Ireland's getting another film school. Why do we need it - and is it even the best way to train film-makers, asks Hugh Linehan

This day last week, at a hotel in Beverly Hills, the John Huston School of Film and Digital Media was launched by Anjelica Huston, the daughter of the late Hibernophile film-maker, who lived for many years in Co Galway. Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Joni Mitchell attended what was billed as a glittering gala dinner to announce details of the school, part of NUI Galway. The launch followed the announcement last month that Rod Stoneman, chief executive of the Irish Film Board for the past 10 years, is stepping down in the autumn to become director of the new school. And Coca-Cola HBC, one of the companies that bottle the soft drink, was confirmed as a key funder. A lot of momentum appears to have built up behind the school. But what is it?

"It's a project which grew out of a report called the Galway Film Project, five years ago," says Tony Tracy, a film lecturer at NUI Galway and acting director of the school until Stoneman takes up his position. "Arising from that, I was then hired as faculty lecturer in film. Then the university foundation came into play. We needed a patron - it's a process which had more to do with fund-raising than with the course itself. The Huston connection with Galway was clear, so that was a logical step."

So far, so good. But it's one thing to set up photo opportunities with Hollywood celebrities or even secure sponsorship; it's another to set up a real film school, with all that implies.

Anyone who attended the Martin Scorsese masterclass organised by the school of film at University College Dublin a few years ago will be conscious of the potential problem. On one level, Scorsese's visit was a great success: he extemporised brilliantly and charmed an invited audience. The school's patron, Gregory Peck, was there, as were Barbara Kopple, the Oscar-winning documentary-maker, and Irish arts and film luminaries. But there was an embarrassing disjunction between Scorsese's approach and the extremely basic filmic exercises by UCD students, the fruits of a short, foundation-type production course. To this jaundiced observer, the event seemed driven by PR rather than by education.

Tracy insists that, despite the razzmatazz, the Galway initiative will be rooted in reality. "The first phase, which we've got the seed money for, is for five years," he says. "We decided to start with screenwriting, because it's achievable. Our target market is people who've worked a couple of years in the industry, have made a short film, etc. It's really important for us that we get the right people in to teach, and Rod Stoneman is very important in achieving that.

"It may seem to some that there's a certain absurdity in locating this in the westernmost city in Ireland, but there's a strong base of film activity in Galway, and NUI Galway has very strong contacts with the US."

To the uninitiated, Ireland seems to be coming down with third-level film options, from the long-standing degree and postgraduate courses at Dublin Institute of Technology to post-Leaving Cert syllabuses at Coláiste Dhúlaigh, Ballyfermot College of Further Education and many others. At a more advanced level, there is also a range of training opportunities for professionals through the FÁS-run Screen Training Ireland, whose courses are backed by the University of California at Los Angeles.

But picking your way through all the third-level options isn't easy. For a start, there's the issue of theory versus practice: several of these courses are weighted in favour of academic theory, with 20 per cent or less of their time devoted to the technical practice of film-making. Others wrap a film-making element within larger courses devoted to media or communications. For somebody trying to make a career in film-making, both approaches are perfectly valid: a grounding in cinema history or in the increasingly amorphous range of activities that we describe as "media" can be of value. But, unlike most other European countries, Ireland does not have a national film school, at least officially.

The nearest thing we have is the cumbrously titled department of film and media at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology in Dún Laoghaire. For almost 20 years, the institute has been offering the widest portfolio of film courses in the country, ranging from diplomas and degrees in film production to courses in make-up, special effects and animation. It is inviting applications for the fourth year of its master of arts programme in scriptwriting, which begins in October. The one-year course offers the opportunity "to learn and develop the highest professional skills in the art and craft of scriptwriting" and focuses on the development, writing and redrafting of a full-length screenplay.

"You realise the amount of time it takes a writer to develop a screenplay that can attract international finance," says Paul Freaney, director of UCD's master's programme (who, coincidentally, has just seen his own feature screenplay, Timbuktu, being shot in Morocco by the director Alan Gilsenan).

"You can't do it in a year, even as a professional writer . . . . \ dealing with people moving into screenwriting, maybe from other forms of writing or from other careers," he says.

"A lot of people we're taking on are mature students, people who are changing the focus of their writing. And really what we're doing is giving them a map for the next four or five years."

Candidates for the MA course should have a minimum of a second-class honours degree; if not, they can apply for a place under the APEL scheme, which takes into account their experience.

One graduate of the APEL route is Robert Quinn, whose first feature, Dead Bodies, is in cinemas at the moment. "About a third of our 12 MA students don't have a primary degree," says Freaney.

It's not surprising that Dún Laoghaire and, now, Galway should have launched their postgraduate programmes with screenwriting courses. For a start, these don't require huge investments in expensive film-making equipment. Secondly, the international demand for the courses remains high, as anyone who's seen Adaptation, with its spoof of classes by the "script guru" Robert McKee, will know. And, thirdly, there is a widely held belief that one of the most disappointing aspects of the Irish film-production boom of the past 10 years has been the quality of the screenplays.

