Comments on: Hollywood, Michael Pintard and the Viability of Bahamian Art Part I http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/ The life and times of Ward Minnis Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:29:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Cyrus http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3291 Cyrus Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:28:55 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3291 So true......unfortunately there is no other medium that can reach/potentially educate Bahamians. That said...so why aren't the 'social engineers' ensuring that 'shack life' has and re-enforces a positive and nuturing culture?? I mean if we all accept that there is little positive nurturance going on in most homes and schools but that it may be possible to establish and re-inforce positive Bahamian values in the shack....isn't this a prime/necessary opening?? I mean I think that we are long past nice academic treaties on whose values etc and are at such a precipice nationally that if we do not grab a hold of the runaway jitney with the diver on crack......there will be no Bahamas as we know it in 5 years. Same thing for the garbage cable programming that we continually allow to be pumped to our kids I really don't want to hear anything else about freedom of speech etc as the stuff for the most part is toxic and there are no discerning adults around to screen the sewerage. On a positive note I have been greatly moved by 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell who is half Jamaican and Canadian. Amazingly provocative and stimulating book with a guide map for a way out of the morass. So true……unfortunately there is no other medium that can reach/potentially educate Bahamians. That said…so why aren’t the ‘social engineers’ ensuring that ‘shack life’ has and re-enforces a positive and nuturing culture?? I mean if we all accept that there is little positive nurturance going on in most homes and schools but that it may be possible to establish and re-inforce positive Bahamian values in the shack….isn’t this a prime/necessary opening??
I mean I think that we are long past nice academic treaties on whose values etc and are at such a precipice nationally that if we do not grab a hold of the runaway jitney with the diver on crack……there will be no Bahamas as we know it in 5 years.
Same thing for the garbage cable programming that we continually allow to be pumped to our kids I really don’t want to hear anything else about freedom of speech etc as the stuff for the most part is toxic and there are no discerning adults around to screen the sewerage.
On a positive note I have been greatly moved by ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell who is half Jamaican and Canadian. Amazingly provocative and stimulating book with a guide map for a way out of the morass.

]]> By: Wardmin http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3280 Wardmin Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:15:28 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3280 @Cyrus. Another great question, and certainly one that needs to be asked. However, dangerous or not, Junkanoo is so important to the psychic / spiritual health of the Bahamian self-image that I wonder what we would / could do without it... @Cyrus. Another great question, and certainly one that needs to be asked. However, dangerous or not, Junkanoo is so important to the psychic / spiritual health of the Bahamian self-image that I wonder what we would / could do without it…

]]> By: Cyrus http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3276 Cyrus Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:34:50 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3276 " 6 hours After Junkanoo"- this is a great question...i.e. what not only is the cost but the tangible and intangible benefits of cultural staples like Jukanoo. Not to be overly cynical but after the 6 million odd of taxpayer 'contribution' to the crape paper and glue industries of China...what do we get?? Is there some spiritual or other meaningful trnasferrance of Bahamain 'virtue'? Does even the process of preparation teach us anything that is lasting and can be built upon on mass scale and if so why hasn't it been done?? Other than the highly laudble work by Mr. Burside and Mrs. Nash (who do not survive exclusively off of the art form) there are no other 'carrieres of the 'torch'. Is it that the parades in fact reinforce 'tribalism' and a 'looking out for me and mine' attitude.....dare I say it.....is Junkanoo 'dangerous'?? ” 6 hours After Junkanoo”- this is a great question…i.e. what not only is the cost but the tangible and intangible benefits of cultural staples like Jukanoo. Not to be overly cynical but after the 6 million odd of taxpayer ‘contribution’ to the crape paper and glue industries of China…what do we get?? Is there some spiritual or other meaningful trnasferrance of Bahamain ‘virtue’? Does even the process of preparation teach us anything that is lasting and can be built upon on mass scale and if so why hasn’t it been done?? Other than the highly laudble work by Mr. Burside and Mrs. Nash (who do not survive exclusively off of the art form) there are no other ‘carrieres of the ‘torch’. Is it that the parades in fact reinforce ‘tribalism’ and a ‘looking out for me and mine’ attitude…..dare I say it…..is Junkanoo ‘dangerous’??

]]> By: Wardmin http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3273 Wardmin Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:03:20 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3273 @Nico, These are very interesting figures for Junkanoo. Where does this money go? How is it divided and does any of it ever get to the average member? And has anyone done a true-cost of what the parade actually costs to produce? Between the costumes, feathers, drums and untold man hours, I would imagine it is an astronomical figure... @Nico, These are very interesting figures for Junkanoo. Where does this money go? How is it divided and does any of it ever get to the average member?

And has anyone done a true-cost of what the parade actually costs to produce? Between the costumes, feathers, drums and untold man hours, I would imagine it is an astronomical figure…

