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BSE/IFB and THE ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCE NEW DOCUMENTARY FUND

30 September 2004: Coinciding with Dublin's Stranger Than Fiction documentary festival, Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board (BSE/IFB) and the Arts Council today announced a new fund for creative arts-based documentaries called 'Documenting the Arts.'

The Documenting the Arts Fund is slated to commence in January 2005 in a partnership between BSE/IFB and the Arts Council, which have previously partnered on the Cultural Cinema Consortium, the CineMobile project and short film schemes. The new fund is open to submissions for Irish language, English language or bilingual documentaries.

While BSE/IFB's documentary investment efforts are largely targeted towards feature length documentaries, this fund aims to combine the resources of the BSE/IFB and the Arts Council to part-finance between 10 to 12 quality national interest documentaries a year which apply to the Fund with a broadcaster presale in place. The Fund, which shall see BSE/IFB and the Arts Council committing a templated amount to eligible documentaries, shall be structured to enable producers to apply to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland's new content funding scheme for further co-financing.

"This exciting partnership with the Arts Council has been crafted to leverage BSE/IFB's existing documentary funding across more projects to better serve our documentary clients," said BSE/IFB CEO Mark Woods. "All the Irish broadcasters have expressed support for the fund and this is a great example of cross agency cooperation providing more opportunties for Irish filmmakers to get their stories on the screens."

"The 'Documenting the Arts' Fund is a unique opportunity to stimulate diverse, innovative, creative documentary filmmmaking and will continue to build on the partnership the Arts Council enjoys with the Irish Film Board and broadcasters," added Arts Council Film Specialist Jane Doolan.

"TG4 welcomes this initiative," commented TG4's Proinsias Ni Ghrainne. " Single documentaries that embrace experimentation and creative storytelling are consistently popular with TG4 audiences. Many are inherently bilingual in their storytelling and audiences clearly connect with this. We welcome the opportunity to asess projects suitable to TG4 on a project by project basis".

Draft guidelines for the Fund shall be drawn up and sent out for industry consultation in the coming months. Woods noted that BSE/IFB was considering modest bonus levels of investment for documentaries which apply with a foreign sales agent attached in an effort to incentivise and reward producers who secure the widest possible distribution for their creative documentaries.

Just recently, UK-based sales agent High Point took international rights to Robert Quinn's award winning BSE/IFB and TG4-backed documentary CINEGAEL PARADISO. High Point Managing Director Carey Fitzgerald, who saw the documentary while attending the Galway Film Fleadh to participate in the BSE/IFB co-sponsored Reel Deal Screen Financing Seminar, is launching CINEGAEL PARADISO at next month's MIPCOM TV market in Cannes.

"We saw CINEGAEL PARADISO at this year's Galway Film Fleadh and just fell in love with it," said Fitzgerald. "We are sure that the international marketplace will also embrace it and we look forward to seeing more creative documentaries coming out of Ireland."

Fitzgerald is back in Ireland this week attending the Stranger Than Fiction's market sidebar, which affords documentary producers the opportunity to pitch their projects to key international co-financiers. Co-sponsored by BSE/IFB, other content financing participants in Stranger Than Fiction market include the UK's Channel 5, BBC, History & Biography Channel, Channel 4 International, Beyond Distribution and Alliance Atlantis.

CISTE NUA DO CHLÁIR FHAISNÉISE FÓGARTHA AG BORD SCANNÁN NA hÉIREANN agus AN CHOMHAIRLE EALAAON

30 Meán Fómhair 2004: IInniu, le linn don fhéile clár faisnéise Stranger than Fiction a bheith ar siúl i mBaile Átha Cliath, d’fhógair Bord Scannán na hÉireann (an Bord) agus an Chomhairle Ealaíon go bhfuil ciste nua le bunú le haghaidh clár faisnéise cruthaitheach atá dírithe ar chúrsaí ealaíne. Is é an t-ainm a bheidh ar an gciste ná ‘Documenting the Arts’/’Faisnéis Ealaíne.’

