Film symposium opens doors for women

The Women in Film Industry Symposium held in Kingston recently, has left participants hopeful for the future of Jamaica's creative industry.

The event, which closed out the Screenwriters Accelerator Programme organised by Women in Film and Television Jamaica, brought together established and emerging voices in the industry for a day of pitching scripts, networking and sharing. For recent UWI Film Studies graduate Denia Morgan, who helped to organise the programme, explained that it began with a call for scripts in June.

"Then we chose five persons. It's really four, but one of the participants was a duo," she said. "It started with an intensive weekend where all the participants met each other, and we went through the intricacies of understanding what a script should entail, also trying to find the conflict of the story and need-to-knows for script writing."

Participants then attended bi-monthly workshops led by Tanya Batson-Savage, publisher, writer, filmmaker and creative consultant, who guided them through the process.

"She guided them on formatting the script and making them ready. Each week she had meetings with all the parties to form so they could discuss each other's work, giving them tips on how to push the story along. The participants also got story editors assigned to them who helped them fine-tune and finalise their script before the live pitch session, which was the last part of the programme," Morgan said.

She said the importance of staging the symposium was to show how much the creative industry is expanding in Jamaica.

"Even though arts in itself and film is not considered as a lucrative career path, that's a misconception," she said.

"I want to be a filmmaker and I'm paving my way, so I feel like it would motivate others to know that the creative industry is here, we're making action steps and working with government bodies to ensure that opportunities are being created and there is a place for creatives in the professional scene."

Morgan disagreed with the notion that Jamaica's film industry is "almost dead".

"What I would say to these people is, as artists, we're always the disruptors in society, so we have to work extremely hard or be more proactive. It's not the same as becoming a doctor because hospitals are there. When you're a creative, sometimes you have to make these opportunities for yourself or network with those who can show you the way," she said. The symposium also benefited from guest speakers including actress and theatre director Dahlia Harris, who highlighted the realities of being a producer and writer.

For Batson-Savage, the deeper value of the symposium lay in the space it created for women in film.

"The truth of the matter is, the symposium was not so much about women on screen. It could see women behind the lens, which, to be honest, if we're going to improve the state of women in front of the camera, we have to improve the state of women behind the camera. And I say that in the context that I understand that there is a lot that is right with representation of women behind the camera in Jamaica. So I'm not suggesting that it is extremely problematic. However, what I know to be true is that when women create stories about women, you get stronger and more dynamic and more diverse stories about women, which will, of course, improve representation in front of the lens."

She added that creating opportunities was just as important as opening doors.

"The symposium offered opportunity for networking, offered opportunities for connections. But it also offered real training and possibilities for conversations so people can discuss issues they're having, whether creative issues or otherwise in relation to the industry [or] where they can learn from the experiences of others. It's one thing to open a door. It's a whole other thing to create a room."