The Greenland Isle

Happy Christmas & New Year from Irish Film Portal

IBEC AVF Review

The IBEC Audiovisual Federation annual review for 2009 was published yesterday.

Not a good year in 2009, but things are looking up in 2010. The following from the executive summary.

This report analyzes the economic impact of a total of 257 audiovisual productions, the majority of which were completed in Ireland in 2009, comprising a total production value of €243.3 million. The report shows a drop in the production of feature films and independent TV, including major TV drama, but animation production shows a significant increase. Figures for 2009 show an overall decrease of almost 1.5% on the previous year, but our estimates for 2010 are showing a significant increase of 50%.
Irish Expenditure
The total expenditure on Irish goods and services arising from the audiovisual productions for 2009 was €157.2million which shows a decrease of €10.6 million (6%) for the sector. This decrease reflects the drop in the Irish spend within the Feature Film and the Independent TV production sector (see Appendix I). Although 2009 shows a slight drop in expenditure we estimate an increase of over 40% for 2010, which is a record for Irish expenditure.
Employment
The total number of Irish employees, in terms of placements, increased from 12,660 in 2008 to 14,198 in 2009, but the number of full-time equivalent jobs decreased from 1,631 in 2008 to 1,368 in 2009. This shows that more people were working in the sector but for a shorter time.

I believe this the reality of employment in the film and independent production sector, rather than the constant glib references to '6,000 jobs' or '10,000 jobs'.

I do wonder how the income tax and PRSI returns to the exchequer are calculated, and whether 1,368 'full-time equivalent' employees would make a significantly greater tax and PRSI return than the actual 14,198 part-time 'placements'?

Also, 1,368 'full-time equivalent' employees would have no periods of unemployment where they might be entitled to benefits or allowances, unlike the 14,198 'placements'. And, where the 'placements' are employed on a Schedule D basis, they could be entitled to a tax rebate at year end, in addition to the many expenses they are entitled to claim which would reduce their taxable income.

Benefits of Section 481 to the Exchequer
The gross gain to the exchequer is estimated to have been €55.5 million in 2009. This includes direct benefits in terms of PAYE, PRSI, schedule D and corporation tax, and indirect benefits in other forms of tax, including VAT and excises. The indirect benefits are taken into account by the multiplier effect of investment in audiovisual production.
The cost to the Exchequer of Section 481 is the tax foregone on the €106.6 million, which was invested under the scheme and is estimated to have been €43.7 million. This results in a net benefit to the state of €11.8 million in 2009.

What bears further investigation here is that in 2007, which was a particularly low year in terms of feature film production output (€19.3m as against €58.6m in 2009), the net benefit to the Exchequer is calculated at €18 million. This would seem to suggest that Exchequer benefit and levels of output in film production do not necessarily coincide, and that television production delivers a better return. Why might that be?

The Tourist

€9.00 will get you a ticket for The Tourist at the nearest cinema to the Irish Film Portal. Take a left after the windmill and it's a twenty minute drive. You pays your money, as the saying goes, and you takes your chances.

The Tourist is one of those films that turns 100+ minutes of the viewer's life into a vacuum. The producers have employed the talents of many really creative people like chemical properties in a laboratory, but they cannot replicate someone else's successful experiment.

This is what Hollywood does. And when it does it in Europe, using the template of an original French film, it tends to stray so wide of the mark that you can't help hoping that a new generation of movie brats are plotting the downfall of the rickety Hollywood edifice with this century's Easy Rider.

As The Tourist unspooled before me I couldn't help being reminded of Leap Year. It wasn't the producers' signature title telescope. Nor was it that it also had a tacked-on British Oscar-winning writer in Julian Fellowes - Simon Beaufoy had a similar uncredited role on Leap Year.

Nor yet was it thst it also had a very talented European director in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and a highly talented cast. It was a little of all of these things but mostly it was its attitude.

Take some scenic locations, add some funny accents and local colour, use a vaporetto instead of a Renault 4 and what's not to like?

Of course when you're a supposedly educated American character in Italy you speak Spanish, but who's being made fun of? Really?

Only Johnny Depp could sell that dummy and get away with it in Europe. In America, where they need a Paris, France navigation title, it's a joke on who exactly?

I don't know if France and Italy collaborated with The Tourist in the same way that Ireland did with Leap Year. We ponied up €13m for that cultural travesty but one of the the pay-offs is supposedly measurable in the numbers of tourists who will seek to experience the world of the film in this country.

Venice's Rialto Bridge and Inis Mór's Dún Aonghasa are two of the most iconic locations in Europe. Seeing them rendered down as a sort of national product placement is more than a little dispiriting.

Perhaps I should just get over it. Ok, any offers for Newgrange? Start with a meet cute on December 21st, call it Sunrise.

The day of reckoning...

Before...

The Budget for 2011 is due at about 3.45 this afternoon. What will it mean for film making in Ireland? At a guess, not a whole lot of change. The employment trump card has been played to good effect. Perhaps a 12% cut is in store for the Film Board, or maybe as much as 14% if the cut is averaged across capital and administration.

Whatever the outcome I expect there will be considerable emphasis laid on tasking the IFB with incentivising inward investment and leveraging spend in the local economy.

I don't think Section 481 will be affected, and if there are to be any changes (the rate at which tax relief is applied?) they may not be announced until the Finance Bill in January - political stability permitting.

The Arts Council seems likely to suffer a significant cut which would require a general re-prioritisation of its policies. A likely result is a diminution of funding for The Irish Film Institute, the film festivals, accessCinema, and the various film resource centres. It might also cause the Council to re-think both its limited commitment to the art of film making as a form of production activity and the amount of capital it has made available for film exhibition.


After... (later)

From the Dept. of Tourism, Culture & Sport
Culture & Film – allocation of €150 million
· An allocation of €65.2m for the Arts Council which is a 5% reduction on the 2010 allocation will enable it to maintain its major programmes and activities.
· The Irish Film Board allocation of €18.4m will enable it to continue to support indigenous Irish audiovisual industry and attract inward investment from international productions.
Minister Hanafin said “funding for the Arts Council will help sustain its main arts organisations, keep regional venues open and programmed and support festivals and touring. The Council supports over 50 venues, approximately 200 festivals and 400 arts organisations.
The Irish audiovisual industry is a positive force for change, as it is responsible for increased inward investment and providing high quality local employment - this year alone over 10,000 jobs in cast, crew, extras and post-production were supported on almost 50 film and television productions. The Section 481 Investment tax relief for the film and television production sector will remain in place.”

Minister Hanafin went on to say “the vast majority of writers, artists, sculptors and photographers who are currently availing of the Artists’ Exemption will still be covered by this provision – even with the reduction in threshold from €125,000 to €40,000 – which for a long number of years helped nurture new talent and give them a foothold to launch a career in their area of expertise.”

The actual 2010 outturn figures and 2011 budget for the IFB looks like this -
IRISH FILM BOARD Current Capital Total
(GRANT-IN-AID) 2,772 16,500 19,272 [2010]
(GRANT-IN-AID) 2,431 16,000 18,431 [2011] -4%

A very good result for the IFB. Even the 12% cut in current (administration) spending should be bearable, although it will be interesting to see how it is introduced by the agency.

It would be useful to get a breakdown on those 10,000 jobs. How long did they last? What was the average income? How much income tax was paid on foot of the 10,000 jobs? How many were single work opportunities? How many were multiple employments of the same individuals? How many of the jobs are derived in part from the TV license fee? How many are permanent jobs? How many are self-employed, and how many are PAYE workers?

Deal or no deal?

Interesting developments across the water where culture minister Ed Vaizey has decided that the BFI will take on the production funding role of the UK Film Council. In the process announcing an increase in lottery funding for film from its present level of £27m to £43m by 2014.

There's a huge political element to the decision and in historical terms it's merely another chapter in the power play between various individuals and institutions who hitched their careers to particular sides of the UK body politic.

The BFI has survived a decade (plus a prefatory few years of intense lobbying) during which its gradual destruction by its enemies seemed certain. It was in 'merger' discussions with the UKFC up to the time of the UK general election.

The balance changed immediately following the election result and the BFI now has the (un)enviable task of building a low-overhead production division under political oversight which may expect its participation in commercially successful projects which really ought not require public finance.

Perhaps, (in the public funding context, and here as much as elsewhere in Europe) it's time to consider a 'facility' in the manner of a limited guarantee against loss - rather than a drawn down production loan - for those projects that notionally have commercial potential.

This might underwrite some market risk financing (but not the associated costs), promote producer equity participation, and clarify the commerce/culture ambivalence that spancils public funding for film in Europe.

It is an approach that could be tied, perhaps proportionally, to the retention of rights in the country offering the guarantee facility. For example - a guarantee of 30% of the production finance would hinge on 30% of the world rights being retained by the local producer.

It would also have the benefit of focusing producers' minds on the commercial viability of their projects because they will be faced with a choice of funding strands, either to apply for a guarantee or a soft loan of the sort given out at the moment.

Perhaps this has been tried elsewhere and it hasn't worked. Perhaps it might be seen as a mixed blessing, or unworkable by producers. I don't know.

What I believe, however, is that the nation states of Europe can't continue to subsidise a business that shows no sign of sustainability, wholly exploited by non-European producers, where only marginal profits are retained (if any), with even fewer measureable cultural outcomes, the lot being driven by substantial fee income which does not even appear on film budget lines.

The truth is there are two economies at play in the film 'industry'. The first, and the weakest, is the economy around what appears on production budgets. The second, and the most influential, is the economy around the financing and servicing of production deals.

