The Barbados Advocate 02/19/2009
IN 18 months five Caribbean films will be afforded the opportunity to benefit from international promotion following the developmental assistance that their production teams will receive from a pilot project.

Yesterday, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), in association with the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), and the CARICOM Secretariat, launched a project aimed at empowering creative entrepreneurs in the audio-visual industry sector of the Caribbean to make their mark beyond their respective island boundaries.

The region-wide project provides a framework and platform that will help entrepreneurs establish a distinct presence at international film festivals as well as among potential distributors and producers/investors in the film business.

US$220,000.00 was provided by the Government of Turkey through UNIDO for the funding of the project, and additional grant funding is being sought from other development partners.

Executive Director of CEDA, Philip Williams, stated at a news conference held at their offices, as part of the agenda for a Regional Steering Committee Meeting for the project, that regional film production teams will be provided with technical assistance and business linkage inputs, under the Cinematic and Entrepreneurship Motivation Awards (CEMA).

The teams, which will be known as the “CARIBfilm Dream Teams” must have persons from at least two countries in the region and will be required to complete production of the films in one year.

The international promotion of these five films will help to provide new opportunities for distribution and networking for filmmakers from the region.

In the near future a call will be made for proposals from regional film teams, in order to facilitate the success of the project.

Williams stated that the project “was initiated as a result of the greater emphasis being placed at the regional and national levels in CARIFORUM on the development of cultural industries as an important component of the sustainable development strategy for the region.”
The development of these indigenous, creative industries, he argued, “is expected to contribute to poverty reduction, diversification of the tourism product and positively engage youth in the region.”

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), creative industries contribute as much as seven per cent of the world’s GDP and are forecast to grow at an average of 10 per cent per annum in the near future.

As a result, the push is being made regionally to develop an industry to the point that it can benefit financially from this future growth.

The Steering Committee Meeting continues today, and participants include representatives from the film industry across the various territories, regional organisations, and UNIDO. (RH)