The high cost of producing programmes locally makes it next to impossible to get them made and then aired. Staff Reporter Yolande Gyles went behind the scenes to take a closer look at just how high these costs can be.
IT COSTS about $1 million to film a single episode of Royal Palm Estate. With that staggering cost in mind, is it difficult to see why so few local television programmes are being made?
According to Brian St. Juste, of Apex Productions and a member of the recently-dissolved Entertainment Advisory Board, "Jamaica cannot afford the cost of local productions. We should have four Royal Palms and eight half-hour serials. However, we simply cannot afford it."
In breaking down the costs for various productions, St. Juste said, "The average drama is costing anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million. A sitcom (situation comedy) can probably be done for anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000 and a magazine programme $200,000 to $400,000. Going to Extremes, which was done 10 years ago, cost a million dollars per episode."
Simply put, the cost of production in Jamaica, coupled with the small size of the market, makes it very difficult to sustain local programming. As Marcia Forbes, general manager of Television Jamaica (TVJ), said, "If you're going to compare, our market is 2.5 million as opposed to the United States (US) market of 250 million. Additionally, the US no longer focuses on their home market, they make the most money from their overseas market."
Among the many things that production companies and local television stations have to factor in when they are budgeting for their productions are talent, cameramen, grips and production assistants, along with other key personnel, location, food, equipment, transportation, tape, accommodation, music and sound effects. This is all before the most expensive component is factored in post-production, or editing.
Lennie Little-White, of Mediamix and director/producer of Royal Palm Estate, said that with the advent of cable, local productions have to be of the highest quality. "Unfortunately, or fortunately, because you have cable, Lime Tree Lane can't cut it again. They (the audience) are expecting yuh to look like The Young and the Restless, with not even one hundredth of the budget," he said.
He added: "Since cable, you now have an average of over 70 channels available to Jamaican consumers, so they are far more sophisticated than even the overseas audience. In New York, the average consumer has 20 channels. So our Jamaicans get to see far more good productions than they do and, as a result, they are more critical. They (local consumers) will see things that even you might not see, so yours has to be on par," Mr. Little-White said.
Mr. Little-White should know. His production, Royal Palm Estate, is one of the most successful locally created television dramas, having been on air for the past nine years. According to the 2002 Market Research Services Ltd. Media Survey, they enjoy a viewership of 674,000 or 37 per cent of the viewing population in their 8:30 p.m. time slot.
"We have had to amortise the cost. Most of those who work on our productions are on staff at Mediamix. If we had to pay them otherwise, we couldn't. We also rely a lot on sponsorship and we have had to learn to shoot creatively. So like we would fake a bar scene. We shoot at a bar in the day, when we can get it for free and then add the bar sounds later in editing," he said.
Ms. Forbes agrees with him. "Nobody else has the position that a Mediamix has. They are a large production house and their staff works on their productions," she said.
So where does that leave the smaller production when they want to get their programme on air? Mr. St. Juste puts it like this. "A big battle would be on between the producer and the TV station. The station will tell you to bring the sponsors along with your programme and then they would air it. Not that they won't help you, because many times they will. Ideally, as in the US, they should buy your product from you," he said.
The TVJ general manager stated the station's position. "A TV station doesn't have an inexhaustible supply of money; we have a budget, just like a family, so we have to decide where to spend. Do we have a drama that runs for a season, or do we continue with the shows we have now like a Schools Challenge Quiz and a Smile Jamaica?" Mrs. Forbes said.
Unlike CVM, which has aired Royal Palm Estate since its inception, TVJ has not had a locally produced drama in its regular line-up for some time. However, Mrs. Forbes is quick to point out that despite not having such a flagship programme, the station does air a significant amount of local television programming. "Yes, Royal Palm has been running for nine years, but we have School's Challenge Quiz, that has been going for over 30 years, and Profile which has been on air for about 12 years, as well as Prime Time News which is the most watched programme in the country with over 900,000 viewers" she countered.
However, Mrs. Forbes admitted that TVJ would also like to have a drama. "In fact, we have 13 episodes of one shot and in the can. We have gone as far as marketing it; we have even aired the pilot already and got tremendous response from the audience," she said. The production Mrs. Forbes refers to is the half-hour Jambiz produced sitcom, Tiny's Place; however in the Jamaican landscape, getting it aired has proven to be difficult, as the station is still unable to find a sponsor.
"The reality is that we don't have a taker. We brought on an independent producer in Jambiz and still we are unable to air all that we have," she said.
She also added that advertising being what it is today, sponsors are not that easy to come by. "We are just beginning to see a resurgence in the advertising market over the last year. Advertising was hit very hard when the financial sector collapsed a few years ago and, as a result, the advertising budget was severely hit. Now even though the pie is growing, it has to be split among more players, because other media also want a part of the advertising dollar," Mrs. Forbes said.
"For us, it comes down to choices. Do we keep a School's Challenge Quiz, or do we go and get a drama? We decided that Schools Challenge is more important and has more value to the society. Plus we get more mileage from it. We will be moving into carrying it four nights a week next year, while a drama would only air one night a week," Mrs. Forbes said.
As a means to get over the hurdle of finding sponsorship for local programmes, St Juste said: "We have to start producing stuff that we can sell overseas, so we would get a much larger market."
Speaking to the issue of sponsors, Mr. St. Juste said that instead of looking for sponsorship, producers should look to investors. "You will still look to the sponsors, but not as a sponsor but as an investor. They will have to look at it over the long term."
Mr. St. Juste also said that the Government had a role to play in attracting investors. "Well, there has to be incentives and that's one of the things we were looking at with the Entertainment Board. We were looking at introducing legislation that would give tax incentives to investors."
So what's the outlook for the future?
"If you base your future on your ideals then very good," said Mr. St. Juste. "If we get our local stuff going then we can really take off."
