Screen Ireland has awarded €3.2 million to Irish film production companies in its first “slate funding” since the financial crisis of 2008. The money will be shared by 26 production companies working on the early stages of 100 feature films and 65 television series, Screen Ireland said. Budget cutbacksBut Screen Ireland, then known as the Irish Film Board, had to abandon the scheme after post-2008 austerity brought deep cutbacks to its capital budget. This has now edged back up to €17.2 million in total for 2020, allowing it to respond to industry calls for slate funding to return. “This funding enables production companies to build Irish intellectual property and develop creatively ambitious projects for Irish audiences and the international marketplace,” said Screen Ireland chief executive Désirée Finnegan.

Source: The Irish Times June 29, 2020 02:50 UTC