As part of an effort to maximise every opportunity presented by the unprecedented Irish showing at this year’s Academy Awards, the Irish Film Board and IDA Ireland last night (February 24th) hosted a networking event in Los Angeles.
The event was attended by representatives from US studios, distributors, talent agents, content platforms, film financiers and entertainment technology companies.
The ‘Irish Creativity and Innovation in the Limelight’ event aimed to drive investment, to promote Ireland as a production and innovation destination in Los Angeles, and to further build Ireland’s international reputation as a creative and innovation hub.
Amongst those attending the event were the Irish Ambassador to the US Anne Anderson, Irish Academy Award nominees Lenny Abrahamson (‘Room’), Ed Guiney (‘Room’), and Ben Cleary (‘Stutterer’), actors Colin Farrell (‘The Lobster’) Chris O’Dowd (‘Calvary’, ‘Moone Boy’), and Fionnuala Flanagan (‘The Guard’). Amongst the representatives from leading technology companies, was Managing Director of Daqri, Dana Morgan.
Other Irish Academy Award nominees will arrive in LA in the coming days to attend the 88th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night.
The 88th Academy Awards, recognised as the world’s most influential and high profile film award ceremony, features seven nominations for films supported by the Irish Film Board, and a total of nine nominations for Irish creative talent. It will be televised in 200 countries and watched by an estimated 960 million viewers worldwide.
Irish nominees in the 88th Academy Awards® are as follows:
- Best Picture: Room, Brooklyn
- Best Director: Lenny Abrahamson (Room)
- Best Screenwriter: Emma Donoghue (Room) Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
- Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Brie Larson (Room)
- Best Actor: Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
- Best Short Film (Live Action): Stutterer, Ben Cleary