THE owner of Ardmore Studios, Mr Paul McGuinness, claims the high cost of filming in Ireland has caused a decline in film activity in this country.
At the launch of UCD's Foundation Course in Film Production, taking place at Ardmore, Mr McGuinness said there was a perception abroad that the costs of crews were high in Ireland. In the film industry, such perceptions were damaging.
Ardmore, the only purpose built film studio in Ireland, had empty stages, at a time when there was hardly a film facility available in Britain. "We must be careful not to view Ireland as a sort of film makers' Shangri-La," he warned.
Mr McGuinness, whose production company, Lucretia Production, which he formed with Mr Michael Colgan, the director of the Gate Theatre, has the film rights to John Banville's The Book of Evidence, said the high cost of employing crews and non refundable VAT meant the benefits of Section 35 tax incentives could be wiped out.
The producer of My Left Foot, The Field and Frankie Starlight, Mr Noel Pearson, was more optimistic. The Irish film industry was a very young industry, he said. It was in the nature of things that the industry would have peaks and valleys in terms of activities.
Among those present at the opening of the film school was Neil Jordan. His film, Michael Collins, will be presented at the Venice Film Festival in September. Shooting for The Butcher Boy, staring Stephen Rea, starts at Ardmore in three weeks.
UCD's film school was established in 1992. The course is being undertaken with Ardmore and The Picture Company.