Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) Announces Slate and Priorities for 2015
Independent Production Activity in 2014 Breaks Records for Third Year Running Increasing to €195m*
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board (IFB), the national development agency for the Irish film, television and animation industry, today published details of all IFB supported productions undertaken in Ireland in 2014 coming to audiences this year, while also announcing the schedule and priorities for 2015. The Chairman of the IFB, Bill O'Herlihy also outlined plans for the development of a five year strategy for the industry.
Showcasing the diversity of IFB funded activity undertaken and to underscore the potential of the film, television and animation sector the agency brought together some of the industry's creative talent including screenwriters, directors, producers and actors to participate in today's briefing.
The industry is getting off to a dramatic start this year with five films and co-productions being showcased at the Sundance Film Festival next week; the Irish animated feature film ‘Song of the Sea' currently on release in the US racking up extraordinary critical acclaim, and two projects ‘Song of the Sea' and the short film ‘Coda' in contention for the Academy Awards nominations. Over the last twelve months, Irish films, documentaries and animation have received strong international recognition for excellence, have broken production activity records for the third year running, have connected with critics and audiences at home and abroad with positive box office figures, new distribution channels and strong international sales achieved.
Performance in 2014
The overall figures for the industry in 2014 show that production activity for the independent film, television drama and animation sector* has increased to €195 million in 2014, reaching the highest production activity levels on record for the third year running. This is an increase of 6.5% on 2013 production activity levels and 37% on 2012. Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ Irish Film Board invested just under €10 million generating production expenditure of over €42 million in relation to IFB funded projects last year.
The details were outlined by James Hickey, Chief Executive of Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board at an event which launched the IFB's Production Catalogue, Irish Film 2015, showcasing the slate of projects coming to Irish audiences this year. Speaking at the event, Mr. Hickey said: "2014 was another strong year for the Irish film, television and animation industry with production activity levels breaking records for the third year running. Despite budget restrictions, Irish producers, writers, directors and actors have approached these new productions in a creative manner bringing Irish stories to the big and small screen. Irish films, documentaries and animation deliver a value to the State from a cultural as well as an economic perspective which is immeasurable."
Mr Hickey continued: "2014 was also a year when we witnessed and participated in national public debate about the value and quality of Irish film. This is a positive debate to have and I am proud that the creative output from the sector speaks for itself. The quality and range of Irish films, documentaries and animation supported by the IFB continues to improve and are gaining increased distribution and recognition outside of Ireland. This is helping to support our objective of keeping Irish film culture telling Irish stories on screen at the heart of Irish life"
Plans for Growth: New Five Year Strategy
Chairman of the Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board, Bill O'Herlihy shared his priorities for the year ahead and spoke about the need for a new strategy for the IFB reflecting the needs of the industry. Speaking at the event he said: "While the industry goes from strength to strength the need to improve existing measures and identify new areas for growth is important. Later this year, the Board will announce a new Five Year Strategy for the Agency following a consultation with the industry. This will not only set out a plan to build on recent success but will also put in place a blueprint for the future - setting out the priority areas for the IFB and the key opportunities for the sector both in Ireland and abroad. The overarching objective for the strategy will be to focus on the key activities and investment in Irish creative talent that we provide."
Mr. O'Herlihy continued "The IFB, like all other state agencies, has had to do more with less in recent years and I believe has successfully shown that any money invested delivers significant returns on the work Irish writers, directors and producers are creating from a cultural, employment and economic perspective. Now is the time to evaluate what more can be achieved. As the economy turns to growth we believe that the Irish film industry can play a central role in developing talent, creating jobs, attracting investment and helping to sell Ireland abroad. We are currently consulting with our stakeholders and will publish a new strategic plan in the first half of this year which will bring momentum to the sector and ensure that Irish film, television and animation plays an important role representing Irish culture, telling Irish stories, creating Irish jobs and promoting Irish talent on the international stage in the years to come."
2015: New Initiatives - Developing Talent
Attendees at the event also heard from Irish talent about the IFB funded work they will do - or have recently completed - over the course of 2015.
When providing the overview of activity already scheduled for the year ahead, Mr. Hickey welcomed the recent investment and success of Irish TV drama and the value it brings in terms of growing the talent base for the Irish film industry. Commenting further he said: "The development of TV drama is important for the sustainability of a strong film industry such as what we see in countries such as the UK, France and Denmark. The future growth of film, TV drama and animation production activity could be further increased with more investment from the broadcasters. My ambition for the year ahead is to work with my colleagues across the sector to explore how we can do more in this area. The IFB is currently the largest investor in the development of content in Ireland across film and animation. In 2015, we intend to extend this to support the development of international feature film and high-end TV drama with international sales prospects and would welcome the opportunity to work with the TV broadcasters both locally and internationally to do this."
* This figures represents the Irish expenditure for all projects which went into production in 2014 in the categories of independent film, TV drama, animation and feature documentary only. It does not include broadcaster spend in the categories of entertainment, lifestyle, documentary and factual.
Details about Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board (IFB) can be found at www.irishfilmboard.ie.