What's filmmaking like in Jamaica?

So, Jamaica makes films?! Yes - And it’s not a new ting!

Jamaica has been a location for foreign film productions for decades, and of course perhaps the most famous Jamaican film “The Harder They Come” set a precedent for what the island's genre could look and feel like. Yet local filmmaking has arguably never taken off on the island. There is an often-quoted phrase that “Jamaica releases one feature film every 10 years.”

Without getting into the weeds of film-making output, this article overviews what production is like on the ground. What are creatives, crew and other local experts viewing as the positives and negatives of making a film in Jamaica?

Jamaica is a relatively small island with a population less than 3 million, meaning that film workers work in close proximity, yet some still felt a disconnect between groups or individuals. Three key ideas emerged talking to my 19 interviewees which are all intrinsically linked and at times contradictory. These three ideas are collaboration, gatekeepers and networks.

Collaboration

Film production across the board is typically project-based work that lends itself to freelance contracts and favours existing relationships. Yet some interviewees felt that work could be siloed whether to do with production types, or comfortability.

“I've been very lucky because you have a lot of people that have not worked entirely .... And it's because of the nepotism and it's because people only want to work with certain sets of people." (Interviewee)

Yet despite these cliques, free labour and free equipment rental was a regular occurrence across the board. Helping younger filmmakers get started, and others complete projects:

“a lot of how we get through is through communities, through persons chipping in, giving of resources, of time, of equipment, of money to make things possible. I don't think I have ever.... given anybody their full rate unless it’s a commercial paid job." (interviewee)

Jamaica is not unique that its creative industries rely on free or reduced pay for production work, however this was reported at every level of experience and not just students or the under-skilled. Jamaica’s reliance on informal employment arrangements is not conducive to sustainable economic growth.

Gatekeepers

Underpaid or free labour is arguably compounded by a culture of powerful individuals that could be described as gatekeepers.

“We don't have physical infrastructure. We have people infrastructure in Jamaica, people are institutions” (interviewee).

While day to day this doesn’t often affect film production, it leaves many questions regarding the future of the industry. For Jamaica to develop and grow as a film industry these connections will need to change:

“It has to be industrial, industrially held relationships and not individually held relationships.” (interviewee)

The local Jamaican film industry is being built on top of a handful of people who have built careers through networks, experience and training. However, the roadmap for succession is not clear. This has knock-on effects for individuals and their prospects for work but also creates difficulty in mapping scale.

While Jamaica is small, its film networks need to be formalized to allow for widespread and equitable growth. By institutionalizing these relationships and creating clear pathways for new talent, Jamaica's film industry can overcome some of the limitations gatekeepers pose and foster a more inclusive and dynamic creative environment.

Networks

Finally, many interviewees highlighted how leveraging personal and professional networks is essential for overcoming barriers and advancing film projects. One filmmaker encapsulated this sentiment when asked how films get made despite significant challenges. She responded:

“Friends. Friends who have skills, who share your creative vision, and share your passion." (Interviewee)

Nearly every other interviewee echoed this message, reinforcing the idea that connections are crucial in bringing film projects to fruition.

Yet more formalised film communities, were not always praised, arguing that they create a tight knit closed community that certain people didn’t feel a part of or accepted by. These distinctions are important as they highlight a similar divide as to the “class ceiling” (O’Brien et al., 2016, p. 126) as seen in the UK film and creative industries. As is so often the case, the distinctions were only made by those in the ‘outsider’ group, with those integrated or embedded in formal groups less forthcoming on the perception that they could be regarded as exclusive.

Despite these apparent gaps, the formalisation of film workers beyond organisations like JAFTA – Jamaica Film and Television Association is not agreed upon by those in the industry. With an unsurprising split between older and younger media workers, the topic of unions was pushed by those arguably most at the perils of certain industry influences:

"We need to become more united.... There needs to be more of a community feel in Jamaica instead of thinking that you're on your own because the industry is hard enough.... I do think if there was one community the money issue would be lessened." (Interviewee)

While this proposal would alleviate some of the other problems arising from the research, it was not supported by all:

“We want a Union. Why? Because we want to control our salaries? We have to learn to know what we're doing...They do the jobs on those music videos and commercials and small things.... They have not yet reached the level where they can say I can work on a feature film.” (Interviewee)

Without passing judgement on whether there should be a film union set-up in Jamaica, or not....there still are challenges that Jamaica can address to alleviate conditions of all film workers. While Jamaica's film industry has a strong foundation of interconnected networks and a collaborative spirit, tackling the issues of gatekeeping, and informal labour practices is crucial. By fostering a more inclusive and structured environment, the industry can build on its strengths to develop a robust and equitable film industry cluster.

Further research into how these networks operate and how they can be supported and expanded could provide valuable insights into strengthening Jamaica's film production cluster.

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References:

O’Brien, D., Laurison, D., Miles, A., & Friedman, S. (2016). Are the creative industries meritocratic? An analysis of the 2014 British Labour Force Survey. Cultural Trends.