Nobody talks about the fee income, the costs, in the economy around the financing and servicing of production deals. Back in the mid-nineties I was told of an Irish producer earning £500,000 as a fee on a particular film, not for producing the film (presumably that fee was in the budget) but for his role in facilitating the production deal.

I've no reason to doubt the story, it was related to me by a senior banker of good repute who had some peripheral dealings with the film business. What it illustrates is that the making of a film often masks the reality that the film is merely a mechanism for people to make a deal, which is how they actually make a living.

In a nutshell, they trade profitably off an unprofitable trade. It's time to re-focus.

Anglo and Film

People in the film business will be aware of Anglo Irish Bank's involvement with film in Ireland over the years, although they may not be aware that it dates from as far back as 1990.

Anglo was a partner with the Irish Film Board in the Company Development Initiative (CDI) scheme which was intended to boost the development and business capacity of several production companies. The three-year scheme was announced in May 2001 with the IFB contributing €3.175m, Anglo contributing €1.9m, and the successful applicant companies contributing €1.27m.

The first five companies approved for CDI in November, 2001 were Magma Films, Element Pictures Octagon Films, Treasure Entertainment, and Little Bird, the latter including associated partners Comet Films, Fubar Films and Wildfire.

At the time Michael O'Sullivan, Senior Manager with Anglo Irish Bank, said, "We are pleased to be working with Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board on the Company Development Initiative. This represents an important extension to our involvement in the development of Irish production companies and is an excellent opportunity to build on our film financing activities."

Interviewed by the Sunday Tribune O'Sullivan said Anglo was "involved in 16 or 17 productions, between section 481 tax-based investment, 'discounting' of presales contracts, which enables producers to release funds for production, and providing working capital. In the year to 5 April [2001], Anglo was involved in production activity with a capital value of nearly $100m."

The IFB announced a second phase of CDI in June, 2003, and the successful applicant companies were Subotica, Grand Pictures, Distinguished Features, and Cartoon Saloon.

Anglo is best known for its Section 481 financing activity, which I presume is ongoing. It claims to have raised in excess of $500m in Section 481 financing for film and television production in Ireland.

It has been involved in financing, among others, Intermission, Breakfast on Pluto, Tara Road, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Garage, The Tudors, The Escapist, PS I Love You, How About You, Shrooms, The Clinic, and Triage.

To give some scale of the funding involved Anglo raised €21m from about 600 investors for the first series of The Tudors in 2006. It raised some €4m for the largely undistributed Triage. Section 481 investors would achieve a return on their investment of approximately €2,300, usually inside a year.

A recent report by Shane Phelan in the Irish Independent (November 26) states that former Anglo CEO David Drumm owes Anglo the sum of €8,414 in respect of a loan taken out to enable his Section 481 investment in Triage. I seem to recall that Sean Fitzpatrick, former Chairman of Anglo had a similar outstanding loan, perhaps not for the same production.

The Independent reports, Documents seen by the Irish Independent reveal Mr Drumm, who is filing for bankruptcy with liabilities of €10.26m, invested €31,750 in the company behind the movie, Darkroom Productions Ltd, in 2008. The investment was part-funded through a loan of €8,414 from Anglo, which was due to be repaid nine months later. However, despite securing a significant tax break because of the investment, Mr Drumm never paid the money back.

What's interesting about all of this is what it reveals about the mechanics of the Section 481 scheme, as it is worked by the Irish financial services sector. These are the type of people availing of the scheme and all they need in order to profit from it is a certain level of tax liability, plus a loan. Not even the cash in hand.

Where's the risk in that?

Found on the interweb...

Interesting paper by former Film Board CEO, Rod Stoneman - Chance and Change - a consideration of the part played by chance occurrence in audiovisual production (20 October 2010).

On production risk...
Sometimes we were party to the miscalculation of cash flow needs and a few years after An Gobán Saor, Deborah Warner‟s Last September (a much bigger feature project) was in great jeopardy in the second week of its shoot in October 1998. As one
of the producers Nik Powell was working with lawyers to interlock and make two complex national tax incentive schemes compatible in the financial structure, the electricians (a crew of sparks imported from Britain) threatened to abandon the production unless they were immediately paid. Searching for €10,000 in cash Neil Jordan, an executive producer on the project, turned to me with the half-joking but memorable remark “do you know any drug dealers?”–presumably they might be a source of ready cash. I had to admit that I had no such relevant acquaintances and in the end it was said that the urgent money was borrowed late that night via Paul McGuinness (manager of U2) from the safe of the Clarence, a Dublin hotel that the group owned.

And on the role of the IFB...
It was essential for a national film agency like BSÉ / IFB that there be some combination of success in both cultural and commercial domains. Film agencies and institutes in the 1960s and 1970s had more of a purely cultural remit, but the neo-liberal economistic discourses of the later 1970s and 1980s provided pressure for economic performance. In Ireland the Coopers and Lybrand Report from 1992 argued for the reconstitution of the Film Board, which had been dissolved in 1987, on the grounds that it would stimulate economic activity and thus employment. Of course these were important arguments to make and we produced figures to show the economic effects of our support for production. However we were concerned to maintain a judicious equilibrium between cultural, social and financial motives; there are always reasons for „thinking of the audience‟–if one is to avoid solipsistic or unthought-through forms of filmmaking practice.

It was important to keep the relentless financial tendencies at bay by balancing them with cultural arguments and so I wrote polemical comments like “In all its forms film is at its most innovative when it is experienced as unexpected, challenging social norms and complacencies of taste, extending the boundaries of the possible . .” in the annual report. [xxxi] In 2003 we came up with a mission statement: “We intend to encourage bravery and embrace creative risk. Paradoxically, in cinema, the further you push artistically the more genuinely commercial you can be.” [xxxii] Uttering these 'neither/nor' verbalizations and myriad other oxymoronic policy formulations seemed like indispensable discursive manoeuvres and the only way to absorb and deflect the implacable pressures of increasingly economistic discourses. Utilising public monies for the expensive business of film needed justification as right-wing public representatives and a hostile tabloid press were always pleased to indulge in a feeding frenzy the minute we failed to maintain a robust sense of purpose allied with some quick footwork.

Gearscannáin (pron. gyaarh-scon-oin)

A correspondent writes...

I suspect you've been thinking about this already but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the recently announced new IFB scheme. Marks a U-turn from the 2008 strategy that sought to rescue Irish-language film from the ghetto. Does the new scheme suggest that few or no Irish language scripts were being submitted in the absence of the promise of special treatment or is there something else afoot in the current cultural-economic climate?

The correspondent is right, I had been thinking about the Irish language angle for a while because the IFB recently made very obvious efforts to declare that they do or can do business through the medium of Irish.

It struck me as ironic that the powers that be only issue those releases in the Irish language, in much the same way that RTÉ's Nuacht carries news items relating to language issues that are never reported on their English language bulletins half an hour later. Either the items are news or they're not. It's an approach that runs the risk of creating a ghetto effect around the Irish language.

I can only assume that the IFB were obliged to very publicly offer their services through Irish either under a timeframe laid down by the relevant legislation or because of political pressure. I suspect that this means that all their information and application documents have been or are being translated into the Irish language.

I might say here, for the record, that I believe any citizen ought to be able to conduct any aspect of their business with the state though the medium of Irish if they wish to do so. I believe that is their right. The image of a head of a state agency having to use an interpreter in discussions with a citizen is one that amuses me, I have to say. Just as much as it does when such figures address English-speaking audiences in Irish.

The first thing to observe about Gearscannán (interestingly this information was released in English and Irish) is that the IFB has given no policy explanation for the change.

The move does suggest to me that either Irish language projects were not being submitted in sufficient quantities, or someone decided they were not being funded in sufficient quantities. If they have been receiving Irish language projects for the various short film schemes, however, but found none of sufficient quality to support, then that raises a whole lot of other questions.

In the past the IFB is known to have solicited short film projects when the standard fell short among the projects submitted to it for the non-animated short film schemes. If this practice has continued into present times with Irish language film makers not being approached then that would raise another issue.

If there is now a guaranteed fund for two shorts in the Irish language will they be required to be of the same standard as their English language equivalents?

Will people with projects conceived in English just decide to translate their projects into Irish because they figure, as happened in the past, that their chances of success might improve? And, is there any particular reason that TG4 were not involved as they had been with the highly successful Oscailt scheme?

Spot the difference(s)...
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board is delighted to announce that applications are being sought for the new short film scheme ‘Gearrscannáin'. Applications will be accepted until 17th December 2010.
Tá áthas ar Bhord Scannán na hÉireann iarratais a éileamh don chéad bhabhta eile den scéim an-rathúil ‘Gearrscannán. Is é an Aoine 17ú Nollaig 2010 an spriocdháta nua don scéim.

Lastly, I believe this is the first time the IFB has introduced an age classification into one of their schemes, ba chóir go mbeidh siad in ann grádú ‘faoi 15' a bhaint amach. So projects in Irish but only suitable for the under 15s, and yet the distribution is going to be primarily online, Déanfar an scéim a sholáthar ar-líne den chuid is mó.

A case of two plus two equals cúig.

Europe, again

Following on from my post on Nov. 17 there is a thought-provoking interview with economist Olivier Bomsel on the Cineuropa website.

Some quotes stand out...

Editorialising means building a relationship of trust with viewers by enabling them to assess their risk as well as possible, to best understand the movie theatre’s editorial policy. It’s about becoming an approved label, like a collection of books or a wine appellation. The proposed film must be consistent with the proposed policy.

and

The European Union is made up of 27 countries and 23 languages: this is a major economic handicap not only because of the size of the markets, but also because of the cost of adapting products from one country to another. Europe was built on the idea of a unified market to produce economies of scale. But European civil servants have difficulty understanding that there are no economies of scale for the media market...

