Skills and Resources in Jamaican Filmmaking

So far, I have presented Jamaica as having a film industry, and one that could be on the brink of expansion. Arguably, with growth comes a level of professionalisation, where the quality as well as volume of output increases. 

Yet, a recurring theme that emerged from my discussions and interviews with Jamaican filmmakers was the pervasive impact of limited resources, whether that be skills or equipment. In this article, I present the current status of the film industry and how filmmakers have developed within this environment.

While Jamaica or “Jollywood” can potentially compete with other film locations, there is an unavoidable reality that the island is small and thus has a smaller economy and population to rely on and equally has had far less time to develop unlike Hollywood which can be charted back to the early 20th century, Jamaica received independence in 1962.  However, this doesn’t equate to a lack of skilled workers:

"We are very hard on ourselves….We are probably our biggest critics and I've worked with crews locally and overseas…I would rather work with them [Jamaicans]" (Interviewee)

Yet there was concern around capacity building, and if Jamaica were to host 3-4 independent productions at the same time:

"The persons that we do have, they are skilled enough to carry out their task. We just don't have enough of these skilled persons." (Interviewee)

Unlike more established film industries, such as those in Hollywood or Bollywood, Jamaica lacks the extensive network of studios, production facilities, and training institutions necessary to nurture talent and foster industry growth. This shortage of institutional support further restricts opportunities for skills development, mentorship, and collaboration within the filmmaking community. However, the thirst for more trained crew members was tempered by capacity concerns, for when there are no international productions on the island, many will be out of work.

Parking the idea of overcapacity concerns for film crew, building a bigger and skilled workforce was a concern for some interviewees. Jamaica does not have a formal film school; however, there are media and film-aligned courses provided by CARIMAC - Caribbean School of Media and Communication, part of the University of the West Indies, as well as HEART/NSTA Trust - The Human Employment and Resource Training Trust/National Service Training Agency. The issue arises around the trust of these courses and equally what these courses consisted of if they hadn’t experienced them themselves. This perceived lack of training opportunities meant that many respondents had plans to develop their own training programmes for film crews, with a notable example being the emergence of grassroots initiatives aimed at addressing the skills gap within the industry. Yet as a researcher, this seemed to highlight the distinct lack of cohesion in that many educational offerings were likely to be duplicated as different individuals considered launching their own courses without checking for similarities already in existence.

This highlights socio-economic issues that are spoken about in film industries (Brook et al., 2018; Grugulis & Stoyanova, 2012): that the creative industries attract a certain class of people as a result of access requirements, whether financial, training or social connections. Consequently, the challenges associated with skills development not only impedes individual career advancement but also inhibits the broader industry's capacity for innovation and competitiveness on the global stage. Many of the respondents that I spoke to had been trained abroad and had returned to Jamaica, implying that success in Jamaica’s film industry could partly be attributed to foreign education that the majority cannot afford. 

Thus, the training and upskilling of Jamaican crew is still in progress. Yet there are gaps that need to be addressed. The main one brought up in interviews is the creative side, which arguably is the foundation of a local film production sector:

“Creative people. Directors. Writers. Art directors. That's where we are missing…..I find the technical side easy to train in Jamaica." (interviewee)

Thus, a film production workforce that can manage the entire production of a film from development, production and post-production is not yet fully established. Although this is not to say that the seeds for this development have not been planted, with multiple examples of training found during fieldwork and research, including feature film labs, crew training days and short film grants.

