Taxing matters

A lot of interesting reaction - by email, text, phone, and in person - to the last post, and to the item on the Pat Kenny show. Keep it coming.

In preparation for the radio item I put in a request to the Department for information on films using the Section 481 tax break over the last twelve months, that is May 2009 to May 2010.

I was trying to establish how many (and which) films availed of the tax break, and those among them that were not actually filmed in Ireland. I also asked how much each film had benefited from the tax break or what the Irish spend was in each case.

With that data it ought to be possible to work out the financial benefit to Irish post-production companies in those instances where films were not filmed in Ireland.

I did not receive all the information I looked for so I'll have to go back to the well.

In the meantime, the information I have so far is that the following feature films received Section 481 certification, and the total Irish spend of all these films is given as €22,786,610.

That works out at an average Irish spend of €1,340,389 per film. However, we can be sure that some films have spent (or will spend) considerably more than that while others with much smaller budgets will spend considerably less. Even with its very short Irish shoot Knockout may have clocked up a good multiple of the average.

Going through the list, and given that several titles only have a post-production spend in Ireland, it is hard to make sense of the €22,786,610 global figure. Although EU cast and crew would qualify as Irish spend, if I recall the regulations correctly.

If the net S481 benefit to any film is roughly 28% of Irish spend, then the films have benefitted by €6,380,251 between them. However, the outlay in terms of tax revenue lost to the exchequer would be an amount greater than that. More digging required.


|Title | Type |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|1 A kiss for Justin | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|2 Sensation | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|3 Snap | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|4 The Runway | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|5 All Good Children | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|6 The Last Word | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|7 La Mula | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|8 As if I am not there | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|9 The Guard | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|10Lapland Odyssey | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|11Thor-The Edda | Animated Feature Film |
| Chronicles | |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|12Knockout | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|13Parked | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|14The Good Doctor | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|15The man on the train | Feature Film |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|16The other side of | Feature Film |
| sleep | |
|-----------------------+------------------------|
|17The Last furlong(2010)| Feature Film |
----------------------------------------------------

1 Is an Ignition Film Productions production shot or partially shot in New York, written by Barry Devlin, directed by Maurice Linnane and produced by Tim Palmer. The project was offered a €600,000 loan by the IFB in March 2009.

2 Written and directed by Tom Hall and produced by Bl!nder with a budget of about €1m and backed by the IFB (€750,000) and the Rotterdam Film Fund, and shot around Bray, Co. Wicklow.

3 Written and directed by Carmel Winters and produced by Samson Films. Filmed on location in Ireland with €520,500 (including regional support) from the IFB, and has been backed/supported by Screen Scene and Accomplice.

4 Written and directed by Ian Power and produced by Fastnet Films with IFB backing of €725,000 (including regional support).

5 See previous post

6 Directed by David MacKenzie and written by Kim Fupz Aakenson. Co-produced by Subotica with Sigma Films and Zentropa Films. The film was shot in Glasgow with backing of £400,000 from Scottish Screen, and has €350,000 from the IFB.

7 Written (adapted) and directed by Michael Radford and filmed in Spain, the film was developed by Gheko Films in Spain and backed by the UK Film Council (£1,196,00, incl. c. £100k development) and is also backed by the IFB (€550,000), and Eurimages (€650,000). There are also German and Spanish co-producers, along with Subotica in Ireland and Radford's own company in the UK. This film was halted with one week left to shoot in November last year, and neither the Irish nor the British public funding will be released to the production according to Irish sources until the Spanish side have made the appropriate contractual commitments.

8 Written (adapted) and directed by Juanita Wilson and produced by Wide Eye/Octagon with co-producers in Sweden and in Macedonia (where the film was shot). Backed by the IFB (€520,000) and supported by Eurimages (€220,000).
Of the eight feature films with an Irish angle supported by Eurimages over the last two and a half years this is the only one with an Irish director.

9 Written and directed by John McDonagh the film is (according to the UK Film Council) a Reprisal Films and Element Pictures production in association with Prescience, Aegis Film Fund, UK Film Council and Crescendo Productions and with the participation of Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board. The IFB has put in €725,000 (including regional support) and the film was shot in Co. Galway with a UK/Irish crew.

10 A Ripple World co-production with Finnish and Swedish partners, filmed in Finnish Lapland with backing from the IFB (€175,000), and budgeted at €2m according to Cineuropa. It is the fourth feature directed by Dome Karukoski.

11 Magma's co-produced animation, with Icelandic and German partner companies, is co-directed by Gunnar Karlsson (Iceland) and Toby Genkel (Germany). It has been backed by the IFB (€535,000), and Eurimages (€480,000) along with the Icelandic Film Centre, The Nordic Film & TV Fund, and the Filmfoderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, among others.

12 The Steven Soderbergh film is a Relativity Media production with Parallel Films backed by the IFB (€600,000) which filmed in Dublin for three weeks. Some visual effects work is being done at Windmill Lane and other Irish involvement includes regular collaborator David Holmes and actor Michael Fassbender.

13 A Ripple World production (with Helsinki Filmi) backed by the IFB (amount unspecified), directed by Darragh Byrne and written by Ciaran Creagh, and filmed in Dublin with a budget of €1.5m.

14 This is probably Lance Daly's US directing debut, produced by and starring Orlando Bloom. In Ireland for post? Information / corrections gratefully received.

15 Mary McGuckian's Irish/Canadian co-production (a remake of the Patrice Leconte film) shot in Ontario.

16 Fastnet Films' production backed by the IFB (€745,000 including regional support) and directed by Rebecca Daly. Written by Daly and Glenn Montgomery who made the short Joyriders a couple of years back.

17 This is a second co-production from the team that made Dorothy Mills, producers Fidelite in France and Octagon in Ireland, and director Agnès Merlet. The film is written by Merlet and Nicky Murphy, to be filmed in Ireland and backed by €420,000 from the IFB and €600,000 from Eurimages.