JAMPRO Facilitates $200 Million in Entertainment Projects

Since April this year, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has facilitated close to $200 million in entertainment projects and $43 million in film ventures.

This as the agency continues its drive to further develop the country’s film and creative industries.

President of JAMPRO, Diane Edwards, who made the announcement on September 23, informed that capital expenditure for the period was over $165 million.

She was speaking at a press briefing, held at JAMPRO’s New Kingston offices, during which she provided details on the agency’s latest efforts to promote Jamaica’s film and creative industries as well as announce a number of upcoming initiatives.

Ms. Edwards noted that for the same period, JAMPRO created 717 temporary jobs, explaining that jobs in this industry are quite often temporary, lasting  from a couple of days for a film extra, to a couple of months for a production that is ongoing, such as a TV series.

“This is just a fraction of where we can go with this industry. The film opportunities are really to start telling Jamaican stories, to start looking at where our creative product is of interest to the world,” she said.

In keeping with the move to further develop the film and creative industries, Ms. Edwards pointed out that the focus of the Film Commission and the Creative Industries Unit within JAMPRO has shifted from investment promotion, which dealt with inward attraction of feature films, “to the export side, which is more about leveraging our creative talent and taking our own creations to the international markets.”

Ms. Edwards stressed that JAMPRO is not only a promotion agency, but also a developer of an industry, which seeks to provide business opportunities for stakeholders.

The President said the agency also looks at “how do we own the Intellectual Property (IP) of our creative products and how do we leverage that internationally to the greater revenue generation for Jamaica.”

In the meantime, Ms. Edwards said the agency is working with the Ministries of Finance and Planning, and Tourism and Entertainment to refine an incentive regime “that actually offers greater opportunity to our cultural practitioners.”