Difficult and Low-budget Films
Definitions to be observed by Bord Scannán an hÉireann / Irish Film Board (BSÉ/IFB)
Context

European Commission Communication document of September 2001 stated: “Aid
intensity must in principle be limited to 50% of the production budget… Difficult
and low-budget films are excluded from this limit. The Commission considers that
under the subsidiarity principle it is up to each Member State to establish a definition
of difficult and low-budget film according to national parameters”.

At a meeting with the European Commission in November 2005, the Audiovisual
Directorate was asked whether there was anything preventing all films from small
EU territories from being considered as difficult/low-budget in the context of
interpreting State Aid rules. Commission representatives replied that it is entirely in
the gift of a Member State to define difficult/low-budget films and acknowledged
that it might be possible for all films in some Member States to be defined as
difficult/low-budget.
Approach taken by BSÉ/IFB
There are two applicable tests to determine whether a film is exempt from the normal State Aid
rule: one based on a definition of a ‘difficult’ film and one based on a definition of ‘low-budget’.
A film that passes either test will be permitted to receive State Aid at a level of more than 50% of
its production budget.
In the great majority of cases, a film that complies with a definition of ‘difficult’ will also be a
‘low-budget’ film, and vice versa. But the two distinct definitions, and two tests, exist side by
side to allow for ‘difficult’ films that require a higher budget, and for ‘low-budget’ films that
happen not to comply with the definition of ‘difficult’ set out below.
Films seeking State Aid are those that are unable to raise production finance sufficient to cover
their entire budgets from commercial sources. But a project may have difficulty raising finance
simply because it is poorly conceived, badly prepared, or ineptly presented. An inability to
attract funding is not in itself an adequate basis for defining a film as ‘difficult’ in this context,
since there is no justification for using State Aid to support bad work. Where an exceptionally
high level of State Aid is being sought, it is especially important to identify the reasons for the
inability and establish a valid basis upon which a film can be considered ‘difficult’ and deserving
of support.
1
BSÉ/IFB understands that the aim of State Aid, particularly when granted at a higher level,
should be the production of films of quality which, for whatever reason, lack perceived
commerciality while still at the project stage. To define a ‘difficult’ film, therefore, it is
necessary to look behind the simple inability to attract finance and identify aspects of a film
project that do not detract from its quality, but may reduce its appeal to sources of commercial
finance. BSÉ/IFB considers that such aspects come in two types: non-commercial purposes
behind the making of a film, and elements of a film’s overall package that represent an
abnormally high commercial risk.
In order to define a ‘low-budget’ film, BSÉ/IFB has examined the budgets of all feature films
made in Ireland during the period 2002-2008 in order to determine the minimum budget required
to produce a film, with all costs fully paid, to a technical and professional standard that enables it
to compete in the international theatrical marketplace. Films with production budgets below this
threshold qualify as ‘low-budget’.
A
Difficult Films
A ‘difficult’ film is a film of high quality that, for one reason or another, faces severely
limited prospects of attracting commercial finance for its production and/or of achieving
wide commercial distribution.
In order to approve a film as ‘difficult’ BSÉ/IFB will need to be satisfied that the film
project presented prior to production (a) will be realised to a high standard of technical,
professional and artistic quality, and (b) faces difficulties for definable reasons in terms
of its appeal to commercial financiers or distributors, or its potential to attract viable
audience numbers.
Characteristics of such films may include:
1. Features minority language(s) predominantly
2. Expresses strong cultural / public service ethos
3. Illuminates history / civilisation / cultural traditions for the benefit of
young people
4. Provides creative opportunities for individuals and organisations in areas
of poor economic / social development
5. Provides creative opportunities for individuals and organisations underrepresented in the film industry as a result of, for example, race, gender,
sexual orientation, poverty, disability, geographical isolation, religious
belief, political opinion
6. Uses challenging / unfamiliar techniques to further the aesthetic of cinema
and/or the art of storytelling for the screen
7. Contributes to the advancement of new technologies using limited
financial resources
8. Is experimental in nature and entails a high level of creative risk
2
9. Creative initiators – director, screenwriter, producer – without trackrecord, making first or second feature film
10. Principal actors playing leading roles in a feature film for first or second
time
11. Director is experienced and demonstrably capable of high-quality work,
but market results of recent films denote his/her next work as high-risk in
the eyes of commercial financiers
12. Concerns for authenticity, historical accuracy or other mark of cultural
integrity prevent inclusion of marketable elements – notably ‘star’ casting
– that could enable the film to secure more substantial finance from
commercial sources
13. Aspects of story / characters ensure that audiences will be confined to a
small, local market however well the film is made
14. Being less than 70 minutes in length, no meaningful, commercial,
theatrical market exists for the film.
Note
It is possible that a film project would display one or more of the above without having the
characteristics required for it to be designated as ‘difficult’ in this context. Accordingly, such
designation will only be available when BSÉ/IFB certifies on the basis of all available
information that a project:
B

is of a nature and quality that the Board considers to merit support; and

faces particular difficulties in raising finance on the commercial markets and could not
be made without a cumulative input of State Aids exceeding 50%; or

is unlikely to achieve significant distribution or exposure; or

is unlikely to achieve viable audience figures.
Low-budget films
Empirical evidence of indigenous production since 2002 shows that for a feature film to
be made in Ireland – with all crew paid at award rates, with all completion and delivery
costs counted in, and with no deferred fees – to a standard of physical production that
enables it to compete in the international theatrical market, a production budget of €3
million or more is required.
Any Irish film produced with a production cost of less than €3 million, therefore, should
be considered as ‘low-budget’ for the purposes of State Aid rules. BSÉ/IFB may
periodically propose upward revision of this figure to take account of production cost
increases.
3