Meanwile in Rome, yesterday...

IRISHFILMFESTA presenta
“GOING IRISH” - Convegno sulla co-produzione cinematografica fra Italia e Irlanda
(Roma, Casa del Cinema - 24 novembre 2010- ore 10.00-12.30)

Il convegno, parte della quarta edizione del festival di cinema irlandese IRISHFILMFESTA - è aperto a tutti i produttori italiani. Si pone l’obiettivo di esplorare le possibilità, i tempi, i modi e le strategie per accordi di co-produzione fra Italia e Irlanda, a partire dalla presentazione delle esistenti iniziative di sostegno e finanziamento, dei relativi enti promotori, e dall’esempio delle esperienze specifiche di alcuni esponenti chiave della produzione cinematografica di entrambi i Paesi.

L’Ambasciatore irlandese, S.E. Patrick Hennessy introdurrà i lavori.
I relatori presenti:
Patrick O'Neill, Industry Affairs Executive dell’Irish Film Board, illustrerà il panorama dell’Industria filmica Irlandese, la struttura e gli obiettivi dell’Irish Film Board e i meccanismi di finanziamento e facilitazione produttiva.
Siobhan O’Donoghue, Media Desk Ireland, spiegherà il funzionamento di Media Desk e presenterà i produttori irlandesi che hanno ricevuto tali finanziamenti.
Tristan Orpen Lynch, Ireland, Subotica (Small Engine Repair)
Stefano Massenzi, Italy, Lucky Red (This Must Be the Place)
Maurizio Antonini, Italy, Interlinea (La controra/Midday Demons)
presenteranno le loro esperienze di co-produzioni internazionali.
Moderatore: Avv. Leonardo Paulillo

The recovery position

Hard to say exactly where things stand for film in this country with the publication of the Government's plan. More clarity will come with the budget.

Some points to note:

Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport
Revised Capital Expenditure Ceiling 2011 - 2014
2011 2012 2013 2014 Total
€96m €100m €85m €80m €361m
Will this impact on the annual capital available to the Film Board?

Artists' Tax Exemption
Earnings ceiling reduced to €40,000

VAT going up, and then up again. (2013-14) Minimum wage going down.

Some pointers on tax reliefs
Many are being abolished and the benefit from others being retained to be reduced to the standard (lower) tax rate. We'll have to wait to see if this or any other change is being made to Section 481.

UPDATE
The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin TD, has issued a statment on the implications of the plan for her Department.
The savings in current spending for 2011 total €17million, of which €4million will be in administrative non-pay overheads. Total current spending across the three sectors will be in the order of €296million in 2011. Over the lifetime of the plan the Tourism, Culture and Sport areas will contribute savings of €76million in current expenditure.
She also says, There has been an unprecedented investment in national and regional arts and culture infrastructure, performance venues and film and TV production capacities... In the context of the four year plan, we will continue to prioritise capital investment in the film and audiovisual content production sector...

So, if it's a cut of €17m in current expenditure in year one, and a total cut of €76million over the four years, then there will be an average of €19.66m cut in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In soundbite form that's a 24% drop over four years on current spending this year.

It's what we might call the recovery position.

Dublin Eurimages Seminar

The MEDIA Desk is holding a welcome Eurimages information session at IFI in Dublin on November 29. Eurimages is a pan-European co-production fund subscribed to by the majority of members of the Council of Europe. Registration for the event is at 9.30am and it will start at 10am and end at 11.30am.

Roberto Olla, Director of Eurimages, will discuss the fund and explain the operation of the new application rules being introduced in the new year. The basic information and web addresses are contained in the post I wrote on Nov. 15 (down the page).

The information session will be particularly useful for local producers who wish to apply to the fund with projects they have originated. In recent years very few Irish-originated projects have been backed by Eurimages. See my earlier posts on this issue.

People wishing to attend should contact the MEDIA Desk at info1@mediadesk.ie as soon as possible.

Up the Junction!

As the latest Harry Potter title blitzkriegs our cinemas today it will launch the country's newest cinema, a drive-in at Fota Retail Park in Carrigtwohill called Movie Junction.

It may not be the first ever Irish drive-in cinema but it will almost certainly be the biggest since the demise of the IMAX screen in Dublin that was eventually swallowed up by what is now the Vue/Cineworld in Parnell Street.

The new site is called Movie Junction and the operators hope to open similar ventures in Galway and Dublin. €16 a car. Let's hope the weather is kind to them. Pictures here.

Subsidising Competitiveness or Supporting Culture?

The current MEDIA programme is running for seven years and has a total budget of approximately €755,000,000 for 2007-2013. The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a future EU programme for the audiovisual sector which would replace the current one. The consultation will remain open until 30 November, here.

During the second semester of 2011 the Commission intends to adopt a draft Decision of the European Parliament and Council establishing a new MEDIA programme after 2013. This new programme will help achieve the objectives of the new 'Europe 2020' Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

There is a lot that is problematic about the MEDIA Programme's schemes. Much of what passes for development funding, for instance, is used to cover producer overhead, especially the support for slate schemes. These financial supports bolster many audiovisual businesses that would otherwise be unsustainable because they generate little income in the market from the sale of their output.

This is certainly true in Ireland where, if we're hard-nosed about it, supports or subsidies that keep otherwise unviable companies in business do relatively little to promote cultural or market competitiveness with non-European audiovisual production.

In market terms 'competitiveness' has a very specific meaning. The consultation addresses various areas of MEDIA support or subsidy as though they would or could address issues of competitiveness in the market on a Europe-wide basis.

They reveal several assumptions being made about that market and the first thing to be said is that it is not homogeneous and the issues relating to competitiveness vary greatly from one country to another. The size of each country's internal market, its linguistic heritage, and the historical strength of its audiovisual industry are not reducible to a single European construct.

Nor can one, for instance, conflate the French market and the Irish market for audiovisual products. They are separate markets with a marginal areas of overlap within the single currency zone. That is all.

It is simply not possible to address issues of market competitiveness with subsidy or support schemes on a Europe-wide basis and it's time that the wisdom of attempting to forge a single market for audiovisual products was properly investigated.

But is market competitiveness really the issue? I fear that the language used in the consultation will limit respondents' focus to redundant issues. The focus should be on ways to support, enhance and promote the diversity of all our audiovisual cultures in Europe. That means supporting channels of access or outlets for that diversity as it emerges from within originating cultures.

That is not the same as subsidising a 'single market'-driven solution and it means being absolutely clear about the cultural purpose and the non-recoverable cost of any actions or support programmes being undertaken.

There is no public financial solution to market competitiveness issues in the European audiovisual sector. Taken to its logical conclusion any and all offers of funding support made to European audiovisual producers, distributors and exhibitors will not and can not guarantee an audience for audiovisual product.

Such support will, however, underwrite the costs of production, distribution and exhibition, thereby creating a sham economy in each area of the sector. Outcomes cannot be determined with any certainty by the intervention of public agencies and public funding.

That said I believe, again, that the emphasis on 'competitiveness' is misplaced. The focus on market pressures loses sight of who should really benefit from any intervention. That should be European audiences.

The expansion of choice and programme diversity for audiences will flow from culturally-motivated policies, and not from market interventions. They are too easily soaked up by otherwise unsustainable businesses.

Eurimages update

Changes in the Eurimages application proceedures have been brought in with effect from Jan 01, 2011. You can read them here and the full regulations are here.

It's worth having a look through the documents to see both the information required of producers/financiers and the criteria used to qualify films as European. One can then ruminate on how one might use similar criteria to qualify a film as Irish, or as having an Irish character:

In the case of fiction projects, the European character will be assessed on the basis of the points system included in the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production. These projects must achieve at least 15 out of 19 points, according to the points system set out below:
Director 3
Scriptwriter 3
Composer 1
First role 3
Second role 2
Third role 1
Cameraman 1
Sound recordist and mixer 1
Editor 1
Art director and costumes 1
Studio or shooting location 1
Post-production location 1
TOTAL 19

These are the four co-productions backed by Eurimages in 2010 that have an Irish angle, although only one of them might be said to have an Irish character.

A Royal Affair/Caroline Mathildes AR
By Nikolaj Arcel (Denmark)
Feature Film
Awarded: €600 000
Co-producers:
ZENTROPA ENTERTAINMENTS 25 Aps (DK)
TROLLHÄTTAN FILM AB (SE)
SIA FILM ANGELS (LV)
SUBOTICA LIMITED (IE)

This must be the place
By Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
Feature Film
Awarded: €600 000
Co-producers:
INDIGO FILM Srl / LUCKY RED Srl (PRODUCTION) (IT)
ARP S.a.s (FR)
ELEMENT PICTURES Ltd (PRODUCTION) (IE)

The Moon Man
By Stephan Schesch (DE)
Animation Film
Awarded: €600 000
Co-producers:
SCHESCH FILMKREATION (DE)
LE PACTE (PRODUCTION) (FR)
CARTOON SALOON (IE)

Wonderland
By Irina Maldea (Ireland - Romania)
Documentary
Awarded: €50 000
Co-producers:
AKAJAVA FILMS (IE)
FRAGILE FILMS (AT)

This Year's Corkers...

...or the prize-winning short films from the Cork Film Festival which ended yesterday.

