'The Intent 2' directors to invest more in Jamaica

Femi Oyeniran and Nicky 'Slimting' Walker - directors of The Intent 2: The Come Up, say they are looking to invest more in Jamaica's film industry. Oyeniran and Walker were speaking at the private screening of the movie at the Courtleigh auditorium last Thursday.

The directors revealed that having held auditions in Jamaica for different roles in the film, they were pleasantly surprised with the level of talent displayed by local actors. Pointing out that all the country needs is dedicated investors, the directors expressed their intention to come back and shoot more films in Jamaica with Jamaican talent at the helm. "We saw over 100 people when we did the auditions, and we wish we could have put everyone in the film because they were all good. Literally, there weren't enough roles in the film," Walker said. "We could've just shot the whole film in Jamaica - that's how good everyone was, and when you watch the scenes from Jamaica, you see that. It was so gripping, and so beautiful on the screen, and for us it just opened our eyes to say we need to come back and shoot more films in Jamaica and invest in the industry, do more movies, more TV shows because there's so much talent here."

CASTING JAMAICANS

With that said, Walker noted that he and Oyeniran insisted on casting real Jamaicans in the roles that required 'yaadies'. The directors said with the pool talentpool it made more sense to get the 'real deal' than to get British actors to imitate Jamaicans. "You can't come to Jamaica and shoot a film without real Jamaicans in it, it's more authentic that way and people relate and understand better. There is so much amazing talent here," and we need to do more to showcase that, said Walker. "Every day Femi and I speak and we say we need to come back and just shoot more films here, even a whole Jamaican movie because there's so much talent here and that needs to be showcased around the world. For us, that's our mission, to come back here and tell more Jamaican stories."

The Intent 2: The Come Up features dancehall artiste Popcaan in his debut role as an actor, as well as veteran Louie Rankin, more popularly known as Teddy Brukshut.