Film Tax Relief Consultation, Department of Finance, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Irish Film Industry Talent By Octagon Films 31st August 2012 Octagon Films Film Following Neil Jordan’s seminal Oscar® win in 1993, Irish Academy Awards® winners since the enhancement to Section 481 and the re-­‐constitution of IFB in the mind-­‐nineties include Glen Hansard, Martin McDonagh, Terry George and Richie Baneham. McDonagh’s short film, Six Shooter, was supported by IFB. Terry George first feature film, Some Mother’s Son, was co-­‐financed by Section 481 and IFB and won the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the European Academy Award for Best Debut Film. Irish Academy Award® Nominees during 2000 – 2010 include Tomm Moore, Ruairi Robinson, Seamus Byrne, Cathal Gaffney, Naomi Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan, Jim Sheridan, Peter McDonald, Emer O’Kane, Juanita Wilson, Steph Green, Tamara Anghie, Cathal Gaffney, Darragh O’Connell, Lynn Johnson, and Michael Creagh. During 2000 – 2010, the Irish Film Industry has enhanced its infrastructure in key added-­‐
value areas essential to the development and promotion of a state-­‐of-­‐the art international production services centre. Key developments include: -­‐
The establishment of Element Pictures Distribution, an Irish feature film and theatrical documentary distributor, which secured the Irish and UK distribution rights for The Guard, the most commercially successful Irish independent feature film of all time and one of the biggest domestic hits of 2011. -­‐
The completion of Ashford Film and Television Studios in Ashford, County Wicklow which is a modern, world-­‐class facility with three very large sound stages. Ashford opened in April 2012 and its first project, Vikings for MGM and The History Channel, commenced filming there in July 2012. During its construction and completion, Ashford did not avail of any State-­‐funding or incentives. Through either initial Section 481 production investment and/or early IFB support, a new generation of international directors has emerged during 1996-­‐2012 who, in addition to the international success of Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan, have made a direct impact in Hollywood and these include John Moore (currently directing Die Hard 5), Kirsten Sheridan (director of three feature films including the $30m August Rush), John Carney (Director of Once, which won an Oscar®, grossed $40m at the international box office and inspired a multi Tony award-­‐winning musical on Broadway) who is now directing a feature film for Fox Searchlight, Lance Daly (director of several U.S studio-­‐financed films), Damien O’ Donnell (Ireland first ever BAFTA winner for directing East Is East), Brian Kirk (director of Boardwalk Empire and Dexter), Ruairi Robinson, currently directing Last Days on Mars for Universal Studios) and the team of James Mather and Stephen St. Ledger who jointly directed Lock-­‐
Out for Luc Besson. 2 Octagon Films A further ‘’new wave’’ of auteurial directors have emerged who have gained prominent attention both in terms of international film festivals throughout Europe and in new Irish Cinema. All of these directors are likely to have had their first films backed by both Section 481 investment and IFB loans and these include Lenny Abrahamson (Garage – Cannes 2007), Juanita Wilson (As If I Am Not There – Toronto 2010), Tomm Moore (The Secret Of Kells – Academy Awards® 2010 Nomination) and Rebecca Daly (Before I Sleep -­‐ Cannes 2010). Since the Best Screenplay nominations for Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan, a further number of new writers have made their mark on the international stage. In 2006, Terry George was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay for Hotel Rwanda (2005) and the Cork-­‐
based writer of Inside I’m Dancing, Jeffrey Caine, was Oscar® nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Constant Gardener in 2006. Other Oscar® nominated writers during the last decade include Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan and Kirsten Sheridan for In America (2004) and, in 2012, John Banville adapted the screenplay for the Oscar®-­‐nominated Albert Nobbs. Other successful Irish writers, involved earlier in their careers with projects co-­‐
