Long Weekend - catch up post

Apologies for the absence of new content, I've been busy and my ISP has pointed their service in another direction. This catch-up post is coming to you from the side of a small road in rural Ireland. Oh, and the next time someone rabbits on about 'cloud' computing ask them how they rate Irish ISP infrastructure.

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'You make the Movies'
The 'You make the Movies' campaign, a pro-copyright initiative, will be launched on June 8th at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin. It is described as a multi-platform cinema and outdoor campaign with a media value in excess of €500k. An acknowledgement of and a thank you to the public without whose support and backing, great films couldn’t get made. Hence the title of the initiative “You make the movies”. A big thank you from the 18,000 people employed in the Irish Film industry from cinema ushers to film crews to DVD retailers, we couldn’t survive and thrive without public support.
Update: just got word that the launch has been cancelled due to technical issues. More info here
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IFI Open Day
The IFI is holding its annual Open Day on June 11. Tickets to a great variety of films will be available on a first-come first served basis. Tickets will become available at 11am on June 11th at the IFI. Tickets will not be available online or by phone. There is a maximum of four tickets per person.
Irish interest includes Tom Hall's Sensation and the new archive acquisition I Can’t... I Can’t.
Arrive early!
Schedule
Jack Goes Boating (12.30pm)
Labyrinth (12.30pm)
Sunrise (12.30pm)
Life, Above All (2.20pm)
Donnie Darko (2.30pm)
I Can’t... I Can’t (2.30pm)
Pierrot le fou (4.15pm)
Meet the Programmers (4.30pm)
A Night at the Opera (4.40pm)
Cell 211 (4.45pm)
The Honeymoon Killers (6.20 pm)
Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf (6.40pm)
Sensation (7.00pm)
Armadillo (9.00pm)
Audience Choice Film (9.10pm)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (3D) (9.20pm)
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Film Board Funding decisions May 27
Project Director Writer Prodn Co. Loan
First Draft Loans
Belinda Elisabeth Gooch €12,000
Fiction Development Loans
Julia Here Sonya Supple Gildea Sonya Supple Gildea Newgrange Pictures €12,000
Fury Neil Jordan Ronan Bennett Littlewave Productions €50,000
The Ones You Do Juanita Wilson Juanita Wilson Octagon Films €50,000
Purgatory Colm McCarthy Colm McCarthy Fantastic Films €30,000
Dark Zone Tom Cosgrove Fantastic Films €10,000
Mister John Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor Christine Molloy & Joe Lawlor Samson Films €10,000
The Clown Conor McMahon Conor McMahon Fantastic Films €10,000
Objects Of Interest Stephen Burke Stephen Burke Mammoth Films €25,000
Echo Chamber Rupert Wyatt Rupert Wyatt Parallel Film Productions €44,346

Animation Development Loans
Cosmo Jason Tammemagi Jason Tammemagi Monster Animation & Design €34,000

Fiction Feature Films
Devlin Aisling Walsh Kate Gartside & Aisling Walsh Subotica Limited Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Wayfaring Strangers Stephen Bradley Stephen Bradley Treasure Entertainment €600,000

Fiction Creative Co-production
Sean Fabien Suarez & Juliette Sales Fabien Suarez & Juliette Sales Blinder Films €320,000

Documentary
The Disappearance Ciaran Cassidy Fastnet Films Provision Offer of Commitment
Perverts Guide To Ideology Sophie Fiennes Blinder Films €100,000
Man Versus America Morag Tinto Soho Moon Pictures Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Men At Lunch Sean O'Cualain Sonta Films €50,000
One In Kate O'Callaghan Montrose Media Services €5,000
Deputy Ming Mike Casey & James Finlan Big Yes Productions €15,000
Jimmy Van Damme Ciaran Deeney El Zorrero Films €15,000
The Runner Saeed Taji Farouky Still Films €10,000
The Egg & The Chicken Steve Lock Monford Limited €15,000
A Childish Place Tom Slater Still Films €10,000
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Weekender
Karl Golden's new film, made in the UK, will be premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival on 23 June. It is being released by Momentum on 2nd September.
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Cordil
Cordil Construction, a major contractor in the West of Ireland, laid off workers on its sites in mid-May, citing cash-flow difficulties on several major public contracts.
Cordil was the lead contractor on the Solas cinema project in Galway which has suffered significant delays over the last year and a half, and which I posted about here some months ago. It has been reported in Galway that Cordil will not now be involved in bringing Solas to completion.
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Xtra-Vision
The leading home entertainment chain is currently almost one month into 100 days examinership, approved by the High Court on May 13. Already some branches have been identified for closure and while illegal downloading has been ascribed some of the blame for the company's travails I would imagine that the general retail downturn and upward-only rent reviews are more of an issue given the poor broadband infrastructure in many parts of the country.
It would be interesting to compare the company's profitability on both sides of the border - 45 of its 180 outlets are in Northern Ireland - and control for local factors such as rents, personnel costs, broadband speeds, etcetera.
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Copyrights and Wrongs
The ISPs vs Rightsholders debate is moving once more into the policy arena with a review of the issues announced by Richard Bruton, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation. Dr Eoin O’Dell of TCD is chairing a copyright review committee details of which are available here. Submissions should be sent to copyrightreview@deti.ie by close of business on Thursday, 30 June 2011.
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Lighthouse Latest?
The Light House Cinema & Distribution Company Limited (In Receivership). Expressions of interest are sought in respect of the acquisition of the business and assets of The Light House Cinema Exhibition and Distribution Company Limited (In Receivership) by the Receiver, Mr. Neil Hughes. The Light House Cinema, located at Smithfield, is a four-screen, 600-seat, fully equipped state of the art cinema.
Expressions of interest should be forwarded immediately to the Receiver, Mr. Neil Hughes at neil.hughes@hughesblake.ie or alternatively contact (01)6699999
Mr Hughes was appointed jointly by The Arts Council and the Irish Film Board on April 27 according to Minister Deenihan, answering questions in the Dáil on May 11.