Show Me the (Irish?) Money

As we've written in a few posts, the Sages are working on a period piece about Thomas Francis Meagher, the great 19th century revolutionary and orator. Our managers on this project recently suggested to us that the Irish Film Board might be in a position to kick a film about an Irish revolutionary figure into high gear. The Irish Film Board? Hmm... Being half-Irish myself I've often fantasized about how wonderful it would be to retire to a small cottage on the Irish coast for a period of time and pursue my art. Reading, writing, a dip in the sea...

But maybe there's more than a fantasy to that.

A few weeks back in this blog, Randy wrote about the tax credits that have recently lured a spate of Hollywood productions to Massachusetts. Truth be told, however, the tax credits (and their purchase and sale) strike me as more complicated than financial derivatives.

In Ireland, however, they take a different approach: they actually support their filmmakers directly and have been doing so since the Film Board Act of 1980. Operating under the aegis of the Department of Art, Sport, and Tourism, the Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (IFB) supports and promotes the Irish film industry and the use of Ireland as a location for international productions. The IFB is involved in major European co-productions and last year, with its support, Irish filmmakers picked up over 100 awards at key festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Toronto. In addition, the IFB's website has a searchable database of Irish Co-Producers and acts as a clearinghouse for filmmakers wanting to partner with their Irish counterparts.

As Randy noted in his last post from LA, the economic woes have changed the landscape for film and television productions and the hard times are bringing people together in new ways. Just as the U.S. is not the Goliath it once was on the international stage, neither is Hollywood. The silver lining may be that we could look to models like the IFB for how we might spur the independent film community here. And, as it relates to our own project, rather than try to sell it as a splashy Hollywood period piece, perhaps our first call should be to the Irish Film Board's U.S. representative.

Erin Go Bragh!