Kingston, Jamaica – The Jamaican Film Commission, housed at Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), is seeking production-ready scripts for short films and/or documentaries by December 2 this year. Projects submitted for entry will be considered for entry in the festival, following a judging process after which the official announcement will be made.
The agency and its partners plan to host the film festival on July 7 – 11 next year with the aim of marketing Jamaican written, directed and produced Jamaican films to a wide regional and international audience.
JAMPRO is inviting aspiring, emerging or established filmmakers to participate. The Film Commission intends to seek part funding for the productions that are chosen the film festival. As another form of support, JAMPRO will facilitate workshops up to May 2015 to provide technical support to writers, producers and directors.
JAMPRO has been increasing its efforts to promote the Creative Industries for trade and investment through an improved direct strategy. The recently held Creative Industries Open Day, launch of the Creative Professionals database and the Jamaica Film Festival are three projects that are targeted to invigorate the industry.
JAMPRO President, Diane Edwards says, “Our goal is to promote the Jamaican film industry and Creative Industries, however promotion is not enough. We must actively develop our local industry through initiatives that will allow us to export content and assist our professionals to work on locally produced films.” Ms. Edwards also spoke of the importance of the planned film festival to promote Jamaican stories, “Film festivals internationally have led to films being picked up for worldwide distribution. We would like to replicate that success in Jamaica and see Jamaica’s culture on global display”, she said.
The Jamaica Film Commission looks forward to developing more initiatives that will preserve Jamaica’s culture and creative spirit through filmmaking. For more information on the submission of projects, visit www.filmjamaica.com or email us at [email protected].
