Almost 30 years after ‘Dancehall Queen’, new series enters production

Building on the legacy of the iconic film Dancehall Queen while bringing a new generation of stories to the screen, Daughters of the Dancehall Queen is set to begin principal photography in early October. Almost three decades after the film’s success, one of its writers is bringing a new Jamaican story to television, rooted in family, womanhood, music and contemporary life.

Daughters of the Dancehall Queen is an eight-episode television series written and produced by Ed Wallace, with screen production by YAADBridge Entertainment Limited. It will feature an entirely Jamaican cast and crew.

The title recalls the ground-breaking 1997 film starring Audrey Reid and Paul Campbell, which gave Jamaican cinema one of its most memorable and oft-repeated lines in Campbell’s menacing threat: “Walk and live, talk and [expletive] dead!” While Wallace was one of the original film writers, he does emphasise that Daughters of the Dancehall Queen is not a remake of Dancehall Queen. Instead, the TV series draws upon the cultural legacy that helped make the film memorable while telling a story for a new generation.

According to Wallace, the series explores mother-daughter dynamics, family relationships, identity, personal choices and dancehall’s continuing influence on Jamaican life and culture.

“ Daughters of the Dancehall Queen has been more than 20 years in the making. After the success of Dancehall Queen, which I created and co-wrote, I initially considered a sequel. Over time, that idea evolved into a television series following the lives of the two daughters,” he told The Gleaner, adding, “The project sat with me for years, but the time has come. We have assembled an excellent Jamaican team to tell a family story that we believe can connect with audiences both locally and internationally.”

The production is expected to engage professionals both in front of and behind the camera, supporting YAADBridge Entertainment’s aim of building a sustainable local screen industry. “For us, this is about more than producing eight episodes of television. Every Jamaican production creates another opportunity for our actors, technicians, writers and filmmakers to work, earn, strengthen their credits and continue building careers here at home,” said Sherando Ferril, executive producer at YAADBridge Entertainment. “If we want a sustainable Jamaican film and television industry, then we have to keep Jamaican productions moving from development into actual production.”

Ferril further added that there is something particularly meaningful about having Wallace return almost 30 years after Dancehall Queen: “We aren’t trying to recreate what that film was. We are acknowledging its legacy while allowing a completely new generation of characters and Jamaican creatives to tell their own story.”

Daughters of the Dancehall Queen enters production amid a wave of Jamaican films premiering in local cinemas. It is among the projects receiving production support through the Government of Jamaica’s Jamaica Screen Development Initiative (JSDI), established to strengthen the local screen industries and increase the creation of high-quality content capable of competing internationally. Launched in 2024 with a $1-billion allocation, the JSDI provides support across development, production, completion, festival and market attendance, marketing and distribution, as well as production rebates. In July 2025, the Government announced that $668 million had been approved for local film productions benefiting 91 creative-sector MSMEs. By March 2026, $315 million had been disbursed through the Jamaica Screen Fund.

nicola.cunningham@gleanerjm.com