Opening Remarks from Screen Ireland Chair Susan Bergin
I am delighted to speak to you on behalf of the Board of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland for the agency’s industry day. This is a wonderful opportunity for the team at Screen Ireland to connect directly with you all, and for us all to continue working to support the Irish screen industry in all its forms.
I was honoured to take up the position of Chair of the Board of Screen Ireland in May of last year and since then I have enjoyed working in this dynamic, collaborative, industry you are all part of. Screen production requires very special attributes and characteristics – resilience, resourcefulness and a huge amount of passion – and I have seen all of these traits and more represented in the filmmakers, production companies and crew members that make up this sector. Each project supported by Screen Ireland represents enormous amounts of dedication and skill, creative excellence and ambition, and is a testament to the people bringing these projects to life.
A deep understanding of the ways in which the screen sector works and how best it can be supported is essential to Screen Ireland’s work and future direction.
In this, I have been delighted to work closely with my fellow Board Members of Fís Éireann, who bring a diverse range of experience and expertise in areas across the Irish screen industry. It is important to Screen Ireland that our Board is informed by insights that come directly from experience, and I’d like to sincerely thank my fellow Board members for their commitment and dedication to supporting and growing the Irish screen industry.
The Board is supported by a very hard working executive and team whose dedication and commitment are crucial to delivering the industry support which Screen Ireland has been charged with providing. I would like to acknowledge and thank management and staff for all of their hard work and effort.
The recovery from the pandemic has been remarkable, and 2021’s record-breaking year for production is a credit both to your hard work and skill, and the strength of the Irish screen industry as a whole. In my role as Chair, I have been deeply impressed by the Irish screen industry’s resilience and ambition, after what has been a challenging and transformative time for most of the creative industries. The strong recovery is evidence of the high standard that crew and creatives work to and achieve, on both Irish and international productions. It is also important to acknowledge that Section 481 has been a critical enabler of the success of recent years.
This unprecedented growth, while welcome, has created new demands – demands for a wider crew base, increased skills and further infrastructure. Supporting further growth of the Irish screen industry must be balanced with measures that ensure this growth is stable, structured and sustainable. We have to make sure that as this important industry develops further, we maintain a strong focus on sustainability – on being diverse, accessible to all, environmentally responsible and safeguarding the wellbeing of the professionals who work in this sector.
Regional activity, in particular, remains a key focus for Screen Ireland, as it is essential to grow the industry nationwide. I myself feel strongly about regional development – as a native of Tipperary, I understand the benefits increased support can bring to communities around the country, in terms of a skilled local workforce and increased spend on goods and services in the area.
With this in mind, and given the recent Budget allocation for Screen Ireland, we plan to ringfence up to €3.5 million in the 2023 budget for regional activity to address the need for further supports in this area.
Throughout, we want to ensure that we support an Irish screen industry with strong foundations. My priority in leading the Board of Screen Ireland is to drive the highest standards of corporate governance, policy and structural supports. Responsible and stable growth in the future requires an approach that combines best practice from other industries, as well as harnessing the innovation, ambition and daring that characterises film and television production. In our strategic plan, launched in October 2021, we engaged with stakeholders across the country and set out an ambitious vision to drive growth for the Irish screen industry – with investing in creative talent and skills development at the heart.
To deliver this strategy, Screen Ireland will have to provide strong, innovative and efficient leadership. It must be dynamic, responsive and responsible, ready and resourced to lead and support the industry as it goes through this period of systematic transformation. Equipping industry professionals and businesses with the tools needed to reach the next level in their creative work and businesses will enable the development of an outward-looking industry, ready and capable of competing at the highest level.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to welcome The Future of Media Commission Report and we look forward to engaging with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on the recommendations.
Of course, none of this recent success or, indeed, our vision for the future would be possible without the strong backing of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, for which we thank Minister Martin and the Department. The value of this support is immeasurable.
For our part, we are committed to ensuring the Irish screen industry grows and develops in the future in a way that is transparent, fair and open. We remain committed to listening to you, the industry, and drawing from your wealth of experience. We will also identify new and innovative ways of driving sustainable, responsible growth– whether that is revised funding structures, increased supports for new and emerging talent, or support for the content levy on streaming video services.
The future is looking bright for Irish film and television and I know that, on behalf of the team at Screen Ireland and the members of the Board, we are incredibly proud to work with you in this period of change and transformation. By engaging with you as stakeholders in this industry you have built over so many years, with the Department’s continued support, we are confident that we can move into a new era of sustained progress for the current and future filmmakers and creatives.
