A number of big-budget Hollywood productions will drive spending on Irish film and television production to €160 million by the end of the year, an industry report released yesterday said. Barry O'Halloran reports.
IBEC's Audiovisual Federation review of 2003 shows that the industry's total Irish spend will reach €160 million this year, a 30 per cent increase on 2002, when it reached €122 million.
Big-budget productions such as Gerry Bruckheimer's King Arthur and Ridley Scott's Tristan and Isolde are driving the industry's increased output this year. The former has a budget of more than €100 million.
Foreign investment on this scale virtually dried up in 2002, partly as a result of the World Trade Centre attack in 2001, said Ardmore Studios chief executive Mr Kevin Moriarty.
Spending in 2002 fell from €141.6 million in 2001, when Reign of Fire and Veronica Guerin were shot here. However, federation chairman Mr John Cummins said domestic film-making kept the industry afloat last year.
The main contributors to this were a number of Irish-produced and -directed feature films. These include Spin the Bottle, which is being released here this weekend, and Intermission, which has just opened in the UK after grossing €2.7 million at the Irish box office earlier this year.
Investors who took advantage of the section 481 tax relief for film-funding scheme placed €69.2 million in projects in 2002. Tax foregone to the Exchequer as a result was €21.6 million, while film-making activity generated €42.8 million in taxes. This left the State's coffers with a net return of €21.2 million. The federation did not give a figure for this year.
Last year, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said he intended closing this tax shelter at the end of 2004 but the industry is seeking to have it extended for 10 years and to increase the limit for funds raised under the scheme to €21 million per production from €10.5 million. Mr James Flynn of the federation's film financing committee said the increase in the limit was vital to offset the impact of the euro's strength against the dollar.
This month, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service heard that the Exchequer lost €23 million through abuses of the system.
