Increased Regional Production Activity
Overall, in 2017 and into 2018, the production spend outside of Dublin will be €46.7 million.
Troy Studios opened in Co. Limerick in 2017, providing much needed additional production infrastructure. The IFB is supporting the first production to film at the Studios — a TV series adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s 1980 novella — Nightflyers.
Attracting a production of this type is a major coup for Troy, and for Ireland. Not only does it create important jobs for Irish creative talent and the associated production spend, it also further enhances Ireland’s international reputation as a production location creating benefits and opportunities for the industry at large.
Other productions supported by the IFB outside of Dublin in 2017 include:
Ivan Kavanagh’s Never Grow Old (Galway);
Ian Fitzgibbon’s Dark Lies The Island (Roscommon);
Carmel Winters’ Float Like A Butterfly (Cork);
David Gleeson’s Don’t Go (Galway) and;
Tomm Moore’s Wolfwalkers (Kilkenny).
Inward production
Other major productions to choose Ireland as a film location in 2017 included the BBC series Little Women, AMC’s Into the Badlands, and Reed Morano’s spy thriller The Rhythm Section staring Blake Lively. Audiences around the world also saw Irish landscape on their screens as part of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
With the global demand for film and TV production continuously increasing, this will continue to be an area of focus for the IFB.
Driving Growth through Strategic Partnerships
2017 saw the IFB embark on a number of strategic partnerships to drive growth in the industry.
It has teamed with TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland for the new joint-funding initiative, Cine4 that will see two films produced in the Irish language, and a new Scripted Comedy partnership was also announced in association with RTÉ to support Irish scripted comedy projects with export potential. RTÉ has also committed to showing two Irish films on RTÉ 2 on Saturday nights during 2018, to expand the audience reach and enjoyment of Irish film.
Continued and Sustained Support for Female Talent
Supporting and empowering female creative filmmaking talent will remain a priority for the IFB in 2018 as it seeks to work towards the target of 50/50 gender parity which is set in its Six-Point Plan on Gender Equality and its Five-Year Strategy, Building on Success.
Following on from the funding initiatives which were announced at last year’s Galway Film Fleadh specifically targeted at female writers, directors and producers, in the coming weeks, the IFB will launch the details and guidelines for POV — a new low-budget training and production scheme aimed exclusively at female writers and directors.
In 2017, Irish female film makers receiving international acclaim included Emer Reynolds (The Farthest), Aoife McArdle (Kissing Candice), Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner) and Neasa Ní Chianáin (School Life).
CinÉireann / February 2018 17