]]> By: Nico Bethel http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3271 Nico Bethel Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:53:33 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3271 Such grosses are without doubt possible in our society! We are a nation with a very high consumption habit and high average salaries, and although the cost of living is also very high, our spending habits include the consumption of culture at a high rate. Most of the time, though, it isn't *our* culture we consume, but other people's. I have no idea whatsoever Junkanoo grosses between $500,000 and $800,000 in any given year on ticket sales alone. (Peanuts? Perhaps, when you compare it to the Pintard model, but remember that Election 2002 was a very special case and that Michael hasn't had that good a year since, not even on Election 2007 -- those earnings are not generally sustainable, though his model does allow the ability to make a living -- Dynamite Productions might be a better model to consider, as Daisy's grosses are probably not as large but are more consistent over time.) Back to Junkanoo -- that does not include money earned on private performances in hotels, etc, or money earned from the making of costumes year-round, or money earned on the post-parade sale of costumes (which does happen on a very limited scale). In fact, I would bet that anyone who is willing to hustle, as Michael Pintard does, to build relationships and create a brand that's reliable (or comfortingly predictable) and to take the risk to live off it is able to make a living in the Bahamian arts. It's good to remember, though, that neither Michael nor Daisy live entirely off their productions alone. Terez earns supplementary income -- with her art to be sure -- through commercials, benefits, one-off performances, and through workshops and public speaking. Michael has a similar economic profile. Artists have to; a great gross like the one you write about has to be amortized over years of scarcity, and has to include variables like health care (routine or otherwise), savings for a pensionless retirement, investments, etc. The gross sounds fabulous, though it's certainly possible; the reality's more prosaic. Such grosses are without doubt possible in our society! We are a nation with a very high consumption habit and high average salaries, and although the cost of living is also very high, our spending habits include the consumption of culture at a high rate. Most of the time, though, it isn’t *our* culture we consume, but other people’s. I have no idea whatsoever

Junkanoo grosses between $500,000 and $800,000 in any given year on ticket sales alone. (Peanuts? Perhaps, when you compare it to the Pintard model, but remember that Election 2002 was a very special case and that Michael hasn’t had that good a year since, not even on Election 2007 — those earnings are not generally sustainable, though his model does allow the ability to make a living — Dynamite Productions might be a better model to consider, as Daisy’s grosses are probably not as large but are more consistent over time.) Back to Junkanoo — that does not include money earned on private performances in hotels, etc, or money earned from the making of costumes year-round, or money earned on the post-parade sale of costumes (which does happen on a very limited scale).

In fact, I would bet that anyone who is willing to hustle, as Michael Pintard does, to build relationships and create a brand that’s reliable (or comfortingly predictable) and to take the risk to live off it is able to make a living in the Bahamian arts.

It’s good to remember, though, that neither Michael nor Daisy live entirely off their productions alone. Terez earns supplementary income — with her art to be sure — through commercials, benefits, one-off performances, and through workshops and public speaking. Michael has a similar economic profile. Artists have to; a great gross like the one you write about has to be amortized over years of scarcity, and has to include variables like health care (routine or otherwise), savings for a pensionless retirement, investments, etc. The gross sounds fabulous, though it’s certainly possible; the reality’s more prosaic.

]]> By: Wardmin http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3270 Wardmin Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:52:12 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3270 @Harry K. Rolle -- My friend that is a formula! And a good one too. :) @Harry K. Rolle — My friend that is a formula! And a good one too. :)

]]> By: Wardmin http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3269 Wardmin Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:33:14 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3269 @Nico For some reason your comments always go to spam... Anyway. This is a good point that you raise. The same could be said for Transformers 2. They spend 200 million to make it, probably another 50+ mill in marketing, premieres etc... So the 800 million worldwide gross is also not the full picture... (it also doesn't include tie-ins, merchandising, home video revenue etc) So yes, overhead is something to consider, but I am more interested in the fact that such grosses are possible in the Bahamas. If he hadn't said it, I would hardly believe it. How much the actors made and how the pie was eventually divided is not something I am too worried about. @Nico For some reason your comments always go to spam… Anyway. This is a good point that you raise. The same could be said for Transformers 2. They spend 200 million to make it, probably another 50+ mill in marketing, premieres etc… So the 800 million worldwide gross is also not the full picture… (it also doesn’t include tie-ins, merchandising, home video revenue etc)

So yes, overhead is something to consider, but I am more interested in the fact that such grosses are possible in the Bahamas. If he hadn’t said it, I would hardly believe it. How much the actors made and how the pie was eventually divided is not something I am too worried about.

]]> By: Harry K. Rolle http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3268 Harry K. Rolle Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:27:14 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3268 I have found that the formula to make a living as an artist in The Bahamas is an individual thing, I do'nt think there is a proven way that works for everybody. One thing that is certain is that if your work can supply a longed for need in society and no one else is supplying it, then success is sure to follow. I have found that the formula to make a living as an artist in The Bahamas is an individual thing, I do’nt think there is a proven way that works for everybody. One thing that is certain is that if your work can supply a longed for need in society and no one else is supplying it, then success is sure to follow.

]]> By: Heather L.Thompson http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3267 Heather L.Thompson Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:57:57 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3267 Ward, I'm interested in seeing how you develop the proposition the formulaic stuff can support "great art" in the Bahamian context. It would seem to require a level of co-operation for which we are not well known. I guess I'll read on. Ward,

I’m interested in seeing how you develop the proposition the formulaic stuff can support “great art” in the Bahamian context. It would seem to require a level of co-operation for which we are not well known. I guess I’ll read on.

]]> By: Wardmin http://www.wardmin.org/2009/08/hollywood-michael-pintard-and-the-viability-of-bahamian-art-part-i/comment-page-1/#comment-3266 Wardmin Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:38:29 +0000 http://www.wardmin.org/?p=666#comment-3266 That is an amazingly interesting question. I assume you mean our national dependence. I have been studying tourism for, over a year now... hard to imagine that 70% of GDP is a myth... However, it is a question that is not taken seriously often enough... Hmmm... But if you mean the dependence of the arts on tourism... if that dependence is a myth... now we getting somewhere. That is an amazingly interesting question. I assume you mean our national dependence. I have been studying tourism for, over a year now… hard to imagine that 70% of GDP is a myth…

However, it is a question that is not taken seriously often enough… Hmmm… But if you mean the dependence of the arts on tourism… if that dependence is a myth… now we getting somewhere.

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