Best International Short
Baby Daniel Mulloy, England
Special Mentions:
The External World, David O’Reilly, Germany/Ireland
The Forest/La Forêt, Lionel Rupp, Switzerland

Cork Short Film Nominee for the European Film Academy Awards
Incident by a Bank Ruben Ostlund, Sweden

Best Irish Short Film
Pentecost Peter McDonald
Special Mention:
Crossing Salween Brian O’Malley
The External World David O’Reilly

Claire Lynch Award for Best First-Time Irish Director
Small Change Cathy Brady
Special Mention:
S(Kin) Luke Daly

Best ‘Made In Cork’ Award
Kettle Brian Power
Special Mentions:
Hungry Hickory Damian McCarthy
Greyhound Track Mike Hannon

Award Of The Festival For Best Short Film
Holding Still Florian Riegel, Germany
Special Mention:
We Will Not Die/On Ne Mourra Pas, Amal Kateb, France/Algeria

Audience Award For Best International Short
Miss Remarkable & Her Career Joanna Rubin Dranger, Ireland/Sweden/Denmark

Audience Award For Best Irish Short
Passing David Freyne

OutLook Award For Best Lesbian/Gay Short
Blokes Marialy Rivas, Chile

Funding decisions

IFB project loans, 10 November 2010

Project/Director/Writer/Company/€Amount

Development
First Draft Loans
Traders Peter Murphy & Rachel Moriarty €16,000
The Girl In The Green Kimono Jimmy Murakami Jimmy Murakami & Mary D'Arcy €16,000
Guitar Heroes Brian Lynch €12,000
Red Brian Finola Geraghty €12,000
I'm A Wheel Alan Gilsenan Paul Freaney €16,000
The Winter Truce Audrey O'Reilly €12,000
Ms. Mansfield & Me Paul Walker €12,000
Fiction Development Loans
The Canal Ivan Kavanagh Ivan Kavanagh Park Films €15,000
Noble Stephen Bradley Stephen Bradley Danman Films €20,000
I Am Not A Serial Killer Billy O'Brien Billy O'Brien & Chris Hyde Floodland Pictures €13,000
Simple Simon Terry McMahon Treasure Entertainment €22,500
Hate Brendan Muldowney Brendan Muldowney SP Films €18,000
Ten Dates With Mad Mary Darren Thornton Darren & Colin Thornton Element Pictures €40,000
Glass Houses Aisling Walsh Mary Duffin Fantastic Films €5,000
Star Of The Sea John Crowley Mark O'Rowe Parallel Film Productions €45,000
The Ranger PJ Dillon PJ Dillon & Eugene O'Brien Fastnet Films €5,000
Love Eternal Brendan Muldowney Brendan Muldowney Fastnet Films €5,000
Sanctuary Norah McGettigan Norah McGettigan Venom Limited €4,000
Standby Rob & Ronan Burke Pierce Ryan Black Sheep Productions €10,000
The Vehicle John Butler John Butler Treasure Entertainment €20,000
Food Guide To Love Dominic Harari & Teresa de Pelegri Eugene O'Brien Parallel Film Productions €15,000
Princess Judy Lunny Footnote Productions Limited €20,000
Down To A Sunless Sea David Gleeson David Gleeson Wide Eye Films €15,000
The Wet Senor Johnny Gogan Donal O'Kelly Bandit Films €5,000
Wooly Faces Pearse Elliott Pearse Elliott Great Meadows Productions €11,000
Animation Development Loans
Fronkey, Hugh & Chonkey Maurice Joyce Marcus Fleming Avalon Films €10,000
Bedheads Andrew Kavanagh Andrew Kavanagh Kavaleer Productions €48,000
Cosmo Jason Tammemagi Jason Tammemagi Monster Animation Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Nightglider Darragh O'Connell Jeremy Shipp Brown Bag Films €30,000
The Selfish Giant 3D Catherine Owens Catherine Owens Red Jam Productions €34,000

Production
Fiction Feature Films
Silence Pat Collins Pat Collins South Wind Blows €300,000
Documentary
Way Out Gerard Mannix Flynn Farcry Productions €5,000
Regional Support Fund
Grabbers Jon Wright Kevin Linane Samson Films €100,000

Marketing Support
The Pipe Risteard O'Domhnaill Underground Films €10,000

Authorial alienation...

The director Ger Leonard has blogged about his alienation from his first feature film Five Day Shelter here.

This is how he describes it: The immune system was removed, and I could not save our film. Our film only exists in the hearts and minds of those of us that believed and kept faith, and it exists too in an abridged form on my hard drive but that can never be seen in public. Those that have seen and heard this film and the "official" one cannot fail to recognise the chasm of care and consideration that divides the two.

DoP Tim Fleming refers to it briefly here.

Rumours concerning the film have been circulating for more than a year and it seems now that there are some hard questions that need answers, not least of which is - how could this happen?

The "official" version of the film is being screened at the Cork Film Festival tomorrow, November 11.

A rhetorical post...

We're living in troubled times but let's imagine it's 1993 and the madness has yet to begin in earnest.

The government is being lobbied to support industry. A few legislative tweaks and a state agency, it is argued, will prime the pump, create lots of employment, and develop local entrepreneurial initiative.

Rojam Inc. promise 2,500 fulltime jobs making nannacs in return for an investment by the State of approximately €25,000,000. This will not be a one-off investment, however, like those offered to the likes of Dell or Intel.

Rojam Inc. require €25,000,000 a year for the foreseeable future because the market for nannacs is uncertain, but they argue persuasively that the fiscal return to the State in direct and indirect taxes will offset the non-profitablility of (a) nannacs, (b) Rojam (Ireland), its (c) affiliates and (d) sub-contractors.

The Irish government agrees the proposal despite reservations expressed by officials in the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners, mostly around issues of transparency to do with Rojam (Ireland)'s investment and accounting practices, and the actual production cost of nannacs.

Some 16 years later, and various re-treads of the Rojam (Ireland) support scheme, the State has invested, say, €400,000,000 in return for about 2,500 fulltime jobs.

There are a few wobbles over the years. Numerous other countries offer Rojam Inc. better inducements to set up similar operations and Rojam (Ireland)'s turnover suffers as a result. It becomes clear that very few nannacs will be made in Ireland without increased levels support from the Irish government.

The government steps up to the plate and offers additional direct investment going forward. It covers some infrastructural overhead which further subsidises the production of nannacs. It is even persuaded of the wisdom of part-financing the making of nannacs in off-shore locations because it provides some occasional work for Irish sub-contractors.

Meanwhile, the international market for nannacs is very poor. All nannacs are essentially nano-businesses in their own right, and almost always unprofitable. The government remains persuaded, however, that the market for nannacs is not relevant to its support for Rojam (Ireland), its affiliates and sub-contractors. The Irish government would rather close hospital wards and cut social services than rigorously examine the basis for its ongoing subsidy for the making of nannacs.

Whither the ACPISFG?

The Audiovisual Content Production Industry Strategy Framework Group - "the name is a mouthful," to quote former Minister Martin Cullen - has been toiling away on the future of the "industry" for a year or more, following on the publication of the Irish Film Board's Irish Audiovisual Content Production Sector Review in early 2009.

That review and the survey that underpinned it are, in my view, practically useless because of the overly broad approach, compounded by patchy sample and return rates.

It set out to tailor a new empirical suit of clothes for the audiovisual sector but the headline results, which have been cited ad nauseam by lobbyists and a succession of Ministers are largely meaningless.

Take the public funding away - the TV License Fee (including Sound & Vision); TG4; IFB finance; Section 481 - and there is little evidence of a self-sustaining business model for Irish 'independent' producers. This is implicit in the age-profile and attrition rate of employees leaving the sector, downplayed in the Review.

If the ACPISFG has been established with the Review dataset as its foundation then it's resting on a shaky set of premises. Membership of the ACPISFG has not been published so we don't know if it's made up of a self-serving coterie of policy influencers or a group of people with a broader view who can see the wood for the trees.

Back at the end of June the Minister referred to the ACPISFG in answering a question from Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore.

He asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, the number of meetings she has had with Bord Scannán na hÉireann since she assumed her role in the Department; her plans to support the film industry here; the discussions she has had with the Irish Film Board over the popularity of home produced cinema at the box office; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that often films can be designated Irish when they may not be deserving of this title for a number of reasons; her views on whether the amount invested into Irish cinema represents value for money; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (Deputy Mary Hanafin): Primary responsibility for the support and promotion of film-making in Ireland in respect of both the indigenous sector and inward productions is a matter for the Irish Film Board (IFB). This agency is funded through my Department and is independent of the Department in its operations. In terms of value for money, it is worth pointing out that three of the nominations for Academy Awards earlier this year were for projects that were funded by the Irish Film Board and that employment in the Irish audiovisual content production industry was established at over 6,500 in a review carried out for the Irish Film Board.
An Audiovisual Content Production Industry Strategy Framework Group was established last year that will assist in providing a clear vision for the future of the industry and response to market changes. I anticipate receipt of that report in the early Autumn. Since I was appointed Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport, I have met the Chairman and executives of the Irish Film Board. The Irish Film Board has confirmed to me any films designated as Irish, have to meet the relevant co-production treaty rules. [my emphasis]

Any day now, then.

I wonder will it include a recommendation that the remit of the Irish Co-production Film Board be expanded to include the video-gaming business? It's not as if its role hasn't already been expanded to support businesses that would not be viable without its money. The last thing we need is unsustainable gaming businesses in parallel with our unsustainable film businesses.

Shortly in Cork

Interesting selection of new Irish shorts being shown at the Cork Film Festival in a few weeks. They will all compete for the relevant Irish short film awards. Good to see some experienced film-makers represented in the Irish Shorts section.

