As part of his announcement yesterday of additional investment in the arts, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue has granted supplemental funding of over €2 million to the Irish Film Board. Pointing to the Government's enhancement this year of the Section 481 tax incentive scheme for production, and to the success of Ken Loach's film The Wind That Shakes the Barley, he was bullish about the state of the film industry. But underlying trends may be less positive.
A viable audiovisual industry relies on a varied range of production to thrive. Low-budget films encourage new talent to emerge. Medium-budget features permit more established film-makers to develop their craft and to appeal to wider audiences. Television drama for local broadcasters allows Irish licence fee-payers to see their own stories and experiences dramatised on screen. Larger TV dramas can have an appreciable effect on tourist numbers; major Hollywood movies bring substantial foreign investment and employment.
For a variety of complex reasons, largely related to changes in the international marketplace, the number of medium-budget films has declined. But the most serious downturn has been in the large Hollywood films. This is due to the less favourable euro/dollar exchange rate, combined with tax incentives introduced in other countries and intense competition from central and eastern Europe. As a consequence, no large-scale feature film has located here since 2003.
The resulting shortfall has been ameliorated to some extent by an increase in television production. But it is a moot point as to whether the economic benefits of TV dramas match those of feature films, and whether the filming of series such as The Tudors will add to the many tourists, who, according to Fáilte Ireland, are attracted here by what they see on screen.
As examples from other countries show, there is a strong argument to be made, on both economic and cultural grounds, for State support for film. But the nature and structure of that support must be the subject of regular interrogation and revision in the context of a fast-changing international environment. The current system of State support was instituted in the wake of the international success of films such as My Left Foot and The Crying Game. What is indisputable is that none of the many domestically-produced films made since then has achieved the same level of success. It is surely time for the Minister and the industry to examine why this is so, and what should be done about it.