Background
Screen Ireland’s ambition is for the Irish screen industry to be a global leader in sustainability. Our Sustainability Plan, launched in 2022, sets out the actions we commit to taking within our own operations and the actions we will take to support and enable the wider screen industry to become more sustainable.
In the two years since the launch of the Plan, positive progress has been made across the industry. We now want to accelerate that progress with the launch of a dedicated Screen Ireland Sustainability Innovation Fund that will support Screen Ireland-funded productions to implement innovative and creative sustainability actions that reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts.
The Fund is part of a suite of measures Screen Ireland is putting in place, with two other key measures being the Sustainability Advisors Initiative (launched in early 2023) and the Sustainability Standards. Together we hope that these measures will enable the industry to make tangible progress on climate action and the circular economy.
What is the Sustainability Innovation Fund?
The Screen Ireland Sustainability Innovation Fund is a pilot scheme designed to promote the implementation of emissions reduction practices and accelerate the uptake of low carbon technologies.
Adopting and embedding emissions reduction practices or using low carbon technologies, relevant to the screen industry, can create additional costs for production companies – the so-called ‘green premium’. Through the Sustainability Innovation Fund, Screen Ireland aims to help production companies cover this additional cost in the short term as these practices become standard.
We are seeking applications from Screen Ireland-funded productions for a range of projects that implement innovative and creative approaches – particularly ones that have the potential to be widely replicated or applied across the Irish screen industry, once learnings and cost-benefits have been understood. These projects would become case studies/ best practices examples for the industry.
Applications for grants up to a maximum value of €25,000 will be considered and evaluated.
Who can apply?
Live Action and Animated feature film and television productions in receipt of Screen Ireland funding can apply to the Sustainability Innovation Fund. The Irish Production Company will be the entity that receives the funding from Screen Ireland.
The Irish Production Company can choose to collaborate with other supplier(s) and service provider(s) to deliver the proposed project. Details of all relevant suppliers and service providers should be included in the application.
Eligible Projects and Priority Areas
Proposed projects must be focused on activities that seek to reduce the environmental impact of a production. Eligible projects should address one or more of the priority areas set out below. For each area some example initiatives have been included.
Initiatives/projects will be considered where they deliver against the eligibility criteria and priorities of the Sustainability Innovation Fund. Applicants may submit proposals for projects that aim to address more than one priority area in tandem
1. Energy: reducing the amount of energy consumed by the production or powering the production with renewable sources of energy.
- Maximising the efficient use of energy on set, e.g. through the use of cutting-edge, energy efficient technologies or energy monitoring technologies.
- Use of alternatives to diesel generators on location sets.
2. Waste & the circular economy: designing out the need for raw/virgin materials and maximising the value of all materials used on the production through applying circular economy principles such as refuse/reuse/repair/recycle.
- Applying circular economy principles to how a production operates in order to ‘close the loop’ on all waste streams and have minimal (or zero) waste sent to landfill (e.g. innovative approaches involving re-use / recycling of materials.
- Implementing an innovative sustainable food or catering policy.
3. Transport: reducing the GHG/carbon emissions from transport related activities.
- Implementing innovative sustainable transport policies/solutions to transport cast and crew to location sets so as to reduce carbon emissions.
- Using electric vehicles or vehicles powered by alternative, sustainable fuels (i.e. non-fossil fuels).
4. Protecting Nature: implementing practices to protect nature and biodiversity on/around production sites.
- Implementing initiatives locally, where a production is being shot, in order to protect and ideally enhance nature and biodiversity.
- Trialling new approaches to evaluating, monitoring or measuring a productions’ impact on nature/biodiversity.
Eligible Costs
Screen Ireland can fund up to 100% of eligible costs up to €25,000 (ex VAT) per production. Productions must be able to demonstrate that costs are directly attributable to the sustainability initiative.
Note: Sustainability Innovation Fund monies cannot be used to fund activities that are already funded through any other State or Public Sector Funding.
How to apply?
In advance of completing an application form, applicants must consult with Screen Ireland’s Inward Production & Sustainability Executive, Michael Byrne, to discuss their application.
Completed application forms should be submitted to sustainabilityadvisors@screenireland.ie.
Key information to be provided as part of the application form includes:
- A comprehensive description of the proposed project (1–2 pages) that sets out which priority area/areas (i.e. energy, waste etc.) it covers, what the project aims to do, what the expected environmental benefits will be and what suppliers will be involved. Where possible, the anticipated benefits should be quantified (e.g., the anticipated energy savings, or carbon savings, or waste reduction).
- Detailed budget breakdown for the proposed project - please note that we do not require the global budget for the film or television series.
- Timeline for the project and expected delivery date of the required ‘Case Study’.
- An outline of how the learnings from this project could be applied/scaled across the screen industry (See Case Study note below).
- Details of the Screen-Ireland funded Sustainability Advisor involved in the production, or other Sustainability Practitioner/Expert involved in the production.
Case Study Requirement
The intent of this fund is to promote best practice across the Irish screen industry. Therefore, it is a mandatory requirement that each project funded must submit a written case study to Screen Ireland at the end of the project. The case study should describe the approach taken, the environmental benefits realised, and how learnings can be applied across the sector. 25% of the award will be retained until the Case Study has been submitted.
Sustainability Innovation Fund Evaluation Process and Criteria
Applications will be reviewed by Screen Ireland against the following criteria:
- Quality of proposal: delivering on the objectives of the Sustainability Innovation Fund
- Feasibility of proposed project
- Anticipated positive environmental impact / benefit
- Potential for replicability / scalability across the screen industry
In addition to the above criteria, applications that display a particularly innovative or creative approach are more likely to receive funding.
Downloads
You can find the 2024 Production Funding Guidelines here.
This page was last updated on 01/08/2024