Kingston, 28 February 2024 (JIS) - Jamaican artistes and entertainment industry practitioners are being encouraged to utilise the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport’s entertainment registry.

This urging came from the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, while speaking during Tuesday’s (February 27) Visa and Immigration Symposium to commemorate Reggae Month.

The National Registry of Entertainment and Creative Industry Practitioners, or e-registry, is the database used to verify entertainment, cultural and creative industry practitioners.

Minister Grange said the e-registry is a mechanism to legitimise the work and authenticity of practitioners, pointing out that registration is mandatory for industry members to derive benefits.

“We want all entertainers to register on the e-registry. There are many benefits. There are opportunities for you to get waivers on equipment, musical instruments [and] technical apparatus coming into the country. If there are opportunities for funding, if you are on the registry, you will be in a position to get support. We provide tour support, we also assist… to facilitate this kind of exchange,” she further stated.

The registry facilitates duty-free access on equipment for music and film producers and visa facilitation for artistes and crew members through attestation from the Ministry.

Registered practitioners will also be able to access support from the National Screen Development Fund, which makes $1 billion available for film-makers.

The Visa Immigration Symposium addressed long-standing concerns of entertainment practitioners who wish to travel overseas and continue honing their craft in international markets.

“We heard your complaints regarding challenges being experienced with various Embassies and High Commissions and have invited those same Embassies and High Commissions to provide information on their processes and how to access those services,” Minister Grange reassured managers and artistes.

The Permanent Secretary, Dean-Roy Bernard, underscored the symposium’s importance to the entertainment sector.

“Our goals in this Ministry are straightforward. We provide these sessions to allow you to better navigate the visa and work permit process, to enable you to legitimately apply your craft in the United States [among other countries] as entertainers, sportspersons and creative individuals. These are experts and there are no better people to provide the information,” he said.

The month-long symposium featured presentations and discussions on the visa and work-permit-application process from representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Labour and Social Security, as well as the United States, Spanish, German and Belgian Embassies, and the British and Canadian High Commissions.

Symposium attendees were also able to pose questions and concerns during the various presentations.

END