financed by Section 481 and IFB, include Ronan Bennett (Michael Mann’s and Johnny Dep’s Public Enemies) and Frank Deasy, Ireland’s first screen-­‐writer to win an Emmy® (Prime Suspect). In addition to the established Irish-­‐based producers that emerged during the 1990s and that included Morgan O’Sullivan, Jim Sheridan, James Mitchell, David Collins and Arthur Lappin, a new generation of entrepreneurial and indigenous producers have emerged to run independent production companies with expertise in script development, talent management, fund-­‐raising and marketing. These include: Alan Maloney (Parallel Films), Andrew Lowe (Element Pictures), Macdara Kelleher (Fastnet Films), Robert Walpole (Treasure Films), Tristan Orpen-­‐Lynch (Subbotica Entertainment), Martina Niland (Samson Films), and John McDonnell (Fastnet Films). A new generation of feature film actors who originally worked in film and television projects supported by both IFB and Section 481 investment and who are now on the international stage in terms of Hollywood projects include Colin Farrell (Total Recall), Brendan Gleeson (HBO’s Churchill), Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises), Ciaran Hinde (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and Jonathan Rhys Myers (Match Point). All of the above actors regularly return to Ireland to work on indigenous projects or large-­‐
budget productions, bringing inward investment into the country and creating additional employment. For example, Ciaran Hinde will film a €2.5m adaptation of John Banville’s The Sea in Wexford during the Autumn of 2012. In addition the ‘’new wave’’ of international talent, there are many examples of established A-­‐list stars returning to Ireland with major projects which attract Section 481 investment 3 Octagon Films e.g. Liam Neeson in Five Steps to Heaven and Michael Collins, Pierce Brosnan (Evelyn), Saoirse Ronan (Byzantium) and Gabriel Byrne (Vikings). Academy Awards®, USA •
2012 Best Live Action Short Film, The Shore •
2012 Best Live Action Short Film, Pentecost (Nomination) •
2012 Best Makeup, Albert Nobbs (Nomination) •
2012 Best Actress in a Leading Role, Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) (Nomination) •
2012 Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Albert Nobbs (Janet McTeer) (Nomination) •
2011 Best Live Action Short Film, The Crush (Nomination) •
2010 Best Animated Feature Film, The Secret of Kells (Nomination) •
2010 Best Animated Short Film, Granny O’Grimm (Nomination) •
2010 Best Live Action Short Film, The Door (Nomination) •
2009 Best Short Film, New Boy (Nomination) •
2008 Best Original Song, Once •
2006 Best Short Film, Six Shooter Golden Globes®, USA •
2011 Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical, The Guard (Brendan Gleeson) (Nomination) •
2011 Best Actress, Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) (Nomination) •
2011 Best Supporting Actress, Albert Nobbs (Nomination) •
2011 Best Original Song, Albert Nobbs (Nomination) •
2009 Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, In Bruges (Colin Farrell) •
2006 Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical or Comedy, Breakfast on Pluto (Cillian Murphy) (Nomination) 4 Octagon Films Cannes Film Festival, France •
2011 Official Selection Director’s Fortnight (Feature Film), The Other Side Of Sleep •
2011 Official Competition, This Must Be The Place •
2010 Official Selection Director’s Fortnight (Feature Film), All Good Children •
2007 CICAE Art & Essai Cinema Prize, Garage •
2006 Palme D’Or, The Wind That Shakes The Barley •
2005 Official Selection Director’s Fortnight (Short Film), Undressing My Mother •
2001 Official Selection (Short Film), Chicken •
1998 Best Director, The General Sundance Film Festival, USA •
2012 Official Selection, Shadow Dancer •
2012 Official Selection, Grabbers •
2012 Official Selection, This Must Be The Place •
2011 Official Selection, The Guard, Knuckle •
2010 World Cinematography Award, His & Hers •
2009 World Cinema Directing Award, Five Minutes of Heaven •
2009 World Cinema Screenwriting Award, Five Minutes of Heaven •
2007 Audience Award for World Cinema, Once •
2005, World Cinema Category Official Selection, Inside I’m Dancing •
2002 Audience Award for World Cinema, Bloody Sunday Berlin Film Festival, Germany •
2012 Official Selection Panorama, Dollhouse •
2012 Official Selection, Shadow Dancer 5 Octagon Films •
2011 Official Selection, The Guard •
2011 Shooting Star Selection, Domhnall Gleeson •
2010 Official Selection Generation 14Plus, Corduroy •
2009 Official Selection Generation 14Plus, The Secret of Kells, Cherrybomb •
2008 Best Short Film, Frankie •
2002 Golden Bear (Best Film), Bloody Sunday •
2000 CICAE Prize, Saltwater •
1998 Silver Bear, Best Director, The Butcher Boy Toronto Film Festival, Canada •
2011 Official Selection Albert Nobbs, Death Of A Superhero, The Other Side Of Sleep, The Moth Diaries •
2010 Official Selection As if I Am Not There, The Pipe •
