Trinidad and Tobago's entertainment and film industries are two areas which can be used to enhance the nation's diversification and aid in its economic progress. So said Minister of Trade and Industry Mariano Browne, as he delivered the feature address at the formal opening of the Chaguanas branch of MovieTowne. The facility, located at Price Plaza, opened its doors to the public yesterday at a cost of $33 million. It has eight cinemas and seats 1,800 patrons. The Chaguanas branch joins the two others already in existence, at Invaders Bay, Port-of-Spain, and Gulf City Mall, Lowlands, Tobago.
Patrons attending the opening ceremony were given the choice to see either one of two movies–The Spy Next Door or the locally-produced Dulha Mil Gaya.
Browne said in spite of a recession, many people still had the desire to invest in T&T and its resources. "These are new areas which would require systems for help," he said. "We have evidence of the ability of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a competitive product by virtue of the feature film which is an Indian movie shot by a Trinidad and Tobago director."
Noting that 90 per cent of the movie was shot in Trinidad and ten per cent in India, Browne said it captured the Diaspora and represented new investment opportunities. MovieTowne chairman, Derek Chin, said the facility accommodated 670,000 people in its opening year in 2002 in Port-of-Spain. That figure has increased to 963,122 for 2009, and Chin said he expected more than one million patrons to walk through Movie Towne's doors this year.