Irish documentaries being featured in the Documentary Panorama are listed after the shorts.

I note - and this is not a comment on the selection process - that of the 61 titles listed below just 12 have female directors, one of whom has two titles to her name. I wonder if this is a higher or lower ratio (approx. 5 male to 1 female) than the overall male to female ratio among entrants?

Cork Film Festival November 7-14

Irish Short Films - Final Selection
‘Made In Cork’
Becoming Unsticky / Dir. Michael Gurhy
Channel / Dir. Éanna de Buis
Cheaters / Dir. John Horan
Ger O’Halloran’s True Stories / Dir. Rob O’Halloran
Greyhound Track / Dir. Mike Hannon
Heart / Dir. Mark Cogan
Hungry Hickory / Dir. Damian McCarthy
The Influences Of Feminism On Traditional French Cooking / Dir. Christina Utzeri
Kettle/ Dir. Brian Power
Letting Mr. Blue Sky In! / Dir. Daniel O’Connell
Locked Groove / Dir. Michael Daly
Peace Park / Dir. Chris Cullen
Public Office / Dir. Brian Finucane
Silentgirl / Dir. Ryan O’Connel & Reece O’Connell
Two Weeks in Nairobi / Dir. Jackie Boland

Irish Shorts
Admit One / Dir. Steve Woods
Confesssions/ Dir. Donnacha Coffey
Crossword / Dir. Vincent Gallagher
A Diamond Forms Under Pressure / Dir. Paul O’Donoghue
Bleeding Love / Dir. Ged Murray
Dolls House / Dir. Vinny Murphy
Dún Chaoin / Dir. Lanka Haouche Perren
The External World / Dir. David O’Reilly*
Getting Air / Dir. Mark Noonan
Girls / Dir. Maureen O’Connell
Happy Birthday Timmy! / Dir. Johnny Cullen
Hoodie / Dir. Patrick Finnegan
‘I Hate Musicals!’ – The Musical / Dir. Michael Lavelle
The Incredible Shrinking Office / Dir. Stephen Kane
I Shagged Ronaldo! Dir / Rita-Marie Lawlor
Love At The End of the World / Dir. Oonagh Kearney
The Meaning of Lifeguard / Dir. Dylan Cotter
Mister Heaney / A Wee Portrait / Dir. David Quin
Neighbourhood Watch / Dir. Eamon Little
Noreen / Dir. Domhnall Gleeson
Passing / Dir. David Freyne
The Pool / Dir. Thomas Hefferon
Repeat / Dir. Donal Foreman
Return to Roscoff / Dir. Ken Wardrop*
Rianto Twirlers / Dir. Anne Maree Barry
Rickshaw Rick / Dir. Robert Manson
Sin È / Dir. Sean Branigan
S (KIN) / Dir. Luke Daly
Small Change / Dir. Cathy Brady*
This Monkey / Dir. Patrick Jolley
The Trembling Veil Of Bones / Dir. Matthew Talbot-Kelly*
Woodkarne / Dir. Brendan Culleton

Irish Film Board short schemes premiering at the festival
Signatures
The Christening / Dir. Oonagh Kearney
Crossing Salween / Dir. Brian O’Malley
Pentecost / Dir. Peter McDonald
Shoe / Dir. Nick Kelly

Reality Bites
Blue Rinse / Dir. Matt Leigh
Collaboration Horizontale / Dir. Ciaran Cassidy
Hearing Silence / Dir. Hilary Fennell
Needle Exchange / Dir. Colm Quinn*

*Titles also accepted in the International Shorts Competition

Irish Documentaries
Dreaming The Quiet Man / Dir. Sé Merry Doyle
In Sunshine Or In Shadow / Dir. Andrew Gallimore
Neither Fish Nor Fowl / Dir. Fiona Murphy
The Pipe / Dir. Risteard O’Domhnaill
What We Leave In Our Wake / Dir. Pat Collins
Who Is Dervla Murphy? / Dir. Garret Daly

Thoroughly Modern...

An interesting collaboration is taking place between the Irish Film Institute and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. 'The Moderns: Cinema and Ireland' will be a strand in IMMA’s major autumn exhibition 'The Moderns'. I'm sure it won't be quite as reverential as the similarly titled Alan Rudolph film.

A special season of screenings, each with an accompanying discussion, will celebrate the development of Irish Cinema and examine a range of perspectives that deal "not only with work from key Modernist figures such as Samuel Beckett but also issues of national identity, censorship, exhibition and the creation of a fully-fledged Irish film culture."

The Moderns: Cinema and Ireland
Schedule

21st October 17.50
Samuel Beckett’s Film
(Directed by Alan Schneider)
Followed by a discussion with Dr. Rodney Sharkey

1st November 18.45
Man of Aran
Robert Flaherty
Followed by a discussion with Dr. Harvey O’Brien and Enrique Juncosa, Director of IMMA

8th November 18.30
Battleship Potemkin
Sergei Eisenstein
Followed by a discussion about the role of film societies in Ireland

13th November 12.00
‘First Wave’ Irish Film-making
Screenings and discussions (including Bob Quinn's Caoineadh Art Ui Laoghaire and Thaddeus O'Sullivan's Flanagan).


Tickets are available now for the first two screenings online at www.ifi.ie
Booking will become available for the second two screenings later in the month.

Work in Progress...

In a post at the beginning of the month (here) I said I would write a post about multiple offers to individuals/companies in the same Irish Film Board funding rounds and take a look at the perception that Board members are somehow connected with an undue proportion of projects funded by the agency.

Well, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't because it's turned into an excel file that looks very like a minefield. There are more questions than answers.

If you've been around this business long enough in what is, after all, a very small country, you will know many of the personal and professional connections between people. But one-time joint directors of a company may no longer be on speaking terms. A former producing-directing partnership may have irreconcilable differences.

And, even if there is a connection, direct or indirect between individuals or between individuals and companies and any state funding agency, one cannot necessarily infer that the connection constitutes what might be termed an 'interest'.

It would be useful to know how the IFB defines such an 'interest'.

And again, when it comes to the disbursement of public funding, an offer of a development or production loan does not in itself mean that the money has been given over.

Might it mean, however, that other applications were turned down or not considered because scarce resources were already committed?

And what of those circumstances where loans are provided to projects submitted by third-party companies that then hire companies or individuals who, being paid subsequently for work or services, might be perceived to have benefited, indirectly, from decisions they had a part in? Might that be construed as an 'interest'?

It may be that this is just a matter of perception. Let's see what is on the record. Here is the relevant passage from the Irish Film Board's latest annual report (for 2008):

Board Members - Disclosure of Transactions
In the normal course of business the Irish Film Board may approve assistance to film projects and enter into other contractual arrangements with undertakings in which Board Members are employed or otherwise interested. The Irish Film Board has adopted procedures in relation to the disclosures of interests by Board members and these procedures were adhered to during the year. In 2008 the following loans were approved in which a Board Member was employed or had an interest:
Lesley McKimm Newgrange Pictures
Happy Ever Afters (Production) 250,000. Newgrange Pictures also received three unquantified offers of assistance for the production of Stella Days (Feature Film), Killing Time (Documentary) and Population (Documentary) in 2008.
James Morris Treasure Entertainment
The Eclipse (Production) 850,000
Tristan Orpen Lynch Subotica Entertainment
La Mula (Production) 500,000, Advance Party (Development) 15,000, An Evening of Long Goodbyes (Development) 25,000, Bernadette (Development) 30,000, Tillsonburg (Development) 21,000, Unless (Development) 25,000
Kirsten Sheridan Blindside Films
Some Rain Must Fall (Development) 20,000

Total €1,736,000

1. The actual loan figure given for Happy Ever Afters in the accounts is €1,000,000, perhaps €750,000 was committed in 2007? Also 197,500 is credited to Newgrange in the accounts under the Multiple Project Development scheme, perhaps the decision predates the appointment of the then Board, or the full value of the MPD scheme was accounted for in an earlier report?
2. A further €325,919 for Treasure Entertainment is in the accounts under the Multiple Project Development scheme, perhaps the decision predates the appointment of the then Board, or the full value of the MPD scheme was accounted for in an earlier report?
3. It is stated in the report, inter alia that the IFB will pay "serious attention" to submissions or applications where, "the amount of BSÉ/IFB’s investment corresponds to the level of involvement of Irish personnel, elements and facilities in the project." Should we presume that members of the Board absent themselves from decisions regarding projects which result in the hiring of "personnel, elements and facilities" with which they may be associated? Would the particular involvement of Irish personnel, elements and facilities be known at the time a project is submitted?
4. In 2008 the IFB had just over four production loan applications for feature films per month (51), of which about half were successful.
5. Approximately 60 fiction development loan applications were successful in 2008, giving a 'success' rate of about 25%.
6. How does the IFB provide financially for "unquantified offers of assistance"?
7. If the total quoted above - €1,736,000 - is accurate, what percentage does it represent of total production and development loans in 2008? Is that percentage higher or lower than in previous years, and how do 2009 and 2010 compare?
8. Should a funded production run into difficulties, may any Board members associated with the project be involved in decisions concerning that project?

'Reel Art' 2010

I missed the details of this year's Reel Art documentary scheme when it was first announced so, in case anyone else missed it you can find the info on the Reel Art website here.

Over the last couple of years the scheme has resulted in a number of very interesting documentary projects. Reel Art intentionally affords a high degree of creative freedom to the film-maker, helped by the fact that the documentaries are intended for the big screen rather than television.

The closing date for applications is October 18, 2010.

