'We need some help'

Lack of funding hurting local animators

Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's efforts to create jobs and grow the economy through the multibillion-dollar animation industry could fail if financial backing is not found for local players.

Jamaicans already involved in animation and persons wanting to enter the industry last week sought to put into perspective the urgent need for adequate funding to ensure that the country secures a foothold in the dynamic global landscape that would catapult the local industry on to the world stage.

The problem was highlighted last week by the chief executive officer of Alcyone Animation, Alison Latchman, at a Gleaner Editors' Forum.

She was supported by local and international stakeholders, brought into the island through an initiative of the Government backed by the World Bank.

Latchman, the creator of Jamaica's most popular animation series, Cabbie Chronicles, did not mince words as she pointed to the urgent need for imaginative and intuitive financing of Jamaicans who want a share of the ever-expanding market.

"There needs to be some structures or policy to support the establishment of new studios, because one of our major challenges is funding," asserted Latchman. "The (lack of) funding is really what is stifling us."

With support of Latchman's position coming from executive director of Reel Rock GSW Animation Limited, Wayne Sinclair, the senior social development specialist at the World Bank with responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean, Fabio Pittaluga, emphasised that his team was aware of the challenges.

"We are conscious of the issue and this is why we made a conscious effort to invite the financial secretary at the conference in Jamaica," disclosed Pittaluga.

He said the World Bank had also sought the input of the Exim Bank, the Development Bank of Jamaica, and Sagicor to ensure the realisation of the dreams of these Jamaicans.

MORE SUPPORT NEEDED

"We think that beyond what the Government will and can do, private banking sector needs also to step up to the plate."

That position was endorsed by Giorgio Valentini, the World Bank's country representative.

"The Government has a big role, but the private sector has a huge one in terms of investment," Valentini told the Editors' Forum.

"Unfortunately, the private sector in Jamaica has not invested much in innovations. It has invested primarily in maintaining the status quo."

From her vantage point at Alcyone Animation, Latchman noted that her company would have been forced to pull down the shutters to her studio had it not been for the proceeds from its advertising arm.

"Everything that is required to maintain the industry requires funding," stressed Latchman.

"You can have the talent and the equipment, but if you don't have the money, you can't buy the software, you can't buy the equipment that you need, or pay the people that you need."

Latchman suggested that while facilities for animation can be accommodated in a home or an office environment, people playing critical roles in projects need to be paid.

"Nobody works for free so we need funding. That is the first thing I would say that would drive everything else. Right now, we are stuck because we have no money, literally."

Latchman stressed that loans would not be feasible in moving the industry as that would require hard-to-find collateral.

"No one wants to find themselves in such a situation. The market is unstable as it is right now, so I don't know if there is some kind of support."

COULD DO BETTER

Referring to claims that Jamaicans are among the most creative in the global space, Latchman characterised Trinidad and Tobago as being "very good" with its support of its animation industry. "I think that if we get the same level of support, we could do much better."

She argued that with the requisite levels of funding, the Cabbie Chronicles could have been dominating international platform.

"But what is stifling us is the funding as the scripts are sitting and people are sitting there waiting to animate, write, illustrate and sing because it's an all-inclusive industry."

For his part, Sinclair attributed the absence of funding to a fundamental lack of understanding of the intellectual property in the local sphere.

He cited the popular animation Dora The Explorer, which he said has raked in more US$11 billion in merchandising and licensing revenues.

"In Jamaica, we are still in the brick stand mortar environment, so if something like Cabbie Chronicles had the funding needed with a seven-million population in the diaspora, it would have been well on its way to the international platform."