37 Proposals Supporting Skills Development for the Irish Screen Sector Selected for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland’s Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme
Posted: 30th July 2025
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland (Screen Ireland) has today announced the 37 proposals awarded funding from the seventh round of the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme to deliver new skills development opportunities addressing priority areas for the Irish screen sector over a 6–12-month period.
For the 2025 round of Screen Stakeholders, applicants were asked to address at least one of ten priority areas, which reflect some of the most significant challenges and opportunities for the Irish screen sector. These priority areas were careers in the screen industry for young people; company/business development/entrepreneurship/freelancing; creative IP and leveraging IP, emerging and future technology/virtual production/artificial intelligence; equality, diversity and inclusion; the Irish language; nationwide/regional development; skills gaps priority roles; sustainability/green production; and sustainable careers (including improving workplace culture, wellbeing and safety, and workforce retention).
This year’s round of funding saw a record number of stakeholders engage with innovative proposals to address skills priority areas. The quality of applications was extremely high, resulting in a competitive selection process. Following a rigorous panel assessment of the applications, funding has been allocated to the following organisations to deliver on their proposals:
- ACE Producers for the 7th edition of the ACE Animation Special in Dingle, a workshop for experienced international producers looking to develop their animation production skills, and structural support from the ACE Network, including scholarships for Irish participants and participation in ACE Insight Sessions.
- Ardán for the FÍS Games Summit 2026, a national event for Ireland's video game industry, focusing on networking, skills development, and international partnerships for game developers and creative professionals.
- Ardán for the FÍS TV Summit 2026, a large-scale TV sector event for professionals (Producers, Broadcasters, Writers, Directors, Crew etc.) working across scripted and unscripted content across the island or Ireland.
- Atticus Education for Future Leaders of Screen: Screen Careers for TY Students and a Teacher's Pack, to encourage young people to pursue a career in the screen industry by teaching them and their teachers about the sector.
- Catalyst International Film Festival for the Catalyst Lab for Emerging Screenwriters, to elevate the work of 10 ‘promising’ emerging screenwriters from underrepresented groups in a focused, residential environment over three days.
- Cherry Red Pictures for Beyond Shorts: Transitioning to Feature & TV Drama, an intensive three-day workshop led by director Cathy Brady supporting short film directors transitioning to feature films and TV drama.
- Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People for Cinemagic Film Futures, to engage trainees from the island of Ireland to create a short film supported by masterclasses and skills development.
- Cork Film Centre for Immersive Ireland: Worldbuilding Creator's Lab (Hybrid), a programme to expand the Irish creative sector’s knowledge in XR and VP through hands-on experience with cutting-edge world-building tools and development of essential cross-disciplinary collaboration skills.
- Cork International Film Festival for the IGNITE-Docs Documentary Talent Development Programme 2025-2026, a bilingual talent development programme for emerging Irish and Northern Irish documentary filmmakers in collaboration with Docs Ireland.
- DV4 for the Entertainment IP Development Summit, a live and on-demand 2-day online summit dedicated to the subject of developing and leveraging entertainment on intellectual property (IP) for film, TV, animation and VFX as well as for games developers, podcasters and book publishers.
- Ecoscope for The Impact Hub: Think Tanks for a Greener Future in the Creative Industries, research assessing renewable energy applications and circular economy principles in the screen industry through case studies, stakeholder engagement, and emissions analysis.
- Eirmersive for Beyond Reality: Virtual Production for Unscripted TV, a 10-day deep dive into virtual production for unscripted TV and hands-on training in real-time workflows, including Unreal Engine, LED volumes, motion capture and camera tracking.
- Eirmersive for the Immersive Futures Series 3, a workshop programme introducing participants to emerging technology tools across AI, virtual production and immersive technologies.
- Emerging Limerick Filmmakers for Scenario X, a film programme for young filmmakers, focusing on genre filmmaking and connecting participants with industry professionals.
- Film Ireland for The Depth of Field, a mentorship programme designed to nurture new voices in Irish film journalism with particular focus on those from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Fresh Film for Hothouse, a mentored film production programme producing eight short films by emerging independent filmmakers; Fresh Futures, a deep dive into virtual production technology, offering mentorship and hands-on experience; and In Focus, a micro-documentary programme exploring film careers and roles, aimed at a more diverse, targeted young audience.
- Furthr/Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet for Future Edge 2025-26, an upskilling programme that supports creative company leaders to navigate and survive the current challenges that AI presents and guide them towards exploring new ethical AI opportunities to help their creative companies thrive in the future.
