No event exodus, but way forward needed for entertainment industry
Published:Sunday | May 30, 2021 | 12:11 AMShereita Grizzle - Staff Reporter
“Currently, the local entertainment scene is non-existent. There is absolutely nothing happening, so for those who have the opportunity to do their events abroad, why not? If your skill set is promotions, that is how you feed your family (through events), and there is no opportunity here, you have to go,” said Gyete Ghartey, promoter of the popular Yesterday and Mellow Vibes event held at Mas Camp.
With the events sector in Jamaica having been shuttered for some 15 months, a vast majority of party promoters have been forced to take their events to the United States to make ends meet. Over the past few months, Florida and New York in the United States (US) have welcomed several local events. YUSH, Dream Weekend, Sandz and Mayhem Water Party are just a few of the events that have either already had shows in the US or have shows on their future itinerary. Party promoters with whom The Sunday Gleaner spoke believe that if the local events scene does not usher in another phased reopening soon, Jamaica will continue to see an exodus of events.
Much of that has to do with the fact that the entertainment industry has received no assistance, said Ghartey. “In Jamaica here, nobody has actually catered to the entertainment sector. There has been no consideration for the ecosystem that falls in the events sector. There is no government help, and we still have our bills to pay,” he said.
Ghartey revealed that he was contacted by a collections agency last week as his annual company fees were due. He said he explained to the individual that his company was an entertainment business and that he has not had an opportunity to earn any kind of income in some 14 months. He asked if there was a programme in place to facilitate a reprieve of any sort, but was told that no such programme existed. Ghartey said he doesn’t blame any promoter who has chosen to take their events offshore as the Government has not offered any leeway to persons like himself even as the bills keep piling up. “We still have our overheads with zero reprieve. You are basically on your own out here, and so these promoters have to think about themselves and their families and if going overseas allows opportunities for that to happen, then by all means,” Ghartley said.
Dream Entertainment Limited’s Managing Director, Scott Dunn, shared similar thoughts. Dunn, who had voiced his frustrations with the Government’s handling of the entertainment sector back in January, said though not ideal, promoters like himself were left with no choice but to “pack up and ship out”. “We currently don’t have an entertainment scene, so events owners and service providers have no choice but to export their events. The alternative has been to sit in Jamaica and not have any income for over 14 months,” he said. Dunn said things may return to some sense of normality if there is a phased reopening on the entertainment industry. “If we have a measured reopening of the Jamaican events scene soon, we can reduce the need to export these events en masse.”
He estimates that the fallout from Jamaica’s events ban is a multibillion-dollar loss. “Last year, the Government estimated that the entertainment, cultural and creative industry generates about $84 billion in economic activity each year. If you quantify that for a 14.5-month period of closure, that’s over $100 billion with zero compensation from the Government, despite promises to do so,” he said.
In statistics obtained from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) back in January, the Employed Labour Force decreased by 7.4 per cent in October 2020, with the most significant decline recorded in arts and entertainment. The data also showed that the Jamaican economy, on a whole, recorded a 10.7 per cent decline in the third quarter of 2020 when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2019.
While not subscribing to the belief that a mass migration of events could have any long-term effects on the local entertainment scene, Kamal Bankay, a member of the Entertainment Advisory Board and chairman of the Sports and Entertainment Network in the Ministry of Tourism, told The Sunday Gleaner that a phased reopening is definitely necessary. “Jamaica pre-COVID hosts 20,000 events annually, and less than 0.1 per cent of Jamaican events have attempted to do something in the US. Such a small percentage cannot affect the industry. There’s no mass migration,” he shared.
He said events and brands go where there is demand. “So once the consumers demand the events, they will be here. Therefore, we need to open back up as soon as possible in a variety of safe ways. These include small events with simple, familiar and monitored protocols, rapid testing for bubble events and vaccinated-person-only events,” said Bankay.
Dunn said the concern is partygoers heading to other party destinations. “Right now, a lot of people who would have travelled to Jamaica for Dream Weekend, Carnival or Sumfest are travelling to Tulum, Mexico or Miami, Florida, instead. Once we reopen soon, we can work to reclaim our place as leaders in the Caribbean entertainment scene,” said Dunn, adding that once the sector reopens, effort needs to be put in ensuring patrons return. “We need to put policies in place that will make the entertainment industry attractive again. Just like we have initiated policies for the tourism sector that keep the visitors coming, we need that same energy once the sector gets the go-ahead. We need more governmental support, more investors and just more persons who care about the sector overall,” said Dunn.
As more arguments are put forward for a phased reopening of the events sector, The Sunday Gleaner understands that an extensive meeting was held on Thursday night between industry stakeholders and the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport. No details have been divulged, but it is believed that several topics were discussed, and new proposals were drafted to facilitate some sort of reopening.
Although new proposals are underway that could result in the events sector getting much-needed attention, the Government has been coming under fire from other key stakeholders in the industry. This after patrons of the May 24-30 Mocha Fest were seen flouting COVID-19 restrictions at a May 26 event, Sunset Happy Hour (Tropical Best), at Rick’s Café. Bankay said he would await the results of the investigation before commenting. “The tourism sector, with the proposals they presented last year, was successful in their lobby to reopen. Hotels have been given leeway to operate on their own property and manage their events. Rick’s Café is a restaurant and bar; it is not a hotel, so I am waiting on the full investigation like everybody else before giving a full comment,” he said.
On Friday, the Tourism Product Development Company Ltd. withdrew Rick’s Café’s COVID-19 compliance certification with immediate effect. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development announced that it has ordered the establishment closed for seven days. A meeting between the management of Rick’s Café and officials from the ministry and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is set for tomorrow.