Ireland’s national screen agency Screen Ireland has set out its strategic plan for 2025-2029, with €5.5m ring-fenced for regional development and Irish-language production across the coming year, available to creatives across all genres and formats.
It has identified six strategic objectives: support Irish culture and ambitious storytelling on screen; invest in talent development for Irish story makers and artists; champion sustainable industry development; support and empower industry to develop skills and a diverse generation of creatives nationwide; build a cultural infrastructure for audiences to discover and connect with Irish screen stories; and ensure Screen Ireland is appropriately resourced.
Next steps include the renewal of the Screen Ireland’s initiative The Voice, a concept development fund for projects led at the earliest stage by the creative vision of a director, that previously ran in 2020.
Further actions include to encourage an industry focus on intellectual property generation and retention, and fair treatment of IP on Screen Ireland-supported projects; balance the attraction of large-scale international projects while supporting the building of strong national production companies that can compete on the global scale; prioritise European co-productions and international partnerships; ring-fence funds for Irish-language across all storytelling areas; and invest in a wide range of short film production schemes to nurture the next generation of talent.
The five-year plan has been informed by an independent economic and skills analysis of the Irish creative screen sector commissioned by Screen Ireland and conducted by Alma Economics, published on January 24.
The research, averaging data from 2021-2023, shows that the Gross Valued Added (GVA) of the audiovisual industry in Ireland is valued at over €1bn. The industry supports a total of 15,899 full-time equivalent jobs.
Screen Ireland also outlined plans for targeted development opportunities for crew throughout the production pipeline and streamlined internal processes within Screen Ireland to reduce in turnaround time for applications.
The strategy addresses Screen Ireland’s commitment to investing in emerging technologies. While the strategy does not specifically mention AI, a spokesperson for Screen Ireland said: “Screen Ireland recognises AI as a tool which can serve artists and offer opportunities to cross disciplines and explore new forms of creativity.
“Protecting and supporting the rights of the artists behind the work is an absolute priority for the agency. Screen Ireland is collaborating with the department of culture, industry stakeholders and filmmakers on research, policy and training. Screen Ireland is also working with European and UK colleagues in [European film agencies membership organisation] EFAD on policy approaches to AI.”
The organisation will also invest €500,000 in the development of digital games.
€430m production spend
Total production spend generated by the Irish screen industry in 2024 was €430m, representing a 33% increase on 2023 figures. Inward investment productions included Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, which is set to play at the Berlinale, and Edward Burns’ Finnegan’s Foursome.
Screen Ireland-supported projects that may premiere in 2025 include Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn’s Saipan, starring Steve Coogan; Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s Re-Creation about the deliberations of the jury tasked with identifying whether journalist Ian Bailey is guilty of the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier, starring Colm Meaney, Vicky Krieps and Sheridan; and Morgan Matthews’ road movie 500 Miles, led by Bill Nighy.
Further films completed include John Carney’s musical comedy Power Ballad; Polly Steele’s Four Letters Of Love starring Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter; family drama, Jim Jarmusch’s Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, with Adam Driver; and Rebekah Fortune’s Learning To Breathe Under Water, with Rory Kinnear and Maria Bakalova.
Speaking at the launch of the strategy in Dublin on January 23, Screen Ireland chief executive Désirée Finnegan said the five-year plan comes at a time in which the industry has had “significant distribution globally”, yet Ireland “has never been more visible on the global stage” with films like Kneecap and Small Things Like These helping to raise the country’s cinematic profile.
Over the previous four-year strategy, Screen Ireland invested €120m in Irish production, and reported a doubling of investment in Irish-language projects.
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