03/07/2006

John O’Donoghue, the Irish Minister for Arts Sport and Tourism, just visited the set of the major TV series The Tudors, an Irish/Canadian co-production starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Sam Neill and Maria Doyle Kennedy and currently filming in Ardmore Studios.

Irish directors Ciaran Donnelly (Cold Feet) and Brian Kirk (Middletown) will direct episodes of the series, along with Emmy award-winning television director Charles McDougall (Desperate Housewives).

The ambitious €29m project, produced for Showtime in the US, focuses on the turbulent early years of Henry VIII’s reign as King of England. Filming in Ireland (in Dublin and Wicklow as well as at Ardmore Studios) will last over five months and some €19m are expected to be spent locally on Irish personnel, goods and services.

“We are delighted to see a significant increase in production activity in Ireland, which is the direct result of the improvements made to the Irish tax incentive Section 481, as well as the supplementary funding awarded to the Irish Film Board late last year” said Minister O‘Donoghue.

Film Commissioner Naoise Barry at the Irish Film Board added: “We’re delighted that Showtime has chosen to locate The Tudors in Ireland and we’d also like to congratulate the Irish co-producers Morgan O’Sullivan and James Flynn for securing this major project for Ireland“.

The 10-episode, 60-minute series is being produced for Showtime in association with TM Production in Ireland, with financing from Canada’s Peace Arch Entertainment and the Irish Film Board. The series will be broadcast on Showtime in early 2007.