- GORM Media for The Wideshot Programme 2026, a series of workshops, trainings and events on digital storytelling, creative media and multimedia skills for young people (aged 16-30) in Ireland from underrepresented backgrounds.
- Green From Script to Screen for a 2-day symposium, development period and industry pitch session to train writers to develop and revise film & TV scripts with a climate lens, to encourage climate communication on screen while also seeding sustainable filmmaking from the inception of the projects.
- Guth Gafa Teoranta for The Media Impact Distribution Lab, a training course focusing on innovative distribution and social impact strategies delivered through expert-led workshops, mentorships and case studies.
- IMIRT for the Elevate Programme, a business development and leadership programme designed to upskill early-stage game developers.
- IMIRT for initial research towards a competency framework for the Irish digital games sector, including job role task analysis, career mapping, and skills gaps.
- IRIS Skills for the Irish Language Comedy Writers Room, a programme to establish an Irish-language comedy writers' room, offering a structured, in-person space for emerging and mid-career writers to develop and workshop original content.
- Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) for IFTA Screen Inspire, a series of in-depth masterclasses & high-level discussions for emerging and established screen professionals in areas such as acting, producing, cinematography, production design, and TV showrunning.
- MediaXchange for the Series Accelerator and Business & Innovation programmes.
- National Film & Television School for the Creative Business Development and Leadership for Producers Programme, a course to equip screen professionals with the skills to run a successful creative business, with a focus on commercialisation, funding, exploiting IP, becoming global, recruiting inclusively and committing to sustainable production practice.
- Nerve Centre/Foyle Film Festival for Screen School North West, a series of screen production schools for Transition Year students in Donegal to train and inspire the next generation of story makers.
- NEXUS Games Conference, a 2-day event featuring live stage speaker sessions, round table discussions and networking events for games industry professionals.
- Screenplay Unlimited for The Rewrite Stuff: 12 Ways to a Stronger Series with Emmanuel Oberg, an intensive programme tackling the story design of a TV series and how to best pitch it and sell it.
- Storyhouse for the Storyhouse Screenwriting Festival, a 2-day screenwriting festival comprising of talks, workshops and screenings at Dublin’s Light House Cinema; and Storyhouse Lab, a week-long intensive initiative for emerging screenwriters, mentored by Malcolm Campbell.
- Stowe Story Labs for the Connemara Writers' Retreat 2025, placements for ten writers based in Ireland to join ten international writers together with top industry mentors to develop their skills and projects, and the Galway Film Fleadh Marketplace Fellowship.
- The Leitrim Design House for Creative Heartlands on Screen, a programme to empower emerging filmmakers in Leitrim, Sligo, and Roscommon through industry-led workshops, tailored mentoring, and networking opportunities.
- Untamed Stories for the Writers Lab UK & Europe 2025 - Sustainability Now, a programme to advance women screenwriters 40+ through development, bringing scripts to the marketplace to secure options, and an event benefiting the Irish film/TV sector through virtual masterclasses/panels on Sustainability Now.
- Women in Film & Television Ireland (WFT Ireland) for the 2026 Women in Film and Television International Summit, a three-day international summit in Ireland to spotlight Irish talent, foster co-production opportunities, and provide panels, workshops, and networking designed to strengthen skills, build international connections, and advance gender equity across the Irish and global screen industries.
- Writers Guild of Ireland for ScriptBiz, an intensive business skills masterclass for screenwriters.
- X-Pollinator for CREATOR 2.0, a week-long immersive creative residency in Tyrone for ten directors to foster creative development & exchange under the lead mentorship of director Aisling Walsh and industry professionals.
- Young Irish Film Makers for the National Youth Film and Animation School, a 10-day residential pre-college training programme for young people aged 16-19 preparing for a career or college placement in film or animation.
Commenting on the award funding, Colman Farrell, Head of Skills and Professional Development at Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, said:
We are delighted to announce this year’s selected proposals for the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme. Screen Ireland is committed to supporting individuals of all levels in the Irish screen sector to develop the necessary skills to succeed in their role. Led by the expertise and knowledge of our Irish and international stakeholders, this year’s edition of the scheme promises to deliver on a diverse range of innovative learning programmes and events nationwide. We are excited to see the positive outcomes that will arise from these opportunities and strongly encourage anyone interested to apply for a place on these programmes.