IFB Welcomes New Landmark Report which Recommends the Audiovisual Industry as a Key Sector for Future Economic Growth and Jobs Creation
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board (IFB) welcomes the new strategic report entitled ‘CREATIVE CAPITAL: Building Ireland's Audiovisual Creative Economy', which was announced today by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD.
Reacting to the report, James Hickey, Chief Executive Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board said:
"The Creative Capital Report which was published today provides a major strategic plan with important priorities for the entire audiovisual sector and Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board (IFB). The report highlights great opportunities for the audiovisual production industry to create 5000 new jobs, to double turnover to €1 billion and to turn the sector into an export success story, building on the abundance of natural talent working in the sector. Bord Scannán na hÉireann/Irish Film Board looks forward to embracing these opportunities and working with all the other industry stakeholders to ensure that the Irish audiovisual industry fulfils the jobs potential outlined in this report and becomes one of the key pillars of the Irish creative industries."
Minister Deenihan also announced today that the Government has approved the formation of a new inter-departmental committee with representatives from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Department of Communications, Energy and National Resources, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and a number of industry representatives, which will examine the feasibility of implementing the recommendations in the report.
The aim of the Steering Group for the Audiovisual Industry Strategic Review Steering Group, which published the report, was to consult with the audiovisual content production industry and its major stakeholders in order to deliver a plan to build on the success to date and to stimulate future growth, primarily into international markets.
The key recommendations in the report, which aim at maximising the sustainability and employment potential of the industry, are achievable and are designed to be cost neutral. The key recommendations in the report are as follows:
1. To develop the industry through ensuring continuous domestic and international production in Ireland and build strong Irish based companies competing successfully in international markets.
2. To develop the export potential of the industry through a strategic plan prepared by Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, the IFB and Culture Ireland, which should include measured metrics for cultural exports as well as economic ones.
3. To develop high-end skills and talent through training and education based on up to date industry requirements and on the ground feedback from practitioners. To plan
for future skills requirements for the industry working with Third Level Education, Industry training bodies and Forfás on their ‘Future Skills Needs' plan.
4. To build a strong domestic production industry through increasing domestic demand for content and creating a Memorandum of Understanding between content producers and public sector broadcasters.
5. To mobilise Government and the industry to work together through the alignment of relevant government agencies and industry bodies to develop a national policy to achieve specific industry targets.
A new inter-departmental committee will be established in the coming months to
examine the delivery of the report's recommendations.
Interviews are available with James Morris Chairman Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board and Steering Group member
ABOUT THE ‘CREATIVE CAPITAL: Building Ireland's Creative Economy' REPORT
The 2008/9 PriceWaterhouseCoopers landmark survey ‘Ireland's Audiovisual Content Production Sector Review' revealed that over the previous decade, the Irish audiovisual industry had achieved a critical mass and is now poised for major growth as a key sector in the digital economy. Utilising the evidence of the PWC survey, which highlighted the value of the industry at €500 million employing over 5,000 individuals, an Audiovisual Strategic Review Steering Group was chaired by former Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Brendan Tuohy, with
representatives from the Departments of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the
Department of Communications, Energy and National Resources and the Department
of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, together with a range of leading
industry stakeholders.
The aim of the Steering Group was to consult with the audiovisual content production industry and its major stakeholders in order to deliver a plan to build on the success to date and to stimulate future growth, primarily into international markets. THE ‘CREATIVE CAPITAL: Building Ireland's Creative Economy' is the result of this work and provides a set of recommendations which aim to build the sector into a key industry for future Irish economic growth.
Members
of the Steering Group for the Audiovisual Industry Strategic Review
BRENDAN TUOHY (CHAIR)
Former Secretary General, Department of Communications, Energy
and Natural Resources
CATHAL GAFFNEY
Managing Director - Bro
CATHAL GAFFNEY
CEO, Brown Bag Films
Cathal Gaffney established the award-winning Brown Bag Films with Darragh O'Connell in 1994. Brown Bag Films is located in Dublin and also operates an office in LA. In 2002, their short film Give Up Yer Aul Sins was nominated for an Academy Award and in 2010 Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty was also Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Short Film. Brown Bag Films have worked with the world's biggest entertainment brands to produce high profile international television series. Recent productions include Chorion's Olivia for Nickelodeon US and Enid Blyton's Noddy In Toyland for Chorion/FIVE UK, The Octonauts, a second series of Olivia and they are currently in production with Doc McStuffins for Disney. In 2009, Brown Bag Films was voted the European Producer of the Year at the Cartoon Tributes, Norway and Cathal was a finalist in the International category of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
ED GUINEY
Company Director, Element Pictures
Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe run film and television drama production company Element Pictures and film distribution company Element Pictures Distribution. Ed's focus is on overseeing the development of the film and television slate and producing those projects that are green lit. Element's recent projects include the Irish box office hit The Guard and Paolo Sorrentino's feature This Must Be the Place, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Other production include the award winning The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Magdalene Sisters, Bloody Sunday, Five Minutes of Heaven, which won Best Director and Best Screenplay at Sundance 2009 and Garage winner of the CICAE Art and
Essai award at Cannes Director's Fortnight.
JAMES MORRIS
Chief Executive, Windmill Lane Pictures / Chairman Bord Scannán na hÉireann /
Irish Film Board
James Morris is a graduate of Trinity College and trained as a film editor in London. He founded Windmill Lane Pictures and Recording Studios on his return to Dublin. He led the Windmill Consortium to win the television franchise for TV3 in 1989. In 1990 he founded The Mill - Film and TV Post Production Company in London. He was appointed non-executive Chairman of TV3 from 1998-2006 and joined the board of the International Dublin Film Festival in 2004. He has served at the Chairman of Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board since 2005.
LARRY BASS
Chief Executive, Screentime ShinAwiL Ltd
Larry Bass established ShinAwiL Productions Ltd in 1999 and since then it has grown to be one of the largest and most successful independent production companies in Ireland. The company specialises in entertainment, factual entertainment and live event programming. Recent productions include the Irish The Apprentice, MasterChef Ireland,
Dragons Den, Fame The Musical and You're a Star.
TRISTAN ORPEN LYNCH
Managing Director, Subotica Ltd.
Tristan Orpen Lynch co-founded Subotica Films in 1999 producing Night Train starring John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Subotica's Song for a Raggy Boy starring Aidan Quinn and Iain Glen premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (2003) and went on to win nine international awards including Best Film at the
Copenhagen Film Festival. For television, Subotica produced the eight-part period drama Random Passage (CBC Television) and the four-hour drama, Proof, about high-level corruption in Irish society. The series was sold to BBC and ABC in Australia and commissioned for a second season. Also for the Irish broadcaster, Subotica produced the two-part drama Damage directed by Aisling Walsh.
NIALL O'DONNCHU
Assistant Secretary General, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
ÉANNA Ó CONGHAILE
Principle Officer, Broadcasting Policy Division, Department of Communications, Energy and National Resources