Lights, Camera..... Tourism
Irish film and television provide a platform to showcase Dublin as a tourist destination.Foreign tourists spent €4.9billion in Ireland in 2007. An amazing 15% of visitors cited "film" as a factor that influenced them to travel here. That equates to €735m in direct foreign investment.
In 2008 landmark Dublin locations continued to provide a backdrop for film and television production.
A major highlight for Dublin in 2008 saw the low budget Irish film, Once, win an Oscar for Best Original Song. The award winning song 'Falling Slowly' was written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová who also starred in the film. Once is a modern-day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Locations used in the film included St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, the Hoover Shop in Harold's Cross and Killiney Hilltop. Waltons Music Shop on South Georges Street was another key location in the film and at the Oscar ceremony the musicians used the Waltons interior as a design theme in their stage set. Despite being made on a shoestring budget, Once took $10Million at the US box office and over $20Million in Worldwide ticket sales. This along with the prestigious Oscar win provided an important platform for the city of Dublin to be showcased to millions of people worldwide.
The Tudors, has been watched by millions of viewers in the US and UK where it is broadcast on the Showtime Network and BB1 respectively. Tourism Ireland and the Irish Film Board have worked with Showtime on a range of ppromotional tools including behind the scenes material on The Tudors DVD box-sets, to ensure that viewers understand that the series is filmed in Ireland at popular locations in Dublin including Christchurch Cathedral, City Hall, Dublin Castle, the Phoenix Park, Drimnagh Castle and Kilmainham Jail.
The Secret of Kells is an exciting new animated feature film which beautifully bases a children's film around the creation of the Book of Kells. The film which features the voice talent of Brendan Gleeson and Mick Lally, tells the story of an orphan named Brendan who is set the task of completing the Book of Kells. The film was released in Ireland on March 6th . It is sure to promote a renewed interest in the 1200 year old manuscript which is housed in Trinity College Dublin. Dublin Tourism has been working with Buena Vista International (Disneys distribution arm) on a host of promotional opportunities for the film's release.
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