- €16.2 million capital budget for 2019 — an additional €2 million on 2018 figures
- Irish tax incentive for film, television and animation Section 481 extended to 2024
- Time-limited Regional Uplift of 5% to be introduced
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, the national development agency for the film, television and animation industry, welcomes the increase of €2 million to its capital budget and the extension to Section 481, the Irish tax incentive for the film and television industry, until 2024 announced today by Irish Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, TD.. We also welcome the regional uplift of 5% to Section 481, which will provide additional support for projects filmed across the regions of Ireland for the next four years.
This represents a 14% overall increase, bringing our capital budget, which is invested in film, television and animation projects, to €16,202,000 for 2019. The department has also allocated €3.84 million to the Screen Ireland administration and training budget.
Commenting on the budget announcement Fis Éireann/Screen Ireland Chair Dr. Annie Doona said: “Earlier this year, Minister Madigan announced the Audiovisual Action Plan, an industry-wide, long-term vision, to support the Government’s ambition to enable Ireland to become a global hub for the creative screen industries. Therefore, we also very much welcome the extension of Section 481, the Irish tax incentive for the film and television industries until December 2024. 2018 has been an incredibly successful year to date, with Ireland welcoming a large number of major international productions to our shores. Consistent government support for Section 481 is imperative to enable Screen Ireland to promote Ireland as an attractive international destination for film and TV production.
“The regional uplift to Section 481 of 5% will also provide an additional incentive to increase Irish and international production activity from Cork to Limerick, from Galway to Donegal, developing jobs and investment across the regions. We also look forward to working with the Government to ensure that the process of implementing section 481 continues to be improved upon.”
Major international productions to film in Ireland in 2018 include Vikings (MGM Television, World 2000), Into the Badlands (AMC, Octagon Films), Nightflyers (Netflix, NBC Universal, Wild Atlantic Pictures) and Quantico (ABC, Fastnet Films).
According to the recently published Olsberg SPI Report, Ireland’s film, television and animation sector currently supports nearly 12,000 full-time jobs equivalents, with a Gross Value Added for the audiovisual and radio sector of €1.1 billion to the economy.
The Irish creative screen industries are continuing to go from strength to strength with Nora Twomey’s animated feature, The Breadwinner, leading nominations for Irish talent at the 2018 Academy Awards alongside Saoirse Ronan, Consolata Boyle, Martin McDonagh and Daniel Day-Lewis. Lance Daly’s epic revenge thriller, Black ’47, has become a major hit with Irish audiences, taking over €1.6 million at the all-Ireland box office. Screen Ireland titles also took home awards at major international festivals such as Tribeca and Toronto, with Carmel Winters’ Float Like a Butterfly won the FIPRESCI Prize for the Discovery Programme at TIFF. Irish female creative filmmaking talent continues to shine on the global stage as Emer Reynolds’ debut feature documentary, The Farthest, recently took home an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary.
Source: Screen Ireland/ Fís Éireann