Tá an Ciste Faisnéis Ealaíne le tosú i mí Eanáir 2005. Is é an comhthionscnamh is déanaí de chuid an Bhoird agus na Comhairle Ealaíon é, agus tagann sé sna sála ar chomhthionscnaimh eile, m.sh. the Cultural Cinema Consortium, an tionscadal CineMobile agus scéimeanna le haghaidh gearrScannán. Clúdaíonn an ciste nua cláir fhaisnéise i nGaeilge, i mBéarla agus cláir dhátheangacha.

Cé go mbíonn infheistíochtaí an Bhoird maidir le cláir fhaisnéise dírithe den chuid is mó ar saothair atá chomh fada le príomhscannáin, tá sé d’aidhm ag an gciste seo acmhainní an Bhoird agus na Comhairle Ealaíon a chomhchruinniú agus páirtmhaoiniú a sholáthar do 10 nó 12 clár faisnéise in aghaidh na bliana. Bainfidh na cláir seo le hábhair a bhfuil spéis náisiúnta iontu. Beidh socrú díolacháin le craoltóir déanta ag na hiarratasóirí a chuireann iarratas faoi bhráid an Chiste. Cuirfidh an Bord agus an Chomhairle Ealaíon suim de réir teimpléid ar fáil do chláir fhaisnéise a chomhlíonn na critéir cháilithe agus beidh an Ciste leagtha amach ar chaoi go mbeidh léiritheoirí ábalta cómhaoiniú breise a aimsiú trí iarratas a chur faoi bhráid na scéime nua cistithe atá ag Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann.

“Is comhthionscnamh spreagúil leis an gComhairle Ealaíon é seo, a ceapadh chun an maoiniú a sholáthraíonn an Bord a scaipeadh ar líon níos mó dár gcliaint a mbíonn cláir fhaisnéise á ndéanamh acu” a dúirt Príomhfheidhmeannach an Bhoird, Mark Woods. “Tá na craoltóirí Éireannacha go léir tar éis a dtacaíocht don Chiste seo a chur in iúl. Eiseamláir shármhaith de chomhoibriú idir gníomhaireachtaí atá ann agus tugann sé tuilleadh deiseanna do lucht déanta Scannán in Éirinn a gcuid scéalta a chur ar an scáileán.”

“Deis is ea ‘an Ciste Faisnéis Ealaíne’ chun scannáin faisnéise a spreagadh atá ilchineálach, nuálaíoch agus cruthaitheach. Forbairt is ea é ar an gcaidreamh torthúil atá ag an gComhairle Ealaíon le Bord Scannán na hÉireann agus le craoltóirí,” a dúirt Jane Doolan, Saineolaí Scannán leis an gComhairle Ealaíon.

'Fáiltíonn TG4 go mór leis an gcomhpáirtíocht seo,” a dúirt Proinias Ní Ghráinne ó TG4. “Bíonn an-éileamh ag lucht féachana TG4 ar chláir fhaisnéise aonair a bhfuil nuálaíocht agus scéalaíocht chruthaitheach ag baint leo. Is minic a bhíonn na scéalta á ríomh go dátheangach, agus is léir go dtéann sin i bhfeidhm ar an lucht féachana. Is mór againn an deis seo chun tionscadail a oireann do TG4 a mheas ar bhonn gach tionscadail ar leith.”

Réiteofar dréacht-threoirlínte don Chiste agus scaipfear ar lucht an tionscail iad sna míonna amach romhainn, féachaint cén tuairim atá acu ina dtaobh. Luaigh an tUas Woods go bhfuil an Bord ag smaoineamh ar leibhéil infheistíochta beagán níos airde a sholáthar d’iarratasóirí a bhfuil gníomhaí díolacháin thar lear ceaptha acu. Dhéanfaí sin le léiritheoirí a spreagadh chun a gcuid clár faisnéise a dháileadh chomh fada fairsing agus is féidir.