‘Borgias’ and ‘Byzantium’ boost Jordan’s cash pile

The cash pile at movie director Neil Jordan’s firm last year jumped by more than €400,000 to over €3m.

The feted director of Michael Collins and The Crying Game enjoyed a bumper year as accumulated profits at his Sunwind Enterprises vehicle last year increased by €432,000 — going from €1.889m to €2.32m.

The boost in the firm’s fortunes followed the 2013 release of Jordan’s Byzantium, starring Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton.

In the year to the end of December last, the firm’s cash pile increased by €429,376, going from €2.583m to €3.012m.

The amount paid to the firm’s directors, Neil Jordan and his wife Brenda, last year totalled €130,000.

The company employs three people and the accounts show that €136,464 was paid to the three employees made up of two directors and one administrative employee.

Mr Jordan’s coffers have also been boosted recently by him overseeing the historical fiction drama The Borgias. Mr Jordan shot three series of the drama, starring Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons, focusing on the fortunes of the 16th century Italian family.

However, in June 2013, US cable network Showtime cancelled the series — one short of Mr Jordan’s planned four-season arc for the drama.

The first series, made at a cost of $45m, premiered in the US in April 2011. In the same month, Showtime commissioned a second series that was first screened in April 2012.

The Borgias series was an international production and was shot on location in Hungary.