ON the first day of the visit to Hollywood by Mr Michael D. Higgins to convince producers that recent changes in the tax regime should not dissuade them from investing in film making in Ireland, a conference in Dublin heard that there has been a downturn in film investment.
The film makers' conference was told that while it was important that Section 35 of the Finance Act be preserved, recent changes had meant a downturn in big budget Hollywood films being located here.
Mr Kieran Corrigan, managing director of the Merlin Film Group, said the capping of the amount that could be raised for one film at £15 million meant that bigger films would probably not come to this country. He was uncertain if the changes, meant to help indigenous films, would actually do that.
The changes, introduced in the last Budget, also made it difficult to spread the financial risk around.
He also said that making the tax relief dependent on a particular film, rather than a film company, had forced finance to be project led, rather than company led, which could favour a number of companies.
Mr Corrigan, an accountant and lawyer has worked in financing, producing and distributing films.
The conference, attended by nearly 400 film makers, script writers, producers and directors, as well as film accountants and lawyers, was organised by the law department at Trinity College, Dublin.
While the changes in Section 35 were criticised, it was thought that they were forced by the Department of Finance, which, it is believed, favoured the abolition of the tax relief scheme.