TG4, the Irish Film Board and the BAI have joined in the joint-funding initiative for projects with a budget of up to €1.2M, which was launched at the 2017 Celtic Media Festival currently taking place in the Isle of Man.
Five projects will receive funding annually, which have a strong credibility in the Irish language, gender balance in the teams proposed and will potentially appeal to home and international audiences.
Alan Esslemont , Director General, TG4:
“Since TG4 launched, drama in Irish has been at the heart of our vision for audiences and our drama producers have consistently won international and national awards. This important new partnership scheme brings Irish language film-making to a new level and will extend TG4 content into another central and natural home – the cinema. For independent Irish producers it offers an opportunity to showcase their talent and skills at the highest level and we hope that the scheme will also open doors for them in the increasingly global audio-visual market for drama content.”
James Hickey, Chief Executive, the Irish Film Board:
"We are delighted to be working with TG4 and the BAI on this new initiative to develop original feature films in the Irish language. Working in partnership with Irish broadcasters across feature film production is a key part of the IFB Five Year Strategy 2016 to 2020 and we believe that public service broadcaster investment in Irish creative film talent is central to ensuring the future growth of the sector.
“I'm looking forward to Irish and international audiences engaging with the feature films that are produced under the scheme, both in cinemas and at film festivals as well as on TG4 when broadcast."
Michael O’Keeffe, Chief Executive, BAI:
“BAI is very pleased to support the Cine4 initiative, as it has particular resonance with the BAI’s strategic objective to foster, promote and increase the availability of quality Irish language programming to audiences. I believe that the involvement of the BAI, TG4, and the IFB is particularly important in highlighting the value of engaging in a partnership approach towards the achievement of common goals that are ultimately in the interests of viewers.”
