and Canham's examples, if they really want to succeed.