IFB hires Deloitte

In a repeat of the process that selected Simon Perry as new CEO in 2005, the Irish Film Board is going through Deloitte Executive Selection to find a replacement who will take up the reins on January 1st, 2011.

This is good news because there was a possibility that the public service recruitment ban might have been applied. This has resulted, for instance, in the loss of frontline nursing services for the elderly in this part of the world.

If you are interested in the CEO position at the IFB you should forward a CV in confidence to Mark O’Donnell, Director, Executive Selection, Deloitte, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland. (Tel: +353 1 417 2580 Email: maodonnell@deloitte.ie). The closing date for applications is Friday, 8th October.

The person being sought will have strong people management, negotiation and financial management skills; will require proven experience and qualifications to ensure the ongoing progress and development of a distinct and creatively led Irish Film Making sector; [and] will also be expected to oversee the implementation of policies to develop the broader Film and Television production industry.

Salary is not mentioned but I believe it is currently in the region of €110,000pa (contingent on increments, payment of a 2.5% public service pay increase, and recent salary reductions in the public service).

There is also a 20% performance 'package', plus an Accommodation Allowance. The latter allowance is not that common in the public service and may only apply because the agency is split between its HQ in Galway and its Dublin offices where many of the 16 staff are based full-time.

Donal Gilligan RIP

Just the other day I passed a sign for 'Gilligan's' on the roadside on the way home from Roscommon town. I thought of Donal and made a mental note to ask him if he had Roscommon roots the next time I ran into him. It turns out that he had those roots, but it was shocking to learn it from an obituary for a man so young.

I recall Donal almost exactly 21 years ago, helmet on, puttering around on his bike - was it a Honda 50 or a Yamaha? - as we got ready to shoot The School Bus.

It was a paying gig which, in the days before funded schemes and the restitution of the IFB, was pretty unusual on a short film. The shoot was fraught for a variety of reasons, all of them usual enough on a short film.

1989. The country lanes around Roundwood. The Norseman. It seems like several lifetimes ago now. Rest in peace, Donal.

Essentially Irish?

Compare and contrast the following press regarding the new Jerzy Skolimowski film Essential Killing which picked up three important awards at the recent Venice Film Festival.

I think I saw one Irish commentator remark in passing that it was 'largely filmed in Ireland'. I believe the film was actually shot in Israel, Norway and Poland, but I'm open to correction.

The film did employ a couple of Irish crew members and sound post-production took place in Ireland. It wasn't on the list of films using the Section 481 tax break that I listed back in May, but it may have been certified subsequently.

The film (as Essence Of Killing) received either €250,000 or €250,000 x 2 (€500,000) from the Irish Film Board. The confusion being that loan offers of €250,000 seem to have been made twice, once in August 2009 and again in early 2010.

from FNE:
Essential Killing to compete for Oscar
15 September 2010 By FNE Staff
WARSAW: Following Essential Killing winning the special jury prize this year in Venice, Agnieszka Odorowicz has announced that the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl ) will try to enter Jerzy Skolimowski's film into regular distribution in the United States so it can compete for the Academy Awards in all the feature film categories.
The Polish candidate for best foreign language film is All That I Love, directed by Jacek Borcuch and produced by Prasa & Film (www.prasaifilm.pl ) but because Essential Killing has no dialogue it can compete outside this category.
"Essential Killing is a masterpiece," Odorowicz said, "a film from a director who creates cinema that is artistic and formally tasteful. It is worth pointing out that Vincent Gallo was awarded for best actor even though the movie has no dialogue. It is a universal story about a man who is terrified and fights for his life."
The film was financed by the Polish Film Institute (www.pisf.pl), produced by Skopia Film of Poland (www.skopiafilm.com), Hungary's Mythberg Films (www.mythbergfilms.hu), Ireland's Element Pictures and Norwegian Cylinger (sic) Productions. Hanway Films (www.hanwayfilms.com) is handling international sales.

Hanway Films PR
VENICE, Sept 12 - "Essential Killing", a Jeremy Thomas presentation directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, has won an unprecedented three awards at last night's ceremony in Venice, taking home the Special Jury Prize, Best Actor (Vincent Gallo), and the Cinemavveniere Award for Best Film in Competition (youth jury).
In a rare coup, "Essential Killing" received both the Best Actor and Special Jury Prizes. Traditionally at Venice, Best Actor is not twinned with any other major awards for the same film. This year's jury, headed by Quentin Tarantino, was forced to ask Festival head Marco Mueller to break the rules. It is said that Tarantino particularly argued to recognize the film, and he led a standing ovation from the jury as Skolimowski accepted the Special Jury Prize.
Centring on an Afghani political prisoner (Gallo) who escapes from a secret detention centre into a vast snowy woodland in Eastern Europe, "Essential Killing" achieved an uncanny prescience earlier this week when the existence of CIA black sites in Poland were acknowledged by the Polish government.
Gallo, an enigmatic presence throughout the Festival, did not attend to accept his Best Actor award. Taking the stage on his behalf, Skolimowski entreated Gallo to take courage and reveal himself in the audience, leading a chant of "Vin-cent".
HanWay films is handling international sales and marketing.
"Essential Killing", a Jeremy Thomas presentation, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. Written and produced by Ewa Piaskowska and Jerzy Skolimowski, and Executive-produced by Jeremy Thomas.
Thomas has had a long history with Venice, premiering many titles at the Festival such as Takashi Miike's "13 Assassins" this year, and recently Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers", Takeshi Kitano's "Brother" and Claire Peploe's "Triumph of Love".
Under his Recorded Picture Company banner, Thomas has produced or executive-produced over fifty films, including the nine-time Oscar winner "The Last Emperor". RPC is known for its strong relationships with leading directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Takeshi Kitano, David Cronenberg and Stephen Frears, and has films with Phillip Noyce, Terry Gilliam and Vincenzo Natali upcoming.
RPC is currently in post-production on David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Vincent Cassel.
HanWay Films' current slate includes Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights", "13 Assassins" by Takashi Miike, "Made In Dagenham" by Nigel Cole starring Sally Hawkins, "Super" starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Paige and Liv Tyler, and the animated feature "Chico and Rita" by director Fernando Trueba and the artist Mariscal.

From the Irish Film Board
Irish Feature ESSENTIAL KILLING Wins Three Awards at Venice Festival
13/09/2010
ESSENTIAL KILLING, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, picked up both the Special Jury Prize and the CinemAvvenire Award while lead actor in the film Vincent Gallo scooped the Best Actor award at the 67th Venice International Film Festival which ran from 1st - 11th September.
ESSENTIAL KILLING tells the story of Mohammed (Vincent Gallo), a Taliban fighter who is captured by the US military in Afghanistan, and is transported to a secret military black site somewhere in the Eastern Europe. When the armed convoy he is riding in plummets off a steep hill, Mohammed finds himself suddenly free and on the run behind the enemy lines, among a hostile, snow blanketed forest. Relentlessly pursued by an army that officially does not exist, Mohammed must constantly confront the need to kill in order to survive.
The war thriller is an Irish/Polish/Norwegian/Hungarian co-production between Element Pictures (Garage, The Wind That Shakes The Barley), Skopia Film Production, Cylinder Productions and Mythberg Films with Andrew Lowe the executive producer for Element. The film has recently been selected for screening at both the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and the BFI London Film Festival next month.

Irish screenwriter does well in Intl. competition

I don't normally reprint press releases, but since it's about a writer...

Writer/Director Shane McCabe’s feature script Probable Cause, has been placed 3rd at the 24th Annual Write Movies International Writing Competition 2010. Selected from over a thousand internationally submitted scripts, Probable Cause is a whodunit thriller set off the Florida Keys. The festival organisers will now pitch the winning scripts to all the major studios, as well as many of the top production companies.

McCabe said, "I'm tremendously excited at being placed at such a prestigious competition as Write Movies International [it] validates a lot of hard work and shows that Irish screenwriters can find a voice in the international market place."

McCabe describes the feature as Rashomon meets The Usual Suspects, a high stakes crime/thriller in which the audience is given a revolving perspective of just who is the guilty party.

This success comes hot on the heels of McCabe’s feature, The Base, scooping top prize at the Back in the Box Screenwriting Competition 2009. The Base will go into production next year with Shane attached to direct. Previous to that his Latin-themed script, Next of Kin, received the “LSC Honourable Mention Award” at the 3rd Annual Latino Screenplay Competition 2008 and is currently being considered by Echo Lake Productions in the US, having attracted the attention of top Colombian actress Sofia Vergara.

A die-hard movie fan, Shane is passionate about Irish film and the Irish film industry. “I believe it is not necessary to have huge budget movies to have box office success, but compelling stories, stories which resonate with international audiences. As an industry we need to become more than just facilitators for US made films to create and sustain lasting jobs. I believe that we can crew, shoot and produce universally-themed films here in Ireland. To that end I have written a number of features, set in other parts of the world but which could be shot here.”


Shane was born in Dublin and graduated with a joint honours degree in economics and business studies from Trinity Collage Dublin. After working for several years in Germany, Shane returned home to study acting, enrolling in the Gaiety School of Acting, and has been involved as a writer/director in the industry for a number of years.

Working on Veronica Guerin inspired Shane to go on to write, direct and produce, and he has to date written six features and numerous shorts. In 2007 Shane wrote, produced and directed, Lucky Escape, a four-minute film, shot on location, using an all-Irish cast and crew in Rathfarnham, Dublin, but set in an upmarket New York City restaurant.

