BSÉ/IFB FUNDING INCREASE ENDS GREAT YEAR ON HIGH NOTE
Bord Scannán na hÉireann /the Irish Film Board (BSÉ/IFB) has been awarded an 18% budget increase to €14 million for 2005.The budget increase was announced by Ireland’s Minister for Arts Sport and Tourism John O’Donoghue just ahead of the national screen agency’s annual industry launch of its PRODUCTION CATALOGUE 2004/2005 in Dublin.
“The very substantial increase in funding for 2005 demonstrates again the Government’s commitment to the Irish film industry, which is a critical part of our national cultural life, and of real economic importance,” Minister O’Donoghue said. “Coupled with the decision already taken to extend and enhance the section 481 scheme of tax relief for investment in film production, this increase in funding enables the Irish film sector to continue to develop high quality, imaginative films for Irish and international audiences.”
"BSÉ/IFB appreciates the ongoing support of the Government and Minister John O'Donoghue for the national film agency and we welcome this increase in our budget to €14 million from last year’s €11.48 million," said BSÉ/IFB CEO Mark Woods. "This increase shall enable the agency to renew and revitalise several of our key content and talent investment programs, including making our pilot Regional Film & TV Fund a permanent program, as well as increasing our suite of ancilliary services to further enhance the exploitation of Irish content."
The news brings a pleasing finish to a busy year, during which a record 11 BSÉ/IFB-backed titles were released at the Irish box office, including the critically acclaimed ADAM & PAUL and INSIDE I’M DANCING, while MAN ABOUT DOG opened top spot at the Irish box office (with a gross of €2.4 million and counting) and mad cow zombie film DEAD MEAT opens tomorrow. Meanwhile on video INTERMISSION became XtraVision’s top grossing title of all time in a six week period and SONG FOR A RAGGY BOY and SPIN THE BOTTLE topped the XtraVision charts in their opening months.
BSÉ/IFB titles also wowed the festival circuit, with OMAGH, FREEZE FRAME, INSIDE I’M DANCING and BLIND FLIGHT winning prizes at Toronto, Taormina, Edinburgh and Tribeca, respectively. The good news continues with INSIDE I’M DANCING getting its North American premiere at the Sundance festival in January 2005 and ADAM & PAUL being selected for a major festival next year.
Likewise, the foreign sales success of such lower budget movies as COWBOYS & ANGELS (through sales agent Media Luna) and GOLDFISH MEMORY (NonStop Sales) demonstrated a potential that can be further harnessed from earlier stages in the creative and financing process.
Indeed, a record number of BSÉ/IFB-backed titles launched at this year’s American Film Market, including Lenny Abrahamson's Galway Film Festival-winner ADAM AND PAUL being sold at AFM by MovieHouse; Conor McMahon's mad cow zombie thriller DEAD MEAT" with CinemaVault; John Simpson's thriller FREEZE FRAME with First Look Media; Fintan Connolly's THE TROUBLE WITH SEX with MovieHouse; and SIX SHOOTER, the screen directorial debut from Tony Award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh, at AFM with the Works. The AFM debutantes joined continuing BSE/IFB titles OMAGH, which garnered very impressive sales through Portman, and Paddy Breathnach's Irish box office topper MAN ABOUT DOG with Element X.
The range of overseas co-financiers and end users committing in 2004 to BSÉ/IFB’s forthcoming slate was encouraging, including Pearse Elliott’s THE MIGHTY CELT (with The Works, BBC Films and the Northern Ireland Film & TV Commission), Stephen Bradley’s BOY EATS GIRL (Odyssey, Optimum and Isle of Man Films), SHORT ORDER (Axiom, Hamburg Film Fund, EurImage and RTE), Gillies MacKinnon’s TARA ROAD (The Works, Buena Vista International Ireland, TeleMunchen and SureFire), Billy O’Brien’s ISOLATION (LionsGate, RedBus and FilmFour) and Neil Jordan’s BREAKFAST ON PLUTO (Pathe and Northern Ireland Film & TV Commission).
These projects are also exciting for the level of talent attached to them. To have actors such as Gillian Anderson, Robert Carlyle, Samantha Mumba, John Lynch, Vanessa Redgrave, Emma de Caunes, Andie MacDowell, Ruby Wax, John Lynch, Olivia Williams, Stephen Rea, Brenda Fricker, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy committing to Irish scripts says something powerful about Ireland’s talent and the development process.
Further underlining BSÉ/IFB’s determination to give its content and talent every chance of connecting with audiences, the Agency launched a free test screenings program. BSÉ/IFB also co-sponsored the inaugural Reel Deal Film Financing Conference at the Galway Film Fleadh and increased its commitment to the StrangerThan Fiction documentary festival to enable, in both cases, a greater presence of overseas commissioning editors, distributors, sales agents and other content co-financiers. To ensure experienced Irish producers had access to key distributors, sales agents and co-financiers, BSÉ/IFB participated in UK Film Council’s Super Slate development scheme.
Other new initiatives launched by BSÉ/IFB in 2004, included the Regional Support Fund, designed to ensure the full range of Irish locations are utilitised in BSÉ/IFB productions, and the FILM DUBLIN partnership, aimed at making Dublin an even more film friendly capital city. The Documenting the Arts Fund, in association with the Arts Council, was also unveiled.
In 2005, BSÉ/IFB shall introduce several new initiatives to further incentivise and reward the commitment of sales agents and distributors to Irish films at script stage, while devising more new products to showcase Irish talent to the world’s film financiers.
“Talent will out and BSÉ/IFB remains determined to ensure Irish stories - and the talent behind them - reach the widest possible audiences,” said Woods. “Films that are well-developed, universal stories with strongly distinctive local voices will attract the interest of both key talent and international sales agents from script stage and BSÉ/IFB will continue to help producers to ensure that this happens.”