‘Moone Boy’ sees O’Dowd profit rise

Accumulated profits at Co Roscommon actor Chris O’Dowd’s UK production firm last year increased more than seven-fold to £76,705 (€89,295).

Figures show the cash pile at Hot Cod Productions Ltd increased from to £4,627 to £78,896 in the 12 months to the end of Oct 31 last.

The firm’s accumulated profits increased from £10,704 to £76,705.

O’Dowd’s Hot Cod Productions was one of the companies behind his very successful Moone Boy series broadcast last year to critical and popular acclaim.

The upturn in its fortunes coincided with the success of the semi-autobiographical Moone Boy and the 33-year-old’s continuing rise in Hollywood.

O’Dowd is a favourite of influential Hollywood director Judd Apatow, and has starred in Apatow movies Bridesmaids and last year’s This is 40. He has also had a starring role in HBO’s Girls series.

Separate accounts filed by the Irish-based production firm behind Moone Boy, Moone Boy Ltd, show it recorded a loss of €675,225 in the 12 months to the end of Dec 31 last.

However, the loss is understood to be attributed to production costs and based on the success of the first series, Sky has already commissioned a second and third series with the second installment to be broadcast this year and the third to hit our screens in 2014.

Moone Boy Ltd’s revenues totalled e1.596m, the company’s cost of sales totalled €2.1m.

The returns show there were 237 people employed on the series with a number of scenes shot in O’Dowd’s home town of Boyle, Co Roscommon.

One of the largest costs was the €239,990 paid to ‘artists’ on the shoot while story, script and development for the O’Dowd- penned comedy cost €55,049.

Underlining the impact of the filming of the series in Roscommon, the returns show that €124,947 was spent on ‘hotels and living’.

O’Dowd has a starring role in the much-anticipated black comedy, Calvary, by John Michael McDonagh. It is due for release later this year, while he also appear in a big budget Marvel movie, Thor The Dark World.