The film has screened at numerous festivals, including Academy Award® accredited festivals, Rhode Island 2007, LA Shorts Fest 2007, Palm Springs 2008, Cleveland 2009 and was picked up for distribution by Premium Films in France who sold it into all of Latin America and the Caribbean via the Latin American Discovery Channel. Shane has since signed a worldwide distribution deal with Network Ireland Television, who have sold it to NBC Universal, (Italy), HBO, (Central and Eastern Europe), top comedy website Atom.com and recently to UK Broadcaster Channel 4.

Shane is currently developing a number of projects including a television series, and an interactive web series in addition to writing his next feature.

Funding Round Up

This is a round up of loan offers from the Irish Film Board over the last few months. I do seem to recall that the Board issued a notice to the effect that there would be no production decisions made in August. Perhaps I imagined it?

I think I have noticed an increase in recent rounds of individuals and companies receiving more than one funding offer in the same round? In my next post I will have a proper look at this area, and the perception in some quarters that Board members are somehow connected with an undue proportion of projects funded by the agency.

Round: 31st August 2010
Project Director(s) Writer(s) Prodn Co. Funding Award
First Draft Loans
Before Midnight Alan Brennan €12,000
Grooskill Mark O'Connor €12,000
Scumbot Ciaran Foy €12,000
Fiction Development Loans
Cycle Jamie Hannigan Samson Films €30,000
Mister John Christine Molloy & John Lawlor Christine Molloy & John Lawlor Samson Films €10,000
Cell Six Brendan Muldowney David Cairns, Brendan Muldowney & Brendan McCarthy Fantastic Films €10,000
Your Girlfriend & Me Brendan Grant Brendan Grant Unstoppable Entertainment €15,000
Jericho David Timmons David Timmons Fastnet Films €15,000
Gold Niall Heery Niall Heery & Brendan Heery Subotica Limited €10,500
Pilgrimage Jamie Hannigan Savage Production €18,000
Animation Development Loans
Cú: The Hound Of Ulla Paul Bolger Paul Bolger & Barry Devlin Pillarstone Productions €29,000
Zig & Zag Joel Simon Mick O'Hara & Conor Morrison Flickerpix Productions Provisional Offer of Commitment

Production
Fiction Feature Films
Secret Scripture Justin Chadwick Johnny Ferguson Ferndale Films Provisional Offer of Commitment
Where We'll Never Grow Old Ivan Kavanagh Ivan Kavanagh & Colin Downey Ripple World Pictures €600,000
Standby Rob & Ronan Burke Pierce Ryan Black Sheep Productions €250,000
Lotus Eaters Alexandra McGuinness Alexandra McGuinness & Brendan Grant Fastnet Films €100,000
Grabbers Jon Wright Kevin Lenihan Samson Films Provisional Offer of Commitment
Dollhouse Kirsten Sheridan Kirsten Sheridan Warehouse Pictures €180,000
Run & Jump Steph Green Ailbhe Keogan Samson Films Provisional Offer of Commitment
Sanctuary Norah McGettigan Norah McGettigan & Gabriel Vargas Vasquez Venom Limited Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Fiction Creative Co-production
Flowers Of Desire Simo Staho Simo Staho Subotica Limited €300,000
Snake Dance Manu Riche Patrick Marnham West Park Pictures West €80,000
Animation
Moon Man Stephan Schesh Stephan Schesh Cartoon Saloon €300,000
Documentary
Catching An Antelope Aisling Ahmed Crow Hill Films €5,000
Martin Hayes In Five Ways Art O'Briain Moving Still Productions €90,000
Art Will Save The World Niall McCann Happy Endings €90,000
I Was A Soldier: The Return Michael Grigsby West Park Pictures West €60,000
Land Vittoria Colonna Ripple World Pictures €15,000
Muerte & Me Ross McDonnell Fastnet Films €15,000
A Stranger In A Strange Land Pamela Drynam Subotica Limited Provisional Offer of Commitment
The Cause Of Progress Chris Kelly Zanzibar Films €15,000
The Summit Nick Ryan Image Now Films €160,000
For One Night Only David Blake Knox Parallel Film Productions €100,000
Showrunners Des Doyle Black Sheep Productions €10,000
Otunnu Anna Rodgers & Zlata Filipovic Crossing The Line Films €10,000
Completion Fund
Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien Sé Merry Doyle Loopline Films €15,000
Regional Support Fund
Stella Days Thaddeus O'Sullivan Antoine O'Flatharta Newgrange Pictures €120,000
Short Film Schemes
Frameworks
Umbra Alan Holly Alan Holly And Maps And Plans
Her To Fall Kris Kelly Kris Kelly Blacknorth
After You Damien O'Connor Damien O'Connor Cel Division
We, The Masses Eoghan Kidney Eoghan Kidney & Robyn O'Neill Still Films
Short Shorts
Riders To The Sea Orla Walsh Orla Walsh Dig Productions €15,000
Downpour Claire Dix Claire Dix Zucca Films €15,000
An Rinceoir Elaine Gallagher Elaine Gallagher Underground Films €15,000
And They Found Love In The Strangest Places Dylan Cotter Dylan Cotter Umbrella Productions €15,000
Origin James Stacey James Stacey Souljacker €15,000
Jonny Boy Laura Way Laura Way & Shirley Weir Stitch Films €15,000
Print Provision
One Hundred Mornings Conor Horgan Conor Horgan Blinder Films €30,000
Colony Ross McDonnell & Carter Gunn Fastnet Films €9,000

________________________________________
Round: 9th July 2010
Project Director(s) Writer(s) Prodn Co. Funding Award
First Draft Loans
The Trial Ursula Rani Sarma €12,000
Fiction Development Loans
Twelve Twenty Three Stuart Townsend Eoin McNamee Parallel Film Productions €22,500
Blinky & The War Machine Ruiari Robinson Ruairi Robinson Floodland Pictures €45,000
Killing Tom Ron Hutchinson Soho Moon Pictures €10,000
Harm's Way Cathal Black John Banville Nightingale Films €15,000
Julius Winsome Cathal Black Kathryn Jackson Nightingale Films €15,000
Reading In The Dark Tom Collins Ronan Bennett DeFacto Films €10,000
The Leviathan Ruairi Robinson Floodland Pictures €48,000
An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination Lauren MacKenzie Newgrange Pictures €15,000
Animation Development Loans
Oops...Noah Is Gone! Mark Hodkinson & Richie Conroy Magma Films €10,000

Production
Fiction Feature Films
Losing It Macdara Vallely Macdara Vallely Samson Films €235,000
Stella Days Thaddues O'Sullivan Antoine O'Flatharta Newgrange Pictures €600,000
The Runway Ian Power Ian Power Fastnet Films €65,000
Documentary
The Truth Teller Malin Andersson Solas Productions €15,000
Making A Show Of Myself Conor Horgan Blinder Films €10,000
Evil 2 Amy Berg LeBrocquy Fraser Productions €10,000
Little Matador Sandra Jordan Element Pictures €30,000

_____________________________________
9th June 2010
Project Director(s) Writer(s) Prodn Co. Funding Award
First Draft Loans
The Fourth McHenry Christian O'Reilly €12,000
Honoured Jasmina Kallay €12,000
Peacekeepers Jane Doolan €12,000
Clovis Teazle Andrew Legge Andrew Legge €12,000
The Islanders Pierce Ryan €12,000
Fiction Development Loans
Objects Of Interest Stephen Burke Stephen Burke Mammoth Films €20,000
6 HoursMichael Lavelle Michael Lavelle Samson Films €25,000
Future Fathers Conor Morrissey Conor Morrissey Happy Endings €10,000Easy Does It Marian Quinn Marian Quinn Janey Pictures €5,000
Julia Here Sonya Supple Gildea Sonya Supple Gildea Newgrange Pictures €12,000
Blackrock Lenny Abrahamson Malcolm Campbell Element Pictures €22,500Animation Development Loans
I'm A Monster Alistair McIlwain Richard Morss Monster Distribution €48,000
Fiction Feature Films
Good Vibrations Glenn Leyburn & Lisa Barros D'Sa Glenn Patterson & Colin Carberry Canderblinks Limited Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Gold Niall Heery Niall Heery & Brendan Heery Subotica Limited Provisional Offer of Commitment
The Straits Johnny Gogan Johnny Gogan & Joe O'Byrne Bandit Films €370,000
Fiction Creative Co-production
Istanbul Ferenc Torok Ferenc Torok Ripple World Pictures €178,000
Animation
Song Of The Sea Tomm Moore Tomm Moore & Will Collins Cartoon Saloon Provisional Offer Of Commitment
Documentary
The Pipe Richie O'Donnell Underground Films €30,000
Doodle James Caddick Venom Limited €15,000
Nuala O'Faolain: A Life P. Farrelly & K. O'Callaghan Deer Lake Films Provisional Offer of Commitment
Completion Fund
The Liberties Shane Hogan & Tom Burke Areaman Productions €15,000
Stand Up: My Best Friend Maurice Linnane €10,000
Regional Support Fund
The Rafters John Carney John Carney CDS Limited €120,000
Distribution
Print & Advertising
Trafficked Simon Hudson Simon Hudson Stoney Road Films €12,000
His & Hers Ken Wardrop Ken Wardrop Element Distribution €75,000
Savage Brendan Muldowney Brendan Muldowney Eclipse Distribution €20,000
Print Provision
His & Hers Ken Wardrop Ken Wardrop Venom Limited €2,062
Savage Brendan Muldowney Brendan Muldowney SP Film €55,000
The Herd Ken Wardrop Ken Wardrop Venom Limited €2,265

Two columns over from the death notices...

