12/12/2003

The EU MEDIA Programme has awarded over €1m to the Irish audiovisual sector this year in the form of development and distribution funding given to a total of 17 Irish film and TV companies.

Eight companies received development support for individual projects, including three documentaries (Comet Film & TV’s The Knocklean Soviet, Nemeton Teo’s Gaelic Games and Gallowglass Pictures’ Teo Macero) and five fiction films (Ferndale Films’ Magnificat, Goldfish Films’ April Fools, Igloo Productions’ Short Order, Subotica Entertainment The Six Revengers and Wide Eyes Films’ The Front Line).

Five companies received slate funding ensuring development finance for the next three years, in the form of a rolling credit line: Element Films, Independent Pictures, Mint Productions, Wildfire Films and Red Pepper Productions.

“MEDIA has been an extremely effective way to help us develop a slate of internationally focussed commercial films”, commented Ed Guiney from Element Films, the first Irish company to receive second slate funding. Another four companies (Concorida, Crossing The Line Films, Gallowglass Pictures and Little Bird) benefited from the Television Broadcasting support scheme, providing distribution finance for international TV projects.

Irish institutions and festivals were also supported by the MEDIA Programme, including the Cinemobile, Cork Film Festival, Galway Film Fair and the Irish Film Institute, under the promotion and exhibition support schemes.