A total of Stg£55,400 was awarded to Welsh/Irish companies in the fifth round of the Celtic Development Fund, whose panel met on the 10th October 2000. The Fund was set up last year to provide funding for the development of television co-production projects by companies that are based within the INTERREG zone - Gwynedd and Dyfed in Wales and the nine East Coast counties in the Irish Republic. The area receives European Union support for economic and cultural partnerships through the Interreg Fund. The Celtic Development Fund is co-financed by the Welsh Development Agency and administered by Sgrin and Film Makers Ireland.
This was the final round of the development fund. Twenty-one projects received funding totalling Stg£260,050. At this stage, it is not know whether or not the fund will be launched again. Sgrin’s Head of Production commented that "We are delighted to have been able to support the development of twenty-one Welsh/Irish co-production projects since the fund’s inception in Autumn 1999. Supported projects cover a range of drama, documentary and animation, and involved twenty-six independent television companies from across the Interreg qualifying area. Our primary aim is to stimulate more expansive television production practice, including co-production partnerships and pitching ideas that can reach an international audience. The financial support is geared at seed development, to help empower the independent sector, allowing them to develop ideas more fully, before taking them to broadcasters. We look forward to seeing these ideas come to fruition."
Four awards were made by the panel, for projects to develop two children's drama series, and two adult dramas. The following projects received funding:
Monday’s Child - a 6 x 26' adult drama series, to be co-produced by Wildfire Film & Television, based in Dublin, and Caernarfon-based, Stiwdio Capel Mawr. The series is composed of a series of seven stories based on the nursery rhyme ‘Monday’s Child’. The project was awarded £20,000.
Simply Spooky - a 6 x 30' children’s drama series, to be to be co-produced by Wildfire Film & Television, based in Dublin, and Caernarfon-based, Stiwdio Capel Mawr. This series is aimed at the 7-11 age group, moving each week from mediaeval castles to Edwardian attics to computer games, each time creating a similar yet scarily different world to the real one. The project was awarded £12,900.
Dark Horses - a 13 x 30' drama series from Tyrone Productions, based in Dublin, and Welsh company Ffilmiau Eryi/Tonfedd Cyf based in Felinheli . The series is aimed at the 10-15 year olds and is set (fictionally) in RACE, Ireland’s only school for young jockeys. It follows the work-hard and play-hard adventures of an eclectic group of young teenagers united by their passion for horses and their dreams of racing glory. The project was awarded £10,000.
God Almighty - a 1 x 90' drama from Cardiff-based company, Zenana Cyf and Sligo-based Glencairn Films. It’s a black comedy that starts with the death of the wife of a millionaire businessman and his determination to confront ‘God’ for his loss. His search takes him to the Institute for Exceptionally Gifted in St David’s where he offers three exceptionally gifted delinquent teenagers a huge reward for finding a way to bring God to Earth. The project was awarded £11,500.
For further information:
Luned Meredith, Marketing Manager, Sgrin, 01286 684306
Gaynor Messer Price, Production Co-ordinator, Sgrin, 029 2033 3307
Tamara Montgomery, Manager, FMI, 00 353 1 671 3525
