Ireland 'losing out' on film investment

Ireland lost more than €100 million of potential investment in major feature films last year because of competition from abroad, the Irish Film Board (IFB) has said.

The producers of Brideshead Revisited, a €17 million remake of the Evelyn Waugh novel, and The Other Boleyn Girl, a €23 million period drama starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, both considered Ireland as a location for shooting, but opted instead for the UK because of tax incentives there.

City of Embers, a sci-fi film featuring Bill Murray with an estimated budget of €25 million, went to Northern Ireland. Remakes of Wuthering Heightsand Frankensteinare also destined to go abroad, having considered the Republic, the IFB has claimed in a submission to management consultants Indecon.

Indecon has carried out a review of film financing on behalf of the Department of Finance. Though the Minister for Finance Brian Cowen extended Section 481 until 2012, the film board believes the current tax incentives are no longer enough especially given changes made by the British government in 2006.

Film makers in the UK can claim back up to 25 per cent of their UK spend if a film is under £20 million (€30 million) and 20 per cent over that. The maximum figure in Ireland is 16 per cent of budget.

The IFB want the individual investor cap to be raised from the present figure of €31,750 to €150,000 with tax relief on the entire sum rather than the 80 per cent limit at present.

They also want the definition of eligible spend to include payments to non-EU personnel working in Ireland which could be crucial in attracting major Hollywood films.

The IFB submission said that unless changes are made to Section 481 relief for tax relief, the film industry will cease to "be able to support commercially attractive indigenous films".

Figures supplied by the business group Ibec say that only €3.8 million was spent on incoming film in Ireland last year. Ibec's audiovisual federation estimates that only €11 million was spent on films made in Ireland last year compared to €29.6 million in 2006 and €100.4 million in 2003, the last year when there was substantial overseas investment.

The shortfall was made up by the success in attracting international television series especially The Tudors and also by a strong showing from indigenous film. Nine were made in 2007 winning 20 international awards.

The chairman of the IFB James Morris said only one foreign film is due to shoot here this year. Mary Queen of Scots is being partially made in Ireland, he said, because of direct funding from the board rather than Section 481 relief. He said that attracting foreign investment is critical to the success of the indigenous film industry because it "raises the bar" and gives local talent important experience that they would otherwise have to get abroad.

"We haven't had a substantial movie here for over two years."