Converting Cartoon Cash to Hard Currency

Musicians need to beware.  Animators may be Jamaica’s next big cultural export.

KingstOOn is the catalyst for a revolution.  Following the inaugural staging of the animation expo in 2013, UWI, UTech and even HEART joined Edna Manley in offering courses in animation in anticipation of the animation boom likely to impact Jamaica’s creative sector.

Potential Markets

Hon Julian Robinson, MP

Rhetoric aside, Jamaica is well poised to tap into the multi-billion dollar global animation market.  The country has strong relationships with the larger markets like the UK and Japan, and well suited to tap the largest market of them all, the USA.  “Because of our proximity to North America, we are seen as a good fit,” explained Former State Minister in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson, MP.

He explained that our proximity is not limited to geographic factors.  Jamaicans have a strong appreciation and understanding of North American culture.   Our population speaks the language (and in some cases the ‘twang’), we have a creative mass and have a strong education foundation.

The tertiary education community, recognizing the potential, has moved quickly to provide courses designed to harness the natural creativity of the population at various levels.  The Government backed HEART Trust NTA, the prestigious University of the West Indies and other notable institutions have followed the lead of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in introducing animation courses.

Market Opportunities

The immediate potential lies in the outsourcing of animation projects to local studios and freelancers.  This is a common practice.  “There are a number of studios who have gotten contracts to do the development of animation content,” Robinson further highlighted.  To put it simply, Disney may call up a Jamaican animator and say, “Hey, we have a sequence we need to you do as a piece of a big project.”  The Jamaican sits in his office in Kingston; animates the sequence based on the instructions given; and sends the clip via the internet for inclusion in the overall project.

"Cha-ching!”  Revenues flow directly into Jamaican coffers.

There is also tremendous potential for revenue from immigration.  In this scenario, locally trained (for less than their US counterparts) animators move to the US to work and repatriate funds to loved ones on the rock.

“Cha-ching!”  Revenues flow into Jamaica.

The most lucrative, but arguably hardest to achieve opportunity, is the export of local creative content from an influential culture recognized and copied all over the world.

“Cha-ching!” Revenues flow into Jamaica.

Market Catalyst

This is the climate in which the second staging of the KINGSTOON animation festival takes place.  The multitude of activities, screenings, workshops, lectures, presentations and booths fall within three tracks: Learn. Earn. Display.

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All Access Pass via UWI Research Days App

The vast campus of the esteemed University of the West Indies (UWI) will play host to the institution’s annual Research Days expo.  If you are like me, you get lost every time you step on campus!  And this multi-day, multi-location expo featuring over 140 activities is enough to make my mental compass spin.

I need not worry however, because the bright folks at Caribbean’s leading tertiary learning centre have provided an app, for just that.

The UWI Research Days app for Android devices provides a plethora of features to help navigate the event slated for February 17 - 19 both literally and virtually.  The built-in map feature highlights the exact location of each of the events with real-time GPS tracking to guide you through the gates to the attraction.

For me, that alone makes the app an essential tool.  But, there’s more, as they say.

Howard Edwards, Shane Richards & Javon Davis

All the various presentations, symposiums, demonstrations, tours, lectures, launches and a variety of other activities are included in the app’s calendar complete with insightful information.  Armed this info, you can browse through the offerings, identify the activities that most appeal to you and pin them or add them to the native calendar on your mobile device with just a few taps.  Real-time reminders and alters, paired with the already mentioned map feature mean that you can be on time  and in place for every activity.

Howard Edwards, Shane Richards and Javon Davis from the Faculty of Science and Technology, the team behind the app, even had the foresight to make the app self-contained, so once downloaded, no wifi means no problem.

Screen Shots of UWI Research Days App

Taking it even further, since many of the activities happen simultaneously the app can help you be in multiple places at once, thanks to a virtual tour feature.

The app is as powerful as the event is seeks to capture, yet its free for download in the Google Play Store.  Get it long before the official opening of UWI Research Days on Wednesday, February 17 at 2 PM to plot your course through the expo.

About UWI Research Days

The three-day exposition will aim to directly show the public how the research impacts different aspects of everyday life. Therefore, the theme has been examined under the headings of; Law, Governance and Society; Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals and Well Being; Supporting Industries, Institutions and Infrastructure; Developing Human Resources; Tertiary Industries and Primary Industries.

Under the theme “Driving Development through Research and Innovation”, UWI Research Days 2016 at the UWI Mona Campus will feature other practical ways in which the University is using its research to aid in development and create solutions to everyday problems. The exposition, scheduled for February 17 – 19 will allow investors, policy-makers and stakeholders in the public and private sectors to explore practical solutions to real world challenges, developed through Mona research.