New report shows economic importance of Irish Film and TV sector
Posted: 12th March 2020
New report shows economic importance of Irish Film and TV sector
Economic Impact Assessment finds Section 481 underpins sector’s success
A new report to examine and understand the contribution delivered to the economy by the film and TV sector was published today. Section 481 & the Film/TV Industry - Insights on the Sector’s Contribution to the Irish Economy produced by PWC highlights the strong positive contribution the sector delivers to the national economy whilst demonstrating the importance of the Section 481 incentive to underpin the growth and success of domestic and international productions. Analysing a representative sample of nine film and TV productions from a cross section of industry activity, it finds that their Total Economic Contribution alone generated some €155.44m with the Irish economy receiving a 3.5:1 return on S481 investment. It outlines that the positive growth of the sector in recent times is the result of the incentive coupled with an increase in skills training and the simultaneous expansion of studio infrastructure through private investment. It contends that to maximise and increase the pace of the sector’s future growth and in-turn further increase its positive economic impact, requires further infrastructural investment, increased training in line with a coherent long-term Government strategy.
The report demonstrates through the case study benchmarks, that the screen industry brings significant benefits both direct and indirect, to regional areas of Ireland where film and TV production plays an important role in providing direct employment whilst also supporting screen tourism and the tourism sector more widely, which is Ireland’s largest indigenous employer. It shows that the incentive enabled some 337 productions to be undertaken between 2015 and 2018 with two thirds receiving a tax credit of less than €500k and just 18 qualifying for more than €2m. The Creative Documentary (94) segment was the largest category of production activity with feature film (79), Television Drama (56) and Animation (49) ranking in descending order.
Global demand for audio-visual content is predicted to grow by 30% over the next five years and Ireland is poised and ready to take best advantage of this growth. The report finds that the tax incentive promotes growth in the film and TV sector and that any future Government should recognise the potential of the sector as an engine for job creation across the country.
Siún Ní Raghallaigh, CEO of Troy Studios and Ardmore Studios speaking on the report’s publication today stated that the case studies approach has demonstrated that the S481 tax incentive is critical to the continued development of the sector, however, it doesn’t act in isolation to the other attractors productions need.
“Crucially, this report shows us that without the Section 481 incentive, production activity would not have taken place, and so the economic benefits to the Irish economy would not have materialised. Ireland’s studio facilities, producers, crews, locations and the S481 incentive combine to make Ireland a destination for large global productions that bring jobs, significant inward investment and recognition of our country as a tremendous place to produce content, but also, to develop our domestic content creation sector. We know that when we deliver great home grown creative productions that go on to international success, the sector benefits hugely. The creation and exploitation of our own Intellectual Property (IP) is the long term objective for the industry and attracting global productions here means we are part of that overall global ecosystem. This is the vision for our industry and it sits alongside Government ambition to increase the scale of the sector to a point where we will double employment to 24,000 people employed, delivering a gross value added of some €1.4bn. As a sector, everyone involved wants to realise that ambition, but it will require a visionary Government with a cross departmental approach – with Culture, Finance, Education, Communications and Tourism all working with the industry to the same roadmap to deliver that success,” she says.
The report outlines some of the barriers to delivering success and calls for serious consideration to be given to increasing the current S481 €70million per project cap, which is less than other competing countries and dis-incentivises major global productions from selecting Ireland for production. To further stimulate regional development, the operation of the Regional Uplift needs to be reviewed. The report also highlights operational issues which can result in constraining cash flow for those smaller indigenous Irish productions.
Ireland offers a rich film, TV and animation ecosystem where there are over 2,500 listed production locations across the country listed in the Screen Ireland database. In tandem with this, there has been a significant investment in new and upgrading of existing studio infrastructure as well as a focus on upskilling and developing new modern production skills.
Elaine Geraghty, CEO Screen Producers Ireland welcomed the report saying, “The qualitative and quantitative industry data contained in this report, coupled with specific production case studies, contributes to the development of a comprehensive picture of the significant economic, social and cultural contributions made by the Irish Film and Television production industry.
The detail collected in this report also helps to form a baseline for industry data collection, which can be built on yearly to create a rich understanding of where the industry has been, where it is headed and how we can best support and strengthen the enablers that ensure the industry’s sustainability and growth.”
Ronan McCabe, CEO Animation Ireland also expressed support for the report saying, “The collation of statistics for an annual Economic Impact Assessment is a positive development. Animation Studios are well placed to capitalise on the need for more IP driven content but will need more investment in/access to development funding to achieve this. The interpretation of the Regional Uplift legislation is a missed opportunity for the animation sector as it does not support studios in attracting and keeping talent in the regions."
The report was commissioned by Ardmore Studios and Troy Studios with the support of Screen Producers Ireland, Screen Ireland, Animation Ireland and Ibec Audiovisual. It provides an important baseline measurement and methodological approach, which when reviewed yearly, will add to the understanding of the component parts that work together to deliver the sector’s success and economic contribution to the overall economy.