While most respondents spoke of the lack of skills present in Jamaica, a smaller portion also mentioned physical resources and whether these were adequate. This was often in comparison with other local film clusters like the Dominican Republic, which offers more by means of physical production opportunities:

“Dom Rep have all the studios over there that Hollywood is renting to use, you know, Jamaica has so much potential, and it is really about getting in front of the right people to have the right conversations." (Interviewee)

Yet Jamaica is not completely bereft of attractive resources. It is geographically very close to America which was referenced as a positive:

“We are relatively close to like a Miami or very central hubs, so bringing in things is not hard, and we do have ports which is also a USP for us.” (Interviewee)

However, despite this assertion, other respondents (and fieldwork experiences) disagreed with this assessment of importation. Bringing equipment into Jamaica is not straightforward, as there are strict customs checks and fees:

“It's a huge challenge not being able to get the equipment I want with ease. I have to wait a year until I'm going to the US or somebody's coming down from the US" (Interviewee)

While creatives can be exempt via the entertainment registry held by the Ministry of Entertainment, Culture, Gender and Sport, one filmmaker explained that it was a difficult system to negotiate:

“Importation is very funny because they will say to you. ‘If you're on the entertainment registry, you can bring things in free.’ And that is true. The problem is it's a very onerous process….” (Interviewee)

Despite facing daunting obstacles, several individuals showcased remarkable initiative and creativity in overcoming resource limitations and fostering industry growth. While calling on networks to ensure projects are started and completed, some filmmakers revealed strategic partnerships with local businesses and organisations that were likely built on personal charisma and social capital. These skills were often seen as unique:

“I've had to exist on a lot of faith and a lot of self-belief and a lot of prayer. But the average person is not willing to take that kind of risk." (Interviewee)

This individualism can be defined as a focus on “the independent self, achievement, uniqueness, personal control and attitudes” (Farrukh et al., 2019, p. 988). The self-perception of Jamaican filmmakers as ‘different’ and ‘willing to go beyond the average person’ was held by many of the respondents. This entrepreneurial spirit was reflected in their determination to make things happen despite challenges:

“I eventually just kind of did it myself with a few of my friends. We learned film together, and we started doing some films." (interviewee)

Despite the precarity involved in filmmaking, especially in the Jamaican context, respondents invariably expressed their own uniqueness, thus developing an identity of the cultural entrepreneur which is both a “source of distinction and inner confidence” (Bilton, 2010, p.7). This reliance on individualism and entrepreneurial spirit could be identified both as a negative and a positive trait of the industry.

“They're not stopping you. Either go under, go over, go through, right around if you have to… Find a way, I think that's the key Jamaican spirit." (Interviewee)

While entrepreneurship should be encouraged and can provide a valuable way to fill gaps in the filmmaking industry, it should also be noted that it can require exclusionary conditions. Despite the collaborative and inclusive spirit that characterises many grassroots initiatives within the Jamaican filmmaking community, there exists an unspoken assumption that not all individuals are equally positioned to benefit from these endeavours. Individuals from marginalised or underprivileged backgrounds may face systemic barriers, such as limited access to education, financial resources, or social networks that hinder their ability to fully engage with and benefit from community-based initiatives. Placing an onus on individuals to ‘do it for themselves’ could foster this disparity even further.

So, while these homegrown solutions show how resilient and adaptable the industry can be, we still need to figure out if they can hold up and grow over the long term. It’s worth looking into how government or industry support could step in to boost these grassroots efforts, making them more impactful and accessible for everyone involved. 

A question to you: How can we tackle these inequities to help create a more inclusive and sustainable future for the Jamaican film industry? Let me know your thoughts!

You can read this series on my LinkedIn

Sources:

Bilton, C. (2010). Identity, creativity and the cultural entrepreneur (43: Creativity and Enterprise in Unusual Places – ‘Re-Conceptualizing Enterprise and Creativity’ ). 23rd EGOS Colloquium.

Brook, O., O’Brien, D., & Taylor, M. (2018). There was no golden age: social mobility into cultural and creative occupations. SocArXiv Papers. https://doi.org/10.31235/OSF.IO/7NJY3

Farrukh, M., Lee, J. W. C., Sajid, M., & Waheed, A. (2019). Entrepreneurial intentions: The role of individualism and collectivism in perspective of theory of planned behaviour. Education and Training, 61(7–8), 984–1000. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-09-2018-0194

Grugulis, I., & Stoyanova, D. (2012). Social Capital and Networks in Film and TV: Jobs for the Boys? Organization Studies, 33(10), 1311–1331. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840612453525