Hollywood Puts Spotlight on Ireland & Irish Talent at Oscar Wilde Event As Screen Ireland and Minister Catherine Martin Meet US Studios to Promote Irish Industry
Posted: 10th March 2023
The annual Oscar Wilde event, hosted by the US-Ireland Alliance, put a major spotlight on the Irish talent last night – with a line-up of acclaimed Irish talent honoured, including actors Kerry Condon, Jessie Buckley and Eve Hewson. Academy Award-nominated Irish language film An Cailin Ciuin was also awarded at the event, the first film ever to receive the honour.
The event was attended by Irish talent behind the scenes too, including Irish director Lee Cronin, whose film Evil Dead Rise will premiere at SXSW next week, co-produced by Irish company Wild Atlantic Pictures.
Major US studios, financiers and film companies were at the Oscar Wilde reception, with Irish film and television production companies, including The Banshees of Inisherin co-producers Metropolitan Films, Flora and Son producers Treasure Entertainment, and Blinder Films, whose upcoming Disney+ U2 documentary had its World Premiere in Los Angeles this week.
The Irish screen industry has seen unprecedented success over the past decade, across live-action film and TV production, animation and visual effects work, the result of sustained investment and a clear strategic focus on the development of the sector. Production spend in the Irish economy hit a record high in 2021, an exceptional year due to the increased level of activity taking place following the Covid-related production shutdowns.
Irish post-production and visual effects companies Screen Scene VFX and Windmill Lane were also in attendance. Ireland is internationally renowned as a global hub for animation and, more recently, post-production and VFX have become leading areas of expertise in the Irish screen industry, with high-profile work on some of the biggest films and television series in the world, such as Marvel Studios’ Wakanda Forever. Renowned Irish VFX artist Richard Baneham is nominated this year for an Academy Award for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, T.D., presented a special award to An Cailín Cíúin (The Quiet Girl) – the first Irish-language film to be nominated for an Academy Award in history. Director Colm Bairéad and producer Cleona Ní Chrualaoí delivered an emotional speech on the power of Irish language cinema to promote our national language on the world’s stage.
Minister Martin and Screen Ireland are meeting with US studios and production companies this week, including Disney - with representatives from Marvel, Searchlight and Lucas Film - to re-emphasise the strong and ongoing Government support for the industry and Irish artists, contributing to the Global Ireland 2025 aim to double Ireland’s global cultural footprint.
Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive, Screen Ireland, said:
“Our focus in LA is to further strengthen relationships with our US partners and build towards future industry growth and success. The Irish creative screen industries continue to innovate and break new ground at home and abroad. We hope the industry’s success, and record-breaking number of Academy Award nominations, will inspire and pave the way for the next generation of Irish filmmakers to be ambitious in telling the cultural stories that matter to them.”
The Irish screen industry is riding a powerful wave of growth and success, marked this year by the monumental international success for Irish talent across the Academy Awards with a record-breaking 14 nominations, and a surge of new voices and emerging talent.
The ground-breaking success of An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), funded by Screen Ireland in partnership with TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, broke domestic box-office records and garnered international critical acclaim.
This week’s trade mission – a key part of the Government’s St Patrick’s Day programme – aims to build on the recent critical success for the Irish screen industry and the recognition of Irish talent on the world’s stage. Minister Martin will seek to strengthen working relationships between the Irish screen sector and some of the world’s largest film studios and production companies, as well as strengthening Ireland’s reputation as a global tourist destination.