When aspiring filmmaker Danielle Russell attends a leading film festival in France later this year, she will likely be more concerned with making deals than simply showing her short film.

Industry events like the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and others around the globe, carve out the bulk of roughly US$3 billion in film financing between filmmakers, financiers, international sales agents, distributors and marketers.

The Government of Jamaica’s marketing arm, JAMPRO, wants more Jamaicans in that mix.

After all, films that registered with JAMPRO last year employed just under 2,800 persons and earned some $793 million, up from $745 million a year earlier, according to latest Planning Institute of Jamaica data published in the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica. That’s a sizeable chunk of the entertainment industry earnings, referred to as the creative industries. Not surprisingly, JAMPRO wants to grow that amount and the associated jobs.

Russell will show her short film, This City of Mine, at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. She, however, still awaits a call-back regarding showing her short film at Clermont-Ferrand, described by the organisers as the world’s largest short-film festival.

Across the Caribbean, the film community has been bubbling with activity. As it seeks to create distinct Caribbean identities through visual storytelling, film commissions have been exchanging ideas and resources to bolster interest in the filmmaking industry. At the behest residents of the smaller of the twin island nations, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) has branched to accommodate the staging of the first ever Tobago Jazz Film Festival on April 22-25, 2017.

“Tobagonians have been asking for their own film festival, and the Tobago Jazz Experience provides the perfect opportunity for us to do this. We are thrilled to be highlighting the talent of Tobago’s young filmmakers alongside internationally acclaimed films centred in music,” says Dr Bruce Paddington, founder of TTFF.

Annabelle Alcazar, programme director of TTFF, told The Gleaner that they have participated in a number of collaborations with other Caribbean territories. Through an annual festival and year-round screenings, TTFF celebrates films from across the Caribbean and seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering networking opportunities.

The first Tobago Jazz Film Festival – a celebration of music and Tobago through film – will be launched on April 21, as part of the Tobago Jazz Experience.

An initiative of the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival and corporate sponsor FLOW, the Tobago Jazz Film Festival will screen in the open air, with films by Tobagonian filmmakers, as well as international films with a focus on music. There will also be an industry workshop for Tobago-based film-makers.

According to Cindy-Ann Gatt, director of Marketing at FLOW, “We remain committed to supporting the development of content in Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the Caribbean. We are also happy to contribute to the development of entertainment tourism in Tobago, as exemplified by our platinum sponsorship of the Tobago Jazz Experience. Tobago is a wonderful island and its history lends itself to great storytelling.”

Dr Bruce Paddington, founder and director of the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival, added, “We are thrilled to be highlighting the talent of Tobago’s young film-makers, alongside internationally acclaimed films centred in music.”

The Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and year-round screenings. In addition, the TTFF seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities. The TTFF is presented by FLOW, given leading sponsorship by bpTT, and contributing sponsorship by RBC Royal Bank.