2009 A record seven films in Official Selection •
2004 Discovery Award, Omagh •
2002 Discovery Award, The Magdalene Sisters Venice Film Festival, Italy •
2002 The Golden Lion (Best Film), The Magdalene Sisters Tribeca Film Festival, USA •
2009 Best Actor, The Eclipse •
2008 Best Actress, Eden •
2008 Best Short Film, New Boy •
2004 Best Actor, Blind Flight 6 Octagon Films Edinburgh Film Festival, UK •
2009 Audience Award, The Secret of Kells •
2004 Audience Award, Inside I’m Dancing •
2003 Best Short Film, Pullin the Devil by the Tail Polish Film Awards, Poland • 2011 Best Editing, Essential Killing • 2011 Best Music, Essential Killing • 2011 Best Director, Essential Killing • 2011 Best Film, Essential Killing Uruguayan International Film Festival, Uruguay • 2011 Audience Award, Snap Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina • 2011 Audeience Award, The Guard Palm Springs International Shortfest, USA • 2011 Best Documentary Short, Collaboration Horizontale DMV International Film Festival, Washington D.C., USA • 2011 Best Film, Charlie Casanova 7 Octagon Films Jussi Awards, Helsinki, Finland • 2011 Best Original Screen Play, Lapland Odyssey • 2011 Best Director, Lapland Odyssey • 2011 Best Feature, Lapland Odyssey Mons International Film Festival, Belgium • 2011 Best First European Feature Film, Five Day Shelter European Film Academy Awards •
2008 Best European Short Film, Frankie •
2005 Best European Short Film, Undressing My Mother Television The phenomenon of the U.S Television Industry caught fire in 2000 with the DVD release of Band of Brothers by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks which proved to be a world-­‐wide critical and commercial success. With increased pressure on feature film budgets due to the decline of the international pre-­‐
sale market combined with the dot.com private investment collapse, U.S Cable Companies gained a reputation for developing and producing high-­‐end quality television drama that attracted the very best of international feature film talent. Talents as diverse as Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Irons, Helen Mirren, Michael Mann, Neil Jordan, Martin Sheen, James Woods and Martin Scorsese, all became vested in the development and production of quality television drama that led to an explosion of first-­‐rate series ranging from The Sopranos, Dexter, Damages and True Blood to Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Entourage. This development quickly spread to Europe where, in 2006, U.S Cable drama was developed and/or produced in Ireland with series such as The Tudors, Camelot, Game Of Thrones, The Borgias and Vikings, proving hits in the U.S and internationally. 8 Octagon Films This environment has become increasingly competitive with the emergence of Scandinavia (The Killing) and the UK (Downton Abbey) as countries that can develop projects of quality and scale that compete outside their country of origin. This is a highly competitive market and has led to a reversal by the UK authorities of a previous decision they made in 2006 to restrict their film incentive to theatrical feature films. In February 2012, George Osborne announced that the film incentive system would be extended to high-­‐end television drama made in the UK from 2013 onwards. Apart from the creative kudos and the overseas marketing awareness that is generated, there is no doubt that successive European Governments recognize the jobs potential of recurring television drama. For example, from 2006 – 2009, The Tudors incurred a total spend of €116.6m ($141.4m) with a total eligible spend of €80.5m ($97.6m). One of the criticisms in some of the reviews and reports in Ireland over the years of the feature film industry is that they (films) generate a short-­‐term benefit but do not always leave a lasting employment and training legacy. This is not true of the U.S and U.K television industry where recurring television drama series is both the editorial and fiscal target of Commissioning Executives. Since 2006, Ireland has become a hub for high-­‐end drama for the international television market. Three Irish directors, who had their American cable channel debuts, supported by combined IFB production Loans and Section 481 investment, have made radical career progressions since their debuts on The Tudors Series 1 and 2 to work in high-­‐end drama. These include Ciaran Donnelly who directed several series of the The Tudors, and the recent Titanic Blood and Steel, Brian Kirk who directed two episodes of The Tudors Series 1 and who has since directed Dexter, Boardwalk Empire and Brotherhood, and Dearbhla Walsh, also a Tudors Series 2 director, who won an Emmy® for directing Bleak House. The indigenous television market has also made rapid progress in the last 3-­‐5 years with Parallel Films in development with HBO for a television series to be directed by Rupert Wyatt and Element Films producing Ripper Street and Quirk for BBC during 2012. Domestic hits are also making an impact on the international scene in addition to providing regular employment with both Corp Is Anam (Magamedia) and Love/Hate (Octagon Films) having had their U.S remake rights acquired by U.S distributors. Emmy Awards®, USA •
2012 Outstanding Nature Programming, Broken Tail (Nomination) •
2012 Outstanding Cinematography, Broken Tail (Nomination) •
2011 Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, Camelot (Nomination) 9 Octagon Films •
2010/09/08/08 Outstanding Costumes Award, The Tudors •
2010 Outstanding Art Direction Award, The Tudors •
2010 Outstanding Cinematography, The Tudors (Nomination) •
2010/09 Outstanding Hair Styling, The Tudors (Nomination) •
2009 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, Into The Storm (Brendan Gleeson) •
2009 Outstanding Cinematography Award, The Tudors •
2009/07 Outstanding Art Direction, The Tudors (Nomination) •
2009/08/07 Outstanding Casting, The Tudors (Nomination) Golden Globes®, USA •
2011 Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama, The Borgias (Jeremy Irons) (Nomination) •
2009/08 Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -­‐ Drama, The Tudors (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) (Nomination) •
2005 Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film, Elvis (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) Other TV Awards •
2011 Seoul International Drama Awards, Excellent Short, When Harvey met Bob •
2010 Seoul International Drama Awards, Best Director, Best Writer, Single Handed (Nomination) •
2010 Cinéma Tous Ecrans (CTE), Best Series Award, Love/Hate •
2009 The Association for International Broadcasting, Travellers On The Edge •
2009 Gemini awards, Four nominations, Death or Canada •
2009 Prix Italia, Best Documentary Award, At Home with the Clearys •
2008 Prix Europa – Six RTÉ nominations 10 Octagon Films Industry Infrastructure Ireland’s drama post-­‐production infrastructure has radically improved during the last five years. Windmill Lane has provided services to established international directors such as Neil Jordan, Oliver Hirshbiegel and Luc Besson. Screen Scene has provided services to Hollywood projects such as Die Hard 5 and Game of Thrones. A key facet of the practical success for Section 481 has been the loan facilities provided by Irish financial institutions to investors. Investors can invest either all cash, borrow traditionally 2/3rd of the investment or borrow all of the investment. The Film & Television lending teams have continued to provide loans to Section 481 investors even during the financial crisis. During 2012, there are three financial institutions: Permanent TSB, Bank of Ireland and AIB, that have full-­‐time teams dedicated to working with fund-­‐raising accountancy firms to facilitate their respective investors. Animation Academy Awards®, USA •
2002 Best Short Animation, 50 Percent Grey (Nomination) •
2002 Best Short Animation, Give Up Yer Aul Sins (Nomination) Major international Animation Awards •
2012 Audience Award for Favourite Animation Short, Palm Springs Shortfest, The Boy in the Bubble •
2012 Official Selection, Annecy Animation Film Festival, A Different Perspective (Nomination), The Last Train (Nomination) •
2012 Best Animated Television Production for Children, Annie Awards, El Tigre •
2012 Best Short, Mascot Prep (Nomination) •
2011 Best Animation BAFTA, The Amazing World of Gumball •
2011 Best Script BAFTA, The Amazing World of Gumball •
2011 Best Animation for Pre-­‐School BAFTA, Octonauts (Nomination) 11 Octagon Films •
2011 Best Animation, Paperman •
2010 Best Drama BAFTA, Roy (Nomination) •
2010 Best Writer BAFTA, Roy (Nomination) •
2010 Fipresci Award, Annecy Animation Film Festival, Miss Remarkable & Her Career •
2010 Best Animated Feature, Annie Awards, The Secret of Kells (Nomination) •
2010 Best Animated Short, Annie Awards, The Rooster, the Crocodile & the Night Sky (Nomination) •
2010 Best European Feature, British Animation Awards, The Secret of Kells •
2009 Best Animated Feature, European Film Awards, Niko and the Way to the Stars (Nomination) •
2009 Audience Award, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, The Secret of Kells •
2009 Director of the Year, Cartoon Movie, Tomm Moore, •
2009 Producers of the Year, Cartoon Movie, Cartoon Saloon 12