MoBay music producer seeks help for athletic tribute

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:The Montego Bay-based Ignite Productions has produced a new single, Proud Jamaicans to honour the recent Olympic performance of Jamaican athletes, but is seeking corporate support for the song.

Ignite Productions manager, Winsome Ellis, who founded the entity in 2003, told Western Focus that the song was initially created in 2004 under the title Shine following Jamaica's athletic prowess at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

"What we did in 2004, I saw how Veronica Campbell-Brown did well at Athens, and I recorded a song with members from the agency. The song was called Shine at that time, but we didn't get to promote it due to lack of funding because we were operating on a small scale, so we couldn't afford to re-record it," Ellis explained.

"But this time, we saw that the athletes, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake are doing a lot for our country, so we decided to go back into the studio."

The song, which will be officially released under the Just Free music label, was done by three artistes attached to Ignite Productions - female D-ana performs the leading vocals with support from Da-Voice and Bling Eye.

"What we're asking is for corporate Jamaica to come on board to assist us in sponsoring the song, in pushing it. It's getting rave reviews; people like it, and it's being played on some radio stations right now," said Ellis.

"We've been talking to persons, but no one has come on board as yet. We've approached an entertainment company, Big Head Promotions, and I sent a letter to Digicel, but haven't got a response as yet."

Ellis said she wants to use the proceeds from the song to develop a skills training programme for young people in western Jamaica.

"Some of the young people have dropped out of school, and some are sitting at home unemployed, so we want to raise a skills training programme from what we raise out of this. We're looking at January to begin, because we're looking for space right now," she told Western Focus.

Interested persons may contact Ignite Productions at 553-9944 or 781-3481, or email marciamgnt@yahoo.com.