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About the Funding
Criteria
Who can Apply
Making an Application

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Supplementary funding to act as an incentive to most types of fiction film and TV production already funded by BSÉ/IFB (not Short Films or Catalyst Project films, and not animation) to shoot outside the Dublin-Wicklow area in the Republic of Ireland, by helping to offset local costs thereby incurred.

NOTE: BSÉ/IFB has taken a radically new approach to this type of funding and the guidelines have been substantially revised as of 1st March 2010.

About the Funding
Regional Support funding is available only to projects that already have a commitment of production funding from BSÉ/IFB, and is added to that funding for the purposes of recoupment by BSÉ/IFB and calculation of BSÉ/IFB’s entitlement to a share of net profits.

In the case of projects that have a commitment of Irish Production funding or Creative Co-production funding, access to Regional Support funding is automatic.  In the case of projects that have a commitment of International Production funding, access to Regional Support funding is discretionary and subject to approval on a case-by-case basis.

Regional Support funding is now awarded as a fixed amount per day of principal photography that occurs in regional areas rather than on the basis of regional expenditure. The amount awarded per day is €7,500.

The maximum amount of Regional Support funding available to any one project is now €120,000 and cannot exceed 20% of the amount of production funding awarded by BSE/IFB to that project.

Regional Support funding is typically cashflowed during production as to 75% upon completion of the regional shooting and 25% upon receipt by BSÉ/IFB of detailed information regarding the project's regional expenditure and other practical aspects of its regional shoot.

Criteria
Producers of films and TV productions applying for Regional Support funding must demonstrate that:

(i)at least 50% of all principal photography shooting days in the Republic of Ireland will occur in ROI counties other than Dublin and Wicklow; and

(ii)the project has already received a quantified offer of production funding from BSÉ/IFB and is close to being fully financed.

Where Regional Support funding is being contemplated, attention should be paid to BSÉ/IFB’s production funding limits in terms of the maximum amount or percentage of a budget that can be provided. The total of BSÉ/IFB’s investment in a project, including Regional Support funding, cannot exceed the limits laid down. The limits are explained in detail in the Overview section of this website: Regulations & Limits, paragraph 4.

Applicants are advised to download and read carefully the guidelines available from this page, in order to have a full understanding of the revised criteria and of producers' obligations with regard to BSÉ/IFB's Regional Support funding both before the application is made and in the event of an award of funding.

Who Can Apply
BSÉ/IFB funding for Regional Support is available to producers with a live action film or TV project that already has a quantified offer of BSÉ/IFB production funding (availability to producers of projects in receipt of International Production funding requires approval case-by-case) and is not ineligible by virtue of being a Short Film or a Catalyst Project film, or because an award of Regional Support funding will cause BSÉ/IFB’s overall investment in the project to exceed its statutory limits.

Films funded under this Regional Support programme may be made in any language.

Making an Application
Before applying for this type of production funding, you should make personal contact with the Deputy Film Commissioner (Mags O’Sullivan) in order to discuss the state of the project and its readiness to be considered. An application will not be accepted (i.e. logged in and processed) without this prior discussion having taken place.

In order to apply you must download the application form from this page, complete it in full, and send it – together with all the additional materials requested – to BSÉ/IFB’s head office in Galway. (You cannot apply for BSÉ/IFB funding by fax or online.) Incomplete applications will not be processed.

The additional materials that must be included are:

• Screenplay (dated)
• Shooting schedule
• List of proposed regional locations including contact details
• List of local goods and services providers including contact details
• Names of local trainees to be employed including contact details

 

Applications should be delivered by post, by courier or in person to:

Schemes & Applications Co-ordinator
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board
Queensgate
23 Dock Road
Galway

Following receipt of a submission, applicants will be sent an acknowledgement letter including a reference number which should be retained for use on all future correspondence.

Under current practice, applications for Regional Support funding received in Galway by the last business day of a calendar month will be considered at a decision-making round that falls no more than four weeks later. Decisions are communicated to applicants by letter immediately thereafter.

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