Chairperson Film Fiji Board, Mr Culden Kamea,
Chief Executive Officer, Film Fiji, Mr Jone Robertson,
Distinguished Guests,
Members of the media,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Ni Sa Bula Vinaka and a very Good Afternoon to you all.
I am delighted to join you all this afternoon for the Producers Demo Day Event and
celebrate this momentous occasion.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge Film Fiji for orchestrating ingenious development
programmes like the “Fiji Producers Accelerator” and the “Fiji Script Development
Programs” in a bid to strengthen the skills of our local audio-visual industry.
And of course we value the support provided to these development programmes by
the European Union through the ACP-EU Programme, being facilitated by SPC (The
Pacific Community).

My heartfelt appreciation is also extended to everyone that worked tirelessly behind
the scenes to bring today’s event to fruition – to our partners, Media Mentors Australia
as well as the facilitators of the Pre-Demo and Demo Day online workshops.
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you all may know, Film Fiji plays an important role in promoting and developing
Fiji’s audio-visual industry. The Film Commission also oversees Government’s film
incentives, administers the Government’s tax rebate process, amongst other
responsibilities.

While the Commission’s goal would be to position Fiji as one of the most sought-after
film destinations in the world, we must not forget to look within and grow our local skills
industry. Only by enhancing the capacities of our local film writers, producers and
even crew members can we ensure the sustainable growth of our audio-visual
industry.

This is why an important initiative under the Film Commission banner is the Film Fiji
Audio Visual Lab, which develops and implements new Audio-Visual projects with
the core objective of bringing significant economic value to the future of Fiji’s economy.
Under this initiative, the Fiji Producers Accelerator and Fiji Script Development
Programs were implemented in 2023. It offered industry mentorship and training for
up to 20 scriptwriters and 30 film producers.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Producers Demo Day Event in the ambit of the Fiji Producers Accelerator
Program showcases and celebrates the work, projects, and development of local
emerging producers who have participated in the Accelerator program last year.
The pitching event provided local emerging producers a platform to present and pitch
their projects to industry professionals and potential collaborators. I believe it also
provided a good knowledge sharing opportunity to our local producers, as well as
broaden their network.

Remember by building your networks, one can establish meaningful connections and
expand their horizon to more ideas and opportunities.
Coming back to today’s event, we thank the participants for your time and hard work
in preparing and presenting your pitches- which I am sure was not merely a walk in
the park.

All of your ideas and stories deserve to be shared on screen.
Without further ado, I would like to invite Film Fiji’s Chief Executive Officer to announce
the Producers who have won prizes from Film Fiji to support their film projects.

Thank you and Vinaka Vakalevu.