CinÉireann / December 2017 5
Following an internal review of its Screenplay Development Scheme which supports writers, writing teams and writer and director teams, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) has announced revisions to the scheme which will re-open for applications in 2018.
The amended scheme will now be divided into two categories with Screenplay Development open to established writers and directors and New Writing Development open to new writers and directors. Each scheme will have a bespoke funding programme. In addition to the funding award, successful applicants of the New Writing Development initiative will have access to mentorship, workshopping and screenwriting and industry experts.
The deadline for receipt of applications for Screenplay Development is 31st January 2018 and for New
Writing Development it is 28th February 2018.
Full details are available in the Guidance Note and from the IFB website.
Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF) and the Celtic Media Festival have announced a new bursary fund to commemorate the late Aodán Mac Póilin.
Ciste Cuimhneacháin Aodáin Mhic Phóilin will offer Irish speakers working in the production sector in Northern Ireland the opportunity to develop a television project that would reflect some or many of the wide and varied interests of the former ILBF chair Aodán Mac Póilin. As well as £5,000 development funding, successful applicants will also travel to the Celtic Media Festival in Llanelli, Wales next May to pitch the project to broadcasters.
Applications from those who are relatively new to the sector and who have not yet attended the Celtic Media Festival are particularly encouraged. Applications will be selected by the ILBF Investment Committee and broadcaster representatives. Successful applicants can also apply for production funding through the ILBF funding rounds.
Josepha Madigan has been appointed as Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht. Madigan replaces outgoing minister Heather Humphries, who moves to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation.
Madigan is a first-time TD, elected at the 2016 General Election to represent Dublin-Rathdown. A family law solicitor by trade, Josepha Madigan is also an author, having self-published a novel, Negligent Behaviour, set amidst the Dublin legal world, back in 2011.
“Minister Madigan will build on the work of Minister Humphreys in the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and will drive forward the Government’s agenda for arts, culture and heritage, including the Creative Ireland programme, an ambitious ten year capital plan for the arts and multi-annual increases in funding for culture and heritage.”
Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach