Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann has hosted a major event in Dublin to discuss both the successes, and the challenges facing its sector.
Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann is the national agency dedicated to supporting film, television drama, animation, documentary, and the digital game industries.
On a day when there was Oscars disappointment for the Kneecap team, industry members were delighted to congratulate Tailored Film productions who were involved in The Apprentice movie about a young Donald Trump.
That movie scored two actor nominations and Julianne Forde and Ruth Treacy were in the room when the nominations were announced.
As the Irish movie industry success story has been grabbing headlines globally, the organisation started today with the publication of new research, detailing the impact of the sector on the Irish economy.
Chair of Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann Ray Harman said that the research they were publishing today "underlines the valuable cultural and economic contribution that the Irish creative industry makes to the economy."
Alongside the publication of the report, which is an economic and skills analysis of the industry, members also launched the slate of new productions coming in 2025.
Running throughout the event too there was a host of on and off screen talent in action, with wide ranging panel discussions including Lord David Puttnam, a long standing advocate for the sector.
But back to the report and some interesting figures contained here about the economic and employment impact of the sector in Ireland.
It is a good news story for their members as research shows Ireland’s creative screen industry is valued at €1 billion.
The new analysis, covers the years 2021 - 2023, and demonstrates that the audiovisual sector is a key contributor to employment and economic areas in Ireland.
In terms of jobs, the industry supports 15,900 full time equivalents which led to an €862 million wage bill.
This means that the overall value of the sector to the Irish economy, when all factors are considered -was €1 billion.
The live action sector was the largest contributor here which is no surprise when you consider the scale of productions, the amount of staff and equipment, and logistics that it requires to get a feature film made.
There are also other positive factors noted in the report, such as the positive impact on tourism in filming locations such as Achill directly arising from movies like Banshees of Inisheerin.
It is also clear from the report that Section 481 tax relief is hugely significant for the industry too as 2/3 of production spend was supported by this tax relief. It is worth nothing that the commitment to retaining it in the new programme for Government has been broadly welcomed.
Now, while the value of the industry is €1 billion, drilling down into that number, and even looking at the most recent figures from 2024, it’s clear that the industry is stronger than ever.
New figures also show that total production spend generated by the industry in 2024 is now valued at over €430 million. This is a third higher than 2023.
On a side note, it looks like we have all returned enthusiastically to the cinema post covid as figures in the report show that even with all the challenges there, cinemas did well. There are around 633 screens in Ireland and approximately 92,000 seats were filled during that period.
So what can movie goers expect to see in their local cinema during 2025?
Screen Ireland published details of more than 80 projects that are lined up for release, and they include some intriguing projects.
Recreation from Jim Sheridan, is based on a fictitious trial, where twelve members of a jury must decide whether British journalist Ian Bailey is guilty of the murder of Sophie Toscan de Plantier. Building on the success of Irish language film development, Báite – (drowned), is a murder mystery with Ruan Magan directing here.
Another one to watch out for is Power Ballad, a new movie from John Carney from Sing Street and Once fame - this film stars Paul Rudd who was spotted across Dublin shooting last year.
Another film that shows great promise, is the movie adaptation of Four letters of love, the much loved novel by Niall Williams, with Pierce Brosnan taking the lead role here.
Finally, Saipan, the story of Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy will hit screens later in the year.
Éanna Hardwicke plays Roy and Steve Coogan togs out as Mick McCarthy.
I know it’s been more than 20 years but are you ready for it??
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