Bennett-Templer

AS IT steps up its marketing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, the state-run Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) is looking to tap into the increasingly popular Bollywood scene in India.

Sancia Bennett-Templer, deputy president at JAMPRO, told a Gleaner Editors' Forum yesterday that attracting major players in the Indian movie industry to invest in Jamaica's film sector is one of the organisation's goals.

"We are looking at how we can leverage the additional media exposure anticipated for cricket as well as persons, some of whom would not have come to Jamaica under normal circumstances," Ms. Bennett-Templer said.

Under the recently established Caribbean Business Club initiative, Ms. Bennett-Templer said a delegation from JAMPRO's film department visited India in December for talks with Bollywood officials.

"One of the major objectives of the mission was to speak to producers, so the film commissioner engaged in a number of meetings with representatives from Bollywood," Ms. Bennett-Templer revealed. "We are expecting that a couple of prospective investors will travel from Bollywood to Jamaica during the cricket (tournament) to explore further film developments."

Significant growth

Bollywood, the subcontinent's version of Hollywood, has grown significantly in the past decade. Wikipedia, the largest online encyclopaedia, reports that the Mumbai-based industry sold 3.6 billion tickets in 2002, compared to the 2.6 billion tickets its American counterpart tallied that year.

Several Indian sportsmen, including cricketer Sandeep Patil and tennis player Vijay Armitraj, have appeared in Bollywood films.

Ms. Bennett-Templer told the forum that the Caribbean Business Club sent similar missions to Australia, the United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada. She said JAMPRO is also looking to establish ties with other non-traditional markets such as South Africa.