In yesterday's Irish Times there was legal notice of the imminent fate of Chartbusters, the country's 2nd largest home entertainment retail outlet.

The purpose of the notice was to alert creditors that a petition for the winding up of the company was presented to the High Court on July 12. The petition will be heard on August 11.

This is the latest twist in the downward slide of the company's fortunes over the last few years. Its viability may have been dealt a final blow by the recent regulation of the tanning booth business into which the company had diversified.

Chartbusters went into examinership in early 2009 and the Judge overseeing the case, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, was highly critical of company founder Richard Murphy at the time, reportedly accusing him of "sharp practise" and "sleveenism" in his treatment of a major creditor who was seeking to have the company wound up.

The company had 37 stores and employed 267 people at the time of the examinership while creditors were then owed a total of €19.8m. The restructured Chartbusters was intending to retrench with the 20 outlets said to be operating profitably at the time. A year and a half later it looks as if that has not worked.

The whole area of home entertainment has been undergoing a major shift over the last few years. The mass market retail rental model that first bloomed on the streets of our cities and towns with VHS tape and then gaming is possibly coming to the natural end of its existence.

Here as elsewhere people's attention, particularly that of the under-thirties, has shifted to the online sphere, whether it be video on demand, DVD purchase, online gaming or illegal streaming. And the older demographic has shifted either to satelite viewing or the many DVD-by-post options.

While some of the niche outlets may survive, 'Going down the video-shop' is fast becoming a thing of the past. Like the cassette tape, only quicker.

Meanwhile, from Belfast...

Comes news of Northern Ireland Screen's annual report for 2009-2010 (they run on the UK budgetary year which ended on March 31st, 2010). Allow me as an aside to point out that we are still waiting for the IFB's Annual Reports for 2008 and 2009. (Update 30/7/2010: the IFB's annual report for 2008 has just been published on the agency's website, dated June 22, 2010)

The headline grabber is Northern Ireland Screen’s main production investment fund returned £22 million to the local economy at a ratio of 5.5:1, on an investment of £3.9 million.

Whether the gearing would be quite so positive across total production spend is another matter, but it is a good return nonetheless and it would be useful to know the methodology they use in coming to that figure.

A recent evaluation by KPMG found that over three years, 2007-2010, Northern Ireland Screen Fund exceeded its target, delivering an economic return of around £45 million into the Northern Ireland economy – a ratio of 4.6:1, against investment of £9.8m.

More than half of last year's £22m spend came from Universal's Your Highness which made use of one of Northern Ireland's greatest production assets, the Painthall Studio. Production has just started there on the HBO series, Game of Thrones which will give another major boost to spend in Northern Ireland this year.

The era of cross-border co-production with the IFB seems to have reached a hiatus with, I hear, little inclination from the latter agency to support projects such as Killing Bono shooting in Northern Ireland. I'm open to correction on this.

Tellingly there is no reference to the UKFC's demise on NI Screen's website although there must be some concern as to how funding that came from or through the UKFC to NIScreen will be channelled in future, particularly the Irish Language Broadcast Fund.

So fare thee well, UKFC... and some capital news

The startling sudden abolition of the UK Film Council by the British Government will sharpen thinking in certains parts of our own administration. "If the Brits can do it" they will ask, "then why don't we?"

The UKFC is to be wound down, to an April 2012 deadline, and there is no indication as to how the British government intends to disperse the money it promises is still committed to UK film production.

Given the news from across the water it now seems certain that Colm McCarthy or some other advisor will recommend the Irish Film Board's abolition again this year. Some solace may be gained from the Government's Capital Expenditure Review 2010-2016, which was published yesterday. It states at 12.2.4 -

Film Sector
The strategic objective of this programme is to support the development of the film and audio-visual content industry in Ireland, creating employment in this area, developing the indigenous industry as an exporter of cultural product and also attracting inward investment from the international film industry.

This is backed by a commitment that, More than €100 million will be invested in film and audio-visual content development and production programmes to ensure existing commitments are met, leverage inward investment, build a new skills base and to promote the film and audio-visual content industries in Ireland.

The report comments, There has been substantial investment in Film and TV production projects over the last number of years through the Irish Film Board, and continued concentration in this area can build on achievements in recent years. The strategy to develop this sector will be finalised later this year, aiming to double the economic contribution of the sector within five years.

A table indicates that the IFB is to receive capital funding of €15m per annum (a cut of about 12% on this year's allocation) between 2011 and 2016. Will there be a commensurate cut in the IFB's current expenditure and might it be better in those circumstances to work towards an IFB MK3 than to keep the currently operating model?

Across the water much has been made of the UKFC's annual operating costs of £3m but since UKFC film investment funding comes for the most part from the UK Lottery its actual annual exchequer cost is a good deal less than that of the IFB.

Late yesterday the Guardian produced an interesting snapshot of the performance of 24 UKFC backed films. It is hardly comprehensive because it deals only with the films' theatrical earnings in the UK and globally, where the latter information is available. It doesn't, as far as I am aware, take account of later earnings on other platforms.

Three of the titles cited are of interest to us in Ireland -

The Wind that Shakes the Barley
UK Film Council funding: £545,000.
Total UK take: £4,870,290, total global take: £14,777,563

Hunger
UK Film Council funding: £216,342.
Total UK take: £775,221, total global take: £1,744,581

The Magdalene Sisters
UK Film Council funding: £600,000.
Total UK take: £1,279,771, total global take: in excess of £5m

These are among the more successful 'small' films and knowledgeable readers will already have spotted the anomalies. The 'UK take' referred to in each case is really an Irish take since more than 80% of these grosses were earned at the box office in Ireland.

Aside from that there is the thought that were it not for the UKFC these films, which attracted substantial Irish audiences, are unlikely to have been financed. In the aftermath of the UKFC's abolition we might therefore wonder what films with Irish subjects will now not be made?

And there, actually, is the key argument for the retention of the IFB, not its French, British, Spanish, Polish or Italian originated co-productions with their spin-off work for Irish post houses.

In the meantime we have John McDonagh's The Guards to look forward to, perhaps the last of the UKFC's 'Irish' films.

Ripples from afar

Cineuropa reports that production has commenced on Istanbul, an Hungarian, Turkish, Dutch and Irish co-production directed by Ferenc Török.

The film shoots in Istanbul until the beginning of August before shifting location to Budapest for two and half weeks. The leading actors are Johanna ter Steege and Padraic Delaney. Dialogue is principally Hungarian but there will also be English and Turkish spoken.

The film has a total budget of €1.4m and the co-producing companies are Új Budapest Filmstudió and producer László Kántor, with Phanta Vision (Netherlands, producer Petra Goedings); Ripple World Pictures Ltd. (Ireland, producers Dominic Wright, Jacqueline Kerrin) and Kuzey Film (Turkey, producer Serkan Acar).

Lance Hogan who has also worked on Ripple's Lapland Odyssey co-production will score the film while picture grading and sound post will take place at EGG Post Production and Ardmore Studios.

Cineuropa states that Irish funding is from "the Irish Film Board, Section 481, besides Ripple and participation from the post houses." If the IFB has decided to fund the film it has yet to publish that information on their website.

The grant-aid slide

Because I haven't seen it laid out anywhere else I was curious to know how Arts Council grant aid for film organisations has fared over the last few years. Here's a table I've put together.


* RFO = Regularly Funded Organisations; AF = Annual Funding; APG = Annual Programme Grant. Note: the 2010 figures are the Arts Council loan 'offers' for the year.

Aside from the predictable annual decreases perhaps the most depressing aspect of the table is the absence of any new entrants over the three-year period. That and the knowledge that having eventually earned Arts Council support an organisation could face cuts, through no fault of its own, after more than two decades of steady endeavour.

I will check if the loss of IPSG and SDGI grants has been met to any extent by a contribution from the Film Board, although that might set up a dependency that would not be ideal. However, the Film Board's latest published accounts only come up to 2007. [Edit: see 2nd table below ~]

In addition to the above the Arts Council and the Film Board (the Cultural Cinema Consortium) also offered grants under the 'Cinema Digitisation Scheme'. These were grants "towards the cost of purchasing and installing digital projection equipment available to full-time cinema operators who can demonstrate that they currently provide a clear majority of diverse programming on a year-round basis."

The scheme offered grants to cover 85% of installation costs for up to ten cinema screens, subject to a maximum contribution of €75,000 per screen.

The recipients announced 21 January, 2009 were -
Light House Cinema 200,000
Irish Film Institute 150,000
Screen Cinema 110,000
Cinema North West 75,000*
Cinemobile 75,000*
Mermaid Arts Centre 70,000
Town Hall, Galway 70,000
-----------------------------
Total 750,000
*mobile cinemas


~The table below is taken from the IFB annual report for 2007, the last year for which IFB accounts have been published. It includes the then support being given to the two Guilds along with other 'capital' grants which may have been increased or reduced since 2007.


1. The IFB does not publish these decisions when they are made so one has to wait one and a half years or more before finding out, for instance, that the Board gave significant subvention to Ardmore Studios, in addition to the substantial production funding given to projects shooting at the studio.
2. What 'other' European organisation(s) received €10,000?
3. Why has the 'Solas Picture Palace' been given funding on top of that from the Cultural Cinema Consortium or, to look at it another way, why have all the 'art house' projects not been similarly funded?
4. The Cinemobile seems a bit expensive when you add up all the public funding.
5. Is the Media Desk value for money at a time when most people use the internet for information?
6. At €120,000 in 2007 the allocation for IFTA seems high given that membership subscriptions, awards entry fees, and some income on awards night must bring in sizeable revenue.