Belize's Creative Sector - it's a fledgling industry that's yet to make any major contribution to the country's GDP.
That's in stark contrast to our CARICOM neighbour Jamaica where in 2018 creative industries represented approximately five percent, or US$730 Million of a US$14.6 billion GDP.
But will Belize's creatives ever get anywhere near there?
It's been difficult because while the democratization of technology and the internet has allowed the rise of Youtubers turned celebrities like Justin Bieber and The Weeknd, Belizean artists have lacked the basic camera equipment and editing flair to get noticed online.
But all that could be about to change.
That's because of a local production company that claims to be re-focusing on the production and dissemination of Belizean stories. They sent out a call for creators this morning and we were quick to ask them just what and who they're looking for. Cherisse Halsall reports.
He's the man that brought us Tanya Carter's Ex-Boyfriend and Big Bang's Cocaine.
And today C.E.O. of Ignite Ltd. Carlo Habet took the first step in re-focusing the efforts of his production company. They sent out an open call for Belizean Creators.
It's a doorway if you will, free of financial barriers, that will allow Belizeans to tell their stories on platforms that could take them to the global stage.
Cherisse Halsall "So, this morning you guys released a poster and it's calling for Belizean creators, now that word creator might not be familiar to a lot of people in Belize, they may struggle to understand what it is you're asking for. So, explain to me in a nutshell what that poster is calling for."
Carlo Habet - CEO, Ignite. Ltd "Honestly for us I think it's kind of the beginning of sort of a new focus, a new direction we want to go in and I would want to say to an extent we really don't know what we're going to get back yet but we feel like there is so many stories out there, people have so many voices and things to say and we want to kind of give them an avenue to say those things and hope that it also appeals to a Belizean audience. Belize like a lot of countries is young and we're trying to find our look I think and we're trying to find our sound our music things like that but I feel like we're kind of behind on the look and I think there is a lot of Belizeans here and abroad who like to see themselves, what they look like, to have an identity on film essentially and I think that's kind of what we're going for."
It's an inspiring message and one that could bring hope to a creative sector that's been starving for support. But the fact of the matter is that IGNITE Ltd. needs creators as much as the creators need them.
Cherisse Halsall "And I know all these details aren't worked out yet but what do the creators get back?"
Carlo Habet "Well that's a good question, so the way we envisioned it we find a creator we want to work with, it will be a sort of long term relationship, so we definitely work out our contract with that in mind, we would actually give compensation for the part that your playing and definitely assign rights and credits where they are due in that process or making the film or animation or whatever it may be."
Cherisse Halsall "Who releases the content because from what we're figuring it's likely some kind of umbrella setup."
Carlo Habet "We have a few different ideas in mind and this is just the beginning so we do not see anything set up yet but we're getting to that now, we're opening all our channels basically so we're going to essentially be doing a lot of social media stuff to begin and we want to give it away to start, you have to kind of build an audience. After we build that audience, we're definately looking at the more traditional online channels, you know things like Netflix and Amazon and all of these people so we've gotten all of their what you call requirements. We easily meet those it's just about getting the content and I think somewhere down the road we'd like to have our own dedicated channel where we can actually have subscribers and then provide specific content to our subscribers as well."
And in a global media landscape where many believe that all the stories have been told IGNITE Ltd.s new project is hoping to bring forth that which can only come from Belize.
Carlo Habet "The best stories it could be from any country because there are stories about people, their struggle, their plight, that's what it's about but at the same time I feel there is so many things that only happen in Belize and I don't want to be overly patriotic but I have people come to Belize and tell me that same thing, that this place is so full of stories. I really do feel like Belize has one of the highest stories per capita per person and I want to give a voice to that and I think the word needs to know that."
Content Format for Ignite Ltd's creator call includes Short Films, Feature Films, Short Episodes, Documentaries, Podcasts, Social media streams, Illustrations, or Comics.
