10/10/2003

Veronica Guerin and Intermission, two films supported by the Section 481 tax incentive have largely contributed to the record year of the Irish box office according to Screen Producers Ireland (SPI). Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin starring Cate Blanchett and John Crowley’s Intermission starring Colin Farrell were both released by Buena Vista in Ireland over the summer and have grossed over €6.5m so far, contributing to a 17% year on year increase in admissions last August. Contrary to the UK that has experienced a 7% decline in business this year, Irish admissions have managed to keep to the same level as in 2002, with 11.5 million tickets sold from January to the end of August. In terms of box office, Irish films have totalled €80m to date and Veronica Guerin is still the Number one film in Ireland so far. For SPI, the main representative of Irish producers, the success of these two titles supported by Section 481 is another proof of the vital need to keep the tax incentive set to be abolished by the Irish government in December 2004. “It’s encouraging to see that Irish people are still eager cinemagoers”, commented Joan Egan SPI Executive Director and manager of Tyrone Productions. “We continue to have the highest admission levels per capita in Europe. However the growth of the Irish film industry in recent years has played a major role in creating this interest and momentum, and unless the government realises that film production in this country cannot be sustained without a tax incentive, this momentum will cease rapidly”. Brendan McCaul, Vice-president of BVI Ireland, a major supporter of the local film industry also said: The quality of Irish films has improved enormously in the last couple of years…”Without a tax incentive to assist home-grown productions however, the golden era of Irish film may have already come and gone, which would be a terrible shame”. SPI is currently lobbying the government to save Section 481, said to provide a three to one return of the government’s investment and to support some 4,300 jobs in the Irish film production industry.