{{Short description, Belize-based local production company Great Belize Productions is a Belize-based local production company and the parent company of

Great Belize Television Great Belize Television, or as it is locally known, Channel 5, is a Belize City-based local television station established in December 1991. Channel 5 airs mostly American and Caribbean programs, as well as a variety of locally produced programs. ...

(Channel 5).

Founding

GBP was formed in 1982 as a video making company specialising in commercials for Belize's then-small television industry. It had a hand in the creation of several 1980s and 1990s motion pictures, including " Dogs of War" (1980), " The Mosquito Coast" (1986), "

Caribe Caribe may refer to: * Caribe (Venezuelan TV series), ''Caribe'' (Venezuelan TV series), a Venezuelan telenovela * Caribe (American TV series), ''Caribe'' (American TV series), a 1975 television series produced by Quinn Martin * Caribe, or Cabir ( ...

" (1987) and "

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgium, Belgian company in the African interior. Th ...

" (1993). Among the early proprietors of GBP was the late

Emory King Emory King (February 22, 1931, Jacksonville, Florida, United States – August 14, 2007) was a self proclaimed Belizean historian, author, and journalist. He served the nation of Belize in a number of capacities, including as National Film Comm ...

. Great Belize Productions' first successful television series actually predate
Channel 5
"Belize All Over", premiering in the late 1980s, featured stories on Belize told by local Belizean personalities. Clips from the show are still shown on Channel 5, particularly in the newscast. In 1991, Great Belize received a license to broadcast on local television. Channel 5 began in December of that year and is Belize's most popular television station. With the rise of Channel 5, GBP has largely abandoned video production for outside sources, choosing instead to focus on building Channel 5 presentations.

Sale to Telemedia

On June 16, 2008 it was announced that

Belize Telemedia Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), formerly Belize Telecommunications Limited, is a telecommunications company in Belize that runs telecommunication services (wired and wireless) under the Digi brand. Established in 1972 as the Telecommunications ...

had acquired Great Belize Productions. Telemedia is rumored to still be majority-owned by Lord

Michael Ashcroft Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and wa ...

, a fact which rankled many Belizeans. Former PUP figure and government officia
Amalia Mai
is the company's new CEO.

Amandala ''Amandala'' is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. ''Amandala'' was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been poli ...

columnist Frankie Rhys announced shortly after the sale that he would stop watching Channel 5 in protest; KREM's Evan Mose Hyde has since frequently called GBP's Channel 5 "Ashcroft TV" in protest of the sale. For more, see

. Mass media companies established in 1982 Mass media companies of Belize 1982 establishments in Belize