Despite the many platitudes uttered about Ireland's writing traditions and how they would feed into a new film- making culture, the reality has been rather more mixed. Irish film, apparently, needs more writers, and it seems it's going to get them. "Everybody's said that the standard of scripts here is low," says Tracy. "And I know that you can't train people to be creative, but you can train them to be informed."

Donald Taylor Black, head of the film and media department at Dún Laoghaire, agrees. "Obviously, we consult with the industry, and most of the people teaching on the MA work within the industry. Clearly, everyone knows scripts are one of the most fundamental parts of the film-making process and that they're a problem. So that's why we chose screenwriting. You know when you go to see Irish films that the photography's usually going to be OK; the editing's OK. Technically, the Irish film industry has come along in leaps and bounds over the last 10 years, but the screenplays are still a problem."

Dún Laoghaire's course aims to replicate the experience of bringing a script through the initial stages of development, from synopsis to treatment to first and second drafts. Applicants must propose a specific idea for a script, which they then take through the process. Eighty per cent of their final marks are based on their script work.

"The basic elements, like characterisation and structure, are not actually a huge amount to teach," says Freaney. "But the environment and the deadline are the most important thing for most writers. It's not a creative-writing course; it's not about finding your voice. It's about learning to write a screenplay through the process of writing one. So you've got to have an idea to start with."

Taylor Black insists the course is not about training people to turn out formulaic scripts. "It's not as rigid as the Robert McKee thing, with all its rules about three-act structure," he says. "It's not just about writing a Hollywood-style commercial film. You may have a unique voice, but you still need to be able to plug into a system, and you need to learn the craft of turning it into a screenplay."

The Huston School's MA, starting in September, will offer "training in screenwriting, along with supplementary courses in film history and analysis, supported by regular film screening and workshops". The programme will also feature visits from industry professionals and help students to arrange internships. An additional course, in digital film- making, is also planned for next year.

Why is Galway's venture called the Huston School of Film and Digital Media? Certainly, some parts of the film-making process, especially editing and post- production, are now done almost entirely by computer, and an increasing number of low-budget films are shot digitally. But most of the films in your local cinema are still shot and projected on film. And, in any case, the underlying cinematic language and principles remain the same. So is "digital" just a trendy buzzword? Tony Tracy says it's not. "We decided first that it would be digital because this was the technology of the future," he says. "I think digital technology affects the kinds of narratives that are made."

He acknowledges that the cost of setting up with digital equipment rather than more expensive film equipment is also a big consideration, but he says leading film schools around the world, such as UCLA's, are transferring to the new technology and that UCLA told him it was "getting rid of celluloid because it's not a reality any more".

Taylor Black decries this suggestion, however. "Those schools might be throwing out their Steenbecks [film-editing machines\], but they're not throwing out their film cameras." DúLaoghaire continues to offer 16mm facilities for student films, although Taylor Black recognises the value and increased importance of digital.

Both Galway and Dún Laoghaire see their scriptwriting courses as the first in a number of postgraduate options they intend developing. "We do have plans for two or three further MA courses, of which directing would be one," says Taylor Black. "But in Dún Laoghaire, we're proud of the fact that we do a wider range of courses than anywhere else: animation, make-up, production design, radio, television, all that stuff. So there is quite a lot of cross-fertilisation." And there's still a lot of demand, he says. "I'm interviewing at the moment for the basic diploma course. We've had 700 applications, of which 400 are through CAO; lots of the others are from people who've done other film courses."

When I express some reservations about the value of people going straight from secondary school to study film-making, he responds with an impressive list of film-makers, from Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese by way of Louis Malle and Wim Wenders to Joel Coen and Tim Burton, who went straight from second level to film school.

"It would certainly be unwise to be sending hundreds of people out into an industry where there are no jobs," says Taylor Black. "But obviously the Irish film industry, like any other, goes through cyclical periods, and who knows where it might be going if Section 481 [tax relief\] goes? So we have to be aware of that."

Tracy believes the Huston School will be looking not just to Ireland but also to the US for students. "There may be a limited pool in Ireland," he says, "but we have a very high level of education, which is attractive to other countries."

One can't help wondering whether a country this size really needs two such similar courses, each one offering 14 places a year for advanced scriptwriting. Will a law of diminishing returns set in, especially if the Irish film industry contracts, as it shows some sign of doing? "It may happen," Taylor Black acknowledges. "We haven't seen it yet, but we might."

• The closing date for applications for Dún Laoghaire's MA in scriptwriting is May 16th. For further information on the institute's courses, see www.iadt-dl.ie. For information on the Huston School of Film and Digital Media, see www.nuigalway.ie