U.S Virgin Islands re-energizing film sector
October 23, 2019
The last scene of the 1994 drama, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, was filmed at the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI).
So too was the 1983 comedy, ‘Trading Places’, whose last day of production took place on a St. Croix beach.
With one of the oldest film promotion offices in the Americas, the USVI is in the process of re-energizing its film sector.
A team, headed by the islands’ Department of Tourism Commissioner Joe Boschulte, was in Toronto last month for the annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival.
As part of its film development strategy, the Department of Tourism and the Economic Development Authority partnered with Caribbean Tales to co-present ‘The Big Pitch’ breakfast and ‘Redhot Mixer’ events.
The USVI were hit hard by two major Category Five hurricanes in two weeks in 2017.
There has been no filming on the islands, which also include St. Thomas and St. John, in the past two years.
“We are looking to rebound in the market from a tourism and film production perspective as a location site and we are doing that by building relationships,” said Boschulte.
Joe Boschulte (l), David Bornn, Luana Wheatley, Wayne Biggs & Kevin Rodriguez
To help attract business, the ‘Sustainable Tourism through Arts-based Revenue Stream’ (STARS) was rolled out. It’s designed to advertise and promote the islands as an ideal location for major and minor film productions and music/audio recording projects.
“The diverse landscape of the USVI is perfect for the production of motion pictures, documentaries, television programs, commercials, music videos and magazine advertising,” Boschulte added. “We are open for business on both the film and leisure side. Our new tourism vision includes elevating our presence in markets which hold tremendous potential and we believe Canada, from Toronto to Montreal and Vancouver, is critically important.”
Film incentives, offering up to $2.5 million annually in tax credits and rebates, were approved earlier this year.
Luana Wheatley, the department's Film Director, said the islands’ provide diverse experiences for productions such as feature films, television programming, documentaries and music videos, highlighting the work ethic of local talent whose experience rivals industry experts in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.
“Think exotic yet American with vistas that mirror Greek hillsides, rural South Africa, pastoral Vietnam, picturesque Portugal, coastal Mexico and so much more,” she said. “In addition to the main islands, our uninhabited out islands offer yet another set of unique ‘blank-slate’ locations.”
The other members of the visiting delegation from the U.S Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority included Chairman Kevin Rodriguez, Assistant Chief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer Wayne Biggs Jr. and Ambassador & First Lady Yolanda Bryan.
The Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel David Bornn was also part of the delegation.
