09/12/2010

At a time when the Irish economy is reeling and the country is relying on a bailout from its European neighbours, the Irish Film Board (IFB), survives to tell the tale with small budget cuts.

The IFB budget has been announced as €16 million for 2011, which represents a 3% cut from 2010. The administration budget has been reduced by 12.3% to €2.4 million, bringing the total budget cut for the IFB to 4.4%.

IFB Chairman James Morris said, “The combination of ambitious creatively driven Irish projects and high profile international productions all working in Ireland in the last year is set to continue into the year ahead on the basis of today’s budget. Irish producers, directors, writers, actors, and technicians not only benefit from the employment this level of activity represents, their growing international reputation for professionalism, creativity and energy lays the foundation for sustainable future growth.”

2010 has been a successful year for the Irish film industry with five Oscar nominations, three of which were for IFB funded projects, together with representation at many of the A-list international film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, and Toronto.

Production has been brisk with the country hosting shoots of Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and Paolo Sorrentino’s This Must Be the Place and a host of local Irish films, besides major productions like Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs kicking off in 2011.