THE local film community is being challenged to “think global” when producing material for the international marketplace.

This charge has come from renowned American Hollywood producer Joel Zwick, who is currently in the island for the opening of Cock Tales, the one-woman play by Debra Ehrhardt, which he directed.

According to Zwick, speaking in patois (Jamaican dialect) does not necessarily make your movies better. He said the integrity of a film lies in the acting and the story and, therefore, local writers and film-makers should do their work in English.

“If the world can’t understand what you are saying and you then have to use subtitles, which most people don’t like to read, then it becomes a foreign movie. Jamaica should not be producing foreign language films as an English-speaking country. You all speak English and can easily be understood. There is no reason to tell your stories in anything other than English, as the English-speaking world is vast,” he said.

Zwick is best known for his work on the television series Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, and as well as for directing the films My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Second Sight, and Fat Albert.

He made the comments while paying a courtesy call on executives at JAMPRO (Jamaica Trade and Invest) office in St Andrew, including president Diane Edwards and film commissioner Renee Robinson, where he shared ideas on how the local film industry can move itself forward.

He further suggested that government open up subsidies to investors and film-makers interested in bringing films to Jamaica.

“You’ve just got to use up the connections, shake up government, and show them the possibilities of tapping into this market. Think of what this small country of 2.7 million people has been able to achieve through music. Film can do the same. Start tapping into that energy — the look and feel, music and dance — all of that can be exported. So you could further develop that and make money from it,” he said.

Zwick’s point was picked up by Ehrhardt who noted that her plays, which are undoubtedly Jamaican, have been able to cross over and be successful as they are done in a language that a wide cross section of people can understand.

“Jamaica has such a big name out there and people want to know more about our country and people. When we write in patois we are locking out a whole set of people who want to understand. There is no need for subtitles because we all speak English,” she said.

Cock Tales explores what Ehrhardt calls some of the issues that women are afraid to speak of and she hopes that by bringing them to life in the production, the conversation will begin.