Filmmaker calls for tax incentive to bolster local industry
Published:Sunday | November 6, 2022 | 12:11 AMDebra Edwards - Assistant Online and Lifestyle Editor
The third staging of The Skylark Film Festival’s first night saw former The Young and The Restless actress and Blackjack Christmas writer and director, Victoria Rowell, calling for tax incentives to bolster the local film industry.
The film festival, which was held at The Skylark Negril Beach Resort from November 4-5, showcased a host of films made in Jamaica by Jamaicans with collaborations from overseas creators.
Following local short films, Before Yu Dead, Cross My Heart, Sugar Cake, and Traytown; Blackjack Christmas, which was shot both in Jamaica and the United States, featuring notables Fae Ellington and Oliver Samuels, was the highlight of the evening.
After the screening, Rowell, who is of Jamaican heritage, said she has been coming to Jamaica since the ‘70s and considers it “to be part of my life” and a “home away from home”.
Facing the audience, she spoke of her love for working on ‘The Rock’ stating, “The vibe is very good and it is very creative, but it is also business. We need a tax incentive, obviously, for doing more filming here. A film fund would be great, but we’re working towards something that is comprehensive and stable.”
Echoing Rowell’s comments on tax incentives for the film industry in Jamaica, former The Young and The Restless and Blackjack Christmas actor, Adam Lazarre-White, said, “It’s not just about the movie. The tax incentive brings production here. It’s not just about actors, it’s not just about the industry. It means the cab drivers have more work. The hotels have more work. The electricians have more work. The entire area explodes.”
Using the state of Atlanta, which over the last decade has had immense growth in its gross domestic product due to film tax incentives, as an example, Lazarre-White encouraged Jamaicans “to not be short-sighted and understand that that thing (tax incentive) generates so much profit, work and jobs for the community for a long time coming”.
A VIABLE OPTION
With hope for the future, chief operating officer of local production house, The LAB, Tashara Johnson said, “I am very positive in believing that sooner or later it will become a viable option and we will be seeing more tax credits towards subsidies or just access towards things that will enable and propel our film industry.”
Rowell later explained that to create her films she raises private and investor equity.
“I make it for a specific budget which is considered a ULB (ultra low budget) to license the movies. I retain creative control. It’s a lot of work to keep a tight budget but I do it and I am able to license for profit, and because of that I am able to pay back my investors, and because of that, I have repeat investors,” she shared.
Noting that a good track record always makes a difference, Rowell continued, “My investors are like ‘wow, I got my money. I got my percentage and I get to see it on television’.”
Expressing her gratitude to Skylark for hosting the festival, she thanked organiser Gareth Cobran and Skylark’s Paul Salmon.
Looking at her Blackjack Christmas crew, she concluded of making movies, “It’s a lot of work. You have to have the right team and I have the right team.”
Catch Blackjack Christmas on BET+ on December 15.