Board bids to bring leading TV productions here

A group of leading European broadcasters were in Ireland for the past two days as guests of the Irish Film Board (IFB).

The IFB hosted a two-day forum for 25 broadcasters and producers. A similar event in 2011 directly led to €40m worth of productions filming in Ireland in 2012.

The event, Big Picture, Small Screen, was designed to enable Irish producers and broadcasters explore co-production opportunities with their European peers.

Included in the European delegation were producers of the successful Danish drama The Bridge (SVT and& Nimbus Films), Moone Boy (BSkyB), and the Swedish producers of Wallander and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Yellow Bird Ent).

Irish companies included World 2000 (Vikings, The Tudors), Octagon (Vikings), Element Pictures (Quirke, Ripper Street), and Grand Pictures (Moone Boy).

Irish film commissioner Naoise Barry said the TV drama industry offered huge potential for Ireland.

“The IFB hosted an incoming trade mission for UK TV drama producers in 2011 which directly created €40m worth of new productions filming in Ireland in 2012 including Ripper Street, Vexed, Foyles War, Moone Boy, Loving Miss Hatto, and Ice Cream Girls.

“Continental Europe provides excellent co-production opportunities for Irish production companies and we are aiming to drive further inward investment to the Irish film and TV industry as a result of this event.”

Irish producers have co-produced a wide variety of successful international TV series in recent years, including George Gently and Titanic: Blood and Steel.

Production companies here are also producing a number of TV projects which have been developed in Ireland and financed internationally, including Vikings and The Borgias.

The forum was a cultural component of Ireland’s EU presidency and was hosted in partnership with RTÉ and Enterprise Ireland.