The Belize International Film Market is Launched

Nigel Miguel

The Belize Film Commission is officially launching the Belize International Film Market and Belize-based Studio Complex with Saba Industries. The announcement was made today, via a press release where the commission says that along with Global Commerce, Digital Entertainment and Media Divisions for the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Saba Industries, they are looking to develop content and networking as well as professional development and training workshops. But for the Belize International Market to function, it needs exhibitors, producers, writers and other key persons in the visual arts industry.  Earlier today, News Five spoke with Film Commissioner Nigel Miguel.

Nigel Miguel, Film Commissioner

“The main objective of the market is to provide access to those writers to those producers if you are talking about the local individuals that they get to interact with producers, writers from abroad. The main objective is to give them access and give new products or projects that haven’t been done a way so that they can go through the process of a pitch meeting. What does it actually take to sell your idea? And once you sell your idea, we go into production. And once you produce it, you have a finished project, how do you get it to the international market? The Film Market will allow local producers, local film makers to have that experience. It’s Belize centric content; the markets that we will be selling to and exporting to yes. It is basically anything outside of the U.S.; that ninety percent of the underserved market so that is basically where we will be different from most of the other film markets from around the world. More than anything it is just the next step if we are truly going to be players on the international market which I believe that we have the talent here to do. But it is raw talent and we need to refine. So one of the major things that we are going to do with the studio is the exchange of knowledge, teaching. We want to have all of the folks involved in the local media houses, send their people to get trained. This will be a studio for international projects of course, but part of the thing is for us to build the local film industry so that when these projects come in from outside, major productions, we will be able to use locals to work behind the scenes, to be in front of the camera.”