CinÉireann March 2018 | Page 24

"Such a sad day for Irish Film. It was my first point of call for information and courses more than 10 years ago, and I made some lasting friendships through meeting like-minded people there. My very best wishes for the future to the staff who must be devastated at this time."

Caroline E Farrell - Writer/Director

"Every Filmmaker needs a place meet. A place brainstorm, to screen, to dip their toe in the water. A place to hold auditions, to meet and keep each other afloat, prop each other up. A place up skill. To advertise, to rent affordable equipment in a convenient location. Everyone needs somewhere to fail better. Everyone needs to start somewhere. Now where do people start now? The loss of Filmbase is absolutely nobody's gain."

Paul Butler Lennox - Film Network Ireland

"I had my very first audition in filmbase up stairs. It turned out it was also the first short I was ever cast in too. So that building will forever hold a strong lasting memory for me."

John Sweeney - Actor

"Did my first film course there alongside several other people who are now 'names' in the industry. But they weren't then - and it was a great climate where people working in the industry gave back to those hoping to learn and eventually find a place. Where are the beginners transitioning from college to 'professional' work in the industry going to go now? The huge amount of 'cultural capital' that organisations and centres like this provide in ways that are not easily measurable or countable often goes unnoticed. The unnamed ones go on to be 'names' if they are encouraged at the outset. Without Filmbase and centres like it the film industry will become even more elitist, exclusive and culturally impoverished. Very difficult to understand this decision from the Arts Council even with the difficulties the organisation faced. Who is going to benefit from this decision? What if anything will replace this organisation? When you are starting out - first of all you need a place to meet, to learn and to be taken semi-seriously when you say 'I want to make films'. Without a centre like Filmbase people will rely on contacts - and those who 'only' have talent will not be facilitated to make the contacts that take that talent further. I've run auditions, attended screenings, workshops, networking events, training events, hired gear and benefitted hugely from the good sense and goodwill that the staff offer to all filmmakers."

Orla Murphy - Writer/Director

"Filmbase enabled filmmakers’ dreams to become reality."

Paul Lynch - Writer/Director

"First writing course, first editing course, first bit of kit rented, first meeting re first project all done there. Had my issues with the place and how it was run but it will always have a special place in my heart."

Gavin Kilduff - Writer

"Terrible news about Filmbase, one the best resources Ireland has ever had for everyone involved or wanting to get involved in filmmaking. Very sad that with all the success of Irish filmmaking and actors on a world stage, a door into that world has been slammed shut on up and coming filmmakers and actors due to money. How!? Creativity needs to be supported, not just for reasons of prestige, but for grassroots filmmaking and art to flourish, which makes for a better and fairer society. The ladder needs to be extended. Art is not separate from the "real world". It tells the story of the real world, expands its horizons, brings light into darkness, and in Ireland, brings very dark things to light. Creative endeavour and creative communities save lives, starting with our own."

"Personally I did many things over the years in Filmbase; attending countless masterclasses, having some of my first scripts rehearsed and read by actors at The Attic Studio, being part of the Writers Guild Screenwriting Group for 2 years, screenwriting classes with Stephen Walsh which got me writing again, filming acting classes, developing projects, and many many more days I've long forgotten. Filmbase and everything creative that was drawn there was what I needed to find a way into film and make many friends and collaborators."

Michael Dwyer - Driftwood Doll Films

"My main memory of the place is going there looking for actors a few times in 2010 and 2011 before the cafe was built and the masters course started and it was empty, a ghost town. I was directed upstairs and leafed through these enormous dusty books full of actors, that were just piled up one on top of the other waiting for someone to move them somewhere, anywhere. I peeped into the books and looked all these actors and and ancient headshots and their likely extinct landlines and that went back to the eighties from all over the country. I knew I had come too late to the party. It was a cool place and now probably it'll be just another clothes shop which is a shame, the city needs places like filmbase."

Thomas Andrew Quain - Writer/Director

24 CinÉireann / March 2018