Reel trouble

With four Irish people nominated for the Oscars this year, you could be forgiven for thinking that business must be booming in our film industry. But the halcyon days of blockbusters such as Braveheartand King Arthurbeing filmed on our shores are over, at least for the time being. What can be done to revive the flagging film industry?

In a piece of research recently published, the Irish Film Board (IFB) said the Irish feature film industry, which includes both indigenous and incoming films, is facing a crisis due to an increasingly competitive international market. In the past, the film production tax incentive offered here attracted many big budget productions but, according to the board, these incentives are no longer sufficient, particularly in light of enhancements made to UK tax breaks in 2006. "Huge Hollywood blockbusters are now choosing the UK," it said.

Over the past 12 months, a number of productions considered Ireland and even found the right locations, but decided to go to Britain or Eastern Europe instead for financial reasons. For example, Ireland lost out on Brideshead Revisited, a $25 million feature film, and The Other Boleyn Girl, a $35 million budget feature film, to Britain.

The board has warned that Ireland's film production tax incentive must be enhanced and has recommended changes. "With- out these changes the challenges facing the feature film sector could threaten the viability of the overall film and television sector," it warned.

However it's not all doom and gloom. Animation and television drama has experienced strong growth over the last three years. Derek Quinn of movieextras.ie - which provides a directory of extras to production companies filming in Ireland - says they've never been busier than in the last three or four months.

Recent projects that their extras have worked on include BBC dramas George Gentlyand Desperados,as well as a Spanish production that was shot on location in Ireland for a week. A significant number of their extras have also worked on the Tudors, one of the biggest television series ever to be filmed in Ardmore Studios in Wicklow.

"It's the only American production that we do have coming over," says Quinn. "The days of King Arthur, Braveheartand stuff like that are gone for the moment, so the Tudors is a great example of what we can do."

Movieextras supplies extras not only to production companies, but also to photographers and for advertisements. One extra who was recently selected for a lead part in a banking advertisement will earn € 3,000 for a day's work. They have about 2,500 extras in their directory, and Quinn says that they get complimented for having "normal people" on their books. "In the last year a lot of the advertisers have said actually we want normal looking people - we want people to affiliate with the people they see on TV," he explains.

So if you'd like to try your hand at acting and perhaps eventually pursue a career in the television or film business, where should you start? "The whole extras world is 16 upwards predominantly," he says. Anyone under that age would be mainly used for adverts rather than film production as they must be accompanied by a chaperone.

Quinn recommends that the best course of action for young aspiring actors is to learn their craft in a course, whether it's a film, theatre or drama course.

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The Irish Times Business 2000 - 11th edition:The Business 2000 column provides information for business studies teachers and students on the current business climate.

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